Support NeoGAF

[HerbertFish]

Speaking of Lucas, I thought this new Did You Know Gaming video on Star Wars was hilarious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnSORl9_oI

Basically Lucas wanted to have input into a few games and it did not seem to go over very well. Wanting to call Starkiller from Force Unleashed "Darth Icky or Darth Insaneous" is amazing hahaha

He was a good idea guy and I know Star Wars wouldn't have happened with out him in the first place, but man does he come up with some really out there stuff. Sucks to see that he didn't like the new movie, I thought it was awesome.

Haven't played that game or watched the video yet but Starkiller is just as ridiculous as a name.

 

[Fj0823]

Would there? Or would they be 6praising it for reintroducing audiences and new generations to star wars in its purest form after 40 years?

I think that would've worked for virtually any other franchise.

But Star Wars is the most popular and referenced movie in pop culture, it's had tons of re releases. I was born in 92 knowing who Luke Skywalker was.

There is no need for reintroducing something that's always been there.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

The prequels were well received in the most tangible way possible: With the take from your repeated viewings.

Star Wars fans wanted more Star Wars. And Disney gave them exactly that.

Yeah, I saw each prequel once in the theater, and not one time did I leave with a FUCK YEAH feeling. Fooled me thrice. Hell prior to TFA, Star Trek 09 was the best Star Wars movie since Empire.

 

[HarryKS]

The Prequels actually make a lot of sense when you watch them with an open mind and you focus on the narrative.

The only part that doesn't work is the battle between Dark jedi Anakin and Obi Wan. It was not well done.

 

[SimleuqiR]

I thank him for creating the universe. But under his control over the later years the universe felt stuck, at least with the movies. There is so much you can do with Star Wars and I'm glad a new generation of creative minds is taking the realm.

I mean Kathleen Kennedy is no fucking slouch. I respect he producing chops and making the right calls to expand the IP.

 

[Arnie7]

"Star Wars is a Disney movie"

"Star Wars is in good hands"

Didn't he also comment he thought the movie was good when he got a chance to preview it?

What happened George?

Disney pacified his concerns saying "Sure George, we'll take your ideas into consideration, don't worry you can trust ol'Mickey" then after they be all like:

Screw this we doing this our way. We gotz toys to sell. Aright let's go peddle some nostalgia and fan service.

 

[jett]

That's really no surprise at all. Lucas has always strived to be at the forefront of technology. Abrams and Disney/Lucasfilm operated at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. They went so retro and so much into nostalgia they ended up remaking ANH. If Lucas had made Episode 7 I've no doubt it would've been 3D, 48fps and completely different from ANH.

 

[Discotheque]

I really dislike the hate that Lucas gets.

I might be biased because the first Star Wars movies I ever saw were the prequel trilogy, it might also be that I was a young kid and fell in love with the Star Wars universe. I didn't even know the OT trilogy existed until after episode 3 was released. As I have gotten older and watched the OT, I can see how the prequels were poor movies compared to their counter part. I don't know, I just don't want to slot put the blame on Lucas for everything that went wrong with the prequels, there's a part of me that believes he put 100% effort into taking Star Wars into what he thought was the best, but obviously a great deal of people don't agree wit him.

you have to understand it from their perspective though, you were the same age when you saw the phantom menace that some of these posters were when they saw force awakens.

 

[MisterHero]

I hope people complaining about the prequels realize the sequels will most likely kill off their beloved childhood characters literally.

The most disappointing twist is that those characters didn't go on any new adventures and only serve to carry the new kids.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Let's be honest George; you created all that "new" stuff to justify making new "toys" that sold horribly and became an ecological disaster.

I was a little surprised that TFA wasn't chalk full of new ships and whatnot to make toys out of then I remembered things like Star Wars Hot Wheels that Disney is licensing. They don't care what's in the movie they'll make new toys anyways.

Disney has made George look like Bill Watterson with this whole franchise relaunch. I work at a Kohl's, we are DECKED OUT with shitty, wasteful Star Wars crap.

 

[Majukun]

well it's true that the last movie is almost a collage of the original triology

end up that people wanted exactly that and not lucas' "different" stories

go figure

 

[GaimeGuy]

Problem is Lucas thinks having ideas is something rare. There's very little about Star Wars as an ensemble of ideas that made it great, rather it's how everything came together that made it great, and most of that was a result of each individual departments/directors/actors.

Lucas had the most control on RotJ and the prequels (the one who had the most control on ANH was time and budget ), and whether you like those movies or not they give you a much better idea of what Lucas is as a creative person and as a director, and RotJ wasn't even directed by him and it shows because there's still really good character moments (something ANH kind of lacks really if it wasn't for Ford). The original Star Wars scripts are pretty much just like the prequels, with all the emphasis on moments and concepts and bad dialogue.

