George Lucas has Seen The Force Awakens and he Really Liked it!
After several interviews from the past few weeks, where Gorge Lucas expressed his bitterness on the fact that Disney decided not to use his ideas for the upcoming trilogy, now George Lucas revealed that he actually already has seen the movie and he “really liked it”!
Not only he enjoyed the movie but also according to Kathleen Kennedy he will attend the official The Force Awakens premiere in LA and London this month!
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Kennedy says it’s been tough for Lucas, who was intimately involved in the first six Star Wars films, “watching this go on without his direct involvement. At the same time, he really wanted to step away.”
She adds: “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about George is it’s that he’s never, ever held back. Having him 100 percent on board is up to him and he can’t do that unless he’s running everything.”
It’s nice to see that the “divorce”, as Lucas named it, is going very well now. It’s really important for all the fans and the people involved with Star Wars, that the relationship between Lucas and Disney remain positive and friendly. George Lucas will always be the most important person in Star Wars. He created the saga, and now he made it possible to enjoy this franchise for many years to come. We will be forever grateful for that.
Thank You George!
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Thank you George for all your hard work on Star Wars – yes, you failed at times but without you, this fandom wouldn`t be what it is – and it`s awesome!
Suspected Lucas would attend the premier. More velvet than bitter divorce.
That’s the kind of story about Papa G I want see, positive ones…
On the one hand the PT was a total disaster. On the other we would not have this amazing Galaxy to enjoy and watch movies about. So thanks George!
I enjoyed it all, so it wasn’t a disaster to me.
Nor was the PT a disaster for me. My opinion has and always will be that the PT was not on par with the OT, but I enjoyed the PT immensely, nonetheless.
Same opinion here man.
I totally agree. Even though the PT has many flaws and shortcomings, it was still a fun ride.
No film is 100% perfect and flawless (and neither is the OT).
No, the OT isn’t perfect or flawless, but it’s still better as a whole than the PT (the dialogues, the pacing, the acting, etc.). And please keep in mind that I’m no PT hater. I’m just not blind to the fact that Lucas’ ideas were brilliant, but he failed to translate his vision to the screen the way he did in the OT.
Most people are probably tired of this debate about the prequels, but I still think it’s fun to talk about. “Total disaster” is a bit extreme, as I really enjoyed them, and there is a lot of great stuff in them, but still there is just so much wrong with them, some of it baffling and infuriating.
And another unintended bright side about the prequels is that I think the team behind TFA probably learned a lot about what not to do from watching the prequels!
Just as long as the team also learned what not to do from watching previous Abrams films.
If you want an enjoyable edit of the Prequels go to you tube and look for Anti – Cheese edit. It really brings the brilliance of those films into focus.
I re-watched Revenge of the Sith last night and was blown away – by how fake that movie looks. The CG is so excessive, so artificial looking. You would think you were watching the animated shows at times. I will never understand how people can look at that movie and be enthralled when it’s so full of digital fakery.
OT movies look even more fake with all the muppets and toys in space.
No they don’t. Models will always look better than digital. Real locations will always look better than synthetic. Real sets will always look better than digital.
Don’t be so sure of yourself. Too much of this and things will look too mechanical and plastic (mostly referring to the costumes). And by the way, based on the trailers for TFA, the shots of the ships in space don’t look like models at all (they look like CGI, albeit more recent CGI). It’ll be clearer once you see TFA.
And in the OT, those scenes where there is matte backgrounds and stop motion ulitlzed look even more fake. But hey, I’m not complaining about it as I’m enjoying the movies as they are. I can sustain my sense of disbelief and not let this kind of stuff ruin things for me.
It depends on what you’re trying to show. If you’re in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, some things (mabye even most things) might look better when digitally-made or at least digitally enhanced. Anyway, personally I so prefer digital creations to puppets and people in suits
Thank you! Totally agree with this
1. Are you watching it on some non-HD screen and not on blu-ray?
2. This speaks more about how advanced digital effects have come in recent years than the effects in that movie. Movies provide a snapshot of an instant as they are products of their times. They used what was the latest and the best in 2005 (actually earlier than 2005 since the movie was made between 2002-2005 but you get what I mean) and now being 2015 CGI has come a long way since then. But come on, it’s a little unfair to compare something that’s made now effects-wise to something made over 10 years ago.
This is why the “dated” argument that the haters use is baseless and weak (and it’s really just grasping for straws).
