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Topic:
So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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VladTheImpaler
Registered:
Apr '00
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Date Posted:
6/2 10:54am
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
- Date Edited:
6/2 10:55am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
VladTheImpaler
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You're both right. Lucas "sold out" in the sense that he didn't follow his dream of making small, abstract personal films, instead focusing on continuing his blockbuster franchises.
But I also agree that he does things HIS way, and doesn't always direct his movies with money in mind. If Hollywood were running things, Jar Jar and Dooku would have been out for sure, and Anakin would have donned the Vader suit way earlier, for instance.
Edited to add: Thanks for the THX-1138 special edition recommendation, Palpateen. I'll definitely check it out. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the reviews when it came out--I just heard that it had been changed and then just kind of ignored it. I'd love to hear the commentary.
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zombie
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 11:11am
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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Did you see the Jar Jar dolls in stores? If it were Hollywood, not only would Jar Jar been in, he would have had his own cartoon spinoff. I'm sure Lucas would have done this if Jar Jar hadn't been universally reviled. This notion that TPM was "uncommercial" is ridiculous; just because it didn't pander to the whims of 20-year-old fanboys does not make it uncommercial--it had a bigger market in sights, the family film, and 20-year-old fanboys would go see it anyway; its like saying Toy Story is uncommercial. Not that I'm suggesting Lucas made the film that way on purpose in order to make the maximum amount of money--indeed he did make the film the way he wanted to, he was interested in making a kids film (and he milked that for all it was worth)--but this idea that it was daring and uncommercial is simply untrue.
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I'll swallow your soul! --------------------------------- If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! -------------------------------- author of The Secret History of Star Wars http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com
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zombie
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 11:13am
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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VladTheImpaler posted:
Edited to add: Thanks for the THX-1138 special edition recommendation, Palpateen. I'll definitely check it out. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the reviews when it came out--I just heard that it had been changed and then just kind of ignored it. I'd love to hear the commentary.
Most of it is tastefully done, though there is a car chase that is quite jarring and out of place, aside from the fact that it looks like crap. But 95% of it is well done--I have no problem watching the SE in place of the original. And the extras on the disk are incredible, particularly a feature-length documentary on Zoetrope that is probably better than the film adaptation of Easy Riders Raging Bulls.
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I'll swallow your soul! --------------------------------- If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! -------------------------------- author of The Secret History of Star Wars http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
6/2 12:12pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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zombie posted:
VladTheImpaler posted:
Edited to add: Thanks for the THX-1138 special edition recommendation, Palpateen. I'll definitely check it out. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the reviews when it came out--I just heard that it had been changed and then just kind of ignored it. I'd love to hear the commentary.
Most of it is tastefully done, though there is a car chase that is quite jarring and out of place, aside from the fact that it looks like crap. But 95% of it is well done--I have no problem watching the SE in place of the original. And the extras on the disk are incredible, particularly a feature-length documentary on Zoetrope that is probably better than the film adaptation of Easy Riders Raging Bulls.
I'm one of those rare longtime fans that actually likes the CG car-chase in 1138. It's freaking awesome.
And on a side note... there's a film adaptation of ERRB? I love the book and would love to see a film. Do you mean a documentary or a kind of historical fiction film??
-----signature-----
"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
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zombie
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 12:22pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
- Date Edited:
6/2 12:25pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
zombie
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Its a documentary. Basically a shorter version of the book told by some of the people involved. Its pretty good, but not as good as the book (naturally).
As for the car chase, it is kind of cool, but it doesn't fit in with the film at all, all of a sudden it goes into pseudo-video-game mode and we have this Speed Racer type of sequence and then it returns to the film; if they were going to do that they should have respected the style of the film, because thats not how Lucas would have shot it in 1970.
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I'll swallow your soul! --------------------------------- If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! -------------------------------- author of The Secret History of Star Wars http://secrethistoryofstarwars.com
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Go-Mer-Tonic
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 12:46pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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zombie posted:
Did you see the Jar Jar dolls in stores? If it were Hollywood, not only would Jar Jar been in, he would have had his own cartoon spinoff. I'm sure Lucas would have done this if Jar Jar hadn't been universally reviled. This notion that TPM was "uncommercial" is ridiculous; just because it didn't pander to the whims of 20-year-old fanboys does not make it uncommercial--it had a bigger market in sights, the family film, and 20-year-old fanboys would go see it anyway; its like saying Toy Story is uncommercial. Not that I'm suggesting Lucas made the film that way on purpose in order to make the maximum amount of money--indeed he did make the film the way he wanted to, he was interested in making a kids film (and he milked that for all it was worth)--but this idea that it was daring and uncommercial is simply untrue.
A) Name something in Star Wars that didn't get turned into an action figure or playset.
B) Jar-Jar was not universally reviled.
C) Phantom Menace was uncommercial. It was a children's film with a political backdrop. How many of those have the Hollywood studios churned out in the interest of marketing dollars?
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"...that’s not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don’t. That’s completely out of my hands.” -Lucas
"At least I will have finished what I set out to do, and at least they will have been good to me." -Lucas
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battlewars
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
6/2 2:49pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
- Date Edited:
6/2 2:53pm (3 edits total)
Edited By:
battlewars
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He made the original Star Wars to be commercial, he knew what elements worked and included them, he wanted a successful film. He was pessimistic about is chances but only because he is a pessimist at heart.