The original characters would have never been as memorable if he hadn't received a lot of help in improving the scripts. Having Han shooting someone in a bar is meaningless, what matters was each line, his character, and that kind of character came from serious rewrites and the actors themselves.

When Lucas got complete control, we saw the result. It doesn't matter how Lucas thinks the story should go, there's a myriad of potential ways the story could go, what matters is how it's handled, and if Lucas had still been in charge as he would certainly have been if he hadn't sold to Disney (if there were any new episodes at all) all indications are it would have resulted in movies with the same serious flaws as the ones he directed before.

The script calls for Han to say "I love you too" to Leia just before he's frozen. Harrison Ford improv'd the "I know" line because he felt that was more in line with the character. It's little tweaks like that which keep fans from rolling their eyes all the time, like we did with so much of the Anakin and Padre interactions.

 

[Jarmel]

I do appreciate Lucas is honest. I feel his opinion is important as the creator of the work even if I didn't like some of his output.

 

[Mandius]

Did anyone actually watch the footage? the white slavers remark is about him feeling like he sold his kids, it's not a salty jab at Disney.



And holy fuck at all the projecting. He doesn't care about Titanic passing SW at the box office.

 

[Ferrio]

I think that would've worked for virtually any other franchise.

But Star Wars is the most popular and referenced movie in pop culture, it's had tons of re releases. I was born in 92 knowing who Luke Skywalker was.

There is no need for reintroducing something that's always been there.

That's easy to say when you're 23, but that's not hard to imagine for kids that weren't even alive when EP III came out. Case in point, just a few posts before yours a guy talks about not even knowing the original trilogy existed when he was young even though he saw the prequels.

 

[riotous]

Disney has made George look like Bill Watterson with this whole franchise relaunch. I work at a Kohl's, we are DECKED OUT with shitty, wasteful Star Wars crap.

Yeah it's ridiculous. Aside from much of it being shitty it seems like Disney never bothered to send most stores any coherent display or end cap art or anything.

Lots of stores just have a table covered in random Star Wars crap without any sort of marketing material.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

The Prequels actually make a lot of sense when you watch them with an open mind and you focus on the narrative.

The only part that doesn't work is the battle between Dark jedi Anakin and Obi Wan. It was not well done.

Anakin as a whole was not well done, at all. He should have been introduced as a teenager, i don't care about his mother, make him an orphan or whatever, and have 3 movies showing his and obi wans relationship because I've treated mere acquaintances with more affection than anything Anakin and Obi Wan showed in the PT.

And don't get me started on the love story, good lord, good lord..... the dialogue had to be written by someone in middle school writing a "winning the girl" fan fic.

The script calls for Han to say "I love you too" to Leia just before he's frozen. Harrison Ford improv'd the "I know" line because he felt that was more in line with the character. It's little tweaks like that which keep fans from rolling their eyes all the time, like we did with so much of the Anakin and Padre interactions.

Yes because Kershner was letting him try different things, and it was like BAM! THAT'S IT! Lucas would have had him reading his doofy ass dialogue verbatim.

 

[FZZ]

notthisshittoagain,jpg Can we leave Avatar out of at least this thread?

Who exactly is saying that he is full of shit and isn't capable of creating another great movie? Who are you talking to?

Just saw this post, what the fuck lmao

No one said Lucas is full of shit, antonz said people hating on him are full of shit.

And did I mention Avatar? I said "nah" to it being the highest grossing movie of all time. Don't throw a tantrum when I didn't even say anything controversial.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Lucas wanted to make more pretentious drek, Disney made a movie that people actually wanted.

I like Lucas, but it's clear he outgrew his baby a long time ago.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

On a related note, I will probably never watch any of these Star Wars reboots (unless friends, or a date, force me), but I probably would have watched George Lucas-directed sequels because they might have at least been fascinating trainwrecks and creatively ambitious, whereas they now promise to be the same homogenized crap that Disney is churning out with the Marvel movies I also don't watch.

 

[Fj0823]

Did anyone actually watch the footage? the white slavers remark is about him feeling like he sold his kids, it's not a salty jab at Disney.

We don't need the context of his obvious jokes

Now lets laugh at him for being totally serious when he suggested the name "Darth Icky"

On a serious note:
If anything.TFA skyrocketed the sales of both OT and PT movies (they were the top 2 at amazon sales last week)

So people are still supporting all his efforts.