3. Surely you can find the link to TFN’s thread on the practical effects used in the PT (or do I need to provide it to you)
4. So tell me, where can we find a location here on Earth that is full of vocanoes and a black sky?
5. Lots of movies are full of CGI, recent movies too (just look at the Marvel movies for example), and yet we don’t hear a lot of complains about the use of it in them. But for some reason, Star Wars, despited being set in a GFFA and being in the fantasy/sci-fi genre by and large, there can’t be CGI in it -_-
Yes, full HD. It looks like a video game.
Yes, I’ve seen pictures of the practical stuff done for the prequels. The clear majority of practical stuff on the prequels was for Episode 1. Then they became increasingly digital and totally overboard with Sith.
I think all CG heavy movies, even released in recent years, look atrocius. It has only gotten worse and more abused with time. There is absolutely nothing remotely convicting about something that looks like it belongs on a PlayStation. Some people might believe in that crap, to me, it lacks all realism.
We have mountains and volcanos on earth across several continents. Black sky can be achieved by something called filming at night.
1. I don’t disagree with you about Episode I having more practical effects than the latter two. That said, that doesn’t mean that there weren’t any in the other two PT movies (ex: many of the indoor scenes were done with real sets). Also, I guess you missed the part of miniature models and whatnot (yes, some became the background for scenes but that’s because a lot of the environments portrayed with characters were non-Earth-based) and creating many of the landscapes with said miniatures in said landscape shots but if you want to keep assuming things and dismiss it as simply being done “all on a computer”, go ahead, you’re just going to continue to sound ignorant (maybe it’s the digital cameras that were utilized in AOTC and ROTS that give you this impression; or maybe you’re getting up there in age and your eyes aren’t what they’re used to).
2. It’s obvious that the imagery that GL wanted to convey with the portrayal of the platet Mustafar was to convey a metaphor for hell (it was even explained in the novelization for ROTJ and GL explained this back when he was filming the OT). Please tell me where you’re not this dense about this. If you are, can you tell me of a location here on Earth where there are lava rivers flowing and tons of volcanoes? And yeah, I’ll make sure I go check it out at night -_-
3. This is hardcore cinephile talk. I already made my point about this so my point still stands. You think it look a certain way then that’s you. For me it doesn’t detract me from the movie-watching experience. I’m guessing you won’t like TCW either since a lot of the planets shown in that show are
4. You sound like a purist with misguided feelings of nostalgia (I’m guessing you won’t like TCW either since a lot of the planets shown in that show are non-Earth-like but hey, they expand the SW universe (something that purist don’t have a perspective on)).
5. One should be suspending their sense of disbelief at all times and not try to apply real-wold logic 100% of the time when watching these SW films. Bottom line, one should be watching these movies with child wonderment, just like you did with the OT.
No prequel won any oscar, neither for visuals nor for anything else. And ROTS wasnt even nominated for best visuals so what are you talking about?
Personally, I feel that ROTS got robbed of a Oscar nomination for visual effects that year, especially considering that 1) it was better reviewed that the previous two PT movies and 2) The visuals were more improved than the other two. It did get a nomination for makeup so I guess that’s cool, and it did get nominated for other awards outside of the Oscars as well, with some being in the category of special effects (and won many of those awards too; the same thing goes for the other PT movies, just go look Wikipedia). As for the OT, it’s really just ANH that won multiple Oscars, the next two won only in special effects (at the time there was no category for it so they called it a special achievement award; ESB did take home an award for sound though); my take on this is because Star Wars was so new and there was nothing else like it during that time. By the time of the PT, there was already a plethora of effects-heavy movies so the selection was broad.
That said, I’m not a fan of the Oscars as I think it’s mostly rigged. Most of the movies that win are drama-based movies and the people that vote in the Oscars seem to be out of touch with the movie-going public anyhow.
Ofc a prequel fanboy cant be a fan of Oscars. However the only prequel which had good visuals was TPM, I admit that (it had no chance vs Matrix ofc tho) the other two are terribly fake looking, and by today very dated. On contrary the originals are almost perfect. I watched the full HD despecialised edition back then after the second teaser was released in april, and my jaw dropped how great the movie looks. Excpet one scene (the endor chase) it looks very-very good and ageless forever…
I think you’re over-defending the prequel’s visuals. The best visual directors choose to work within the limits that exist at the time. Spielberg is an example. He has typically limited himself when making movies so that the effects will hold up. Maybe there have been a few small exceptions, but Jurassic Park still looks great today because he didn’t throw everything at the screen. He pushed as far as he could push while “keeping it real.” The prequels are full of GREAT effects, no doubt. But they’re also full of so-so ones, and a few bad ones. It kind of makes things feel cheesy and artificial and video-game-like too much of the time.
I will grant that the original trilogy isn’t exactly effects perfection, either. But at least it always felt like real characters were in real environments, save for a few cheesy puppet and stop-motion things.
