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George Lucas quips he sold 'Star Wars' to "white slavers," criticizes tone of TFA

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Dies Iræ

Member
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.
 

Soul_Pie

Member
I guess he wishes he could have kept Star Wars and kept making them.

It's sad that he couldn't end up doing that. The guy who created Star Wars should have been able to see it through.

It sucks that creative and artistic talent can be fleeting. I mean, Lucas created Star Wars and Indiana Jones. He is a legend. That's why as much as I dislike the prequels, I never got angry at him. The whole thing was just unfortunate.

Yeah, that's the thing about it. Whenever I hear the guy talk I can't help but like the guy, even if he says some dumb shit at times. The way he talks about taking time off to become a Dad, the amount of money he's donated is incredible and will hopefully do more good than any of the movies he's made, he seems to me like a bloke who for the most part has his head screwed on right but has a particular blind spot when it comes to his creation which is probably true of a lot of artists actually.
 

Nairume

Banned
The things he wants to do don't match up at all with the fanbase. Kinda sadly.
Or really the people he works with.

Even Spielburg has never really tried to hide the fact that some of the worst elements of Indy 4 were in part the result of him and Ford giving up and letting George do stuff that he refused to let go.
 

Scrooged

Totally wronger about Nintendo's business decisions.
Dies Iræ;190843580 said:
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.

A piece of shit with a few gold nuggets inside is still a piece of shit.
 
Dies Iræ;190843580 said:
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.

What does it matter if it wasn't good?
 
Why does he have to be so bitter? The Force Awakens isn't nearly as good as A New Hope. He can hang his hat on that...

I bet it's the money.

Yeah, probably the money.
 

NervousXtian

Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Dies Iræ;190843580 said:
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.

Who gives a shit if it had original ideas (which they really didn't) if the end result was bad movies?

What kind of defense is that?
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
They could've made a good movie without rehashing ANH, the "they dared not risked futher alienating a fanbase so they played it safe" argument doesn't fly. This movie was going to be successful financially no matter what.

TFA feels like a movie that had to be made for financial reasons and to recoup on the investments instead of a movie that needed to be made for artistic reasons, sure you can say this just about any sequel of a successful franchise but the fact that the movie plays it so safe just lends itself more to that feeling.
 

rex

Member
I don't feel this is true at all George.

You re-used Tatooine in every single movie except Empire.

You re-used the Milennium Falcon in every OT movie (can't blame you of course, that ship is cool as shit).

You re-used the Death Star in Jedi, and then again in the Prequels.

You re-used Naboo. Coruscant. C-3PO, R2-D2.

Don't get me wrong I'm not against re-using cool and iconic things (though I'd argue some of the things listed above are not cool or iconic), but don't pretend you're above it.

Exactly. The people saying at least the prequels were original must have missed George's beautiful poetry. He set out to and admitted to aping story elements from the OT during the prequels. He takes specific shots from the originals and reproduces them in the prequels.

I guess you can point to the overall story as being different but if the journeys and actions of the characters are constantly recapitulating things from the OT the supposed originality starts to fade real fast.

His line about using new planets is also ridiculous as you point out. The majority of AOTC's planets are recycled from TPM. This man has separated himself from reality I'm afraid
 

kingocfs

Member
Dies Iræ;190843580 said:
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.

If you put TPM and TFA on a table in front of anyone, I'm willing to bet they don't choose TPM. Because it fucking sucks, man.
 

Scrooged

Totally wronger about Nintendo's business decisions.
I haven't seen The Force Awakens but isn't it one big callback to the first film, down to people calling it a remake rather than something entirely new?

It has a lot of callbacks and similarities plot wise to the OT, but it's intertwined with several interesting new characters and sets up an exciting new story in the Skywalker saga.
 
Basically in Lucas, you have a man who sketched out a painting, but didn't have the talent to fill it in with colors or a background. Someone with a lot more talent for it, came and made a masterpiece around his groundwork and basic themes. But they also stopped listening to all of his ideas. And subsequent paintings took that theme and he didn't even sketch the painting, and his involvement shrank away more and more...and Lucas got mega famous for the original sketch and the idea.

Then he decides to make a new painting years later. But he doesn't wanna use a canvas, so he just takes a huge dump on a log. He was the captain of this ship now. It was all him. He didn't need all those people who came and expanded and took his ideas in new directions. And we're supposed to celebrate that he went outside the box...

Yet he still took a huge dump on a log and called it art.

Then he walks away. He's out of the game and gives up the art he does care about....and redraws his original masterpiece, but with some newer colors, refined techniques learned in the past 30 years...and also sprays down that turd log with bleach and we are reminded of how great the original paintings were. And there's great promise because the painting is different enough that the next paintings can't possibly be rehashes of the old ones now.

Why, on EARTH, should I care that they rehashed a the original paintings to start off? The paintings are BACK! No more crappy logs. He had his time in the light.

