The Force Awakens Anyone glad it's not written by Lucas?

[Spider-Gnome]

If you essentially re-do a previous film, alter subtle parts of the story, and then discontinue the previous versions, making them impossible to purchase... then you may not be forcing anyone to buy the new product, but you're definitely doing the next best thing.

I'm not calling GL a bad person, just a horrible director/writer/creative. There's a difference there; one is fair game, the other is not. One is warrented, the other is not.

Fair enough. Again I was referring to people who resort to personal attacks, not those who have criticism of his work.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Yeah, they did, but it's not like people just give him money. He created the Star Wars universe.

EVERY studio double dips films. No one is forcing anyone to buy something they already own. And the changes he makes are not to piss off fans (even if that is what he ends up doing).

And it's still not a reason for the personal attacks.

I dunno. Once you shell out thousands of bucks for Star Wars stuff, it gets to a point where the fan has the right to say whatever they want to say. I have a very difficult time feeling sorry for a multi-billionaire.

 

[TheVileOne]

Without Lucas, we would not have Star Wars. His contributions to visual effects, sci-fi/fantasy, and cinema are undeniable. However, the franchise undoubtedly outgrew George Lucas, and he made a lot of missteps.

I mean look, he puts up a video with Vanity Fair saying he's hoping the Force doesn't get muddled in lots of gobbledygook. C'mon. The dude added Midi-Chlorians to Phantom Menace. Whether he's sincere or not, when he says things like that, it's like a troll job.

Even with Jar Jar, I can sort of understand what Lucas was going for. I don't think Jar Jar was meant to be insensitive or mean-spirited, but maybe Lucas is a little more naive than we think. Look at C-3PO, some joke about him being like a flamboyant gay stereotype.

I am glad these films aren't being written by Lucas. Even if the new movies are a letdown, I don't think we can do much worse than the lows of the prequels.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Entertainment Weekly - George Lucas on new Star Wars film: 'They weren’t keen to have me involved'

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/20/george-lucas-star-wars-force-awakens-breakup

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Music to mah ears.

 

[Octoberist]

Music to mah ears.

I have all the respect in the world for George, but yes, same here.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I wish Lucas was more like another George who came back to his old franchise and showed the youngins what was up. Alas he forgot or never realized what people actually dug about Star Wars.

 

[Raiden]

Entertainment Weekly - George Lucas on new Star Wars film: 'They weren’t keen to have me involved'

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/20/george-lucas-star-wars-force-awakens-breakup

After the Prequels, the Special Editions, and his refusal to re-release the OT's theatrical version in blu-ray, I'm glad he's no longer involved in Star Wars. It's clear that he's the one who has lost his touch and cannot understand what the franchise is about.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I wish Lucas was more like another George who came back to his old franchise and showed the youngins what was up. Alas he forgot or never realized what people actually dug about Star Wars.

George Costanza?

 

[Mightmitenot]

Fox screwed up by giving Lucas total creative control over SW. No one could rein him in. Only "The Empire Strikes Back" written by Brackett and Kashdan was the closest thing to a 'Lucas free' SW until EU novels came out and Starwars Rebels was done for the Mouse.

SWR and some of the EU books were much better than Lucas scripted films.

 

[Serpico Jones]

Fox screwed up by giving Lucas total creative control over SW. No one could rein him in. Only "The Empire Strikes Back" written by Brackett and Kashdan was the closest thing to a 'Lucas free' SW until EU novels came out and Starwars Rebels was done for the Mouse.

SWR and some of the EU books were much better than Lucas scripted films.

Brackett's script was completely thrown out. She had nothing to do with the finished film.