I think point 6 really hits hard. Most of the prequel-hating star wars fans are either extremely nitpicky, or were just looking for something completely different storywise (which is fine I guess). But really it’s like when people attack the prequels all of a sudden they’re film critics and are analyzing all of the dialogue and scenes. When did that become a thing casual moviegoers did? I know I didn’t do that, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the movies nearly as much. I feel like if I did that with most movies that came out now a lot of them would seem like crap to me (including the original trilogy I think, but whatever).
And yeah the CGI point I don’t understand at all. I always thought the prequels 1. looked better than the originals, and I still do, and 2. took advantage of the CGI to create worlds that simply can’t be made with practical effects without looking stupid (like you pointed out with Mustafar). Which is why now we have a bunch of Hoth/Endor/Yavin/Tatooine look-a-like’s in TFA, because on earth, those are the environments we can do while only using practical effects. But of course we should limit ourselves and not create amazing worlds with digital effects because “it looks fake”
. Maybe to you and a couple of other folks thought it was a “disaster” but both these figures don’t seem to indicate that (and no, seeing a bunch of comments from random people in the loud and vocal minority in comment sections on the Internet doesn’t count as something quantifiable as not everyone gets on the Internet to chime in with their thoughts). If anything, it’s more of the mixed variety than anything (with reactions that I consider to be of the “mixed to positive” type). Also, while they may not have resonated as well like the OT did with the old-school fans, they did help in bringing in a younger generation to the SW fandom; as you may know, while anyone of any age can enjoy the PT, they were made with youth of a younger generation in mind, similarly of how the OT was made with youth of the older generation in mind at the time of initial release (the same idea goes for the upcoming ST as well; and if that’s not clear to you now, it’ll become clearer by the time TFA and the rest of the ST movies are released).
More supporting data (BD sales data)
Transformers 4.
Jurassic World.
1. Don’t ever compare SW with that Transformers franchise. Those films are much worse than any of the SW films, including the PT (look at their Rotten Tomatoes scores; they’re much lower than any of the PT movies).
2. Funny how you mention JW; I personally found it entertaining (as well as many others did) even if it’s Rotten Tomatoes score is 71% (which is not too bad in retrospect; and no, RT scores can’t be seen like grade school grades of A, B, C, D, and F grades – it doesn’t work like that at all). The ones who didn’t like it are hardcore nitpickers and feminazis who have a hard time coming to terms with the female lead of that movie (due to them not being too pleased on that character’s portrayal because of their sense of feminist expectations and self-entitlement); they can’t bring themselves to be entertained due to their behavior of being excessively critical. Oh, and guess what, the director of JW will be directing a SW saga film 😉
The prequels are in no way better than Transformers.
And Transformers 1 (57%) is higher on RT than TPM (56%).
I’m willing to bet that the fan base for the PT today is far greater than that of Transformers, and will be in years to come.
1. I disagree (case in point: I see more SW PT fans than Transformers fans, and that’s just taking what I see on social media alone into consideration)
2. That movie is the only exception. And actually TPM was originally over 60% for it’s initial theatrical run; it wasn’t until the 2012 3D release of it that it’s average was lowered due to some RT “critics” who already came with biases/agendas when they reviewed TPM for the 1st time (ex: instead of looking at it on its own they went at it with a comparison perspective).
Noone gives a fck how was it originally (and Transformers was also higher, people only downvoted it after the following movies), its lower now and that is the one that matter. And I am talking about quality of the movies and not the number of fans. Hunger games and Twilight also have a lot of fans (probably more than PT fans). The two franchise are exact the same. Mindless CGI crap action to sell toys, nothing more.
The Hunger Games films, at least the first two, are actually kind of interesting. Having never read the books and been turned off by the hype machine, I had assumed that they sucked. I was wrong.
Its interessting because it was stolen from a japanese manga and movie: Battle Royale.
And that, too, is interesting.
“Oh, and guess what, the director of JW will be directing a SW saga film ;-)”
I’m a little bummed out about that. it should have been Brad Bird. Kathleen Kennedy should have not taken no for an answer and wore Bird down like she did Abrams…
Bird made Tomorrowland though…
And Abrams made Star Trek Into Darkness! But Bird also made The Iron Giant, and I’ll take the heart and soul of films like The Iron Giant and The Incredibles over Jurassic World any old day of the week. Much like Abrams, I believe we have seen glimpses of Spielbergian heart with Bird in some of his earliest efforts that indicate an as yet relatively untapped potential which perhaps a Saga film could bring out in spades…
I actually liked Into Darkness tho…
Anyway, Tomorrowland also bombed, so Disney probably isn’t too happy with him right now.
