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George Lucas quips he sold 'Star Wars' to "white slavers," criticizes tone of TFA
- Thread starter Enter the Dragon Punch
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Meus Renaissance
Member
This is why I don't give much credibility to the criticisms of the prequels some make. Yes, they had several flaws, and whilst it is not comparable, TFA reboots so much from A New Hope that it amazes me that these fans - who were so acutely aware of the problems with the previous films - have given it a free pass.
Is TFA the gold standard for what Star Wars should be? Or is the fact that it wasn't a Lucas production enough?
The Force Awakened was fine, but let's be honest with one another. It was safe and predictable, and not because of the prequels.
and why he was keen to have everyone walk around new and exciting cg hallways big enough where they couldn't interact with anything... but it doesn't matter, because it's new!
The CGI hasn't aged well with those movies...
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Agreed.
Good Job Bob
Member
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I wonder if the Michael Arndt version of the screenplay was also an ANH redux?
It was awful in 2002
I mean, it is not the first time he basically just re-shots an existing movie of a famous franchise and just changes it's name.
Not like the CG in TFA is brilliant, I mean Snoke etc.. look worse than fucking LOTR creatures.
Also he kinda has a point. TFA was a rehash and fucked up many things.
They had a brilliant cast and cool characters, except for Kylo, so it makes up for it ! It's a decent start for what will probably be a great trilogy. (even if the adventure aspect has kinda been toned down, which is about the only thing Lucas ever did right :/ )
The events in The Force Awakens take place after the events of the original trilogy, so it's the straightest line back to what we know.
You can't just up and make Star Wars as though none of the rest ever happened. People are going to wonder where everything they love went, and then you have some tonally weird side movie that people equally disown.
Moreover, making it too, too different is going to result in a Nintendo effect of fan-based diminishing returns.
All of this aside, "the prequels sucked" is the majority opinion. "The Force Awakens is great." is the majority opinion now.
The new people saved Star Wars. Who cares how they did it?
Ill take replica planets over the stupid mirror romance (that was handled horribly)
They never said domestically.
If it said or implied domestically I wouldn't even mention it.
I think everyone agrees it'll be number 1 in the US.
I wonder if the Michael Arndt version of the screenplay was also an ANH redux?
It was awful in 2002
Well Starship Troopers even looks better these days and has aged as fine wine.
Good Job Bob
Member
The reception the prequels got definitely played a significant part in the type of film TFA set out to be.
GL was already rich before the deal and he gave most of the money from the deal away:
Donating Star Wars Billions Will Make George Lucas One Of The Biggest Givers Ever
Also, he wasn't wrong the movie was a remake of ANH whatever you can say about the prequels you can't say that Lucas didn't at least try to do something original. I dislike this hyperbolic thread title, it reaks of clickbait.
BronsonLee
Member
Us Americans only care about USA, man
Hell, I don't even know what the fuck Dunkirk was!
brianmcdoogle
Member
Some days I'm convinced Lucas is the Ringo Starr of the film world.
For previous fans it does seem like a retread (albeit a well done one), but for a new generation of fans it's their New Hope. It was a good trade off to recapture old fans, and introduce new ones.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Haven't seen it lately but I think that's true. Pretty amazing. It might be one of the few survivors of the 1997-2003 era of leaning on immature CGI tech.
Ah, this is where the Internet lines up to tell Lucas how awful he is. Woo.
New film wasn't great, but still good. Just like the prequels. Just like the next movies will end up being. But really I dislike the "Billion dollars!" thing being held up as some sort of highmark over the other films. Especially when people were all too eager to lambaste Furious7 and JWorld making that much.
New film wasn't great, but still good. Just like the prequels. Just like the next movies will end up being. But really I dislike the "Billion dollars!" thing being held up as some sort of highmark over the other films. Especially when people were all too eager to lambaste Furious7 and JWorld making that much.
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.
Dude Abides
Banned
I'm sure you have many great ideas about how to accomplish that, but apparently the people responsible for doing so decided that an effective way to convince people that Star Wars isn't all hot garbage is to remind them of the films that were good, and it seems to have worked.
