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Why do you think he does it?

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With all the justified fan complaining, and the constant hatred towards Lucas and everything he's done since 1997, sometimes I just sit down and ask myself WHY.

WHY does he think adding eyelids to Ewoks is more important than giving the film a proper color balance, or making sure Vader's lightsaber isn't pink? Why does he think Obi-Wan's krayt dragon scream needs to sound like Obi-Wan scraped his balls on a rock? Did he honestly hear that sound effect and think, "This sounds cool"? Surely he knows how Vader's "NOOO!" at the end of ROTS is a universal joke - so why did he add yet ANOTHER Vader "NOOO!" to ROTJ? And most of all, why does he adamantly refuse to release the OUT in any quality format?

I know people joke about Lucas hating his fans and just wanting to mess with us, but is that what he REALLY does? Does he REALLY do this stuff just to make people angry and upset? I honestly can't think of any other reason - I mean, there's such an overwhelming and vocal opposition to his recent "works" that there is NO WAY he can't be aware of it. So why does he keep doing things that he surely knows will piss people off (fanboys and film critics alike)?

Young Anakin and Obi-Wan 

Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi

If you want the OT deleted scenes, PM me and I'll send them to you! DON'T BUY THE BLU-RAY DISCS!!!

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He's aware of it for sure. The thing is, the fan complaining isn't justified. Far from it. You could definitely call it understandable. Star Wars isn't our life's work that George Lucas took from us and screwed up; it's his. So he has license to do whatever the hell he wants...

He maneuvered himself that way out of the gate, ensuring he would have merchandising rights. I don't think there is any getting in the mind of someone as odd as George Lucas.

EDIT: By the by, Promus, your signature is awesome!

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ROFLRICK said:

He's aware of it for sure. The thing is, the fan complaining isn't justified. Far from it. You could definitely call it understandable. Star Wars isn't our life's work that George Lucas took from us and screwed up; it's his. So he has license to do whatever the hell he wants...

He maneuvered himself that way out of the gate, ensuring he would have merchandising rights. I don't think there is any getting in the mind of someone as odd as George Lucas.

EDIT: By the by, Promus, your signature is awesome!

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

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Because he knows that whatever the f*** he puts out or changes, as long as the name on the cover says "Star Wars" people will buy it without hesitation.

"Sure, I don't like all the changes, but it's SW on blu!"

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

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bigmonkey2382 said:

ROFLRICK said:

He's aware of it for sure. The thing is, the fan complaining isn't justified. Far from it. You could definitely call it understandable. Star Wars isn't our life's work that George Lucas took from us and screwed up; it's his. So he has license to do whatever the hell he wants...

He maneuvered himself that way out of the gate, ensuring he would have merchandising rights. I don't think there is any getting in the mind of someone as odd as George Lucas.

EDIT: By the by, Promus, your signature is awesome!

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Sure, that's true, but where else in your life do you demand that someone stop doing something you don't think they should do? I'll bet that when you do, it's over something far more important than Star Wars.

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Well I don't want to start yet another argument between fans, I just wanted to know if anyone had any theories as to WHY he does what he does, despite the fact that he's surely aware of all this backlash. Hell, he was even spotted wearing that "Han Shot First" shirt that one time...

Glad you like my sig, RoflRick! :)

Young Anakin and Obi-Wan 

Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi

If you want the OT deleted scenes, PM me and I'll send them to you! DON'T BUY THE BLU-RAY DISCS!!!

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I think that the biggest reason for the changes is to attract collectors. Collectors collect all variations of an item to get a "complete set". He has to make the new changes significant enough to make people want them for the changes.

I don't think that he cares, or even knows, about the problems with image quality. I think that it is apparent what kind of culture there is at Lucasfilm. George is the dictator, with a legion of yes-men at his disposal. The workers are concerned with the tasks and deadlines that they have been handed to them. Lucas noticed a few things that he wants fixed, but nobody is brave enough to tell him about the other faults.

