George Lucas Blames 'Star Wars' Critics for Killing Series

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  • F5AgainstOne
    F5AgainstOne New Hampshire, USA Posts: 1,462
    I get that Lucas wants to have the films HIS way, but I think when you present art to the world (whatever it is)
    and you gain fans of that art, it is not fair to alter it . I think he should absolutely put his ultimate vision out in the world, but the original was what lined his pockets to be in this position in the first place.
    There are many reasons why people love the originals.
    I personally love the imagery that he was able to create based on his limited budget and limited technology.

    That, to me, is where the true artwork is. He made an epic space adventure with
    stop motion models
    puppetry
    creative camera angles
    real actors inside of costumes (i use the term "actors" loosely).
    Real sand-dunes
    real snow drifts
    hand painted back drops.
    creative sound effects

    Removing or masking all of this with tons of CGI on the special editions of the orignal series steals the soul of the original art.
    Again, his prerogative, but he should still make the originals available (in tact), not necessarily for the story's sake, but for those of us who appreciate the ingenuity and artistic innovation that went into it. Afterall, it was quite a feat back in 1976/1977.
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  • dcfaithful
    dcfaithful Posts: 13,076
    81 wrote:
    LikeAnOcean wrote:
    minus the cgi

    that is the problem with a lot of movies

    Dude exactly. Way too many movies now a days are simply cgi porn with the weakest plots and laughable acting. It's getting old.
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  • Drowned Out
    Drowned Out Posts: 6,056
    dcfaithful wrote:
    81 wrote:
    LikeAnOcean wrote:
    minus the cgi

    that is the problem with a lot of movies

    Dude exactly. Way too many movies now a days are simply cgi porn with the weakest plots and laughable acting. It's getting old.
    yup, and some are so overdone its almost impossible to tell what you're lookin at. The Transformer movies are all just a big blur of shit flying thru the air. In the action sequences, the characters are almost unrecognizable there is so much going on at once.
  • pjsteelerfan
    pjsteelerfan Maryland Posts: 9,905
    Monster Rain wrote:
    I disagree. I think Riot Act, Avacado, and Backspacer all have mostly good tracks and none that are terrible. Aside from the 3rd movie in the new trilogy, those movies are mostly bad with just a little bit of good stuff mixed in.

    I prefer this:

    The original 3 are Ten, vs, and Vitalogy. The newer 3 are Van Halen III, Van Halen III, and whatever the new Van Halen album is called.
    curly wrote:
    The original 3 movies are...Ten VS and Vitalogy...

    the newer 3 movies are...Riot Act...Avacado, and Backspacer...

    what do you think???

    :lol:
    ...got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul...
  • curly
    curly Posts: 704
    I love pj's latest cd's...

    i also really really like the latest Star Wars...

    But,,,like with PJ....majority of the world only liked their initial 3 lp's...

    that's why they sold so many more of the initial cd's...

    people just dont like change and what the pj to re create the cd ten over and over for the next 30 years and its not going to happen...

    just like you can't re-create the original movies...

    I've only seen the new 3 star wars each one time, when they came out...

    then my son and i watched them...Actually all 6 in one weekend a few months ago..

    i have to admit...the most recent...when anakin turns into Darth Vader...

    it was pretty fuckin cool....they were way better than i was expecting them to be...

    just like pj continues to amaze me with their music...

    i thought for sure they'd "run out" so to speak of creativity but...Pj continues to put out great music
  • norm
    norm Posts: 31,146
    What a tool...face it George, you went way overboard with the computer shit and forgot about assembling any sort of decent script...as was said, you should not have directed them...and don't get me started on the fuckups, er sorry, improvements you made to the original 3
  • Drowned Out
    Drowned Out Posts: 6,056
    curly wrote:

    i have to admit...the most recent...when anakin turns into Darth Vader...
    ya, until he did the cheesiest of cheesy movie moments - looking skyward and yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
    Darth Vader doing the NOOOOOOO thing? say it ain't so :cry:
  • Kilgore_Trout
    Kilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    No one should be defending any of this nonsense... they. were. TERRIBLE.

