What does George Lucas need to do to make a good movie?

If he wants to satisfy me, then he just needs to continue doing what he's been doing since ep. 1. I love the new movies.

Classixboy I couldn't agree more. you've captured exactly how I feel on the subject.

All George Lucas has to do to make Episode III a good movie is the exact same thing he's done on the five other Episodes. Which is tell his story the way he wants it to be told.

"I think Lucas needs to do exactly what he did with the previous two films and simply tell a good story in the way it needs to be told."

Exactly Durwood,

GL has to keep continuity with the Saga. People have already complained about the differences between cgi and puppets in the PT and OT. If you go and put bullet time effects in, it would really screw visual continuity up.

Leave it alone and let GL do his work. He's perfectly aware of what has to be done.

I agree with Durwood too. Just keep doing what he has been doing - but keep refining some stuff. the casting is awesome. he has a powerhouse for Anakin & same with Obi Wan. They make it so good, as well as Natalie. though I hope he puts in a scene with Obi and Bail - Jimmy Smits and Ewan - that would be awesome.

write a great script and let the actors go at it.

How about some writing skills? You know like in ESB and ANH.

Look.... Lucas is an excellent writer.... he just can't do everything... its that simple... I wasn't too happy with some of his dialogue and directing.... but the story is extraordinarily good. He needs to find himself a true partner who understands his vision and with whom he can share the carying duties of the movie.

as an earlier poster has written I also think that Episode III should have a hoepful note at the end. I iamgien Obi Wan soemwhere at the end crying out in despair after the Jedi purge, everything has gone to hell,: his apprencitce has turned dark, all the Jedi are dead, the Republic has fallen, he failed his master, then suddnely Yoda come to him, showing he survived and then Qui Gonn appears to them and tells them to keep their faith even though the world has crumbled, that seems to be pretty poetic to me, it would certainly end the movie well i think. not too deppressing an end, then they can show stormtroopers marching for a few minutes and Vader and Obi wan staring out across space at each other or soemthing like that...

And most inportantly, what he managed to do so well with ESB I'm not sure E3 needs to be so over the top with fight sequences. There's a point at which the amazing CG action drowns out the saga. In any case, we have what's certain to be an amazing duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, but IMO, Lucas would be better off to make the emotion of the scene what's memorable, and not jack it up with Matrix-esque fighting. At the core, Star Wars is great because it has all the awesome action and suspense, but it's only secondary to the emotion.

I don't blame him for not listening to fanboys and fangirls..... Listen... movies are a work of art, the art itself contributes to what it is to become and no amount of fanboy griping can change that.... plus he is the artist he can't cowtow to the whims of fanboys and stay true to his vision at the same time.

"humor: one ofn the good things about media is the ability to show serious moment as well as funny ones... Attack of the clones as slightly lacking there, its predacessor was a little better but htere is still room for improvement. The Two towers was good at this"

Was TTT actually funny?
That bit of the film NO-ONE laughed except Gimli (SP) but i think that he was meant to

The comic relief in TTT was really anoyin and it rivaled JAR JAR' table " bobjoifhw" noise.

When he said "Toss me" i said to myself ( as if i was legolas...

" What....now?"


"Good job" ,
" NO..they WON'T!" ,
" Why do i have the feeling you're going to be the death of me" ( This is clever funny)
" That's what i always wanted"
and so on so forth are all funny lines..

Well I think doing reviews on sequels almost always end up bad because people become nostalgic of the original. IMHO the latest films have been great, the plotlines are simple and old fashioned just like Star Wars is supposed to be. I don't understand what everyone has against CGI, I find computer graphics a great addition to fantasy and sci fi films. I get annoyed when people come back from a movie and the first thing they say is it was terrible it was filled with computer graphics. Sheesh how is that a bad thing, it allows them to do so much more stuff. The Clone War battle was awesome and also would have been impossible without computer graphics.

I had one friend tell me a couple of days ago that the prequels are 'fallback plots', that when one cannot think of a plot you use civil war, collapse of government or forbidden love. And I replied, well Star Wars is supposed to be old fashioned fallback plots. Star Wars is an old story in a new setting, thats what makes it so good IMHO. Also when ppl say GL is losing his touch at making storylines, I think well thats strange, the storyline for the prequels was made around the same time as the classics. It is my prediction that in 20 years time all six Star Wars films will be considered endless classics.

As for what should be put into Episode III, well GL is going to put what is in it.

What I think would be good? well obviously the loose ends will be explained (such as ghosts) and Anakin will fall to the dark side.