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Partly I think it's insecurity. I think the sheer grandness of what "Star Wars" became might intimidate the artist who crafted it. Rather than saying "I made this movie that became bigger than I ever imagined" he formed a narrative about his grand 'original vision' and the (plainly falsifiable) stories of "The Tragedy of Darth Vader." Adding "nooooooo" to ROTJ reinforces this story.

Also I think he's a tinkerer. I repeat again, I think the endless Special Editions are really neat. I think was Lucas does to them is cool, and I'm sure HE thinks it's cool. Pushing technology, tweaking the movies to make them cooler He probably thinks blue Hoth IS better.

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It's easy.

 

He's the Michael Jackson of cinema - never satisfied, hopelessly insecure and doesn't like what he sees in the mirror so he feels the need to tamper with it until he gets it right.

Only problem is he ends up buggering it and it's not exactly recognizable anymore...

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Darth Lars said:

I think that the biggest reason for the changes is to attract collectors. Collectors collect all variations of an item to get a "complete set". He has to make the new changes significant enough to make people want them for the changes.

 I don't see it. That only makes sense if he's getting collectors to buy multiple versions. That seems very much what he DOESN'T do. In fact, the opposite of what he does.

I'd go so far as to say this site exists because that's not what he does.

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The irony with Lucas is he has become the very evil he originally fought... He took on the massive studios with creative genius and new ideas and hated the film establishment. He is arguably now more apart of that establishment than anyone from previous generations which has meant that...

I think Lucas has become utterly detached from his fanbase, and I think the split from Kurtz back before RotJ showed that then Lucas had sold his soul even back then. Ever since he has seen Star Wars as a means of selling toys and making money rather than about being about film. I think the latest Indy film, with aliens in, showed just how detached he has come from the fans of his films..

In the prequels he then seemed to think that special effects exists to drive story, rather than story to drive special effects. With that in mind is it surprising he adds duggs to the OT rather than run colour correction?

This is no disrespect meant to either Harmy or Adywan, but the fact that one individual in either case with great editing skills and a lot of perseverance and patience has managed to do a better job on fixing (and editing) the issues in the OT, than all of Lucas Film put together shows just how far the company has fallen, from the par excellence and creativity that they once represented.

I will just leave this in here for now.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zwID2QHnV8&feature=related

"Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation." - Rabindranath Tagore

"Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth." - Kahlil Gibran

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So do you guys think that he honestly can't help himself? That somewhere deep down, he KNOWS he's being retarded...but does it anyway because he's the "Michael Jackson of cinema?"

That's actually a pretty good theory - because unless that's the case, he's just a total asshole. And somehow I don't think he does this stuff on purpose...maybe he does. I don't know! I can't ever figure it out.

Young Anakin and Obi-Wan 

Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi

If you want the OT deleted scenes, PM me and I'll send them to you! DON'T BUY THE BLU-RAY DISCS!!!

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My theory is that after so much money and adulation, George has lost the capacity for introspection.  So the moment he imagines something, he assumes it's good, and is not capable of taking a step back and evaluating his ideas objectively.  Nor is he capable of accepting constructive criticism, because that would also require introspection.  Whatever he blurts, happens.

"Close the blast doors!"
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absolute hatred of Marcia and anything associated to Marcia (star wars/thx1138 /etc)

"Changing classic movies at all is just wrong." Puggo

"HA, Ha, you r ghey" was probably a hilariously insulting comment in Elementary and Middle School, but its not cooly insulting anymore and its certainly not funny: it makes people who say it look like, well, an "inbred monkey." TheSessler

"I'm still %20 the wiser. It amused me that after doing a google image search for "The Final Milf" the second picture is Roger Delgado followed by lots and lots of porn." Bingowings

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Agreed about the insecurity and the Michael Jackson analogy. I really do believe that he has the same general kind of issues MJ had (albeit not as severe), and like MJ, he has allowed his wealth and success to insulate him from reality and common sense. And at least MJ didn't alter his songs and bury the originals.

And I'd be willing to excuse him if he'd just let me have the original versions in high-quality HD. People criticize Steven Spielberg for some of the same things as Lucas, but at least he understands the significance of the original versions of his films.

I wish George would listen to Steven on this...