    And George is 100% responsible... Ok and maybe whoever the casting director was... Hayden and Natalie are both shitty decisions IMO... the fact that they had a shitty script and nothing to play off of but green screen certainly didn't help the fact that their acting is "meh"

    And George's newest effort looks like more pandering. Why do you need techno beats in a trailer for a film about the Tuskegee Airmen? Trying to get that young black audience? He was making himself out to be some civil rights hero in the interview I saw with him. :roll:
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

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  • Digital Twilight
    Digital Twilight Posts: 5,642
    If you haven't then you NEED to watch these reviews. Hilarious but also very informative.

    http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star ... om-menace/
  • uninnocent-
    uninnocent- Posts: 5,959
    JonnyPistachio wrote:
    Dont even get me started on the last Indy movie. What a travesty. Lost all respect for Spielberg.. :cry:

    At least he accepted blame for the refrigerator scene.
    “Blame me,” Spielberg said. “Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying ‘jump the shark.’ They now say, ‘nuked the fridge.’ I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."
    http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/s ... idea-32203
  • SatansFuton
    SatansFuton Posts: 5,399
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    Hayden and Natalie are both shitty decisions IMO... the fact that they had a shitty script and nothing to play off of but green screen certainly didn't help the fact that their acting is "meh"

    I've never seen Hayden in anything else, but I have seen Portman, and I'm always amazed at how bad her acting is in the Star Wars films compared to her other work. The girl has an Oscar, but in the Star Wars movies she looks like a robot reading off of cue cards. I would imagine it probably has something to do with the fact that George Lucas isn't really known as an "actor's director", and that he probably cares very little about acting/delivery as long as they're standing on their mark in front of the green screen so he can put in his special effects, which is really all he cares about these days. But to be honest, nobody was winning an Oscar for their acting in the original trilogy, but I think the acting is much worse in the prequels. Though I do think Ewan McGregor did a good job, especially in the third installment.

    I don't think George really has a leg to stand on in blaming the fans. They're the ones that made him a multi-billionaire, and if it weren't for all the cash grabs George has master-minded over the years the fans might not be as hostile towards him. I find the story especially funny because George never has cared, and made it a point to say he doesn't care, about what the fans have to say. I think he probably wants to retire, or doesn't feel like doing Star Wars anymore, so he's using the fans as a scapegoat.
    "See a broad to get dat booty yak 'em, leg 'er down, a smack 'em yak 'em!"
  • uninnocent-
    uninnocent- Posts: 5,959
    I'm a fan of the holy trilogy; each of the originals is close to my heart. I refuse to buy any of the blu-ray releases until George Lucas is dead though, or he decides to release the originals. He did say that while he's alive we'll never see the original version released again.

    As for the bastard trilogy, they weren't all bad. The Phantom Menace was bad throughout and terrible during a few parts, I tried watching it again last year and found myself wanting to demolish my television through extremely violent means (gave it 3/10 on IMDB). Attack of the clones was alright, showing moments of brilliance along with some shittily written/acted/directed scenes (pretty much the entire love story). It did have its moments, and I appreciate it for what it was, ranking it 8/10 on IMDB. I quite enjoyed Revenge of the Sith, going so far as to rank it along with the original three at 10/10. Sure it's easy to concentrate on the bad ("NOOOOOOOOOOOO!", and Hayden's acting ability), but on a whole the good more than made up for it. It was a great end to the prequel trilogy.

    As for George bashing the critics, he fails to realize that he may have created the series, but these critics MADE them what they are today. These people aren't criticizing him per se, rather they're making comments on the state of a franchise so near and dear to their hearts.
  • SatansFuton
    SatansFuton Posts: 5,399
    uninnocent- wrote:
    He did say that while he's alive we'll never see the original version released again.

    He's said that before, it's just his way of telling people to suck it up and buy whatever version of the trilogy is currently available, in case people thought about not buying it and waiting for the originals. He had said that prior to the un-tampered originals being released on one of the DVD sets as bonus features several years ago. Now that the Blu-Ray release is out, he'll probably put the originals out in a few years for another cash grab.
    "See a broad to get dat booty yak 'em, leg 'er down, a smack 'em yak 'em!"
  • LikeAnOcean
    LikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    SatansFuton wrote:
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    Hayden and Natalie are both shitty decisions IMO... the fact that they had a shitty script and nothing to play off of but green screen certainly didn't help the fact that their acting is "meh"

    I've never seen Hayden in anything else, but I have seen Portman, and I'm always amazed at how bad her acting is in the Star Wars films compared to her other work.