A lot of people I spoke too like Jurassic World (they don’t “love” it, but they didn’t hate it at all). And from what I see online it doesn’t look like it’s hated everywhere. And Transformers 4 got 18% in Rotten Tomatoes, all star wars movies did way better than that (none are below 50%)
Not being judgmental, but I thought George wanted to see it for the first time with the fans? I’m assuming if he’s seen it already it was because he was invited to a private screening by JJ, KK, and/or Bob Iger. Again, not being judgmental because if I had the opportunity to see it early, I’d be there.
He said he probably wouldn’t want to visit the premiere as well. He’s a goddamn human being and feelings and emotions change. He’s not as black and white as everyone on the internet wants him to be.
Once again, I wasn’t being judgmental, I was just curious if that is what he had said, because I thought he had said he was going to wait to see it with the fans. I’m very curious what made him change his mind. Did he see the trailers and TV spots and was blown away by the imagery as were countless fans alike? Did he get an invite and just couldn’t pass on the opportunity? Could he simply not wait any longer to find out what Lucasfilm and Disney had done with his baby? Was it a combination of the aforementioned? Or something else? I hope in the days to come we will find out what compelled him to see it early.
I for one have never seen George (or any other human being, for that matter) as being simply black or white. People are affected by thousands of stimuli every moment of their lives, stimuli that influence their behaviours. What were the stimuli that made George say, “I’m ready to see TFA now.”? That is my question.
His friends have all seen the movie. Spielberg has seen it at least 3 times already.
I’d be willing to bet that not all his friends have seen it
So, are you saying he watched it because his friends have seen it? If Spielberg jumped off a bridge…
Sheesh Bob….pull the stick out and clam down. Why so hostile?
There was no stick to begin with, and no intent to come off as hostile.
Please don’t imply inflection in regards to my comments and turn them into something they were not.
If you are implying I’m anything but calm because of my ‘jumping off a bridge ‘ comment, I’m simply stating that I don’t think one can say definitively that George decided to see TFA because his friends have seen it. Many of my friends have seen movies that I have not, but that does not mean I’m going to rush out and see everything they have seen and liked.
I don’t have to impose my take on your previous post. Your current one already does that. Whether you realize it or not it just comes off the screen as insulting. Just my two cents.
“Always in motion the future is”
Do you have the exact quote? I thought he said that he’d wait to see it when it was done. Not sure where this “watch with fans” things came from.
No, I don’t have the exact quote. ‘I thought’ he had said in the past that he would wait to see it with the fans. I never said definitively that George was quoted as saying he would wait to see it with the fans. I do remember reading an article about when George said he planned on seeing TFA, and that is what ‘I thought’ he said he was going to do.
IIRC, George said that he was looking forward to watching TFA as a regular fan, that it would be refreshing or something like that.
I don’t remember him saying that he’d wait to see it with the fans. But I think it was obvious that he would get to see the film at a private screening and/or at the premiere.
From Vaiety magazine December 8th, 2014
George Lucas recently told Page Six that he has yet to watch “The Force Awakens” footage, “Because it’s not in the movie theater. I like going to the movies and watching the whole thing there. I plan to see it when it’s released.”
Thanks.
I remember him using the word “audience” not “fans” 🙂
I would have liked to see George’s Episode VII (made with the right guidance, of course), but everything about TFA has blown me away and I look forward to all the surprises in store for this next trilogy and beyond. I hope George genuinely enjoyed it and continues to.
& here come the haters chiming in *rolls eyes*…
Because you’re not a hater at all…
“George Lucas will always be the most important person in Star Wars.” THIS.
I hoped that he would like it, if not for anything else than to be assured that his baby is in good hands. And I am glad that he will attend the premieres, because it’s his baby. And…
At what point did he say he really liked it?
Kathleen Kennedy has been quoted recently as saying that George has seen the film and that he said he “really liked it”. So I suppose the veracity of the quote depends upon how much one chooses to trust Kennedy. Until I see evidence to the contrary, I personally choose to give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt.
George Lucas is a terrible director and screenwriter, but he’s also a fantastic idea man and producer (when he doesn’t have to micromanage everything, which unfortunately, he can’t stand not to do anymore). Empire was the best film because it was the one he was the most hands-off with, which isn’t to say he doesn’t deserve credit for the film. He came up with the story, let Kasdan do most of the screenwriting, and let Kirschner direct without too much interference. That is what a great producer does! He finds the right screenwriter to tell the story he has in mind, and the right director to bring it to life. Then he steps back and just kind of oversees things, trusting and letting the creative people he hired do their job. That’s what Kevin Feige does, and look at the success of the MCU! Of course, George absolutely hated not having complete control on Empire, and couldn’t stand but to interfere much more on Jedi, eventually deciding he needed to have 100% control over the Prequels in every way, from screenwriting all the films alone to directing without ever taking any advice or input from his Academy Award winning director friends, like Spielberg. And so, the Prequels were complete garbage. Again, I am not attacking or praising Lucas, just giving an honest assessment of both his strengths and his weaknesses. He’s one of the greatest visionaries in film history, but also an absolutely horrible writer-director. No one’s perfect.