 

[Ishida]

We don't need the context of his obvious jokes

Now lets laugh at him for being totally serious when he suggested the name "Darth Icky"

The fact that people actually want to believe he was serious and not joking with those names pretty much confirm that they want to shit on the man just for the sake of shitting on him.

 

[Boke1879]

On a related note, I will probably never watch any of these Star Wars reboots (unless friends, or a date, force me), but I probably would have watched George Lucas-directed sequels because they might have at least been fascinating trainwrecks and creatively ambitious, whereas they now promise to be the same homogenized crap that Disney is churning out with the Marvel movies I also don't watch.

Lucasfilm is making these movies. Not Disney.

 

[Neff]

He genuinely thought he was leaving the series in good hands, particularly with Kennedy heading Lucasfilm, but it seems that he feels that TFA doesn't live up to Star Wars.

Can't say I blame him. It's a fun, solid movie in its own right, but it's shockingly safe, commercial, breaks too many of the formula's rules, and lacks that certain Star Wars magic despite coming close several times.

 

[Duckhuntdog]

And that tells you all you need to know about why Lucas isn't involved. His idea of making a big difference is new planets and spaceships. Also, reusing the Death Star in Jedi says hello.

As opposed to making another Death Star, but bigger and with a different name??? Or taking good chunks of plot and beats from a New Hope and swapping in new characters??? I am not trying to exonerate Lucas here, but Abrams isn't exactly straying away from what hasn't been done before. Well he did add some groan worthy "witty" quips that felt so out of the Star Wars universe. But hey, man's gotta get a Star Wars screenplay credit somehow.

 

[GDGF]

Haven't played that game or watched the video yet but Starkiller is just as ridiculous as a name.

Lucas came up with the name Starkiller too.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Adventures_of_the_Starkiller,_Episode_I:_The_Star_Wars

 

[Skatterd]

It's no accident that the best Star Wars movies are the ones he was the least involved with.

 

[DragonSworne]

Geez, and people think Lucas isn't racist? He must get the weirdest bones from his wife.

 

[Discotheque]

Lucas wanted to make more pretentious drek, Disney made a movie that people actually wanted.

I like Lucas, but it's clear he outgrew his baby a long time ago.

in what world could any of the star wars films be called pretentious with a straight face?!

 

[Trojita]

He genuinely thought he was leaving the series in good hands, particularly with Kennedy heading Lucasfilm, but it seems that he feels that TFA doesn't live up to Star Wars.

Can't say I blame him. It's a fun, solid movie in its own right, but it's shockingly safe, commercial, breaks too many of the formula's rules, and lacks that certain Star Wars magic despite coming close several times.

So it feels just like a Disney movie.

 

[andythinkpad]

That was fast.

I have no love for the prequels so no comments.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Yeah it's ridiculous. Aside from much of it being shitty it seems like Disney never bothered to send most stores any coherent display or end cap art or anything.

Lots of stores just have a table covered in random Star Wars crap without any sort of marketing material.

Well, not Kohl's. We had GIANT wall-graphics, art for our end caps, etc. But Kohl's has a partnership with Disney, so we probably were the exception.

Actually, the nicest Star Wars thing we have is probably the boxes that the Star Wars-branded Skechers shoes come in, which have very artfully-done illustrations of X-Wings attacking the Death Star. Much better boxes than the "official" Star Wars boxes.

 

[Already Torn]

Speaking of Lucas, I thought this new Did You Know Gaming video on Star Wars was hilarious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnSORl9_oI

Basically Lucas wanted to have input into a few games and it did not seem to go over very well. Wanting to call Starkiller from Force Unleashed "Darth Icky or Darth Insaneous" is amazing hahaha

He was a good idea guy and I know Star Wars wouldn't have happened with out him in the first place, but man does he come up with some really out there stuff. Sucks to see that he didn't like the new movie, I thought it was awesome.

I kind of wish we could see a video of the Darth Icky pitch

 

[Ferrio]

He genuinely thought he was leaving the series in good hands, particularly with Kennedy heading Lucasfilm, but it seems that he feels that TFA doesn't live up to Star Wars.

Can't say I blame him. It's a fun, solid movie in its own right, but it's shockingly safe, commercial, breaks too many of the formula's rules, and lacks that certain Star Wars magic despite coming close several times.

It's safe, but breaks too many of the formula's rules? What? You have a big portion of the people in this thread upset that it's a retread, and you think it broke too many rules?

 

[Jarmel]

Geez, and people think Lucas isn't racist? He must get the weirdest bones from his wife.

He isn't.

 

[Fj0823]

It's safe, but breaks too many of the formula's rules? What?

