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George Lucas discusses letting go of Star Wars

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In other similar videos from the past month it is clear that George is bitter about what’s happened with Star Wars, not just with Disney but with the backlash he got for the prequels and the Special Editions. I hope he does go and make those experimental films he wanted to make for so long! Maybe now he can move on and make the films he’s passionate about.

The Person in Question

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If only this interview was from the early-to-mid '90s. That way we could have been spared the SEs and gotten a PT & ST which were faithful to the EU (which was still pretty decent at the time, KJA aside).

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moviefreakedmind said:

In other similar videos from the past month it is clear that George is bitter about what’s happened with Star Wars, not just with Disney but with the backlash he got for the prequels and the Special Editions. I hope he does go and make those experimental films he wanted to make for so long! Maybe now he can move on and make the films he’s passionate about.

I have to admit I’ve been feeling bad for George Lucas ever since TFA came out. Every review I’ve read has pretty much said JJ has saved Star Wars from George’s mistakes.

I’m not personally a fan of the prequels, or the Special Editions, but for all their faults, the PT and the SE pioneered many advancements in filmmaking technology (just like the OT before them) and George does deserves recognition for that. He’s a brave filmmaker who tries what others aren’t yet ready to try.

Plus, without him we wouldn’t have Star Wars at all.

So I do hope he’s able to move on and make some new non-star wars films that he’s happy with, and that allow him to flex his considerable creative muscles once again. He shouldn’t feel bad about Star Wars - he should feel proud about creating it and happy to now watch it grow and develop in the hands of a new generation of filmmakers and fans (who themselves would not exist without him).

War does not make one great.

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Did he seriously refer to Disney as "the white slavers who take these things and [trails off, chuckles mirthlessly]"?

What an unfathomable piece of garbage. Four billion dollars richer, and playing the martyr.

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Darth Id said:

Did he seriously refer to Disney as "the white slavers who take these things and [trails off, chuckles mirthlessly]"?

What an unfathomable piece of garbage. Four billion dollars richer, and playing the martyr.

He was clearly joking.

I’ve been feeling bad for him too because for a couple years I was very much in the bashing Lucas camp. That’s not to say that I don’t still have a bone to pick with him over the missing OOT and his prequel decisions, but lately I’ve been getting some more perspectives on him outside of the hardcore fandom and sites like Save Star Wars (nothing against them). People I’ve come across online who have worked with Lucas have described him as nothing less than a kindhearted, although stubborn man who was very pleasant to work with. Someone who has for years frequented the "stevehoffman.tv" forums had worked for Lucasfilm briefly on the DVDs from 2004 and has described him as such. He also isn’t the monster who wants to physically go out and destroy unaltered copies of Star Wars that many fans think of him as either; hell, he never took action against fan edits or preservations. The same man who worked with Lucasfilm has said that the unaltered film footage is still existing, and duplicates and digital copies are still preserved, it’s just that with all the changes and Special Edition crap Lucas was doing he truly didn’t have the time or desire to restore the original versions. As much as I wish that were not his attitude, it doesn’t make him a bad man or even necessarily an unethical man. Yes he has done many petty and very nonsensical things, but we shouldn’t judge him any longer now that there is nothing left for him to do. He’s out of the picture, he can’t ‘right his wrongs’ or do anything else with the franchise, so I say let him be.

The Person in Question

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DuracellEnergizer said:

If only this interview was from the early-to-mid '90s. That way we could have been spared the SEs and gotten a PT & ST which were faithful to the EU (which was still pretty decent at the time, KJA aside).

I kinda doubt if Disney bought LucasArts then that the prequels would have been made. Not enough demand for them and people wanted the sequel trilogy all along. Of course there would be no JJ Abrahms at that time so who knows if the sequel trilogy would have been any good.

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People want good Star Wars films, some us have been waiting since 1980.

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I do feel bad for Lucas for the flack he gets from the prequels. Look, I hate the prequels as much as anyone, but Lucas just made some bad movies and people act like he purposefully messed them up just to make them angry. He was experimenting. He was trying to make good movies based on ideas he was passionate about. He took risks. They didn’t always pan out but I really do commend the guy for not just doing what people wanted him to and actually trying something different.
People crucify the guy just cuz he made some bad movies. I would be hurt too if people treated me the way people treat him just because they didn’t like something I made.

There are definitely things he deserves to be criticized for, like refusing to restore and release the oot, but some people take it ridiculously far and act like he’s the devil. I sincerely doubt he made bad movies on purpose just to upset people. Most people don’t set out to make a bad product.

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I still admire Lucas as filmmaker and artist (despite his recent stuff with OT releases). He is/was a true visionary. Basically he came up with something completely new for each of his film (THX, American Graffiti, OT and PT). Many other filmmakers basically just scavenge around for existing stuff (good made-up screenplays/stories or interesting real-life stories) to make their films on. Martin Scorsese is a prime example of that.

真実

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As much as I hate the prequals, I don’t hate Lucas for making them and they have I guess a right to exist. But trying to erase the OOT out of existence is what irks me. But now that he’s not apart of anything, it’s hard for me to be angry at him still.

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Hating George for the PT is like hating Francis Ford Coppola for the film Jack. Sure most people hate those specific films, but to actively hate and hold vitriolic opinions about George because he fowled up the PT just isn’t right in my opinion. Like I said, I’m upset about his unfortunate actions (or lack of action) regarding the OOT, but again, to hate the man for it is just not right.

