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Lucas is just trolling now - THR Interview

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This needs it's own thread. The Hollywood Reporter:

With yet another re-invigoration of the massive Star Wars franchise —hello, 3-Delirum! — the Star Wars creator confronts the controversy of content changes (again), shares his views on SOPA and gives an update on Indiana Jones 5.

The Hollywood Reporter: In this 3D conversion of what is Episode 1 — The Phantom Menace, were there any changes made to any characters or the plot, or was it just a conversion?

George Lucas: Changes are not unusual — I mean, most movies when they release them they make changes. But somehow, when I make the slightest change, everybody thinks it’s the end of the world. That whole issue between filmmakers and the studios with the studios being able to change things without even letting the director of the movie know … I’m very much involved in that [so that’s not happening here]. … My job is to try to make the best possible movie it can be — and the current version is the Blu-ray version. That’s the one that’s been made into 3D. But it’s just a conversion. We haven’t made any changes other than the 3D. 

 

THR: People can get fanatical about the movies — how does that make you feel? The puppet vs. CGI Yoda ruckus, and the who-shot-first, Han Solo or Greedo furor come to mind. 

 

Lucas: Well, it’s not a religious event. I hate to tell people that. It’s a movie, just a movie. The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.

It’s the same thing with Yoda. We tried to do Yoda in CGI in Episode I, but we just couldn’t get it done in time. We couldn’t get the technology to work, so we had to use the puppet, but the puppet really wasn’t as good as the CGI. So when we did the reissue, we had to put the CGI back in, which was what it was meant to be.

If you look at Blade Runner, it’s been cut sixteen ways from Sunday and there are all kinds of different versions of it. Star Wars, there’s basically one version — it just keeps getting improved a little bit as we move forward. … All art is technology and it improves every year. Whether it’s on the stage or in music or in painting, there are technological answers that happen, and because movies are so technological, the advances become more obvious.

 

THR: Did you see Hugo? 

Lucas: Yeah, I loved Hugo. I thought it was great. It’s an interesting thing because I kind of resurrected the visual effects business, or the special effects business, but you know, [film subject Georges Melies] started it all. Visual effects aren’t where it’s at with dramas, but all the same problems that people think about exist, and he started the magic of movies. 

 

THR: A political question: SOPA, PIPA and piracy — what are your thoughts on that? 

Lucas: If we had an intelligent system for writing law, everybody would get together and write the best possible answer to that. I mean, putting the digital world up against the traditional world and saying it’s one or the other is not a wise decision. Because what you’re saying is, do you want movies to exist, or do you want everything to just be on the Internet and see cats watching television or something? Everybody wants movies, everybody wants television shows, and everybody wants digital media. It’s just up to the government to sit down with both sides and write a reasonable bill. I think what they’ve got now is a flawed bill, which is not unusual, but that’s all it is: sloppy legislation. Which has to be fixed. If we go much longer without [good] laws, most people won’t pay attention [until] they arrest somebody who’s making $50 million a year — and then you realize that there’s hundreds of millions of dollars being siphoned off, and it does affect the music business, the film business, and eventually, the software business. Everybody’s in this together. 

 

THR: What’s the status of Indiana Jones 5? Steven Spielberg says he’s waiting to hear from you. 

Lucas: I know, and I’m supposed to be working on it right now, but I’m talking to you instead (Laughs).

 

Props to THR for asking these questions and not just blowing smoke up his ass. But Lucas just needs to shut up he really sounds like a lunatic.

I'm sure they'll enough comments on the changes to the OT and Greedo shooting but I find it fascinating he brought up the different cuts to Blade Runner. Yes there's five different cut but they're all available on DVD and Blu-ray! He just doesn't get it and I doubt he ever will.

Also CG Yoda in TPM:

So when we did the reissue, we had to put the CGI back in, which was what it was meant to be.

Interesting choice of words. "we had to put the CGI back in". If CG Yoda was always supposed to be in there why didn't they shoot background plates during the TPM production. From what I understand (and I haven't seen it) for the Blu-ray they just CG'ed over the old puppet/existing scene.

 

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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Hah, we both posted about this at the exact same time. =P

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I will always laugh when Lucas is talking about how fanatical we are about the movies.....the same movies he's made billions of dollars off of and never needs to work another day in his life because of them.  If it werent for us fanatical fans who saw the movies a zillion times in the theater, on VHS, on action figures, he would be still tied to the studios instead of running his own empire. 

