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

[jaqua99]

I had no problem with him. Loved every single star wars movie. All 6 of them

 

[kickass]

I know I'll get flack for saying this, but I choose to ignore the PT. Thankfully, that's easy for me to do because the OT existed before the PT ever did, so it 100% works on its own. I have the OT on DVD without any of the added stuff (some of which I don't mind actually).

I watched AOTC last night and in my opinion, it is the worst SW film ever made....I would love to hear what people would have liked to see in the PT other than what we got?
I watched Mockingjay 1&2 recently and I wish the PT followed in that kind of capacity, with the portrayal of President Snow and Coin (Palpatine and rebellion wise).

I like to create my own head-canon. What I prefer, is that Obi-Wan never cuts down Anakin to begin with. Anakin gradually turns to the Dark Side under the private tutelage of Palpatine and the straw that breaks the camel's back is when Palpatine takes over the Senate with "Vader" by his side. That is when the Jedi Council permanently expells Anakin from the Order and in turn Palpatine politically expells the Jedi Order.
War breaks out, between the clone army and the Jedi (the galaxy would have way more than 10,000 Jedi btw lol).

Another idea I had was on the day of graduation, Anakin publicly resigns from the Order, shocking everyone (even Padme, who has been worrying about Anakin's temper and emotional distance for some time now). It is on that day that he publicly shows his allegiance to Palpatine when Palps takes over the Senate.

Anyways I know this sounds tacky written down, but in my head it works. As far as Anakin becoming more machine than man? That would take place over the course of hunting down the Jedi, NOT through a duel with Obi-Wan. I prefer to think that Vader hunted the Jedi from one corner of the galaxy to the other, and damn near almost died because of it, until all that was left of him was the machine we've all come to know and love. I like that idea soooooo much more.

(I'm sorry if my theories offend anyone LOL).

 

[Greens]

You can ignore and recognize whatever you want. I don't do that because the actual story is right in front of me. I can't ignore a huge part of the canon just because the execution was lackluster in some areas.

 

[kickass]

Thank you for not killing me lol

 

[terry78]

You don't have to like it, but it still happened. That is my take on it.

 

[FVD]

That probably drove him to be more involved with the writing process and even 'ghost' direct Return of the Jedi. And from there he got rid of Gary Schultz, who fundamentally help Lucas in the past for almost all of his projects.

Ah, I think you must mean Gary Kurtz. When he left the project Jedi suffered horribly. Problem is too that Lucas started getting obsessed with toy sales at that point in which I do think he sold out around that point in time. I mean he was originally going to have Han die and then because of the toys he keeps him alive?! And apparently Harrison Ford wasn't happy about the change either. As for Kurtz there has been a couple interviews where he hasn't been all that impressed with Jedi and the Prequels that later followed. Jedi was the beginning of the decline sadly. Just look at how kiddy Jedi had gotten following Empire.

Last night I for the first time watched this Prequel Fan Edit on YouTube called "The Blackened Mantle." The dialogue was all in Japanese with English Subtitles but man, the changed dialogue made the edit a much better film to watch as the people involved also used pivotal scenes from TPM and AOTC in flashback form. It was brilliant!!

 

[Greens]

Jedi was the beginning of the decline sadly. Just look at how kiddy Jedi had gotten following Empire.

Jedi is a strange beast because while most of the rebel material was very kiddy (on Endor, from the speeder chase to throwing rocks at Stormtroopers) Luke and the Empire had some extremely powerful scenes. The interactions between Luke and Vader were gold, the opening scene of the movie was great, the Yoda stuff was a great send-off, Vader's death, the scenes on the Death Star.

There are some very high ups and some pretty low downs in that movie.

 

[Gianakin_]

I know I'll get flack for saying this,

...do you even know where you are?

 

[Sithborg]

It's interesting. I just saw Strange Magic. I kind of liked it, though I completely understand why it got the reception it did.

That said, I think Lucas is too much of a control freak to be a part of the production.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

According to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Lucas, who sold his company to Disney in 2012 and was not involved in the new Star Wars film, will attend the premieres this month in Los Angeles and London. Lucas has seen the film, Kennedy tells The Hollywood Reporter, and "he really liked it."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/george-lucas-attend-star-wars-845948

 

[TheVileOne]

Lucas' contributions as a storyteller to cinema are undeniable. I mean, he made everything possible.

However, it doesn't change all the bad parts about the prequels. Look, Lucas did a video recently where he basically said he hopes the Force doesn't get bogged down with all sorts of gobbledy ****. He actually said that, the man who added midi-chlorians in episode 1.