 

[titansupes]

And I will absolutely disagree with the "Fox screwed up by letting him have total creative control" part. Who knows what we would've had in place of the OT if they'd had there way, and the FOX of the PT era was certainly nothing to write home about.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

The man gave us star wars...no doubt. Question though...which would you have preferred: A sequel trilogy to the OT (which we are getting now) or a Prequel Trilogy...with or without Lucas's involvement? For me, I always asked myself this question...why wasn't there any more stories to be told after Jedi? What became of Luke? Did Han and Leia settle down and start a family? These were some of the questions that I asked myself way back before the PT was announced. Personally, I'd rather they continued on with the Skywalker and Solo story line. Save the PT for another time for the right time. A lot of people have said and believed that today's generation...Star Wars died after Jedi. I just shook my head at them. Sure...we've seen so many different movies that changed cinema history. And even though Star Wars was one of them when Lucas released it back in 1977, no one thought that it would be a big success and look at Star Wars now. It still is what it is today, and I can say the same with some of the other franchises. Star Wars has and will always have a huge impact on us, not just the older fans of the OT, the fans of the PT but the fact that we have one month left until The Force Awakens releases, the new movie will generate a whole slew of new SW fans. I for one am glad that Lucas has give the reins to Disney and co but I still think and I hope he does get credit where its due.

After all, he was the creator...I grew up with the OT...watched them countless times. When it was announced that the PT was gonna be made, I was excited...but the problem I had about the PT was that I knew everything going in to see the movies...and looking back on that, I don;t know what would have been any different if I was spoiler free. It took a bit of time to get over the PT and its many disappointments...so I distant myself from Star Wars for almost a decade. When it was announced that Lucas was leaving SW with Disney, again, I stayed as far back as I could knowing what would happen if I were on certain message forums finding out and reading spoilers about the new film. I didn't want to go though that the same way I did with the PT, thus leaving the theater disappointed. Lucas had good ideas...but the execution of those ideas were way off the mark, according to what he laid out in the OT. There was so many inconsistencies and contradictions - the only good parts I cared about was Obi wan and Yoda...what happened to them and where they'd be until we meet them both again in the OT. Especially the Jedi...I watched RotS last night and the scene that starts with Obi riding on Boga and the Clone Troopers blast him...followed by the other Jedi, like Ki-Adi Mundi, Aayla, Plo Koon...man, the feels and the part where Yoda senses all this...it was quite sad and emotional. All because of one man's hunger for power and control of the entire Galaxy...and how he was the mastermind behind everything that led up to the events of the OT.

I can agree with those who thought the politics were boring and all - hard to follow but now, I am 31 and even still as much as I dislike Politics in general, it was a brilliant piece of writing on Lucas's part to explain how Palpatine rose to Power and managed to seduce a young man who wasn't all that evil to begin with...which eventually led him to become the very thing he swore to destroy...What's interesting though, is how its Anakin's son who sees the good in Vader and tries to bring his father back to the good side...Obi wan once thought he could save his friend but he failed because Anakin chose not to listen. Deep down, Luke could see past his father's mistakes and see in him, that he was once a good man and eventually, when Vader saw Palpatine murdering his son, this was something he knew in himself that he didn't want to witness: seeing someone closest to him die because of him and he knew what he had to do. So what does he do? Anakin swoops in and saves Luke from death but ultimately destroys himself in the process as he tosses the Emperor's body down the death star's throat. I still get teary eyed at that scene cause in the end, Anakin dies a hero because his son believed in him.

Now, as for the Special Editions, let me just say, I do like those versions more but I would have preferred if Disney could re-edit them. 1) Replace Greedo shooting first with Han shooting first - the way it was in the original cut. 2) Again, replace Hayden Christensen's force ghost with Sebastian Shaw in Jedi as it was in the original cut. The rest can stay...but those two I just mentioned, needs to go and be fixed.

Anyway, to end this post, I just want to say that, I am glad that Star Wars is back. Glad that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and others are back. And from I've seen so far, I am warming up to the new movie. I hope its good...and makes me forget my disappointments that I had about the PT. Time to let others give their own vision of that galaxy far, far away... Trust me, I can feel the force in everyone of whom I started to talk to about SW. In Solo's words, "Chewie...we're home."

 

[jonathancrane]

I still find it amusing that one of the studio memos sent during the production of ANH was built around the concern of Chewbacca not having pants.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

Why would chewie wear pants? Well...he's hairy...so hairyness hides his naughty bits. Lols

 

[terry78]

I think it's kinda sad that it's gotten to the point where even hardcore fans don't want the originator involved, as this is like the only instance in existence where I have witnessed that with a property. But if he's fine with it, whatever.

 

[godisawesome]

I think it's kinda sad that it's gotten to the point where even hardcore fans don't want the originator involved, as this is like the only instance in existence where I have witnessed that with a property. But if he's fine with it, whatever.