Geez....can he be somewhat grateful???

 

And whenever Lucas says that movies are being improved with each new version, I answer:

1980 ESB:  Luke doesn't scream when he falls from Cloud City

1997 ESB:  Luke DOES scream when he falls from Cloud City

2004 ESB:  Luke doesn't scream when he falls from Cloud City.

THIS IS CALLED TAMPERING!!!!

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Tobar said:

Hah, we both posted about this at the exact same time. =P

Ha, yeah I checked the "Lucas hates his fans" and "3D" topics first and I would of had it up sooner but i had problems with the block quote.

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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George Lucas: Changes are not unusual — I mean, most movies when they release them they make changes.

Oh yeah George???

Name one.

Or better yet, name three.

Name the latest three movies that have been released that were 'changed'.

That whole issue between filmmakers and the studios with the studios being able to change things without even letting the director of the movie know … I’m very much involved in that [so that’s not happening here]. …

Yeah, just like Richard Marquard and Irvin Kershner being able to change their-... oh... wait...

The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t.

It was obvious that Han was the only one to shoot. And it didn't make him out to be a cold-blooded killer. Han knew that if he didn't kill Greedo, Greedo would've killed him. Also, why didn't you bother to alter a bunch of other time Han shoots first, like when he shoots the panel on the death star... Or when he shoots a stormtrooper. Hmmmm??????

It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom.

No it wasn't. And even if it was, the audience would've been able to figure it out by the fact that Greedo's smoldering body flops onto the table, dead, whilst Han walks off.

It’s the same thing with Yoda. We tried to do Yoda in CGI in Episode I, but we just couldn’t get it done in time. We couldn’t get the technology to work, so we had to use the puppet, but the puppet really wasn’t as good as the CGI.

The puppet wasn't any good, but it at least it was a real thing and not a cartoon.

If you look at Blade Runner, it’s been cut sixteen ways from Sunday and there are all kinds of different versions of it. 

And do you see people complaining about that? No you don't, by the simple fact that they are all available. If Ridley Scott decided to JUST release his 'Final Cut', people would be pretty pissed off. It is possible for more than one version of something to exist.

Star Wars, there’s basically one version — it just keeps getting improved a little bit as we move forward. … All art is technology and it improves every year.

 Not all Art is Technology, you dumbass.

Whether it’s on the stage or in music or in painting, there are technological answers that happen, and because movies are so technological, the advances become more obvious.


But it's also important for people to see how far things have advanced. Like the fact that we now shoot films in colour instead of Black and White, which all films were shot in prior to colour films. It is important to see the progression, like comparing the special effects of something like 'Metropolis' to 'Blade Runner'. Or Comparing 'Chuck Berry' to 'The Beatles'.

 

Jeez!

<span style=“font-weight: bold;”>The Most Handsomest Guy on OT.com</span>

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This interview furthers my opinion that we will NEVER see the OOT fully restored on any format.   I'm sorry, but the guy has comtempt for this part of the fanbase, and seeing his daughters tweets about the OOT fans too, she won't be releasing the OOT either when she inherits Lucasfilm.

 

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A little surprised how condescending he is about BLADE RUNNER, he's getting more and more prickly about this subject and Blade Runner is probably the movie that gets thrown in his face the most. And he has cooked up a very odd counter-view shared by nobody, (one version perpetually updated forever is preferable to multiple being available. He thinks THAT is weird. okay...)

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I think George is the only one confused about the whole Greedo thing.

Seriously, who exited the theater confused about that scene back in 1977?

I'm amazed he used Blade Runner as supporting argument.

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Where were you in '77?

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So glad that he cleared up the "confusion" regarding Greedo. What a f*cking lunatic. And his comments on BLADE RUNNER....Jesus H. I'm really without words. He's just a loon. A rich and powerful LOON.

 

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I hate to drink the Devil's advocaat here but it is possible that aliens really did eat George's homework.

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I'm honestly completely floored...and very, very sad, to be honest.

I used to look forward to the possibility of showing my niece the movies...but my love is dying, something I *NEVER* thought would happen. It's becoming a huge joke that only George is in on. And it's insulting.

What a dick. :( He's spitting on everyone who has ever been a fan of these films.

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greenpenguino said:

Or Comparing 'Chuck Berry' to 'The Beatles'.

 

Presumably George would find it quite natural (necessary, even) for Paul McCartney to add synthesizers, then autotune, then whatever else might come along, to "Norwegian Wood", while supressing the original version of the song.