Well the force kinda became similar to the Kaioken

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

All facts stated. What's the problem?

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I would really like to see the original outline Lucas made for 7-9. It can't stay locked in the Disney vault forever can it? Guys?

 

[Dead]

On a related note, I will probably never watch any of these Star Wars reboots (unless friends, or a date, force me), but I probably would have watched George Lucas-directed sequels because they might have at least been fascinating trainwrecks and creatively ambitious, whereas they now promise to be the same homogenized crap that Disney is churning out with the Marvel movies I also don't watch.

From what I understand, these studios are pretty self autonomous.

I mean, yeah most Marvel movies are safe pieces of shit, but seems thats just the Marvel modus operandi.

But looking at the actual Disney live action movies and its hard to say that all of their stuff is safe (John Carter, Lone Ranger, Tomorrowland), and they've actually suffered from it.

 

[newtypepilot]

he can wipe his salty tears with his 4B.

 

[Monocle]

Lucas's disapproval of TFA should be taken as a ringing endorsement. The guy's lost his touch. A more self-aware person would have handed the series' reins to more qualified creators after Episode 1.

Personally I'm still surprised he let Star Wars go after the prequel trilogy.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Yet probably true from a certain point of view.

A certain point of view?

 

[billy beane]

From what I understand, these studios are pretty self autonomous.

I mean, yeah most Marvel movies are safe pieces of shit

But looking at the actual Disney live action movies and its hard to say that all of their stuff is safe (John Carter, Lone Ranger, Tomorrowland), and they've actually suffered from it.

Those three movies failed because they were safe as fuck. And marketed terribly.

 

[Boke1879]

It's safe, but breaks too many of the formula's rules? What? You have a big portion of the people in this thread upset that it's a retread, and you think it broke too many rules?

Yea I don't get this. Lucas knew what he was doing when he sold this to Disney? They didn't use his ideas. So what? If people are sour at the merchandising then I don't know what to say. This has been the case since 1977.

 

[Fj0823]

he can wipe his salty tears with his 4B.

He already used them to wipe poor people's tears

 

[Lokimaru]

That's a poor lighting job, likely the result of that whole production being rushed and only getting one take.

It's a wall with a painting on it , how much lighting do you need? There's only so much depth and detail you can get. CG can be a realistic as you make it. And it can have Movement (steam, smoke, flashing lights, the whole shebang). The backlash against CG and Green screen for film is mindblowing, yet people praise Uncharted and the Last of Us's mo-cap session that are acted out on big green screen stages. It's the same thing which leads me to believe it's the end product people have issue with not the method of getting there. Had the Prequels been an overwelming success with fans, no one would have bitched about the CG at all.

 

[Spaghetti]

retro movie or not, people had to be reminded why they loved star wars in the first place to wash the taste of the prequels out of their mouths, george

 

[Davey Cakes]

After liking TFA as much as I did, even with glaring flaws, it's a bit of a downer that there's this slight backlash against it for being too familiar. People are absolutely right about it being a retread, but I'm battling with how that's a bad thing when we're talking about a movie that's a "re-establisher" of sorts.

I'm seeing it again in IMAX on New Year's Day with my mum, and I'm legit excited.

TFA did enough right in terms of characters and aesthetics for me to appreciate it more than the prequels, as ambitious as those movies were (at times). I'll take a well-done retread over an ambitious botch job.

I'm really excited for Episode VIII. If it's a leap above TFA like ESB was a leap above ANH, it'll be utterly fantastic.

 

[Neff]

Wait, have people really deluded themselves into thinking that the movie HAD to play it safe?

Disney's investment wasn't about making millions, it was about absolutely maximising those millions, more ruthlessly and cynically than many of us were expecting.

If anything it feels like a fear of making the prequel's 'mistakes' a second time round would have not only stalled those anticipated millions, but potentially harmed their shiny new franchise deeply before they'd even had a chance to milk it, so they rigidly set about avoiding each and every one of them. Hence no risks, no gambles, no unknown entities.

So it feels just like a Disney movie.

A Disney live action movie, sure.

It's safe, but breaks too many of the formula's rules? What? You have a big portion of the people in this thread upset that it's a retread, and you think it broke too many rules?

In terms of tone, pace, visuals, filming techniques, metaphysics, yeah it's inconsistent in several areas.

 

[Discotheque]

Those three movies failed because they were safe as fuck. And marketed terribly.

i dunno how in the hell you could call lone ranger or tomorrowland safe compared to the summer films we get every year. have you seen them?

you can tell from the first half hour of either movie that they were hard sells for a global audience.