There's actually some parity here for Lucas and Star Wars compared to Rodenberry and Star Trek:

- Both creators were the major force behind the entire universe initially presented to the audience, though when they were still young enough to have accepted help from other creators.
- Both ultimately returned to their franchises after getting big enough to have direct control over everything, and attempted to "perfect" their vision, with a perceived downgrade in quality from it.
- Both ultimately ceded control of the franchise to others, who immediately went back to what were the more mainstream appeals of the product.
- Both men are respected, and still generally praised, especially for their early work, but are often seen as disconnected from what made it all work.

There's a very good comparison to be made between the prequels and the first few seasons of TNG, the attempt to scientifically explain the Force using midichlorians with the obnoxious utopianism of the Federation, and even between Jar Jar Binks as a failed attempt at kid appeal with the Ferengi as a horrible attempt at the next villainous species.

To Lucas's credit, most of the "damage" he did, he was directly responsible for with his own direction, writing, and editing. He actually seemed to have a very lax hold on the rest of the Star Wars empire, so he wasn't as much of a stifling force as Rodenberry became. The trade off was that it was easier for Rodenberry's assistants to override him and block him out on the big stuff.

 

[Matt]

I think it's kinda sad that it's gotten to the point where even hardcore fans don't want the originator involved, as this is like the only instance in existence where I have witnessed that with a property. But if he's fine with it, whatever.

But I'm not sure he is. You see that interview and he comes off as so bitter about it, yet desperately trying to convince people he's not. To use his own breakup analogy, he is the guy who tells his buddies "I don't care that she's dating someone new!" while it eats him up inside. I just get that vibe, the lady doth protest too much, y'know?

 

[terry78]

Yeah, I don't think any creator immediately tips their hat to someone who is doing it better than you ever could according to your own fanbase.

 

[Matt]

Yeah, I don't think any creator immediately tips their hat to someone who is doing it better than you ever could according to your own fanbase.

Yeah, that is understandable. But that raises the question: if he doesn't want to tip his hat to Abrahms and Disney, why the bad place is he doing these interviews? I don't get the feeling that Disney is asking him to promote the movie or super eager to have him out promoting the film (it sells itself), especially when he is saying things like this, how much he hates filmmaking, how the current filmmakers do not understand his story, etc. So WHY is he suddenly doing all of these interviews?

I mean, I understand that the media is going to ask him to do interviews right now. Star Wars Episode VII is about to launch, it is, arguably, the most anticipated movie of all time. Of course the media wants to interview its creator and get his thoughts. But he could just say no.

You don't hear James Cameron talking about how the studio has ruined the Terminator franchise. You don't hear Sam Raimi saying anything but nice things about the Webb Spider-Man films. I am sure reporters have asked them to. Lucas isn't the first filmmaker to have someone follow his work. When asked about it, they generally either stay silent or force out nice words about the successor's film.

Instead Lucas is making oddly passive aggressive comments about how Disney would not listen to his vision while also insisting that he "doesn't care" and has "left it behind." Its just very odd to me and stinks of bitterness on his part, like he has seller's remorse.

 

[Gianakin_]

Cameron's doing something worse: He talks the new Terminator release up, and when it inevitably crashes and fails he just bashes the bad place out of it.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Cameron's doing something worse: He talks the new Terminator release up, and when it inevitably crashes and fails he just bashes the bad place out of it.

Yeah, I wonder how much money they gave him to praise the heck out of it before release. I don't understand it either. He has more money than he could ever spend.

 

[Gianakin_]

I have an explanation, but it'd get me temp-banned.

 

[brothersthre3]

bad place yeah I am.

If George had gotten someone good to write the prequels I think they would have been great.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

What was it like being back in the Star Wars universe without the guiding hand of George Lucas?
Harrison Ford: George was involved in the development of the script. It had George's genius behind it, and he left us in a very good position to pass things on to a new director. I was very comfortable with J. J., having known him since he wrote Regarding Henry. He was very involved in that production. I felt George had made his choices and I was comfortable with that as well.

Do you feel he was with you in spirit?
Harrison Ford: As the creator of the myth we were tending, his imprimatur was on everything. So yes, if you will, he was with us in spirit.

Empire magazine (January 2016)