• 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.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm not sure if people realize this, but criticizing Lucas for reusing things in his movies does not make him wrong about the new movie.

Hypocritical perhaps, but not wrong.
 
They could've, but clearly there was a mandate that affected everything about the construction of the movie -- "safe". Pure fan service. An apology. It's also why we perhaps see more practical effects and sets and props and costumes and alien masks than you'd normally expect to see in a movie of this sort these days. Fan service... And I love it.

I didn't like the death star 3 stuff either, I felt it was completely unnecessary, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the movie and "feeling the magic".



I don't feel like George took a shot at something [with the prequels] and missed the mark. He's simply a bad film maker. There's something about him that just doesn't "get it". The movies are awful. And his tampering with the original trilogy, adding shitty CG in? like.. what the fuck? Even 13 year old me was like "the fuck is this, george? why is a goofy cartoon alien with lipstick sharing the same reality as those other actual aliens?"

Pretty dumb comment since he made the original movies that are still admired to this day. Also he co-created Indiana Jones.
 

jackal27

Banned
I find his comments about making a retro movie so interesting considering that that's exactly what he was trying to do with both Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

Also, him mentioning that he sold the franchise because he's 70 never crossed my mind. Makes a lot of sense! He's an old dude! What business does he have making Star Wars movies? I just wish he wasn't still criticizing them.
 

Cuburt

Member
I know one thing for damn sure, the Tr-8R trooper may have not gotten any lines in a alternate reality George Lucas TFA or gotten even the briefest of character moments (even if it was tied to Finn more than the trooper himself in the actual TFA we got), but a riot control stormtrooper would have gotten some cool new armor to distinguish him from the lowly grunts (along with the flame thrower troopers) and he'd actually have a name rather than being some generic stormtrooper with a cool weapon that the internet had to name.
 

jackal27

Banned
I know one thing for damn sure, the Tr-8R trooper may have not gotten any lines in a alternate reality George Lucas TFA or gotten even the briefest of character moments (even if it was tied to Finn more than the trooper himself in the actual TFA we got), but a riot control stormtrooper would have gotten some cool new armor to distinguish him from the lowly grunts (along with the flame thrower troopers) and he'd actually have a name rather than being some generic stormtrooper with a cool weapon that the internet had to name.

I still feel like that trooper should have just been Phasma. Would have made so much sense on multiple levels.
 
All that waiting, all that anticipation and all people get is a rehash of a ANH.

TFA was gash. Actually more disappointing than the Star Trek reboots.
 

jackal27

Banned
All that waiting, all that anticipation and all people get is a rehash of a ANH.

TFA was gash. Actually more disappointing than the Star Trek reboots.

I looooooooved it and so did everyone I know so whatever. It's really more of a retooling if ANH rather a rehash. Things are mixed up and put back together and I can dig that.
 

televator

Member
Just saw Awakens a little while ago. Lucas selling this franchise was the best thing he's done for it in more than a decade. WOW, what a blast that was! Looooooove it! It was so wonderful, that a couple of tears of joy escaped me. lol

Star Wars is alive!
 
I looooooooved it and so did everyone I know so whatever. It's really more of a retooling if ANH rather a rehash. Things are mixed up and put back together and I can dig that.

Seems like a waste to me. No imagination at all.

Heck, watching the videos of Star Wars: The Old Republic mmo are more interesting and imaginative.
 
While talking to Rose about how much he loved the films he created and four of which he directed — even calling them his "kids" — Lucas said "sold them to the white slavers that take these things, and ... " Lucas did not finish his thought (49 minutes in to the clip below), but rather laughed before Rose moved on to another question.

tumblr_mdg8ms1uAy1rqkkzco2_r1_500.gif


Oh man! I wonder what he'll say next when Disney decides to release SW 4-6 in their original form on blu.

c3f.gif


Still doesn't take away from him being an amazing human being but man, sometimes he just shouldn't say anything and be at peace.
 
Also Return of the Jedi revisiting all the same planets as A New Hope says hello. He literally forgot his own movie.

That is something that he did address in the interview. According to him, A New Hope was penned to be a the climatic finale to a much bigger story that was deemed to be un-filmable during production.

When Fox green lit the sequels, he really had no idea where to take them, as he threw out the big climactic ending in the first movie. He also said that he regretted killing Obi Won in ANH as well. But at the time he didn't think he would ever have a chance to make another big movie. I guess this put him in a position to retread with a bigger Death Star in Jedi.

Though in fairness the second Death Star almost seemed like a side note to Luke's story, Luke had nothing to do with its destruction.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
My best friend is a massive nerd about Star Wars, even though i've never really been interested in them. He forced me to watch all 6 and then we went to see TFA.

It wasn't so bad. Although he told me that the novels of 7 8 and 9 are waay different than TFA and epic in their own way, i'm assuming Disney are making their own story.

I know Lucas gets a lot of flack for dumb directing decisions, so keeping him far away seems to make sense.
 

Cuburt

Member
I love this idea of TFA being fan fiction when the writer of ESB and ROTJ wrote if.

