Saga The People vs George Lucas

critics would like you to believe. I honestly believe that critics have always had a ax to grind with Lucas with him making his films independently and going against the director's guild

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why would critics care about that?

 

i've always gotten the impression that critics hated Lucas since Star Wars because he tries to have it both ways. they're presented with something artsy that the masses are going to approve of. kind of the way indie kids love their favorite band until they go mainstream, and from then on there's a grudge. an "I liked Lucas until he sold out" kind of thing.

i think this sentiment has spread to the fans who see younger generations liking Star Wars for seemingly different (ie, "WRONG") reasons. "they don't know Star Wars like I do. they can't!"

 

Hmm, I think you're on to something there. Good analogy!





"Yes, to Stampid you listen"
/LM

 

The critics had their knives out long before GL left the DGA - that didn't happen until the release of ESB (over Irvin Kershner's credit not appearing at the beginning of the film). Not relevant, and no, the critics couldn't care less about such matters.

But yes, right from the start there was snobbery from critics over a film which appealed so directly to the masses getting so much attention, while their beloved auteurs dug their own graves with their own self-indulgence, producing critical & commercial disasters like At Long Last Love, Sorcerer, New York New York and Heaven's Gate.
Jaws and Star Wars didn't kill New Hollywood, they simply inherited it and unintentionally gave birth to a hideous breed of unimaginative imitators.

 

Thought it actually gave you a good insight into the bizzar world of some fans. Think about it a nobody actually got dead threats for making his own prefferable version of the OT and people who hated TPM appearently went to see it more times then I did during its original releash.

 

I actually found this quite fascinating. It shows there are extremists on both sides.

 

If you have a Netflix strreaming account, it's up there, I haven't brought myself to watch it, because to me it just sounds like whining, if I want to hear someone whine about the PT, I'd rather watch RedLetterMedia, as much as I don't agree with him on his hating George Lucas, at least his analysis of the Prequel Trilogy is actually funny.

 

Yep, I watched it on Netflix last year. Why? I can't remember. Nor do I recommend watching. It's nothing but OT praise and PT bashing that one can't find on the web.

If you're curious, here's a summary:

The first half comprises of: "ZOMG! Star Wars is awesome! George Lucas is da man! He's one of us."

Then the Prequels and Indy 4 came out, and then they talk about how much they "raped our childhoods" throughout most of the second half.

They do very briefly touch on how their kids like the PT and even mention the Prequel Appreciation Society at the tail end.

The end.

 

To get an accurate read one should view it themselves.

 

I liked Indy 4, actually.

 

"There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere....."

 

The more I think about it the more I feel like TPVGL was a wasted opportunity. As one reviewer put it, it actually felt more like a thinly veiled praise of Lucas disguised as a criticism of him. It's particularly telling how much more substantial and important interview material was cut out to be replaced by extreme buzzwords. The people being interviewed felt like how SAGA fanboys think the so called Bashers are like. Complete with "we still love you George" at the end.

 

TPVGL is everything that's wrong with (not just SW) fandom...

 

I didn't watched TPVGL yet (And I'm still not sure if I want to). But apparently it's going to get a sequel.

 

Yes, I think it's supposed to be out in December.

 

And yet the unpleasable fanbase will chuck money at Disney only to whine about how the movie wasn't what they wanted.

 

I wonder if there will be a spinoff, The People vs Disney...

 

I don't agree with everything Plinkett said about the prequels. Yes, they have problems, especially TPM and AOTC, but the prequel trilogy is not as bad as people make it out to be. TPM is C+, AOTC is C-, and ROTS is B+ or A-. I've seen worse. Plus, I can't stand the serial killer and misogynist aspects of RedLetterMedia reviews. I normally skip over those parts.

 

Glad you and some others favour the PT. I dislike TRLM reviews but agree PT does indeed have several issues. However, unlike how some constantly harp, I do admit OOT has issues as well simply less.

 

I tried to watch this People Vs George Lucas, but couldn't finish it,

to me it was honestly boring, and didn't have a lot of substance to it.

 

Not surprised, mate. It's not our usual fare for sure.

 

It's been more than ten years since George Lucas began shopping around the idea for what he would later call ''my little children's movie'' to a generally unresponsive Hollywood. It wound up taking three movies to get the whole idea on celluloid. Star Wars (1977) has sold $524 million worth of tickets worldwide. Its successor, The Empire Strikes Back (1980), grossed $365 million. They're second and third on the all-time domestic-rentals list, behind Steven Spielberg's E.T.

Then there's Raiders of the Lost Ark, for which Lucas was executive producer. It's fifth on the rentals list. There's the Star Wars merchandising: $1.5 billion in gross retail sales. There's Lucasfilm Ltd. and its profitable subsidiaries, Industrial Light and Magic (special effects) and Sprocket Systems (postproduction services). There's research in state-of-the-art postproduction equipment, in computers and in interactive videogames that both teach and entertain. And finally, there's the ongoing construction of the 3000-acre Skywalker Ranch, which Lucas insists is only a larger and more elaborate version of what's been perched in the hills north of San Francisco – in one form or another – for the past ten years: a place where the Marin County film community can congregate and work.

And now there's Return of the Jedi, the $32.5 million closing chapter of the middle trilogy of a proposed nine-part epic. As in the past, not all film critics went with the Force. Weekly Variety, the show-business newspaper that attends to such matters, noted that the New York critics were basically split: ten reviews were favorable while seven were negative, either branding Jedi a merchandising vehicle or contending that the human actors were overwhelmed by the special effects.

--Rob Scanlon, Rolling Stone interview with George Lucas intro, July 1983.

But yes, the time period from about 1967 to 1975 was a period that was predominately filled with films that were in the same vein as the Golden Age. Only now they were darker and grittier than what came before. "The Godfather", "The French Connection", "Taxi Driver", "Chinatown", "The Deer Hunter", "Marathon Man" and the like were order of the day. "Jaws" and "Star Wars" changed all that and a lot of critics had trouble accepting the new norm. Especially with Lucas because many didn't get his work. Pauline Kael was a vocal opponent of Lucas between 77 and 85. She hated the OT with a passion that's only been matched by those who hate the PT.

That is an accurate read.

I watched this the other night on Epix On Demand and regretted it. I even stopped for a couple of hours before finishing it. Bad enough that I sit here and listen to what's being spewed, it's just as bad when all you can do is yell at the tv and by that point, you know what you need to find something else better to do.

 

Eh, that's you. I didn't get nearly that worked up.