It's time to pass the torch to the new generation, Lucas.
 
Dies Iræ;190843580 said:
TFA was a total nostalgia cash-in, no different than Abrams' Star Trek films. George Lucas' prequels were a disaster in many respects, but The Phantom Menace has ten times as many original ideas as TFA. For that alone, it deserves immense praise.
I totally agree about TPM.

There was a great movie hiding under there. People say everything about the prequels were bad but honestly it's not true. The Phantom menace has a lot of cool ideas, set pieces, locations, characters. At least concept wise. It could have been amazing had Lucas' ego not been out of this solar system. Bad execution killed a potential scifi Classic
 
Yeah, that's the thing about it. Whenever I hear the guy talk I can't help but like the guy, even if he says some dumb shit at times. The way he talks about taking time off to become a Dad, the amount of money he's donated is incredible and will hopefully do more good than any of the movies he's made, he seems to me like a bloke who for the most part has his head screwed on right but has a particular blind spot when it comes to his creation which is probably true of a lot of artists actually.

I'll always like Lucas. His movies were too big a part of my childhood for me not to.
 

Nairume

Banned
I totally agree about TPM.

There was a great movie hiding under there. People say everything about the prequels were bad but honestly it's not true. The Phantom menace has a lot of cool ideas, set pieces, locations, characters. At least concept wise. It could have been amazing had Lucas' ego not been out of this solar system. Bad execution killed a potential scifi Classic
There are certainly good ideas in the prequels that could have very easily been refined into better films, sure. That doesn't really make up for all the problems those films legitimately have that drag them down.

Nor does it really damn TFA for doing exactly what it set out to do and being a relatively good film in the process.
 
Lol this thread is insane. This is probably the most praise i've ever seen for the prequels. TFA really has some people feeling some type of way...
 
That's a really wonderful write-up.

It's really amazing to me how quickly and easily most people in this forum (and elsewhere) gobble up something like The Force Awakens, when I can so clearly see it for the actual cynical and corporate product that it is.

Good lord. Could you think any higher if yourself.
 

Varna

Member
Prequels borrow so much from the OT it's hilarious in retrospect.

Jedi dress like hobos because Obi-wan wore a robe in the OT.

Obi-wan's make-shift Jedi training exerciser is now the official way all young Jedi train.

Lightning is the ultimate form of the Dark Side just because Sidious happen to use lightning.

The list goes on and on.
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
Lol this thread is insane. This is probably the most praise i've ever seen for the prequels. TFA really has some people feeling some type of way...

To me the prequels were bad (all three), and this movie is better in the sense that it was more entertaining, but saying the prequels tried to do more stuff with franchise than this movie did isn't wrong and I don't see that as a sign of praise for the prequels it's just a fact.
 

Fj0823

Member
Lol this thread is insane. This is probably the most praise i've ever seen for the prequels. TFA really has some people feeling some type of way...

The prequels will probably get more love as" classic star wars" as more and more marvelesque spin offs get out, that and prequel generation kids (little kids circa 2005) get more presence in media to balance out opinions

I´ll just enjoy them all. Even the eventual Tomorrowland tier spin off
Which will probably end up being the Han Solo prequel ):
 

bengraven

Member
Would you rather a Matte painting? Hell there's a part in ROTJ were you can clearly see Lando walking to a wall with a Matte painting of the Falcon on it when they're about to assualt the second Death Star. At least CGI can Move.

mattepainting.png

This was really really damn obvious when I watched it this weekend on Blu Ray for the first time.
 

HarryKS

Member
oh it did, but the entire PT was off the charts stupid. rough sand, deeply in love, space taxes, only a sith deals in absolutes...

jesus did nobody raise their hands on production meetings?


Every one of those points you brought up make sense in the movie. All of them.

Rough sand -> young love, young awkward people, maladapted youth. No one is born a lothario.

Space taxes > what's wrong with that? That's how things actually work with trading routes.

Only the Sith deal in absolutes > Forgive me, but that is one of the most inane knocks levied against the series to this date. I don't know if people think before they bring it up. As a statement, it's pretty banal. When you analyze it properly, it's a means to show that the Jedi have strayed. It is a tragic flaw.

There's so, so, so many items borrowed from classic theater and literature in there. You can criticize the framing of it but the content is perfectly adequate.

I did not enjoy the prequels all that much, there was a distinct lack of gusto with regards to the direction and pacing but they remain quite consistent in terms of the narrative, heritage and lore.

Perhaps that was a happy accident.
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
Prequels borrow so much from the OT it's hilarious in retrospect.

Jedi dress like hobos because Obi-wan wore a robe in the OT.
.

I don't get this

the jedi dress like 'hobos' because they are basically monks, it has nothing to do with Obi-Wan wearing a robe in the OT.

Jedi robes are generic monk get-up
 

Velcro Fly

Member
Explosive language aside, my first thought upon seeing it was "been there and done that". I really didn't have much hype for the movie and it didn't really live up to the hype other people around me were feeling.

