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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Ranking All of Lucas' Work

Discussion in 'Lucasfilm Ltd. In-Depth Discussion' started by WriterMan, May 19, 2014.

  1. WriterMan

    WriterMan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2012
    I apologize if this thread has been done previously. I cannot find it so I will assume it hasn't.

    I wish to see how fans on this board think of all of Lucas' work comparatively. I'm sure the answers will be interesting. This includes the work he only wrote/produced for. If I've forgotten anything, please let me know. (This list only contains films.)

    Strongest to weakest:

    The Empire Strikes Back
    Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    Return of the Jedi
    Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Star Wars
    American Graffiti
    Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
    THX-1138 (short film)
    THX-1138 (feature film)
    Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith
    Howard the Duck
    Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace
    Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    More American Graffiti
    The Land Before Time
    Star Wars: The Clone Wars (movie)
    Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
    Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
    Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
    Radioland Murders
    Star Wars Holiday Special
    Red Tails
    Willow
    Tucker: The Man and His Dream
    Twice Upon a Time
    Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

    These are the only films I've seen. It's nearly all of the ones he's done, minus most of his short films and a select few of his features.

    For those that love Clones, it's been my least favorite for over 10 years and I doubt that will change anytime soon. Too many pacing issues and bad scenes for me to love it like the rest of the franchise. I still love it, and like the older brother that's always been rude to you, I've come to accept it because it's family. But to me, it's the weakest entry into the entire franchise and probably Lucas' worst work.
     
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  2. ezekiel22x

    ezekiel22x Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    1. American Graffiti
    2. A New Hope
    3. Attack of the Clones
    4. Willow
    5. Temple of Doom
    6. Revenge of the Sith
    7. The Last Crusade
    8. The Empire Strikes Back
    9. More American Graffiti
    10. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    11. The Phantom Menace
    12. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    13. Return of the Jedi
    14. Howard the Duck

    Didn't count the Ewok films as they were made for TV. Didn't count The Land Before Time as I recall my old stuffed dinosaur far more than anything from the actual film. Anything else I haven't seen yet.
     
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  3. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 1, 2014
    Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark? Whats that one ;)

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I enjoyed Clones more than TPM, probably due to the Fett presence (and relative lack of JarJar).
     
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  5. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2013
    WriterMan As you can see by my sig I love AOTC - no offense taken :)

    I still haven't seen most of the non-Indy and Star Wars GL films, I need to get on that.
     
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  6. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014
    Almost an impossible task!
    I'm a fan of everything he's done, from technology to books.
    As for major film projects my faves remain:

    Young Indy
    The Clone Wars
    Prequels
    OT
    Tucker : The Man and His Dream
    Willow
    Ewoks animated series

    I'm also a huge fan of the Shadow War Chronicles trilogy.
     
  7. AndyLGR

    AndyLGR Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 1, 2014
    It's hard to rank them. All I can say is that ESB and Raiders are the best of the lot.
     
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  8. EternalHero

    EternalHero Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2014
    I'm getting into the LucasArts games now (hey, better late than never). It's just amazing how much great entertainment he produced over the years. The overall quality is so high - even the soundtracks to his games are awesome! The care and quality he put into his productions is second to none, IMO. Twenty, thirty years later fans are still ogling the posters for his films and collecting obscure merchandise. Most movies are forgotten after they leave theaters, even big successful ones. I think he put together the best entertainment company of all time and the key was quality and always pushing out into new directions.

    Also, I forgot the Indy features in my list!
     
  9. Deputy Rick Grimes

    Deputy Rick Grimes Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2012

    No, it says you love ROTS :p
     
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  10. The_Book_of_Sith

    The_Book_of_Sith Jedi Master

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2012
    I'm a bit of a Lucasphile but I only really consider movies that he directed as the real deal, so with that in mind my favourite Lucas movies are..

    1. Attack of the Clones
    2. THX 1138
    3. Star Wars '77
    4. American Graffiti
    5. Revenge of the Sith
    6. The Phantom Menace

    I expect to be fully flayed for my number 1 choice, especially with such a cracking directorial resume, but for me its genius lies in its oddness and its expressionistic/experimental qualities. I can't get enough of it.
     
  11. ObiAlKenobi

    ObiAlKenobi Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 10, 2012
    1. The Empire Strikes Back
    2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
    3. Star Wars
    4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
    5. American Graffiti
    6. Return of the Jedi
    7. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    8. Revenge of the Sith
    9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    10. Attack of the Clones
    11. Willow
    12. The Phantom Menace

    the others I either have not seen or do not care much about.
     
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  12. anakincol

    anakincol Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 28, 2009
    1.Empire
    2. Raiders
    3.ROTS
    4.Star wars
    5.thx-1138(feature film)
    6.ROTJ
    7. Last Crusade
    8. tpm
    9. WIllow
    10. AOTC

    An interesting fact is that he and Martin Scorese were camera operators on Gimme Shelter the but Lucas footage was cut because it his camera broke
     
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  13. WriterMan

    WriterMan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2012

    As a fan of Scorsese as well, it's interesting to hear that. I did not know that! Thanks for sharing that with me. I might bring it up to my other movie-loving friends sometime.
     