You know, there are articles out there that talk about how GL was trying to find other folks to direct the PT as he initially didn’t want to do it (ex: he had asked Ron Howard to direct TPM, & I believe Spielberg as well) and likewise with screen writing (ex: asking Kasdan). All of them didnt want to (out of fear that it was too large of a task for them) and pretty much told GL to do it himself. Pretty much, to sum it up, everyone was basically telling GL that he should do things himself (so what else can the guy do if the whole world is rejecting work and essentially saying “you should do it”?). So yeah, he really tried to get others on board to come and work him on the PT (you can do research on this and you’ll find that this was the case). Furthermore, there were script doctors that looked through the PT scripts as well (make of that what you want) and he even asked others like Spielberg for example to look over things to see what he thinks. So, to totally characterize him as one who didn’t want to seek help/input/advice nor work with others (like some haters assume) and call him a “control freak” is really unfair – as he really tried to get others to come and work with him – and undermining GL’s willingness to work with others.
By the way, speaking of ESB, though many nowadays trots ESB as being the best SW film to date, it initially received mixed reviews. My take on this is that the movie was ahead of its time and although the adults of the time probably had an “ok” reaction to it at the time, it did make an impression with the youth of the time and as those youth got older, ESB’s profile and perception grew due to the film making a cultural impact on them.
Come to think of it….its real fitting that Reagan Era critics didn’t like ESB. How would they react to a hero rushing off to face a foe, then getting his ass kicked and learning he’s directly related to that foe?
Also, the cowboy character getting taken out, and a black guy taking his place at the pilot’s chair.
heh…I might get flagged but whatevs lol
Hopefully the same thing won’t happen for the prequels. I swear, if I start hearing people calling Episode II a masterpiece, I’ll die.
Useless platitudes at this point.
I hate the prequels, but, meh, we got 12 days.
I love prequels!
Mostly agreed, though sometimes there’s a place for Lucas’ ideas and other times there isn’t. Case in point: the entirety of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. :/
I think the Team America “D**ks f**k p*****s” speech is applicable: “Sometimes Lucas’ ideas f**k too hard… or- when it isn’t appropriate, but if it weren’t for him f**king the a**holes, we’d all be watching a whole lot of S**T.”
without him you wouldn’t be seeing this you ungrateful motherfuckers
I have said it many times here and else where on and offline, I love all six episodes to date and I’m 100% sure I will enjoy this new episode too. As for
Mr Lucas ( I call him “Mr” because I respect the man.) I’ve always looked up to
him. I know he’ll will be remembered as one of the great stories tellers of
our time just like J.R.R Tolkien and the like. Just like Gene Roddenberry is considered the father of Star trek so is George Lucas The Father of Star Wars.
(Although many of us prefer to call him the ” Maker ” ) I am very happy he liked the movie. I think he now knows that his franchise is in good hands.
No offense, but if you liked all six films, than I am 100% sure that your standards are low enough that you’ll love this one too.
Too harsh… I really enjoyed Episode 3, particularly the opening battle over Coruscant, Anakin’s defeat of Dooku, and the way they setup the OT over the last few minutes. The onscreen portrayal of Anakin’s final fall to the dark side was not done well and I personally would have done it differently, but overall as I said I really enjoyed Ep 3.
It is OK if someone likes the prequels. I love the OT as much as anybody, but it is almost fashionable for people to bash the prequels on these message forums.
I also enjoyed certain elements of Epsidoe III. The opening battle was pretty cool, and the ending was masterfully and emotionally done (which is a rarity for the prequels). But other than that, the movie is not very good. I really only enjoy it due to the nostalgia I have of watching it on my portable DVD player back in 2007 😉
As for it being “fashionable” to bash the prequels, I think that a part of that comes from fandom culture. the meaner of us often consider prequel fans to not be “true” fans, so a lot of people find that they have to bash the prequels just to get fandom cred. I , however, just don’t like those movies.
I like all six films, and it’s NOT because “my standards are low.”
That’s just your arrogance talking, sign of a closed mind. (It is arrogance to imply that your standards are “higher”/”better” than someone else’s).