He's hit his peak as a writer and storyteller.

 

[titansupes]

He's also completed his task as a filmmaker and a man.

 

[Loki882]

He's a good storyteller, WHEN he has other people around who can tell him no/reign him in when he goes overboard (which he does tend to do at times). Also, he's not much of a director imo (nor does he apparently enjoy the process).

 

[Tacit Ronin]

How can you not enjoy slouching on your director's couch while sipping a latte and telling accomplished actors to act around a blue rag. To be fair, using the vocal cords once in a while to whisper 'CUT' must be physically draining.

 

[Horhey]

The prequels pandered to little kids so they would beg their parents to buy them the action figures. That's all that was. A half-assed job.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

But not before they were 'treated' to long, elaborate, lifeless senate scenes that makes those old C-Span congressional hearings exciting in comparison.

 

[Apollo]

I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest.

 

[TheDarkCreed86]

To be honest, even though alot here are calling the prequels kiddie like. It does have alot of scenes that make the movies difficult to actually show my kid. Such as Maul getting split in half, Jango beheading and numerous scene in ROTS.

 

[Octoberist]

I think whatever Lucas had in his mind didn't translate well into the prequels. Again, ROTS should've been two movies.

 

[Leenie]

I don't think the prequels are good movies. I don't have the utmost vitriol towards them, though, because I never expected them to be amazing movies in the first place. I can also watch the Original Trilogy without associating them with the prequels ... And that's probably because the prequels feel like a completely different series of movies; they've never really felt like Star Wars movies in the first place.

All of that said, the only "animosity" towards George Lucas that I have is what he's done to the movies that I DO love. His reasoning behind all of those changes makes me believe that he is so out-of-touch as a filmmaker now.

So, am I glad that this story wasn't written by Lucas? Yes, I am.

 

[Eros]

The Pt have awesome moments and alot of bad and really bad moments, but is Lucas lack of directing ability and filling the movies with characters people cant really care about. I like Phontom menace but is inferior to what came before it, Attack of the clones is sad becasue its one big missed opptertunity. Revenge of the sith was the best of the not so good.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy says that while the Force Awakens doesn't follow George Lucas' original treatments for a sequel trilogy, they were an inspiration
"We had discussions based off of George's treatments," she says, "and then when J.J. and Larry came into the process, there were new ideas being discussed, which is normally what would happen in a development process. We didn't have a script, we didn't have an extensive treatment of any kind, so we were still trying to find the story for the movie, so it's not as though something was just read and then set aside, and everybody said, 'Oh, we don't want to do that, we're going to start on this new thing.' Everything emanated from what George had created with the original movies, and then some of the things he was talking about in this brief synopsis. We carried on from there."

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/...ed-about-star-wars-the-force-awakens-20151211

 

[Lord]

Ah, I think you must mean Gary Kurtz. When he left the project Jedi suffered horribly. Problem is too that Lucas started getting obsessed with toy sales at that point in which I do think he sold out around that point in time. I mean he was originally going to have Han die and then because of the toys he keeps him alive?! And apparently Harrison Ford wasn't happy about the change either. As for Kurtz there has been a couple interviews where he hasn't been all that impressed with Jedi and the Prequels that later followed. Jedi was the beginning of the decline sadly. Just look at how kiddy Jedi had gotten following Empire.

Last night I for the first time watched this Prequel Fan Edit on YouTube called "The Blackened Mantle." The dialogue was all in Japanese with English Subtitles but man, the changed dialogue made the edit a much better film to watch as the people involved also used pivotal scenes from TPM and AOTC in flashback form. It was brilliant!!

Let's be honest, had he been given complete control, we would have seen some terrible plot points too. He originaly planned that after Vader and Luke's emotional moment, Luke would take Vader's helmet and proclaim "now i am Darth Vader". I also heard (from the TheForce forums, so it might be b*****t to make him look worse) that a lot of the times, Lucas and Kurtz clashed heads due to Kurtz telling Lucas a certain effect or set-piece was impossible to do. Anyway, after Star Wars, most of Kurtzs films seem to have been mediocre to bad, i think it was a far bigger shame what happened with Marcia Lucas, she was instrumental in helping Raiders and the original Star Wars work as well as they did (she aparently was the inspiration for Leia and Marion being though female characters) and she even collaborated with Martin Scorcese, a collaboration he aparently enjoyed a lot. Such a talented editor who barely gets mentions in Star Wars documentaries.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Bob Iger, The Walt Disney Company CEO & Chairman: “Even though he had issues with the film, I thought it was important for George [Lucas] to be at [The] Force Awakens premiere. He didn’t want to come at first, but Kathy [Kennedy], with the help of George’s now-wife, Mellody Hobson, convinced him it was the right thing to do. Among the last things we negotiated before the [sale of Lucasfilm] deal closed was a non-disparagement clause. I asked George to agree that he wouldn’t publicly criticize any of the Star Wars films we made. When I brought it up with him, he said, ‘I’m going to be a big shareholder of the Walt Disney Company. Why would I disparage you or anything you do? You have to trust me.’ I took him at his word.”” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company – September 23, 2019)