  14. anakincol

    anakincol Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 28, 2009
    Yeah, I did not know that either till I was reading the wiki entry on Lucas on his birthday earlier in the month. what they shot was at Altamont. It is possible George Lucas and Martin Scorsese were witness to all the stuff with the Hell's angels
     
  15. TX-20

    TX-20 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 21, 2013
    Only going by what he's Directed:

    Star Wars (or A New Hope)
    THX 1138
    American Graffiti
    Attack of the Clones
    Revenge of the Sith
    The Phantom Menace
     
  16. yodasbum

    yodasbum Jedi Grand Master star 2

    Registered:
    Nov 4, 2004
    Directed

    1. Star Wars
    2. American Graffiti
    3. The Phantom Menace
    4. Revenge Of The Sith
    5. THX1138
    6. Attack Of The Clones

    Created
    1. The Empire Strikes Back
    2. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
    3. Star Wars
    4. American Graffiti (Imperious! Each of these are 10/10 films for me- almost without flaws)

    5. The Phantom Menace
    6. Return Of The Jedi
    7. Temple Of Doom
    8. The Last Crusade
    9. Revenge Of The Sith
    10. Willow (Well crafted films with some flaws)

    11. THX 1138
    12. Attack Of The Clones (Huge flaws in both of these films for me but I do still enjoy watching these films)

    13. Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (An abomination of a film that fails on almost every level- I thought that the only redeeming features Harrison Ford, the opening sequence after the god awful gofer and up to the fridge and Marion's return the rest was complete and utter garbage)

    A lot of the other stuff like Howard The Duck and Labyrinth I would not rank because I am uncertain of his actual input on those films.
     
  17. CaptainHamYoyo

    CaptainHamYoyo Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 18, 2011
    Star Wars
    Raiders of the Lost Ark
    Empire Strikes Back
    Return of the Jedi
    The Last Crusade
    American Graffiti
    Revenge of the Sith
    Temple of Doom
    Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    Willow
    Thx 1138
    The Phantom Menace
    Attack of the Clones
    Red Tails
     
  18. mratm23

    mratm23 Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    May 13, 2014
    Wow, that's a really strange and unique ranking. You would normally get torn to shreds just for putting Prequels over OT but TCW and Young Indy too? I like you man, keep it up. ;)
     
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  19. Darth Nerdling

    Darth Nerdling Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 20, 2013
    I'm only going to include films that GL directed or played a part in writing.

    1) ROTS
    1) TESB (tied)
    3) Raiders of the Lost Ark
    4) ANH
    4) ROTJ (tied)
    6) Temple of Doom
    7) THX-1138
    8) American Graffiti
    9) TPM
    10) Willow
    (Below this point are his films I find mediocre or worse.)
    11) The Last Crusade
    11) ATOC (tied)
    13) Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
    14) Both Ewok movies (Both these films were released theatrically in some countries in Europe!)

    GL also wrote the story for Radioland Murders, but I've never seen that.

    GL didn't write or direct: Labyrinth, Howard the Duck, Red Tails, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, More American Graffiti, and The Land Before Time. It seems like GL didn't really have that much commercial success as a Executive Producer. Only The Land Before Time was a modest domestic success. Adjusted for inflation, it would've earned about $96 million domestically.
     
  20. Darth_Nub

    Darth_Nub Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2009

    Australia, too, that's how I first saw them. I have a feeling they were only ever 'Made for TV' for the US (and maybe Canada), everywhere else got cinema releases.
     
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  21. Rabs

    Rabs Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2014
    1. The Star Wars Saga
    2. Everything else
     
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  22. Orman Tagge

    Orman Tagge Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 10, 2014
    Oh god. The ranking of the SW Saga films is pretty arbitrary. ROTS is definitely my favorite, but after that...well, anyways, of what I've seen:

    ROTS
    TPM
    ESB
    ANH
    ROTJ
    AOTC
    Raiders of the Lost Ark
    The Last Crusade
    Temple of Doom
    Battle for Endor
    The Clone Wars film
    The Holiday Special
    Crystal Skull
     
  23. MOC Vober Dand

    MOC Vober Dand Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jan 6, 2004
    Some of it I find difficult to differentiate between, but here's my clear cut top 5:

    Star Wars
    TESB
    Raiders
    THX
    American Graffiti
     
  24. DL44Jo

    DL44Jo Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2014
    1.ANH
    2.ESB
    3.ROTJ
    4.Last Crusade
    5.Raiders of the Lost Ark
    6.Clone Wars series
    7.Battle for Endor
    8.Land Before Time (only the original)
    9.Labrynth
    10.Willow
    11.Crystal Skull
    12.Howard the Duck
    13.PT
     
  25. Prospecting on Subtyrrell

    Prospecting on Subtyrrell Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 18, 2014
    Sometimes it irks me that Lucas doesn't get the credit he deserves for his versatility. In my opinion he has created absolute classics in 4 different genres. Sci fi, youth drama, fantasy and adventure. 3 of those I would easily consider the pinnacle of each genre (Graffiti, SW and Raiders) while THX is every bit as good as Stalker or 2001 A Space Odyssey. I also struggle immensely to separate the quality of his work, a testament to the inherent quality. I can concede that The Star Wars Saga is his best work and that ESB is the best SW movie, but beyond that it becomes very hard.

    Star Wars:

    1: ESB
    6: TPM, AOTC, ROTS, ANH, ROTJ (equal)

    Indy:

    1: Raiders, Crusade (equal)
    4: Doom, Skull (equal)

    The rest:

    1: THX, Grafitti (equal)
     
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