Yeah sure it's a fun story and it's Star Wars so it is cooler than a lot of stuff, but it still felt samey to me. I can totally see how he would say something like that.
 
Batman 89 did not have a huge cultural following like the OT Star Wars films.

What's that got to do with not having to retrace the steps of the original to appease the fans? the fans just wanted some good movies to watch. Its like Disney got a bunch of letters from the weirdo fans asking them, "could you remind me of my childhood since Lucas decided to take it from me?" and they obliged.
 

Ferrio

Banned
I don't get this

the jedi dress like 'hobos' because they are basically monks, it has nothing to do with Obi-Wan wearing a robe in the OT.

Jedi robes are generic monk get-up

Because the idea of a jedi being a monk wasn't a thing until the prequels. Obi-wan was just a one off hobo, but they took that one small thing and ran with it just like all those other examples. Look at Luke in Return of the Jedi, how monk does he look to you?
 

Dies Iræ

Member
What does it matter if it wasn't good?

This is a fair question.

It boils down to this: The Phantom Menace feels like a genuine attempt to expand the creative limits of the Star Wars universe, whereas The Force Awakens feels like a cynical attempt to retread on its creative past.

Then it comes down to what you value: originality or a good time. No one would argue that TFA wasn't a good time - but it was a good time that depended ultimately on nostalgia and creative work from the original series. In the absence of Lucas' work in the original trilogy - and contributions by others, including Kasdan - TFA wouldn't have been possible.

In that light, I think Lucas deserves credit even for the success of TFA.
 

Soul_Pie

Member
Because the idea of a jedi being a monk wasn't a think until the prequels. Obi-wan was just a one off hobo. Look at Luke in Return of the Jedi, how monk does he look to you?

There was always a pseudo religious aspect to the jedis and the force, with a slightly more eastern flavour, I think he speaks a bit about it in this interview and describes the force as a kind of catch all term for what a lot of religious, and maybe some non-religious people feel in terms of a general connection with a greater force that is not so easily defined.
 
Dies Iræ;190844615 said:
This is a fair question.

It boils down to this: The Phantom Menace feels like a genuine attempt to expand the creative limits of the Star Wars universe, whereas The Force Awakens feels like a cynical attempt to retread on its creative past. I

Woah.... um.... say what you will about TFA, but cynical? It was a damn love letter to the original trilogy.
 

Fj0823

Member
Because the idea of a jedi being a monk wasn't a thing until the prequels. Obi-wan was just a one off hobo, but they took that one small thing and ran with it just like all those other examples. Look at Luke in Return of the Jedi, how monk does he look to you?

Really similar to this:

latest


Masters were the ones typically in robes. Knights could dress however they wanted...

 
I'm not sure if he could have done better, but he's not entirely wrong. What we got was a decent semi-remake of the original that moved so fast the audience is less likely to pull the shitty bits apart.
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
Because the idea of a jedi being a monk wasn't a thing until the prequels. Obi-wan was just a one off hobo, but they took that one small thing and ran with it just like all those other examples. Look at Luke in Return of the Jedi, how monk does he look to you?

I think the idea of Jedis being like monks in the Star Wars universe was very obvious from the first movie and the OT as whole, specially with how Yoda talks about the force in ESB.

Luke didn't go to a Jedi Academy he was trained on the fly by the last two existing Jedis so of course he isn't going to wear traditional Jedi get up.
 
I'm not sure if he could have done better, but he's not entirely wrong. What we got was a decent semi-remake of the original that moved so fast the audience is less likely to pull the shitty bits apart.

Abrams is good at that. I don't think he'll ever make a great movie

I think Star Wars and trek are the only two I legit like, but I don't love either of them
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
I guess he wishes he could have kept Star Wars and kept making them.

It's sad that he couldn't end up doing that. The guy who created Star Wars should have been able to see it through.

It sucks that creative and artistic talent can be fleeting. I mean, Lucas created Star Wars and Indiana Jones. He is a legend. That's why as much as I dislike the prequels, I never got angry at him. The whole thing was just unfortunate.

He was unwilling to work with anyone who would challenge him, which is why the Prequels turned out so badly. Just like with Star Trek, you can give full credit to the creator, but it can't be ignored that things worked better when other people were in charge. Empire and Jedi succeeded mostly due to Lucas being more hands off in them. Just like Star Trek TNG and the Movies succeeded once Rodenberry was forced into a more hands off role.
 
Not going to lie, after years of prequels stifling my past love of Star Wars, and finally having a movie I can unironically like, George Lucas's salty reaction is some good schadenfreude.

He just isn't good enough for the franchise he created.

it is interesting that is showcases that sometimes, doing the big new thing can lead to failure, while the retread can still be the superior film. Turns out it just comes down to the quality of the film, not how new and shiny it is.
 
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