And yes I deliberately chose a Lennon song.

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Forget restoring and releasing the original films for a second, someone should go back to the vaults and restore and release the original George.

I kind of liked him but this one seems to be overly reworked, riddled with continuity errors and resembles some kind of computer generated cartoon.

Perhaps we should change the name of the site to OGL.COM.

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I don't think Lucas gets away with the "just a movie" thing. The fact that it is NOT just a movie is what made him one of the most powerful directors in history, who can do whatever he wants, and it made him into a BILLIONAIRE. $3.2 billion, I think according to Forbes. He can pretty much do anything he wants that isn't illegal, and probably a number of things that are. Want to make a WWII epic? Sure. Vacation in Europe? Sure. Buy a villa in one of the most expensive getaways in Italy? Sure. Race at a Nascar event? No problem. Live on your own ranch? Done. Private jets? Tickets to the Oscars? A collection of cars? Never having to pay a bill for the rest of your life? Sending your kids through college on one week's paycheque?

The man ought to be on his hands and knees thanking god that Star Wars is not just a movie. The man is so out of touch--because of the lavish and powerful lifestyle handed to him and his family because, wait for it, his films are bigger than just regular ol' flicks.

Also: for a guy that claims it's "just a movie", what's with all the merchandise? Star Wars is quite quantifiably not just a movie, it's all this other stuff like toys and games and TV shows and magazines. If he wanted to put his money where his mouth is he could get rid of all that stuff, but then he'd be only disgustingly-rich instead of ludicrously-rich, and he's way too comfy to let that go. He'll instead just bitch about how his fans love his work too much. Ah, billionaire problems! What a terrible life, this 3.2 billion dollar empire I live and work in, trapped in a prison of wealth and fortune, with the opportunity to do and make anything I want while hordes of fans worship me every waking hour. The pain of it all!

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It is hilarious when you read his reasoning for having Greedo shoot.

Is Han a cold blooded killer because he shoots all those stormtroopers before they shoot him?

Greedo has clearly declared his intension to kill Han, his life is at risk.

Was Han cold blooded because he blew up the Death Star before it fired on Yavin 4?

As for TPM Yoda I'm pretty sure upstairs in my vault of horrors I have interviews from back in the day where George and/or Rick openly declared they had no intension to ever have a CGI Yoda.

The final puppet looked crap (some part of me can't shake the possibility that it was deliberately awful so they could CGI Yoda in the next two episodes without a backlash) but I don't think the CGI Yoda in later versions of TPM is a restoration of Lucas' original intensions, it's just a wonky CGI fix for a bad puppet.

LucasSE sounds less like OUGeorge than SupershadowLucas does.

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No amount of CGI fiddling can change the fact Han was in debt to a crime lord for dumping a drug shipment he was smuggling. ;)

Just say no to Spice, kids!

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Where were you in '77?

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Same old story. I'll say it once and say it again: I can't fathom how anybody who isn't a full-blown apologist who needs SW 24/7 could possibly justify giving this guy any more money.

He literally sells you shit, tells you to fuck off when you point out the shit you paid for is not the shit you received, then puts out a slightly different version of that shit, albeit one that you haven't asked for, which you buy again and repeat the cycle.

I don't think I'd pay for the UOT on BD at this point.

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

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Lucas saying it's just movie is him just being flippant and reductive. Don't take it too seriously, I doubt George really thinks it's just a movie.

Regarding the Greedo thing, I've been thinking about that scene and I think he really doesn't like the way that it was edited. The first edit of SW was by all accounts terrible but then the oscar winning team came in and saved it. There's no accounting for taste. He loves being an editor but I think at times he can be as terrible of an editor as sometimes he is a writer.

It's kind of like the Wampa scene, the cantina show down always had me on the edge of my seat as a kid.

Greedo's got is gun on Solo. His intention is to claim the bounty.

Close up of Han's gun being slowly drawn under the table.

Close up of Solo "Over my dead body"

*Blam!* Screen flashes for asecond.

Me: OMFG! WTF just happened!

Greedo slumps forward dead.

Me: Yes!

That's not how Lucas likes to operate, everything has to be spelled out to the audience like the plebians we are. What are midiclorians indeed.

 

CO said:

This interview furthers my opinion that we will NEVER see the OOT fully restored on any format.   I'm sorry, but the guy has comtempt for this part of the fanbase, and seeing his daughters tweets about the OOT fans too, she won't be releasing the OOT either when she inherits Lucasfilm.