The prequels may have been political but he made sure to add enough explosions and kid friendly elements to make it popular, not to mention riding off the goodwill of the OT.
Really how is he not a sell-out?
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Go-Mer-Tonic
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 3:33pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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Because he stuck to his artistic choices even when everyone else in the world told him his ideas sucked and wouldn't make money.
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"...that’s not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don’t. That’s completely out of my hands.” -Lucas
"At least I will have finished what I set out to do, and at least they will have been good to me." -Lucas
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Darth-Seldon
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
6/2 3:37pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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"A 70-year-old billionaire trying to re-create the experiments of the hippie generation forty years later from his mansion just isn't interesting"
I couldn't agree more Zomb, as always well said.
When you boil all of this down, and distill a story from it--you'll realize that there is a very interesting character-arc with George Lucas himself. He began his career as a daring and bold artist challenging the establishment and fighting the corporate tycoons of old Hollywood. This young guy from USC was assaulting an empire and declaring his independence from the studios. With financial success (after Grafitti) Lucas was financing his own operations. Star Wars (and Indy to a lesser degree) made Lucas into his own empire--he redefined Hollywood, and in his artistic struggle, proved victorious. Ironically, by beating the system, he became the very thing he loathed. Regardless of what he tries, he has become a corporate tycoon in the new Hollywood. Just like Anakin, Lucas had great intentions, but still became a mirror image of his rivals.
The George Lucas that creatively developed THX, the guy experimenting with space odyssey and created STAR WARS, and the free-spirit that brought us Indiana Jones--isn't the same guy today. A lifetime in the business will change anyone. George Lucas changed movie-making, but Hollywood changed George Lucas.
-Seldon
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Isaac Asimov was an innovative genius All posters are equal but some posters are more equal than others. Barack Obama & Joe Biden 2008 
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Vortigern99
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
6/2 3:38pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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Of course he wanted a commercially successful film. In 1999 he said that he would "very disappointed" if the The Phantom Menace did not end up on the list of all-time Top 10 box office successes. Does this make him a "sell-out"? That's up to each person to decide. But I will point out that we all (or the vast majority of people in the Western world) work toward the goal of garnering as much money as possible, in order to provide security for our families and our futures. To me this is not reprehensible in the slightest, especially considering that he employs thousands of people in the process and does it producing lighthearted, essentially moral entertainment.
-----signature-----
"I knew from the beginning I was not doing science fiction.
I was doing a space opera, a fantasy film, a mythological piece,
a fairy tale."--George Lucas
My "Vader's Origins" thread:
http://boards.theforce.net/Classic_Trilogy/b10002/8708417/p1
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Go-Mer-Tonic
Registered:
Aug '99
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Date Posted:
6/2 3:42pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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To me Lucas seems like the same guy he's been all along.
Stubborn, eclectic and strong minded.
I think the reason some people think he's changed has more to do with how people assume he is.
When Lucas is making movies they like, he's a great artist.
When Lucas is making movies they don't like, he's out of touch and lazy.
Sure people change, but I don't think it was Lucas in this case.
-----signature-----
"...that’s not my job, to make people like my movies. They either like them or they don’t. That’s completely out of my hands.” -Lucas
"At least I will have finished what I set out to do, and at least they will have been good to me." -Lucas
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Gobi-1
Title: Manager: LFL Projects / Indiana Jones 4
Registered:
Dec '02
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Date Posted:
6/2 4:41pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
- Date Edited:
6/2 4:45pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Gobi-1
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The comment about Lucas making home movies may be closer to the mark then you realize. I remember in one interview where Lucas stated that his personal films may not even be released and that he would only show them to his closet friends. Who to say that Lucas hasn't been making his personal films? The man produced brand new episodes of Young Indiana Jones but didn't release them until over a decade later. Can we be sure he hasn't been making other projects in secret?
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In 1977 George Lucas created the Star Wars Trilogy and changed the way we look at movies.
In 1999 George Lucas created the Prequel Trilogy and changed the way we look at Star Wars.
Frasier, Lost, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? are the best tv shows ever.
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Darth-Seldon
Registered:
May '03
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Date Posted:
6/2 4:43pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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Gobi-1 posted:
The comment about Lucas making home movies may be closer to the mark then you realize. I remember in one interview where Lucas stated that his personal films may not even be released and that he would only show them to his closet friends. Who to say that Lucas hasn't been making his personal films? The man filmed produced brand new episodes of Young Indiana Jones but didn't release them until over a decade later. Can we be sure he hasn't been making other projects in secret?
The JD Salinger of Hollywood?
Interesting theory.
-Seldon
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Isaac Asimov was an innovative genius All posters are equal but some posters are more equal than others. Barack Obama & Joe Biden 2008
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VadersLaMent
Registered:
Apr '02
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Date Posted:
6/2 5:17pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
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"Sell out" is such an overused term. Bashers need to come up with something else to use when whining.
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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke
Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God--Michael Shermer
I am officially Awesome.
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battlewars
Registered:
Mar '05
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Date Posted:
6/2 7:00pm
Subject:
RE: So now its over, who's looking forward to Lucas's "personal" movies?
- Date Edited:
6/2 7:07pm (3 edits total)
Edited By:
battlewars
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He has no desire to be artistic for its sole purpose anymore, and thats what I mean by selling out.
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