Bob Iger: “A few months before we closed the [Lucasfilm] deal, George [Lucas] hired the producer Kathy Kennedy to run Lucasfilm. Kathy cofounded Amblin Entertainment along with her husband, Frank Marshall, and Steven Spielberg, and had produced E.T. and the Jurassic Park franchise and dozens of critical and commercial hits. It was an interesting move on George’s part. We were on the verge of buying the company, but he suddenly decided who was going to run it and ultimately produce the upcoming films. It didn’t upset us, but it did come as a surprise, just as it surprised Kathy to learn that the company she was agreeing to run was about to be sold! Kathy is a legendary producer, and she has been a great partner, and this was one final way for George to put someone in whom he trusted to be the steward of his legacy.” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company – September 23, 2019)

Bog Iger: “With [George] Lucas, there was only one person with creative control – George. He wanted to retain that control without becoming an employee. It would have been a dereliction of my responsibilities to spend more than $4 billion and then say, essentially, This is still yours. Go ahead and make whatever movies you want to make on whatever timeline you can make them.” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company - September 23, 2019)

Bob Iger: “At some point in the process, George [Lucas] told me that he had completed outlines for three new movies. He agreed to send us three copies of the outlines: one for me; one for Alan Braverman; and one for Alan Horn, who’d just been hired to run our studio. Alan Horn and I read George’s outlines and decided we needed to buy them, though we made clear in the purchase agreement that we would not be contractually obligated to adhere to the plot lines he’d laid out.” “He knew that I was going to stand firm on the question of creative control, but it wasn’t an easy thing for him to accept. And so he reluctantly agreed to be available to consult with us at our request. I promised that we would be open to his ideas (this was not a hard promise to make; of course we would be open to George Lucas’s ideas), but like the outlines, we would be under no obligation.” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company – September 23, 2019)

Bob Iger: “Early on, Kathy [Kennedy] brought J.J. and Michael Arndt up to Northern California to meet with George at his ranch and talk about their ideas for the film. George immediately got upset as they began to describe the plot and it dawned on him that we weren’t using one of the stories he submitted during the negotiations. The truth was, Kathy, J.J., Alan, and I had discussed the direction in which the saga should go, and we all agreed that it wasn’t what George had outlined. George knew we weren’t contractually bound to anything, but he thought that our buying the story treatments was a tacit promise that we’d follow them, and he was disappointed that his story was being discarded. I’d been so careful since our first conversation not to mislead him in any way, and I didn’t think I had now, but I could have handled it better. I should have prepared him for the meeting with J.J. and Michael and told him about our conversations, that we felt it was better to go in another direction. I could have talked through this with him and possibly avoided angering him by not surprising him. Now, in the first meeting with him about the future of Star Wars, George felt betrayed, and while this whole process would never have been easy for him, we’d gotten off to an unnecessarily rocky start.” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company – September 23, 2019 )

Bob Iger: “Just prior to the global release, Kathy screened The Force Awakens for George. He didn’t hide his disappointment. ‘There’s nothing new,’ he said. In each of the films in the original trilogy, it was important to him to present new worlds, new stories, new characters, and new technologies. In this one, he said, ‘There weren’t enough visual or technical leaps forward.’ He wasn’t wrong, but he also wasn’t appreciating the pressure we were under to give ardent fans a film that felt quintessentially Star Wars. We’d intentionally created a world that was visually and tonally connected to the earlier films, to not stray too far from what people loved and expected, and George was criticizing us for the very thing we were trying to do. Looking back with the perspective of several years and a few more Star Wars films, I believe J.J. achieved the near-impossible, creating a perfect bridge between what had been and what was to come.” (The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company – September 23, 2019)

 

[terry78]

Well that's about right.