If you OPEN your mind, when you are RECEPTIVE, you can ENJOY FAR MORE than you do.
Mmmmm…no. I had anopened mind, and the prequels burned me. When I see a movie, I expect good acting, pacing, effects, etc., as do most people. Excuse us for not liking it when the prequels were void of all of these.
“… I expect good acting, pacing, effects, etc., as do most people. Excuse us for not liking it when the prequels were void of all of these.”
Excused, because you are absolutely free to like or not like anything you choose. But this is your opinion, which is a purely subjective thing.
The acting was EXACTLY what the style of the films required.
The pacing had no issues. Lucas is on “Home Turf” when he’s editing, it’s one of his core strengths. Pacing is an essential aspect of editing.
The visual effects were spot on, executed by some of the best VFX artists in the business!
So, no, NOT “void of all these.” I remember them! These qualities are very present.
Again: you are ABSOLUTELY free to like or not like anything you choose.
What I object to is this: You accused A Knight of Ren of loving something you didn’t because of “lower standards” than yours. That’s condescending, and it’s a statement of arrogance.
“Open mindedness” was the most respectful way I could think to suggest to you that there is a way to see things in such a way as to DISCOVER. Being receptive, without expectation. Expectation and open-minded are mutually exclusive.
I ENJOY, intentionally.
I love the prequels, and I’m worried that I might not love this movie. That doesn’t mean I have no/absurdly low standards. People might just like different kinds of movies, saying that because someone likes a movie it means they have no standards is pretty insulting. It’s like if I were dating a girl you thought was ugly and you said I had no standards, that’d be pretty fucked up. Maybe we just have different tastes.
It’s ironic that George Lucas seems to be dealing with the same problem that was at the center of his main character’s fall: attachment. But if we the fans love SW so much, I can only imagine how hard it must’ve been for him to let go.
It’s good to see how he seems to be handling the “divorce” much better now, though. Even if George is not involved in the production of the films anymore, it’ll always be reassuring to know that SW has the Maker’s seal of approval, IMO.
Interesting you bring up the parallel between Anakin’s Flaw and George’s Flaw.
I’ve always believed that storytellers tend to imprint their own flaws onto the villain. So I’ve suspected Lucas in many ways applied his own flaws and weaknesses onto Anakin’s character story – No, not just the “I’m evil” part, I’m talking about the separation-anxiety sense of over-control. Anakin wants to carefully control and cling onto every aspect of his life, even if he has to become a sith to do so.
I kind of wish GL applied it in a more audience-friendly manner, but eh, he started with a good idea.
Yeah, SW has definitely been influenced by Lucas’ life and personality (Luke as his alter ego, his stormy relationship with his father coming across in the Vader/Luke dynamics, etc.). IDK if he imprinted his flaws on Anakin consciously or not, but this does come across in the character, I agree.
KK’s comments clearly seem to imply that Lucas is a bit of a control freak; he might have been meddling to much with TFA at first, and I think maybe this is the reason why he was asked to step back.
Creative people tend to be overly sensitive and protective of their creations, like some parents with their children. Fortunately it seems like Lucas has finally realized that his “baby” is all grown up now and that he must let go of it, just like any father has to do with their kids at some point.
Well said. 🙂
If he liked it, all my fears about TFA are gone.
On the contrary, if he liked it, now I have reason to fear.
Exactly….enthusiasm diminished by 20%.
If it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t be here waiting for episode VII, so your reaction makes no sense
George Lucas (now) is a hack. He is the same person who said that “Jar-Jar is the key to all this” (talking about TPM. If he really likes this film, it might be because it fits his weird messed up views of what makes a good Star Wars movie.
Let me say it again: if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t had any star wars movie at all
Same goes for you. He deserves praise for the OT, but nothing more. Those moves existing doesn’t excuse the prequels for sucking, and it doesn’t mean that George is somehow good at making films again.
Saying that you didn’t like the ptequels is your point of view. I liked the prequels afterall, and am proud of having the complete saga on my shelf. If you go a few comments below you’ll find proof that statistcally a lot of people liked the PT.
Actually, Lucas’ weird, “messed up” views are exactly what made Star Wars what it is today. If ANH had been like any other sci-fi/fantasy film of the 70s, there would’ve been NO MORE SW.
Let me quote myself.
“George Lucas (now) is a hack”.
Concentrate on now. His creative genius had gone by the time the prequels were around, but he was still sane when he made ANH. Plus, there were more people opposing and fixing his ideas back then.
It is a known, well-documented fact that the people at Fox thought ANH to be a complete mess. Alan Ladd Jr. had to speak in Lucas’ favor so that the film wouldn’t be canned before it ever took off. And I believe we all know what Harrison Ford had to say about Lucas’ dialogues.