    The acting was purposely "bad".. It's a particular style that was meant to imitate early movies in cinamatic history, but I don't think it worked here... the acting was bad in the original trilogy too.
  • uninnocent-
    uninnocent- Posts: 5,959
    SatansFuton wrote:
    uninnocent- wrote:
    He did say that while he's alive we'll never see the original version released again.

    He's said that before, it's just his way of telling people to suck it up and buy whatever version of the trilogy is currently available, in case people thought about not buying it and waiting for the originals. He had said that prior to the un-tampered originals being released on one of the DVD sets as bonus features several years ago. Now that the Blu-Ray release is out, he'll probably put the originals out in a few years for another cash grab.

    well that'll be when he finally grabs my cash.
  • uninnocent-
    uninnocent- Posts: 5,959
    LikeAnOcean wrote:
    SatansFuton wrote:
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    Hayden and Natalie are both shitty decisions IMO... the fact that they had a shitty script and nothing to play off of but green screen certainly didn't help the fact that their acting is "meh"

    I've never seen Hayden in anything else, but I have seen Portman, and I'm always amazed at how bad her acting is in the Star Wars films compared to her other work.

    The acting was purposely "bad".. It's a particular style that was meant to imitate early movies in cinamatic history, but I don't think it worked here... the acting was bad in the original trilogy too.

    It was bad, but it managed to somehow compliment the film. In the newer trilogy the 'bad' acting just made it harder for the viewer to feel the characters.
  • uninnocent-
    uninnocent- Posts: 5,959
    uninnocent- wrote:
    JonnyPistachio wrote:
    Dont even get me started on the last Indy movie. What a travesty. Lost all respect for Spielberg.. :cry:

    At least he accepted blame for the refrigerator scene.
    “Blame me,” Spielberg said. “Don't blame George. That was my silly idea. People stopped saying ‘jump the shark.’ They now say, ‘nuked the fridge.’ I'm proud of that. I'm glad I was able to bring that into popular culture."
    http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/s ... idea-32203

    ...and it looks like George Lucas won't even let Spielberg take the blame. He claims it was his doing, and defends it: http://www.slashfilm.com/george-lucas-i ... e-survive/
  • JonnyPistachio
    JonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    Digital Twilight wrote:
    If you haven't then you NEED to watch these reviews. Hilarious but also very informative.

    http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star ... om-menace/

    haha, very funny stuff. And I'm glad I held out to the 17 minute mark to see the guys basement!
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • SatansFuton
    SatansFuton Posts: 5,399
    LikeAnOcean wrote:
    SatansFuton wrote:
    Kilgore_Trout wrote:
    Hayden and Natalie are both shitty decisions IMO... the fact that they had a shitty script and nothing to play off of but green screen certainly didn't help the fact that their acting is "meh"

    I've never seen Hayden in anything else, but I have seen Portman, and I'm always amazed at how bad her acting is in the Star Wars films compared to her other work.

    The acting was purposely "bad".. It's a particular style that was meant to imitate early movies in cinamatic history, but I don't think it worked here... the acting was bad in the original trilogy too.

    That sounds like something George would make up after the fact as an excuse. Just like he said he always intended to have Luke and Leia be twins, but in the second movie they were playing tonsil hockey.
    "See a broad to get dat booty yak 'em, leg 'er down, a smack 'em yak 'em!"
  • LikeAnOcean
    LikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    SatansFuton wrote:
    That sounds like something George would make up after the fact as an excuse. Just like he said he always intended to have Luke and Leia be twins, but in the second movie they were playing tonsil hockey.
    He said that when the Phantom Menace was released.. Look at the acting in the old Flash Gordan serials, which Star Wars is inspired from.


    It's not an excuse. Natalie Portman didn't just decide to act badly. It was a conscious artistic decision.

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