Yeah on that point I do agree with him, not much else though.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
That's one of the most embarrassing things ever set to film, so I can't argue much...
Though it wasn't a mirror of Han and Leia in ESB. It was the first and only romance as a centrepiece to a SW film. And the results were............. ugh.
History? Star Wars is not Citizen Kane. It's an entertaining series of movies. They stopped being entertaining in the prequels. Now they're entertaining again.
Just making the tone similar to the first three and having the original cast back would've easily earned goodwill. No reason this movie had to be a rehash.
The movie would've been successful even with Lucas at the helm. Ford, Hamill and Fisher coming back were guarantees the movie was going to be massive.
Not true at all. There's a whole generation that got introduced to the series by the prequels. A lot of kids loved them as bad as they are.
Dash_Riprock
Member
Then Lucas is an even bigger idiot for not getting it in writing.
easily the worst part of the prequels. along with filming in 1080p
yes, worse than the "chemistry"
MiamiWesker
Member
The slavers comment seems to me to be more directed at the Hollywood industry, not Disney. He hates Hollywood, always had, always tried to stay away from it. And now he sold it to them.
WadiumArcadium
Member
Lucas never did a script. He had some notes on what was planned but that was it.
zero shift
Banned
Was he even playing to make episode 7, 8, and 9? I thought he said episode 3 was going to be the last one he'd work on? I mean from ANYONE else I wouldn't believe that but I could see Lucas just laying the franchise to rot while he just kept making Star Wars TV shows.
Maybe if you took the time to actually parse out the very detailed criticisms of the prequels, and what people liked about TFA, you wouldn't be so baffled.
What people disliked about the prequels includes (but is not limited to) the stilted acting, awful dialogue, lack of chemistry between characters whose relationships are supposed to be critical to the story, the over reliance on green screens and CGI that have aged very poorly, sluggish pacing, Jar Jar Binks, etc. It's not a coincidence that what a lot of people have loved about TFA is the acting, the pacing, the chemistry and just overall strong character work.
The prequels have flaws. TFA has flaws. But not all flaws are equal, and disliking one movie because of its flaws and liking another in spite of its flaws is not the big hypocrisy you think it is.
I think we have a new "I made a HUGE mistake" image.
And sorry Georgie but your new ship design in the PT are SHIT. SHIIIIIT. They look like an amateur designed it in a brand new Lightwave 3D they just got for birthday present.
Discotheque
Banned
I heard Lucas had 6 full scripts written for Star Wars VII and those assholes had the gall to throw all of them out. He also signed multiple actors for it and they scrapped all of it. Disney has no respect. The truth is out there.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Apparently he was planning an Episode VII on his own... perhaps as a prelude to selling it off. But in the end he decided to just sell it beforehand.
ginger ninja
Banned
I hope most of you commenting actually saw the video too. The white slaver thing was just a joke, besides I feel for the man even though clearly he wasn't the right guy for the new trilogy.
So, years after a ragtag group freedom fighters battle a fascist regime... another ragtag group freedom fighters battle a fascist regime? Real original.
Maybe you should wait a little longer for "majority opinion" to evolve. Popular opinion was that Avatar was great when it first came out, but now it's barely in the public's consciousness now. More and more there's grumblings of TFA's flaws and shortcomings online.
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.
I highly doubt that is true reality considering the amount of money that was being transferred, an army of lawyers on both sides would have been surely skimming over every piece of it.
Lawyers at that pay range would have known any agreement of that nature would never hold up. you don't make unofficial agreements when handing over Billions of dollars.
Let's be honest, it was probably for the best even though TFA was a safe, predictable, corporate product.
Yeah he's not wrong with the retro comment, but boy this comes off as sour grapes, especially when it has come out that Disney basically showed him the door rather than asking for input. Considering how disliked his last entries in the series were, it's also probably not a fight he wants to get into.
The slavers comment is probably his independent roots coming out. Lucas had always disliked the studio system. Probably not the best choice of words.
The slavers comment is probably his independent roots coming out. Lucas had always disliked the studio system. Probably not the best choice of words.
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