*Without any input from George Lucas.

We saw how much things changed with Lucas' take on Star Wars from ROTJ to TPM, and this is more than a decade beyond those films. Not even John Williams score has gotten the same praise across the board.

I will say that all the dialog feels like the same awkward Star Wars lines we've all come to know and love.
 

Tamanon

Banned
I mean, he's pretty bitter, but he's completely right about the movie being a complete retread. It was a good movie, but it was pretty much the same one he had made previously. Just some tweaks.
 

Phased

Member
It's crazy to me that the man who invented this universe has seemingly never totally understood why people love it so much.
 

robotrock

Banned
My best friend is a massive nerd about Star Wars, even though i've never really been interested in them. He forced me to watch all 6 and then we went to see TFA.

It wasn't so bad. Although he told me that the novels of 7 8 and 9 are waay different than TFA and epic in their own way, i'm assuming Disney are making their own story.

I know Lucas gets a lot of flack for dumb directing decisions, so keeping him far away seems to make sense.

Wait, what's this about novels of 7, 8, and 9?
 

TheXbox

Member
Shouldn't be throwing shade at JJ, Kasdan, and Kennedy like that. Two of those folks are responsible for much of Lucas' past success, and the other guy has offered nothing but reverence and respect.
 

TDLink

Member
The only redeeming things about the prequels are:
  • Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan is still great casting, and he did a great job in the role despite a bad script
  • Liam Neeson is a good actor and it was nice to see him in Star Wars, even if his character was a bit unnecessary
  • John Williams delivered more god-tier music, especially "Duel of the Fates" and "Battle of the Heroes"
  • The podrace is pretty well done and makes great use of practical effects and models just like the original trilogy. It's really cool how many different racers there are and how they all have a story to them (granted, not told in the film). I enjoyed the N64 podracing game too, which only happened due to this sequence. It definitely has nothing to do with the rest of the film or anything else in Star Wars, but the whole thing is still pretty neat and well done.
  • They spawned The Clone Wars TV series, which is amazing and contains some of the best Star Wars content ever created
 

Log4Girlz

Member
I admittedly haven't seen TFA yet. But the trailer made it out to be somewhat poetic. It rhymed.

First set of movie had some evil dude dressed in all black and had his face completely covered and a modified voice. New movie has that too.

First set of movies had a death star. This movie has a death star too apparently.

Desert planet.

Ice planet.

The old actors.

A robot side-kick that communicates with beeps.

Etc etc. holy shit.
 
I mean, he's pretty bitter, but he's completely right about the movie being a complete retread. It was a good movie, but it was pretty much the same one he had made previously. Just some tweaks.

Kinda like a video game sequel when the part 4 is a return to form, but you feel you are playing the same game+ in a way.
 

aliengmr

Member
I admittedly haven't seen TFA yet. But the trailer made it out to be somewhat poetic. It rhymed.

First set of movie had some evil dude dressed in all black and had his face completely covered and a modified voice. New movie has that too.

First set of movies had a death star. This movie has a death star too apparently.

Desert planet.

Ice planet.

The old actors.

A robot side-kick that communicates with beeps.

Etc etc. holy shit.

Forgot the entirely new cast of characters. Oh and "acting".

Thanks guys. How did the EP 7-9 Lucas summaries get out?

I have no idea, but its hard to believe Lucas did that, its essentially the condensed EU.
 

Pooya

Member
You shouldn't have sold your kids like that George. Wondering what he thinks of Disney's milking of the franchise with bazillion spin offs now.

I commend him for trying new things with the prequels, I actually really like TPM for that compared with TFA. But new doesn't mean good. Sometimes audiences just want polished familiar experiences than new, people like TFA now. I'd guess if TFA came out in 1999 people wouldn't like it as much. I really wouldn't trust GL to make good new Star Wars but I wish he was still the idea man at least with other people helping the movie.
 

anaron

Member
*Without any input from George Lucas.

We saw how much things changed with Lucas' take on Star Wars from ROTJ to TPM, and this is more than a decade beyond those films. Not even John Williams score has gotten the same praise across the board.

I will say that all the dialog feels like the same awkward Star Wars lines we've all come to know and love.

wait what

The dude is 83 years old and a lot of his work hasn't been as well received compared to his godly resume for the last ten years, it has nothing to do with Lucas.

but regardless, Rey's theme is fantastic.
 

zsynqx

Member
I have no idea, but its hard to believe Lucas did that, its essentially the condensed EU.

Just read the summary for episode 7 and it sounds terrible. I have a hard time believing this is real.

Edit: Oh god at the end of episode 9

In the distance, Luke can see 10,000 Jedi from the prequel-trilogy era appear as Jedi spirits (including Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn and Anakin Skywalker)
 

UrbanRats

Member
There was a non official verbal agreement that Disney would follow his outline - that's why he gave it up so freely. But after it was sold the lawyers got to it and found it non binding. So they were free to scrap his script and do their own thing.
But they still used his script!
From ANH.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom