Nobody was more disappointed by Godfather III than me. That movie was flawed from the start. Duvall's role should have never been cut which would have eliminated George Hamilton from the cast. Winona Ryder was originally cast as Mary but then pulled out due to illness and Francis then put Sofia Coppola in the role which was a huge mistake. Also the pressure from the studio to keep the movie at just over 2 hours nixed the plan to have flashback scenes to a young Sonny Corleone growing up and paralleling his life with that of Vincent. Would have been similar to the flashback structure of Godfather II. Had all of the above happened as they should have, it could have been a truly great film.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Francis Ford Coppola says George Lucas's attachment to Star Wars was "A Pity"
- Thread starter Oddduck
- Start date
- Status
Nobody was more disappointed by Godfather III than me. That movie was flawed from the start. Duvall's role should have never been cut which would have eliminated George Hamilton from the cast. Winona Ryder was originally cast as Mary but then pulled out due to illness and Francis then put Sofia Coppola in the role which was a huge mistake. Also the pressure from the studio to keep the movie at just over 2 hours nixed the plan to have flashback scenes to a young Sonny Corleone growing up and paralleling his life with that of Vincent. Would have been similar to the flashback structure of Godfather II. Had all of the above happened as they should have, it could have been a truly great film.
Before selling to Disney, wasn't Star Wars an independent property? Lucas absolutely could have been more daring with the prequel trilogy. It's not like anyone would have stopped him.
John Kowalski
Banned
Lucas sounds disappointed in himself. What a shame.
Rktk
Member
And people can't see his pain from behind their Star Wars boners.
Fallout-with-swords
Banned
I really hate when Gaf talks about movies so much negatively it's insane.
Coppola said a totally true statement, Lucas was making movies like any regular director THX, and American Graffiti, then he wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie, turned into Star Wars, was the biggest movie of all time, had two sequals, Lucas then stopped making movies for like 15 yeara until he made three more, tried making smaller movies, and retired.
Coppola is his friend I'm sure he liked his other movies I don't think he's talking about the originals anyway, mostly the fact that Lucas stopped directing after the OT only to come back to make the PT.
Accordingly to some of you guys the only director that isn't a hack is Martin Scorsese.
Coppola said a totally true statement, Lucas was making movies like any regular director THX, and American Graffiti, then he wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie, turned into Star Wars, was the biggest movie of all time, had two sequals, Lucas then stopped making movies for like 15 yeara until he made three more, tried making smaller movies, and retired.
Coppola is his friend I'm sure he liked his other movies I don't think he's talking about the originals anyway, mostly the fact that Lucas stopped directing after the OT only to come back to make the PT.
Accordingly to some of you guys the only director that isn't a hack is Martin Scorsese.
Monocle
Member
Coppola's putrid oeuvre is an infected pustule on contemporary cinema, corroding every fresh attempt at originality and corrupting the very tradition of storytelling with a deathly stench that will never fade. It's no exaggeration to say that Coppola has permanently polluted the concept of art. His career is best conceptualized as the explosive evacuation of his bowels directly into the bawling mouth of humanity.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
Y'all know you loved the shit out of "Jack" when y'all were kids. You only hate it now because you're curmudgeon adults who recently discovered that Coppola directed it.
we.are.the.armada
Member
HOLY SHIT at the people posting that didn't even read/understand what Coppola said - and anyway he's right; furthermore, you can definitely sense Coppola's sympathy for Lucas, his good friend, for 22 years of market product film in lieu of w/e Lucas wanted to do.
I'm more triggered by Bill Cosby in the clubhouse.
I don't think he is talking about studio bosses etc. preventing him from experimenting with the prequel trilogy. I think he is referring to the massive expectations placed on the prequel trilogy by the fans and the vicious backlash he got for The Phantom Menace. It's difficult to be creative and try new things when you know what kind of hate you are going to get, if/when you get things wrong.
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!
Member
George Lucas has been promising to make smaller independent movies for 30 years.
old manatee
Banned
Too much voice over.
he insulted my fave film ever the star wars!!!
starchild excalibur
Member
The people hating on Coppola for this are laughable. Coppola is absolutely right. He's not shitting on Star Wars. He's basically saying that George was a talented writer-director and laments what other creations he could have worked on had Star Wars not been so all-encompassing for him.
Hell, I've wondered the same shit. THX and American Graffiti are interesting films in their own right. Especially given how much money Lucas has, I've always wondered why he didn't spend some of his billions going back and making some smaller, intimate films while he lets the Star Wars empire keep running as a separate entity.
Coppola has made some shit films recently, but at least he's still working on varied, personal projects. And The Conversation will remain one of my favorite films of all time.
Hell, I've wondered the same shit. THX and American Graffiti are interesting films in their own right. Especially given how much money Lucas has, I've always wondered why he didn't spend some of his billions going back and making some smaller, intimate films while he lets the Star Wars empire keep running as a separate entity.
Coppola has made some shit films recently, but at least he's still working on varied, personal projects. And The Conversation will remain one of my favorite films of all time.
manzoman96
Member
Corronchilejano
Member
That doesn't mean he wasn't doing other stuff. People don't seem to remember he's produced and written other movies.
I agree though, that maybe this Star Wars thing took way too much of his time.
Patrick Bateman
Member
I am actually surprised that FFC is still alive.
I haven't seen or heard anything from him worth mentioning in the last ca. 25 years..
I haven't seen or heard anything from him worth mentioning in the last ca. 25 years..
old manatee
Banned
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Someone gets it
True Savior
Member
The problem with Godfather 3 is that it's a bad sequel. As a movie of its own , its acceptable , outside of Altobello death
That's just unacceptable.
Lucas probably agrees with Coppola statement.
That's just unacceptable.
Lucas probably agrees with Coppola statement.
You must not be the film buff that your avatar implies!
Extra Sauce
Member
Attack of the Clones > Apocalypse Now
uncelestial
Member
You joke, but post-Apocalypse Now, Captain EO beats out quite a bit on the list of "Coppola films I would watch if I had to discount all the 70s stuff." I mean, it certainly beats out Tucker: The Man and His Dream, and Jack.You leave the director of Captain EO alone!
Which is why I specifically cited directing work.
It's a skill, and like any other skill, can atrophy.
Dude went 22 years without directing. Had plenty of time to practice and play in that realm between episode IV and I. Not much was going on in Star Wars in the intervening years between production on the two. For whatever reason, he chose not to grow as a director.
Langdon Alger
Banned
"Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board."
Was this written by a 14 year old?
Was this written by a 14 year old?
FTFY.
uncelestial
Member
Hell, later that same movie: "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!" No accent there -- even had the opportunity to refer to a "foul stench" again.
sol_bad
Member
Just reading the first page of this thread, I don't understand why people here are attacking Coppola. It's not like he is shitting on Lucas, he's basically saying that Lucas is very talented with a great imagination and that it's a shame he/we didn't get to see other ideas that were in his head.
I was on hallucinogens
the first time I saw Apocalypse Now back in 2009 and it was the greatest cinematic experience of my life.
Didn't Lucas do a movie about fighter pilots in WWII recently? How was that film? I know he always liked the dogfighting of the old planes.
the first time I saw Apocalypse Now back in 2009 and it was the greatest cinematic experience of my life.
Didn't Lucas do a movie about fighter pilots in WWII recently? How was that film? I know he always liked the dogfighting of the old planes.
old manatee
Banned
The backlash for the prequels and special editions was directly proportional to their marketing budgets.
- Status