It wasn’t creativity (or lack thereof) that failed in the PT. It was Lucas’ inability to transfer his vision from his mind to the screen, the way he did with the OT. Obviously that means the man didn’t lose any of his creativity.
Okay, so he didn’t lose his creativity, but he did lose the ability to effectively bring his creative visions to fruition. Semantics. Either way, something key has been lost.
I don’t hate Lucas for this. I love him for what he gave the world when he was still in his creative prime. But the fact that ESB is George’s least favorite SW film, apparently because it is “too dark” and “too mature”, well that says a lot. And does everybody think he was entirely kidding when he said his favorite character is Jar Jar Binks?
If one were to ask George what would be his favorite personal entry out of all six films, I wonder how he would respond. I have a feeling it would not be either ANH or ESB. Someone should ask him this question. And if someone already has, somebody here should post his actual response. Would be interesting to know The Maker’s perspective on these things.
It is said that when Tolkien presented TLotR to his editor he was told that the story was too much of a departure from The Hobbit. Tolkien’s said to have replied that this was because his Hobbit readers had grown up. Ditto for J.K. Rowling and the reason why her Potter books became darker and more mature in tone over the years.
Lucas could’ve chosen to do something similar, but what he wanted to do with the PT was introduce a new generation of kids to SW. Original SW fans may not like it for the most part (I’m perfectly OK with it, and I’ve been here since ’77) but it is what it is. And it doesn’t mean Lucas lost his creative touch, not when he succeeded in what he set out to do with the PT.
You state your position well, even if we do not entirely share the same viewpoint. My viewpoint is that the PT that George envisioned in his mind back in the 1980’s would have been far superior to what he eventually filmed. Remember, George has said that he decided to toss his old outlines for Episode 1 and start from scratch, just before he began pre-production on The Phantom Menace.
I just wish he had stuck with the original outlines, and I also kind of wish he had began filming the PT in the late 80’s or early 90’s, around the same time as the third Indy film. Sure, the technology would have been more limited, he would’ve had to scale things back, but that might’ve have made them better films. Less focus on vehicles and backgrounds; more focus on character nuance and emotional sincerity.
But there’s no changing the past. I accept the PT as cannon. I’m able to enjoy them for what they are (though I usually choose the “Anti-Cheese” edits when I watch Episodes I & II).
Well, we have no way of knowing how good those early PT drafts were. Besides, I think the main problem with the prequels was that Lucas had absolute control and that wouldn’t have changed while he was still calling all the shots.
Lucas seems to have become a victim of his own ego and success. Sadly this can happen to anyone who gets to be larger than life. There’s always a price to be paid, but I’ll always be grateful to Lucas for creating one of the most amazing stories ever told. Geniuses are always eccentric and he’s obviously not the exception.
If GL is cool with it then I am. Now give me spoiler free critic reviews…not long now.
I don’t think there’s any such thing as spoiler free reviews. Our best best is to shut off the Internet Dec 14th and don’t return until after we’ve seen the movie…
Yeah, I even remember Ebert’s favorable review of ROTS, I felt I knew the movie (not that it was that hard to predict anyway).
I just want to read how many stars or marks out of 10 it gets,skip the paragraphs 🙂
I hope I can be that strong! ☺
I’m already avoiding certain articles on SWNN, and I will be avoiding anything SW related on the internet as of the 14th.
Yeah I just saw the Harrison Ford interview and I read the two disclaimers saying… turn back now if you really want to avoid a major spoiler! I turned back!
I read the title of that article and I went no further.
I didnt turn back 🙁 I couldnt help myself, Im so ashamed lol. I think that it wasnt to big a deal & its possible that Harrison was either being silly or got character names wrong.
I’m glad he liked it but at the same time it seems like he’s having trouble moving on. He sold his baby, and for a pretty penny too. If he keeps complaining it’s gonna make him look bad.
That depends…
If the ST is a success, Lucas will look bitter and childish for complaining, indeed. If the ST flops, then nobody will be able to say a thing if/when Lucas says “I told you so. My ideas were better than this.”
there is no way the ST will flop, SW fans have already bought enough tickets for it TFA to win the weekend & just like with the prequels will go see the next 2 reguardless
“The business expectations are sort of irrelevant to me. That’s going to
do what it’s going to do. People are going to come — does it matter
where it lands in the all-time list? I think no, not at all. What does
matter is, do we feel good about it and do we think we fulfilled those
things we set out to do?” — Lawrence Kasdan, on the LA Times interview that was posted right here, on this site.