I hope Jar Jar goes out with a sacrifice, I hope Padme does actually die just so we know what exactly happens to her.

The Poetry mention would be good, although I have a bad feeling about this:

Set the scene, the last of the Jedi are lined up on a hill and they see the newly commission Stormtroopers charging towards them.

Yoda: 'Obi-Wan, take the Senator to safety you must, for take off, prepare the ship'

Obi-Wan: 'Master, I can help here'

Yoda: 'Survive the children must, on this all depends'

Obi-Wan reluctantly runs off to go ready the ship while the last of the Jedi ignite their lightsabers as the Stormtroopers continue to charge towards them.

Unnamed Jedi: 'Let them come, they are the traitors!'

Yoda: 'Forgive them, know what they do they do not'

*Jedi-Sith slams hand against his head* DOLT!

lol

Anyway, as for the amusement amongst the darkness of battle, I agree The Two Towers did that extremely well. But I contend so did AOTC. I found Threepio's lines 'this is such a drag' and 'i'm quite beside myself' classic!

Of Course I have a very warped and strange sense of humor hehe.

AOTC was a great movie in my opinion, it had a western feel to it in a sci fi setting, just like Star Wars is suppose to be, a classic genre in a sci fi setting, although I admit, I hope episode III reverts back to the mystical fantasy genre rather than the fantasy/western however putting one of the six films as western influence still worked.

He's doing pretty good but he needs better spaceship battles. The OT ones are a lot better.

i think the ep.1-2 are the best i've sid it before i think nothing could be wrong with starwars if George Lucas is the producer. !!!!!

GL just needs to keep it on track. TPM gained alot of unecessary critism BUT remember it had to set up alot in two hours, the discovery of the boy, the start of the collapse of the republic, Palpy's rise to power, connections between Palpy,the boy and Padme blah, blah, blah...
So at the time of going to press.... I think things are generally moving along quite nicely. Oh and by the way forget THE MATRIX. This film tries too hard to be cool and if you're trying you ain't cool!

"You picked the wrong house bub!"

Not to listen to critics, bashers, gushers and just make the movie how he wants it. Tell the story how he thinks it should go.

To DarthNamitt:

"How about some writing skills? You know like in ESB and ANH."

How bout I buy you a beer for telling it like it is. Short, succinct - the truth!

Jedi Melis:

"Look.... Lucas is an excellent writer.... he just can't do everything... its that simple... I wasn't too happy with some of his dialogue and directing.... but the story is extraordinarily good. He needs to find himself a true partner who understands his vision and with whom he can share the carying duties of the movie."

Don't agree. He cannot write - and I mean in terms of screenplay. He cannot direct anymore either. Only Lucas understands his vision as no one else has it, right? Have him step down as director and concentrate on special effects. That is his first true love.

Jedi-Sith:

"I don't understand what everyone has against CGI,....."

I like it. But when it comes at the expense of story, or worse, when that's all there IS to the story, then it becomes problematic. In other words, overreliance dilutes the product. IMO, that is what is wrong with the new movies. But SW isn't the only victim of this.

Sidious1:

"Oh and by the way forget THE MATRIX. This film tries too hard to be cool and if you're trying you ain't cool!"

Flawed but I think a highly intriguing follow up to its predecessor. The film's concept is, in and of itself, cool. The "freed" people dressing up as they like when they enter the Matrix (all in black) is probably meant to be corny cuz you can do nearly whatever you want in the Matrix.

The difference between cool and trying to be cool whether successful or not versus being passe or old news is a fairly huge chasm.

In the end, I'd rather try to be cool and not be good at it rather than being played out and near irrelevant - ala SW.

The question at hand: what does GL need to do to make a good movie?

Step out of the director's chair. Please.

Lucas needs to make the films DARKER, not so silly & childish like Batman & Robin.

Oh ya speacking of which i know this goign to be the darkest movie of Star Wars, but HOW DARK EXACTLY is this going to be? He said soemthing about it in an interview i think...

Also did u like the humor in TPM in scenes like "Master whats a bongo?" "a transport, i hope." or "if they catch us they will crush us, grinde into tiny peices, and BLAST us into oblivion!" or "We could be stuck here a very long time" ? Jedi sarcasm rather than Gungan antics? I though those were done very well...they would fit in well, if timed correctly i think.

Lucas has made five good Star Wars movies already. At least four and a half (Episode VI should be stronger...)

The Star Wars Prequels deserve more
love than they get I tell you. They are pieces of art.