 

I do agree with this but....

I'm starting to think that while Harmy's restorations are still pretty underground (Adywan's projects have way more saturation) given enough time/years they'll have eventually spread throughout the fanbase.

Just like the Laserdisc to DVD transfers of the OT. And when the fanbase is talking about how great it is to see the OOT in such great quality and clarity Lucasfilm will see there's more than a buck the be made and have to meet that demand. Lucas speaks in dollars and cents and all that potential revenue will speak volumes.

...Or he'll just have Harmy killed ;)

 

"Well here's a big bag of rock salt" - Patton Oswalt

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Lucas: 
It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom.

Honestly, I can't help but  laugh (literally).  The thread title is correct. He knows it's bullshit, and he knows we know it's bullshit.

The designing and selling of a Han Shot First T-shirt is a textbook example of a guy who knows full well what he's doing... "I'll fuck my fan base - then sell them a t-shirt with a cartoon on it pointing out that I fucked them."

At this point, who can blame the guy?  With  TFN and Blu-ray.com as a fan base, he has guaranteed revenue stream.  Why in the world would he cater to anyone else?

His peers want him to do the right thing, but they only represent about 20 DVDs.  The TFNers and BR.com sheep represent hundreds of thousands.  Who would say no to that?

 

That said, there is one silver lining.  We were present for yet another reason for not being allowed to have the 1977 version.

Original was damaged.
1970s technology.
Limited budget.
Original Vision.
Confusing close-ups.

Lucas is a fucking genius.  No other fan base would even consider allowing a director\owner to abuse them emotionally at this level.  Yet when I peruse the TFN and Blu-ray forums, they seem almost to crave it.  Hilarious.

 

 

 

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Instead of saying, "Sorry about the mess," in future versions Han should say, "I'm innocent! He shot first, it was self defense!"

“Grow up. These are my Disney's movies, not yours.”

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CANTINA : A BLASTER SHOT RINGS OUT AND GRINGO SLUMPS ON THE BOOTH TABLE.

HAN SWAGGERS OVER TO THE EXIT.

HAN : He'll live! I had it on stun cuz I'm such a stunning guy.

HE THROWS THE BARMAN A COIN.

HAN : Get him an Asprin and a cab when he wakes up, he looks a bit green around the gills.

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They must be eating this up over at TFN. Not only are we stuck in the past, failing to realize that art is technology, but we want Han to be a cold-blooded killer. Not sure how slandering a large portion of his fan base is helpful.

The blue elephant in the room.

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Mrebo said:

They must be eating this up over at TFN. Not only are we stuck in the past, failing to realize that art is technology, but we want Han to be a cold-blooded killer. Not sure how slandering a large portion of his fan base is helpful.

 lol, more 'interviews' !!  as I said before - this guy has given more 'interviews' than every other film director in history combined. He loves to give interviews infinitely more than filmmaking - fact.

all kidding aside, you really shouldn't be surprised at what he said.  I am not going to read the full 'interview, but I read the excerpts, and unless they are out-of-context, its what I expected.  His take on Han/Greedo is not even worth dignifying with a rebuttal.

The post above highlights what I've been trying to say.  The primary (if not sole) purpose of these 'interviews' is to dispatch new talking points for the apologists and sycophants.  Why do you think on the AOTC dvd, he says 3 times that he is a 'visual' filmmaker? Becuase he knew he was discredited on the idea he cared about story and characters.  So he needed this talking point - and it worked.  Go check out some of the posts at TFN from that timeframe.  Of course, this excuse is totally bogus because ALL FILMS are visual (thats why they have these things called cameras).  And truthfully, except for a few shots in AOTC and ROTS, there was no visual flair to the PT - it was pretty sterile. So the next talking point was - 'lucas has a documentary style approach to filmmaking'.  I have already discussed the repulsive appearences on Jon Stewart and Oprah.  You need to keep this in mind everytime there is an 'interview'.

As far as thumbing his nose at the fans that made him a millionaire - it was confirmed in the Blu ray thread that he did not have a 'thank you' note, like he did for the VHS releases.  Those thank you notes were disingenious.  Now that he has his billions and was able to finance his Letterman center for 'Digital Arts' (bwaaaaaahahahaahahaha) he can drop all pretense.  "I got mine, so screw you!"

click here if lack of OOT got you down