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toho-scope said:

absolute hatred of Marcia and anything associated to Marcia (star wars/thx1138 /etc)

^This.

Hatred is maybe too strong a word but I think he is self harming his past to spite his more visibly confident present.

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It's all about $...  Milking us Star Wars fans over and over.  Next we have 3D Star Wars most likely with more changes and tweaks. If we ever see an OOT Blu Ray set it will ONLY be because Lucas has exhausted all other selling options for Star Wars. Alterations = Money without George having to release the originals that he despises so much. This leads me to believe that what everybody on here wants to see probably won't happen until George Lucas has passed on. Personally I will not support this current abomination nor will Lucas receive another dime from me equating to Star Wars unless the original films are released properly.

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TServo2049 said:

Agreed about the insecurity and the Michael Jackson analogy. I really do believe that he has the same general kind of issues MJ had (albeit not as severe), and like MJ, he has allowed his wealth and success to insulate him from reality and common sense. And at least MJ didn't alter his songs and bury the originals.

And I'd be willing to excuse him if he'd just let me have the original versions in high-quality HD. People criticize Steven Spielberg for some of the same things as Lucas, but at least he understands the significance of the original versions of his films.

I wish George would listen to Steven on this...

I know I don't post here a whole lot but being a pretty big fan of Jackson's music I just thought I'd throw in that he has indeed altered many of his songs, it's just that with all the controversy and the general public's disinterest in him for the last 18 years, these changes have gone largely unnoticed.

Sure, The basic musical structure of his songs are still the same, but try listening to a 1987 pressing of the Bad album and any subsequent pressing after 1990 and you'll notice a huge difference in the mixing of almost the entire album. I think Dangerous and Thriller are the only albums of his that have not had some alteration or another done to them.

I do think George and MJ are similar in more ways than one though.

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One thing is for sure, if he's becoming MJ, my kids aren't visiting his ranch.

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Nien Nunb said:

I do think George and MJ are similar in more ways than one though.

 Because they both ROCKED when they made Captain EO?

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toho-scope said:

absolute hatred of Marcia and anything associated to Marcia (star wars/thx1138 /etc)

I'm sure everyone on here has read this but I'll post anyway:

http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com/marcialucas.html

Such a fascinating look at the behind the scenes dynamics. I 100% support the theory that Lucas changes the movies constantly to renew the copyright, make the movies "his" in every sense of the word, and screw people like Marcia out of royalties.

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

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TheBoost said:

Nien Nunb said:

I do think George and MJ are similar in more ways than one though.

 Because they both ROCKED when they made Captain EO?

That's what I love about you, TheBoost- You're Just Another Part of Me.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

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TheBoost said:

Nien Nunb said:

I do think George and MJ are similar in more ways than one though.

 Because they both ROCKED when they made Captain EO?

Yes, indeed that is why. lol. ;)

Where's Captain EO on Blu-Ray, anyway?

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Bingowings said:

toho-scope said:

absolute hatred of Marcia and anything associated to Marcia (star wars/thx1138 /etc)

^This.

Hatred is maybe too strong a word but I think he is self harming his past to spite his more visibly confident present.

I have to say this is one of the more prominent thoughts I have also, when I bother to think about it. I also agree that hatred may be too strong a word.  More of a control issue - my films, my ideas, my vision, my story, my thoughts, etc.

I think along those same lines (ego) there could be a tinge of not wanting to let go of being the man\the legend

Unlike his contemporaries, he didn't go on to have a huge body of work or academy award winning films.  After Raiders, he became much less prominent. The Indiana Jones franchise is largely seen as a tetralogy of Spielberg films starring Harrison Ford.

Keeping his Original Vision fluid is one way of keeping Star Wars in the public eye.  Sort of an all publicity is good publicity thing.  The latest Original Vision is full of changes that have angered even some of the most ardent Kool-aid drinkers.

However people may feel about them - two-star Amazon rating, major newspapers & blogs discussing the let down, Facebook boycotts, etc -  they're still being talked about constantly.  Star Wars is still a phenomenon, and that may be very important to Lucas. 

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