ST George Lucas: on 'Force Awakens': It's like a "break up" ; Disney "not keen" on George involvement

Lucas, in the midst of talking about the film industry and the difficulties in the 70s, mentions his buddies:

Spielberg, Coppola, Scorcese, and Lucas. What was in the water back then?

 

I completely agree. I don't mind people disliking the prequels because it just isn't their taste, but just as often people simply make things up about them that are wholly unsupported. I really don't understand any of it.

 

lol

Fixed.

 

Well, I'm not sure I wanna diagnose George Lucas with anything, but I think it fair to say he is not the most people-oriented person in the world. And he does have a habit of thinking out loud, which leads to him declaring things as being "absolutely true" and then him changing his mind a few years later. I think it's likely that he didn't even really consider how his praise of one aspect of the Soviet Union might come off, or how his use of the term "white slavers" might be, well, unwise.

 

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I think you are missing a lot of stuff: There is nothing new that George is an awkward director and an awkward writer of dialogues using SW material: It is widely known that Empire Strikes Back was better because he didn't direct it and he was less involved in the dialogues. The same exact thing can be said of Attack Of The Clones compared to Phantom Menace...: Not only did he not direct that, but he didn't write most of it either...​

One could argue that TFA has better dialogues and acting than anything George actually directed. It is still a lifeless crappy mind-numbingly self-referential story, with the same fighter strafing runs over and over and over and over again (correct number of overs)...​

Man, if all it takes is small spaceships attacking stuff over and over and over and over again (correct number of overs) to give the impression of a Star Wars movie, it sure doesn't take much to please people these days...​

Gaston​

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Nice pivot from on topic to bashing, clever. Reported.

 

I love GL, I really do, but...he keeps saying that Star Wars isn't just about star ships, but he fails to see that's pretty much what he gave us in the Prequels — three movies with hardly any substance, and with no shortage of flashy starships, too.

I get it, he's bitter...I guess I would be too if no one liked my ideas. But to come out and put on this act that he hadn't disappointed half the fanbase (if not more) is getting a bit annoying, though. This is only an opinion, and I'm pretty sure it would never happen anyway, but he needs to admit the fact that the Prequels aren't good films. Sure, it made him a ton of money, but that's pretty much all it achieved — it wasn't because the movies were good, regardless of what the other half think. It's because people hadn't seen "new" Star Wars films in a long time and thought the next two were to be the last for years to come, or if ever. Nobody wanted to wait another sixteen years, so they rushed to see what they could, knowing it would be history, much like it had been back in the early 80s.

Let's face it, there are many directors who later admit and accept the fact that some of their films are bad — Spielberg included. But never Lucas. He needs to come clean about this. It isn't too late. He could make amends now even, but that would only take a re-edit (either from him or Disney), or a complete remake of the trilogy, which I thought I would never say.

Whatever the case, Lucas is getting too old for this kind of limelight and criticism, so he was better off just passing the baton. But (dare I say it) before goes, he should just accept the fact that Star Wars is bigger than him.

 

DARTHVENGERDARTHSEAR If you watch the whole interview, at one point he says the prequels had "issues". Self aware enough for me.

 

Then do something about it. Hell, he did plenty of it in the OT re-releases, so why not go back to the Prequels.

 

Really? Except for the -great- opening act of ROTS, I always thought there were very few spaceship battles in the prequels... There are over FOUR in TFA, all done in exactly the same way....

TPM was a kind of coming of age story, AOTC was mostly a Police investigation, followed by a ground battle with big departing spaceships only at the end, at best, ROTS was basically the only one with a really major space battle, at the beginning, and a better one than any we have ever seen I think, followed by the manipulation of a character's fear, and finally a political coup...

I was always surprised at how few spaceships battles there were in the PT, other than just a quick shot of them to get the characters from here to there...

Funny how two people can see the exact same thing and come out with radically different impressions...

Gaston

 

Why don't you just face the fact that GL doesn't need to admit anything just because you think they're bad? There's lots of people who love the PT. Get over it, and quit the OT vs PT wars. Nobody wants to hear it, and there's even a bloody banner at the top banning that type of thing. Get over it!

 

I never said starships was a bad thing. Hell, it's called Star Wars for a reason. What I'm saying is: Lucas is acting like his last films are more than about starships, but there a lot of people who would disgree with him because it seemed like that's all he cared about. It wasn't the acting, that's for sure.

 

He also had 't seen the movie as of this interview, so anything he says about it is suspect. I've kind of tried to avoid talking about those parts since they aren't fully informed reactions.

 

I don't need him to admit anything. He owes me no explanation, apologies, etc. Identifying Jar Jar as a critical aspect of TPM along with creating a character named "Sleazebagano" speaks volumes about his skill as a writer and director. I'm just glad he's gone. I hope he enjoys his billions. He earned it. But his having no involvement whatsoever with the franchise was the best possible development.

 

Well, he doesn't own them anymore so…he can't go back.

I just want him to move forward and make those small little esoteric films like Wim Wender's Paris,Texas he talked about making all those many years ago.

Green_Destiny_Sword, eh I would have liked him to stick around under the original arrangement with him consulting on the ST.

But I understand why he did not. He's used to being in control and he longer would have that power.

So best for all they parted company.

 

I do too. And I'm big enough to admit it's for two entirely contradictory reasons. (1) I want them to be compelling small, experimental films because damn, he's had these things bursting in his gut to make for nigh on 30 years. (2) there's a part of me that half expects them to be clunky and out of step with the vanguard of cinema and would even appreciate that.

I guess, either way, I win - though the better person in me wants #1.

Worst case scenario for ALL: he never makes them. That's unresolvedly sad... or pathetic. Or... something. Nothing good.