The Person in Question

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MathUser said:

Of course there would be no JJ Abrahms at that time so who knows if the sequel trilogy would have been any good.

Abrams is currently sitting on my “least favourite directors” list, so I’d consider his absence a pro, not a con.

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When I was a kid, he stood alongside some of the most inspirational storytellers of cinematic history. I hope that some catalyst will jolt him into becoming a storyteller again.

From Howard the Duck and forward he’s basically proven that he’s all about being in charge and making bad decisions though. Why doesn’t he just take the money and go make these awesome films he keeps ranting about? He is a billionaire with a history of directing, writing and producing films after all. Anyone seen Strange Magic btw?

It just seems like really, really bad form to come out and call them “white slavers” (wtf?). It reminds me of the Red Tails release where he was like “studios won’t make films with an all-black cast”.

Luke threw twice…maybe.

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Lucas’ actual hands on involvement with Howard is debatable. He took on the Executive Producer mantle mostly as a favor to director Willard Hyuck and Gloria Katz, his old American Graffiti script writers. It was their baby as much as Labyrinth was Jim Henson’s baby. And I never hear anyone praise or scorn George for that film, even though he’s the executive producer on it. Willow on the other hand…

And I did see Strange Magic. I like it more than Frozen. 😉 Was pretty cruel of Disney to dump it the way they did. Pity there isn’t a Blu Ray release.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

Lucas’ actual hands on involvement with Howard is debatable. He took on the Executive Producer mantle mostly as a favor to director Willard Hyuck and Gloria Katz, his old American Graffiti script writers. It was their baby as much as Labyrinth was Jim Henson’s baby. And I never hear anyone praise or scorn George for that film, even though he’s the executive producer on it. Willow on the other hand…

And I did see Strange Magic. I like it more than Frozen. 😉 Was pretty cruel of Disney to dump it the way they did. Pity there isn’t a Blu Ray release.

As a fan of Howard the Duck, I’ve always been interested in how much Lucas was involved in it. I think he actually had alot of creative input into the film. At this time in the mid 80s, Lucas was very interested in music and music videos. He had worked on Captain Eo and was dating Linda Rondstadt. The decision to make Beverly a rock singer was probably Lucas. Also the pacing of the film which is breakneck is completely Lucas. I’m almost certain he did some second unit shots and was absolutely on set. Lucas would later say he wanted Howard to be more of a film noir detective movie but this is absolute revisionism on his part which we’ve seen before from him.

It’s true that at the time Lucas was a producer on a few projects. He was even onset everyday on Return to Oz to help Walter Murch. But knowing Lucas, when it has his name on it specifically as a “Film by George Lucas” like Howard does, he was probably involved in many aspects of the production down to the editing.

Back on topic, I think the Charlie Rose interview is probably most truthful interview Lucas has ever given on Star Wars. He admits he should have directed Empire and Jedi which lends more evidence that he doesn’t like Empire that much. He also admits that he liked 30% of ANH which is much lower then his usual 70%, so he’s truthful the whole move makes him cringe. And of course that he thinks the ideas behind TFA are rubbish. I think this interview explains the prequels whether you like or hate them. It shows he was trying to improve on the OT and remove any aspect of the OT that he hated. On viewing TFA for the third time, it struck me that Lucas probably hated all the fun joking moments of the OT since they are utterly absent from the prequels or kept to a bare minimum. The Phantom Menace was I think the film Lucas had always wanted to make. I just wish he saw ANH as the masterpiece and best of the series (my opinion) that it is.

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He’s not quite the same person he was in 1977.

And it’s a pity the fan club never made the Duckworld version of the Raiders poster available. 😉

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

And it’s a pity the fan club never made the Duckworld version of the Raiders poster available. 😉

I’d probably have nightmares if I had this hanging up somewhere:

And that’s speaking as someone who’s a fan!

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It’s a conversation starter to be sure. Is that the real deal or someone’s recreation?

If I still have the official HTD 1987 calendar stashed away, there are some nice stills in that I could frame and hang on the wall. 😉

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Where were you in '77?

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Darth Lucas said:

I do feel bad for Lucas for the flack he gets from the prequels. Look, I hate the prequels as much as anyone, but Lucas just made some bad movies and people act like he purposefully messed them up just to make them angry. He was experimenting. He was trying to make good movies based on ideas he was passionate about.

The problem wasn’t that he made bad movies. The problem was that he infringed upon the movies we already knew and loved. The prequels introduced midichlorians and ruined The Force. They ruined Yoda. They took Anakin and turned him from a noble man seduced by the darkside, into a whiny teenager seduced by the darkside. Then he disappeared the OOT and ruined the films with his idiotic SE changes.

If he had just made bad prequels, he would still be looked upon in a very favorable light.

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boredom3031 said:

I don’t hate Lucas for making them and they have I guess a right to exist. But trying to erase the OOT out of existence is what irks me. But now that he’s not apart of anything, it’s hard for me to be angry at him still.

This!

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moviefreakedmind said:

He was clearly joking.

Look, I wouldn’t expect a Lucas defender to be anything other than tone deaf, but
1.) The remark is beyond the pale, even if in jest.
2.) His tone is not one of jest, but only of bitterness, until he tries to back out of it with a forced scoff.

There’s a reason every industry rag has now picked up the story, after being scooped by me. (Just google “George lucas white slavers”.) It’s truly a remark of spectacular delusion and callous narcissism.

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He should follow his own breakup advice and stop making bitter comments in interviews.