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Lucas' Hypocrisy Strikes Again

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Yet again, Lucas is spouting off about preserving cinematic heritage, despite his consistent record of rewriting his own.

The quote below is from his May 2011 introductory letter for the _Profiles in History _catalogue featuring Debbie Reynold’s collection of Hollywood memorabilia (PDF link):

As a filmmaker and a lover of cinema, I have always appreciated the many disciplines that go into making a film – the props, the costumes, all the aspects that come together to make the whole as great as the sum of its parts. I have archived all the important pieces from my own films, and I am a staunch believer it’s important that we all make an effort to preserve our cinematic heritage – before it’s too late.

George Lucas

This is the second such quote the I can recall, the first being his attack on the colorisation of The Three Stooges.  Interestingly, the studio that released those colorised revisions offered the viewer the choice to see the original black and white versions instead.  Meanwhile, Lucas’ new BluRay editions of the classic trilogy limit the viewer to his 1997 digitally altered special editions.

 

Mod Edit: a working link to the ‘attack on the colorization of The Three Stooges’ article, can be found here:-

https://web.archive.org/web/20040827042127/http://www.showbizdata.com:80/contacts/picknews.cfm/36307/LUCAS_ON_COLORIZED_STOOGES_MOVIES:_NUTS_TO_NYUCKS

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This quote seems to be in the context of physical objects which appeared on screen. "Important Pieces"  and "make an effort to preserve" is different depending on who you talk to.

But it's a nice quote.

And the colorization issues was a front to gain Moral Rights in US copyright legislation which would in turn give creators the ability to limit or outright not allow derivative works.

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none said:

And the colorization issues was a front to gain Moral Rights in US copyright legislation which would in turn give creators the ability to limit or outright not allow derivative works.

Apparently, the colorization issue was really a front to give one creator the right to allow only derivative works.

"Close the blast doors!"
Puggo’s website | Rescuing Star Wars

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I have archived all the important pieces from my own films, and I am a staunch believer it’s important that we all make an effort to preserve our cinematic heritage – before it’s too late. Except you, Clive Revill, you can eat a dick.

...

George Lucas

 

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I was rereading Once Upon a Galaxy last night, and noticed another juicy Lucas quote.

Posting the actual page so you can see it in context.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1633/ouag228.th.jpg[/IMG]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

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I can't believe I still get mad when I see stuff like this, but when I remember the great director who made THX 1138, American Graffiti, and Star Wars...

“It is only through interaction, through decision and choice, through confrontation, physical or mental, that the Force can grow within you.”
-Kreia, Jedi Master and Sith Lord

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Here's my new favorite Lucas quote:

Cinefex said:


On your special edition, do you expect any backlash from fan who might resent your tampering with a classic?
I don’t know. It’s my classic. On the one hand I’m doing this, while on the other I’m on the Artists Rights Board, a foundation that’s trying to protect films from being changed - which I feel very strongly about, because with the technology we have today, anybody can go back and do this kind of thing. I can sort of see the future, and I want to protect films as they are and as they should be. I don’t want to see them colorized, I don’t want to see their formats changed, I don’t want to see them reedited, and I don’t want to see what I’m able to do now, which is add more characters and do all kinds of things that nobody even contemplated before.


Emphasis mine.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

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Has anyone done a psychological assessment on George yet? Seriously, what the hell is his problem? It's like he's bi-polar or has multiple personalities. I can't imagine such severe cognitive dissonance in someone who has all their screws on good and tight.

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I just knew it was a mistake for me to read this thread. This stuff always makes my blood boil.

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If you want to rekindle your warm and fuzzy Lucas the Preservations feelings here's a blurb:

http://books.google.com/books?id=JoGCsatYi5sC&pg=PA47&dq=%22george+lucas%22+preservation&hl=en&ei=kML_TbD-EIP00gHcrqCFAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22george%20lucas%22%20preservation&f=false

A wax cylinder was discovered during an inventory at the Edison National Historic site in 1960 that was labelled 'Dickson Volin."  Because the image was kept at th Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the soundtrack was at the Edison National Historic Site in New Jersey, it took a very long time to put the two back together.  The preservation effor twas produced by Rick Schmidlin, who worked with Jerry Fabris of the Edison National Historic Site and Walter Murch of Skywalker Sound.  First, a crack in the wax cylinder had to be repaired.  Then laser technology was used to lift the sound which had to be resynchornized to the image as the thump caused by the repaired crack was edited out.  The restul was teh music of Dickson's violin as he played an air from Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" with the sound of the dancing men's feet on the wooden platform, in perfect sync.  The total cost of preservation was over 300,00 U.S. dollars, which was paid for by Skywalker Sound, a George Lucas company.  The film will not be commercially available.  At the time of this writing, it was rumored that Lucas might use it as a logo for his company.

Anyone know what became of this?

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doubleofive said:

Here's my new favorite Lucas quote:

Cinefex said:


On your special edition, do you expect any backlash from fan who might resent your tampering with a classic?
I don’t know. It’s my classic. On the one hand I’m doing this, while on the other I’m on the Artists Rights Board, a foundation that’s trying to protect films from being changed - which I feel very strongly about, because with the technology we have today, anybody can go back and do this kind of thing. I can sort of see the future, and I want to protect films as they are and as they should be. I don’t want to see them colorized, I don’t want to see their formats changed, I don’t want to see them reedited, and I don’t want to see what I’m able to do now, which is add more characters and do all kinds of things that nobody even contemplated before.


Emphasis mine.

That is the most disturbing quote from Lucas I've ever read, in which Cinefex did you find this?

This man need some medical attention!

We want you to be aware that we have no plans—now or in the future—to restore the earlier versions. 

Sincerely, Lynne Hale publicity@lucasfilm.com

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SilverWook said:

I was rereading Once Upon a Galaxy last night, and noticed another juicy Lucas quote.

Posting the actual page so you can see it in context.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1633/ouag228.th.jpg[/IMG]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 Add ACTUAL BOOK PAGE to the meme list.

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Sure he remembers. But the accuracy of his memories has been compromised by visions of masturbation machines and CG monkeys.