Philip023:- sorry dude you seem to know it all....NOT! To be cool is to be yourself and as I have said before The Matrix sucks on so many levels it almost hurts! Any chump can make a movie that has cool looking characters dressed in black running around with loads of slo mo bullet time and string it together with a flimsy story which doesn't work. remember...
Blade = cool
Matrix = bad

Don't feel bad duder, it's only you!

"Hulk, SMASH!"

JEDI FIGHTING STORMTROOPERS!!!!!!

The myth that Lucas "can not write" and "can not direct" is obviously something we will have to live with forever. But I think most of us know different. In fact, the Tatooine sequence of AOTC is one of the best written, directed, acted, scored and edited things I have seen in any film for a very long time. AOTC is right behind TESB as my fave SW movie, but this sequence is the most heart-wrenching and disturbing bit of any SW film to date. I simply don't take "Lucas can not write or direct" seriously, as those who say so can not possibly be aware of what those jobs imply.

As for Episode III, fear not. McCallum did what he should be doing back in 2001 - forced Lucas to sit down and start the serious writing. I think Rick was a bit displeased with the late script for AOTC and rightly wanted to rectify the situation. Since then McCallum has been on Lucas' back about it all the time. Like in the Episode III Update in Star Wars Magazine where he said that "holidays and kids' birthdays...that is not the path that we have chosen", when he went on to say "But I know that George worked straight through his Christmas holiday. So I'm happy for him". Hehe, the producer wants a maximum script out of Lucas for this one.

And Ian McCaig was pretty pleased in a recent Homing Beacon where he talked about Anakin and Padme. He was particularly pleased with Anakin's turn to the Dark Side, so much so that he was talking about "glorious moments" and all.

As far as I know, Lucas is writing this one alone. Have faith.

How can anyone say that GL is an excellent writer and or director?. Truth is he is not.
Im a big SW fan, and have been since I was a little kid. I loved the special effects; the spaceships, the laser blasts, and the lightsabre fights.
Truth is when I was younger, I felt pretty bored during "The yoda parts" and anything that didnt have some sort of FX in it.
But as I grew older and was able to grasp all the myth, and underlying universal themes of father and son, and good vs evil, I only grew to love it even more. It was no longer eye candy, but meaningful storytelling that anyone could identify with.
I have no problem with GC, and I feel that people who say too much CG and FX hurts the story are somewhat wrong. The prequels couldnt have been made without FX and CG, its just that, well...lets be honest..the story sucks. So its not the CGs fault.
My opinion is that the prequels are not part of a 6 episode story, if we look at all the signs we have been presented with so far, I believe we can safely conclude that GL is MAKING THEM UP AS HE GOES. (Sorry if it hurts, just keepint it real here)
The problem with making sh!t up as he goes is that GL KEEPS FORGETTING DETAILS here and there that only create big gaping holes in his so called "6 episodes but really one big story".
That in turn makes us fans try to somehow desperately rationalize and make sense of anything in the prequels that doesnt really make sense. Problems is,theres plenty that doesnt.
Heres one example of GLs disregard for his own creation:
Someone asked the JEDI COUNCIL in the official site a while ago why some Jedis disappear and some dont. Rick McCallum replied such and other issues, would be explained in EP2 once it was released. Trouble was nothing was explained and more gaps and holes were created.
Later on, I read somewhere (cant remember where right now) that McCallum asked the same question personally to Lucas himself.
Lucas reply: "What are you..a fan?"

Please, I really want someone here who may have read this very same quotes to please validate them. It couldnt have been only me reading this!! Was I dreaming???
I really hate it when some1 says GL should stay true to his vision and just keep making them the way he has been doing it so far.
What are you people being paid to say this?.How can anyone allow another human being into such mediocrity and just sit there and say..."Its ok..you're doing just fine" while he self-destructs his hard earned past glory?.
My opinion is people that say such things fail to recognize that even though GL created the SW universe, the SW universe is now bigger than its creator.
This might be a stupid example but look at it this way: Supermodels gain such status, when they become more famous than the campaign they were chosen to represent. That is what happened to SW. SW is now bigger than GL, and SW will be here long after he is gone.
But since GL created SW, then I guess he has the right to destroy it any way he deems proper. I just never tought he'd do it in such a flagrant way.

If someone out there is suffering as much as I am please tell me!! ; )

Too bad so sad.

I too have disagreed with some things Lucas has done in the PT, but then again I loved ROTJ, minus the Ewoks.

Also: critics often hold up ESB as the worst of the OT simply because it is a middle episode and so has no real climax or resolution.

The SW universe HAS grown, but isn't that a testament to Lucas' abilities and vision? Creating a universe with an almost unlimited possibility of growth is unbelievable.

