Well as shocking as it seems, the first movie George directed since Star Wars in 1977 was a film that came out in 1999 called The Phantom Menace. I don't think Grafitti and Star Wars were flukes. 20 years can have a big impact on somebody. My take is that he went from a young ambitious director who wasn't afraid to go against the grain a little and do things that people told him he couldn't do. Over that twenty years of fame and praise, I think he got to the point where he felt he could do no wrong, which was bad mistake. If there was a way for young George to meet old George, I think young George would be pretty disappointed in himself. I honestly think he had some greatness left in him after Star Wars and that to quit directing at that point was a big mistake. 1977 wasn't the time to stop directing, and 1999 certainly wasn't the time to start again. Now out of the few movies he has directed, half of them suck, and that is only if you consider THX 1138 a good movie (to me THX 1138 is to Lucas what Duel was to Spielberg, something that was interesting and showed great potential for a new young director, a foreshadowing of great things to come, but certianly not timeless or destined to rake in mass home video sales for years to come).