 

Sadly at this point I believe it's the latter. He will never make them. The only real way he can at his age(70) is to get on with it now, make them, and then live to be Kurosawa's age, who I believe lived into his nineties.

In fact, I think Kurosawa might have been older than Lucas is now when he directed one of his greatest films ever, Ran, but I'm not certain.

 

I still do think George is a wonderful, wonderful human being and what he's done in the field of entertainment is incredible, unbelievable, one-of-a-kind.

And even if I wasn't big on the prequels, I do in a way think it's kinda sad that he's on the side lines watching the franchise march on without him.

But I also feel that storytelling/directing isn't an infinite skill that someone has forever. We've seen many, many directors/writers who simply "lose" their edge, their touch as they get older. Tarantino has even talked about this and how he expects it to happen to him.

You can't be the same writer/storyteller at age 65 that you were at age 35. Things change, your POV changes, you lose some of that hunger, drive. When you are young and you have a lot of ideas, it's almost like an obsession to get them out and that creates this intense focus.

 

75!

 

Just looked it up:

Yep, Kurosawa was seventy-five when he directed Ran.

unicron5, George is now 70.

Hahaha! Stoneymonster beat me to it!

unicron5, that is a great point though about obsession and passion at a young age. Some people only have a certain number of stories they want to tell. I think it varies. You're right.

Maybe George just doesn't have any more stories he wants to tell?

He's said for years he's had many but they've never materialized.

 

This is... sadly... what I expect as well. Too much talk, NEVER any "do". He could have done this instead of 1-3, or all kinds of things and he didn't. And he's thinking NOW is his time? Very unlikely.

Prove me wrong, George, prove me wrong.

 

Yes, I haven't entirely given up on it yet either. But, I'm older and grouchy enough to know that in life things happen and your goals change.

Maybe George really just doesn't want to make films much anymore?

It is possible he's just not in love with it anymore. Or, maybe he is but at a really basic and fundamental level devoid of any commercialism and marketing, etc?

He has stated no one will ever see those smaller movies he makes except himself and maybe a few friends.

But think of this:

He didn't just sell his big brand franchises, he also sold his own production company.

He could obviously start another but why?

If he wanted to still keep making films, sell the Star Wars and Lucasfilm catalog and start over with the prod. co.

But he didn't. He sold everything, except for the Ranch, which he leases to Disney.

 

In some early storyboards it had a Pirate/Scavenger hunters tugging an Imperial Star Destroyer above a planet opening up the movie after the crawl(which in the book was made unintelligible), the vehicles used are Blockade Runner-type vessels. There is a young man named "Skylar"(who is dressed an awful lot like Han am thinking this was a role for Tye Sheridan), a Wookie and an R2(or is R2?) unit, they appear to be salvage hunters, at some point they pick up the Slave I or a vehicle just like it while tugging also a Star Destroyer . Something goes wrong and all the ships end up breaking apart or colliding or something and only Skylar makes out alive in an escape pod with R2 still onboard the SD . The wookie(Chewie?) was apparently killed or marooned during the break up in space as he was still onboard the Slave I vessel as it drifted off. The wreckage of the crashed Star Destroyer alerts Salvage Pirates, one in particular is the same same Sith design with the face mask of Tatsu on Rebels. The SD wreckage is first discovered by another scavenger on the planet called "Thea"(Kira/Rey).

But this appears later used for Han and Chewie just out in space doing their thing with the giant Freighter and they capture the Falcon on shear coincidence/dumb luck/the Force.

Then an alt, there is some junky Gladiator-class-looking ship was to have originally opened the movie. This ship looks like a piece of junk and was suppose to be the "Pirates" ship( bad guys go from from Sith to the Jedi Killer and his band of described as Gang, Hooligans, Pirate-Mercenaries and later as Knights and The Seven), it captured a Blockade Runner-class ship over a desert planet . I think this was the basis for the Han Solo piloting a Star Destroyer and swallowing up rumor stuff we heard at some point on the leaks. This scene was moved and the "Star Destroyer" like ship was switched to that Freighter vehicle Han captained when he swallowed up the Falcon.

Later on that Gladiator-class SD was reused in another concept where it was more Imperial and new and seems to be grappling a Blockade Runner, not sure what exactly thats about . Seems they were going for new Star Destroyers, some looked like Trade Federation ships with orbs in the center but with the classic wedge SD design around it and painted red.

I think the Max Von Sydow rumors started also because in the text underneath a Sydow concept character portrait they deliberately wanted to have his poncho draped over him like Boba Fett. But other than that, there is no mention of him ever being Boba Fett. Some art leaked online did not make it into the book but some variants did.

They have the Jedi Killer in his Vaderesque outfit kneeling before Karloff's The Mummy face in hologram, as an early Snoke place holder or something but the scene is very much like the ESB when Vader and Sidious chat.

Vader's castle was present, I would've liked to have seen this explored like the old rumors had suggested, the art looked good.

 

Okay. I don't usually involve myself in debates like these about the PT because for the most part they resolve nothing, But I can't in good conscience not say something if you're going to seriously and genuinely say the PT was just about starships. Is that what you're actually saying?

If it is what you're saying I have some new film suggestions for you that I think will be much more palatable for your capabilities. First, you can start with pretty much anything by Michael Bay. He has fun and snappy dialogue and passable acting in his films, so they must be about more than spaceships. Oh, also you should check out any film by John Woo. They usually have motifs in them such as doves or birds and are totally deep. Last of all, you absolutely need to stay away from other movies with ****** dialogue and acting that are just about spaceships. These include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Sunshine, and of course any classic Star Trek shows.

If all else fails you should resort to pretty much any movie by Brett Ratner. His dialogue is crisp and easy to follow so you won't get bored in movies about spaceships.