I couldn’t agree w/him more. And, unless you’re part of the people that will profit out of the revenue that the film will make, I suggest you also take note of the fact that I was speaking of the films’ quality, not box office success. Anyone who worries about such things, without making a profit from it, is just wasting their time.
Financially unsuccessful movies, no matter how great, die a quick death. If you want Star Wars to continue for many years (perhaps you don’t) then it needs to make money and not just be good.
Yeah. And if the film disappoints, Lucas will still have a chance to say “I told you so”, even if TFA makes a gazillion dollars.
Money doesn’t make one happy.
I’ll bet they didn’t deviate from his story as far as he may have thought…
Wow I thought he’d default to being disappointed no matter what. Cool! He’s more reasonable than I thought. Glad he liked it.
Good for him. I, however, have yet to be convinced, and regardless I am pretty sure I’d have preferred to see his story.
I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t because he doesn’t understand storytelling at all, as evidenced by the prequels where he was in total (suffocating?) control. Whereas much evidence exists that nearly all the crucial creative decisions on the OT were made by others. Design (and thus implied backstory) of Vader came before Lucas had come up with his backstory, Harrison Ford ad-libbed “I know”….he does have high-level creative insight that works but he stood on the shoulders of giants to make the original trilogy so great. If Lucas was in charge of Episode VII we’d get more prequelitis. Updated for 2015 tech (EVEN MORE CGI!) We’d also get a story that was trying too hard to be mythic instead of being, as LFL has said their goal was, to “delight” the audience. I’m very glad it’s not his version we’re seeing in two weeks, though I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing it if was somehow possible for both to exist!
Agreed. Nothing against disney or JJ of course, I’m still looking forward to the movie, but I love the storytelling and world-building GL has done so far and I’m still sad to see someone else take over. At least he can still enjoy the films, while being filthy rich and successful lol
I don’t buy the comment from KK. In the article of Washington Post, he devulged his feeling as attending his children’s wedding ceremony with his ex wife.
In that article, Lucas was expressing how he felt about anticipating what it might be like seeing TFA for the first time. He had not actually see the film at the time that he was giving those quotes contained within the article itself. The Kennedy quote came after he had supposedly screened the film. Huge difference there. I’m going to to go ahead and give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt, until such time that Lucas chooses to shed a different light on these matters, should that time ever come.
Cool.
i’m glad he’s not being bitter about this, he did the best thing for both himself and the franchise by giving it up.
They are the standard pleasantries to be expected. If he were to say nothing or even criticize it, it would only make him look bitter and insulting to JJ and the cast and crew.
I want to hear George say he liked it, not hear Kathleen say George liked it.
I know Disney is making Star Wars films forever, but I hope there is finality to some of the stories. I don’t want it like the MCU where every single film has a to be continued feel and there isn’t any closure.
Well, there will be closure to the Marvel movies at the end of Phase III. Since they have been building to Infinity War since the very beginning; it’s just a longer arc than has ever been attempted in cinema before. That being said I feel fairly certain they will wrap things up at the end of IX and then go in a completely different direction for the next trilogy. There might be some minor connective tissue to the next trilogy just like there was in Revenge of the Sith but I think it will be even less “in your face” that the story isn’t over. And of course the standalones will be self-contained stories…we already roughly know how Rogue One ends just from watching ANH. There will be closure for the characters in the standalones, it won’t be like “stay tuned for….Rogue TWO!”
Phase 3 will have some closure, but they are already planning whats next. If MCU keeps doing what it has, I expect that to be set up at the end of Infinity Part 2, once again having a to be continued feel.
My personal hope is wrap up the episodic movies with 9 or 12 and be done with it. Move on with singular titled films, sure connect them, make trilogies but I hope there is some finality to the episodic story without a to be continued feel to it.
I’m sure Disney can take the Anthology, um er, SW Stories, out to a certain point, but I hope the main scope ends with 9. In my opinion, I hope they don’t do 10-12 and go back and reboot 1-3. Either direction is risky (continuing or rebooting), but going on past 9 seems so opened ended it could just destroy everything…
Oh fuck! I’m hoping he said that to be nice or “we’re doomed!”
Indeed. Glad to see it all come together.
please state the source in which lucas is “bitter”? on the contrary, to me he seems quite neutral in the interviews in which he has commented on stepping back?
he stated that they strayed away from his vision after they brought JJ on board. i think people inserted bitterness into this scenario when really he was speaking with detached resignation and didn’t really care what they did with the movie anymore. he was just stating a fact, “hey this is not how I originally conceived the movie.” it’s not like he went out of his way to complain, he was being questioned by press.
precisely!
Holy crap, George has seen the light!
George:”I can’t beleive it..”
JJ:”That is why you fail.”