That would be like JRR Tolkien, if he was still alive today, writing a new fantasy trilogy - the same thing would happen. People would say "it's not as good as the first trilogy." No, really? And then people would point to the millions of novels that have been written which owe a HUGE debt to Tolkien, some of which have also realized brilliant ideas or characters. Then people would say that Tolkien should take more input from these writers, because they've realized the potential of his ideas more than he has!

Yet they would be wrong, no?

I think sometimes Lucas doesn't really understand how fans get so...well, fanatical. That's true - but he should also realize the important themes and questions that he's creating in his movies - if he doesn't, or doesn't care, that's a bad sign. But I'm not sure if I believe that.

Look at AOTC compared to TPM - Lucas obviously listened to people's complaints about TPM.

Don't get me wrong, it's possible that Episode III could ruin everything, simply because it is the film that links all 6 together, but I can't see it happening, even if it's not the way I expected.

I'm on this board because I don't want to be spoiled before hand - I want to be shocked and surprised when I see the last SW film.

Of course, I WILL be grumpy if Boba Fett somehow manages to kill Mace Windu. Other than that, I'm wide open to whatever Lucas has in mind.

If he wants to satisfy me, then he just needs to continue doing what he's been doing since ep. 1. I love the new movies.

Me too.

I'm a big Star Wars fan, but I wish there was more "space" scenes & less "hanging out on planets" scenes.
For example, Dexters Diner should have been in orbit or floating out in space....

I was just alerted to this article by TFN from the Beacon Journal & thought it might have some relevance here. Try not to get outraged too quickly and hear this guy out. He has some interesting & excellent points & is obviously a lifelong Star Wars fan:

"Mr. Lucas, please get help with `Star Wars'
May Episode III be seen as tour de force

Dear Mr. Lucas:

The word is that you're heading to the land down under soon to begin work on the final chapter in the first Star Wars trilogy. That's good, Mr. Lucas. You should be down there supervising and ensuring that your baby is filmed correctly.

But please do the fans of the original Star Wars trilogy a favor: Take another director with you to rectify the problems -- stiff performances, no heart -- that were so painfully evident in the first two prequels. Sorry, Mr. Lucas, but the rust in your directing skills after an absence of more than two decades behind the camera showed with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

Fans could attribute the flaws (despite a noteworthy cast that included the likes of Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor) to a man who wasn't at the top of his game and forgive them. We could even pardon the miscasting of Jake Lloyd in the key role of Anakin Skywalker, the child who would be Darth Vader. We forgave and fans returned in droves for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

We were given reason to hope that Clones would be light-years ahead of its predecessor based on the casting of Hayden Christensen as Anakin the young adult. Yes, Christensen was an unknown, but with his incendiary turn in Life as a House, he displayed that he could indeed be the one to make those of us who found Phantom Menace lacking believe in The Force again.

We were wrong. Christensen has more than a few nice moments in Clones, but he's almost emotionally constipated, and the likely cause is your direction.

It's been stated in numerous reports that you often seem more comfortable with objects than with people, Mr. Lucas. Christensen is given horrid, cheesy dialogue and, more important, he and Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) show few sparks.

Maybe that's where you got lucky with the original trilogy. You assembled a cast that included a group of relative unknowns -- Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher -- along with a legendary British actor in Sir Alec Guinness, and Star Wars rocketed straight into the pop culture zeitgeist.

That's evidenced by the fact that Han Solo (Ford's character) and Guinness' older, wiser Obi-Wan Kenobi placed at No. 14 and 37, respectively, on the American Film Institute's recent list of the top 50 heroes, and nasty old Darth Vader ranked as the third most menacing villain in film history.

That cast had chemistry. We loved them. We rooted for them. But the adventures of the younger Obi-Wan (McGregor), Anakin and Padme in Phantom Menace and Clones barely held any interest. The films were well viewed simply because of their titles.

What does this tell you, Mr. Lucas? Maybe such a longlayoff affected your skills adversely. Maybe the passion to tell magical stories just isn't there any longer.

There's no shame in that. Star quarterbacks and running backs lose their skills sooner or later, as do filmmakers. With THX and your special effects house, you've become a leader in cinema technology. Why not concentrate on that and allow someone else to usher the Star Wars films out with a bang?

I know Star Wars is your baby, but you made it ours, too, from the moment the words ``A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... '' scrolled across the screen.

You gave it to the numerous filmmakers that Star Wars influenced over the years, such as Kevin Smith. You gave it to those such as myself, who wanted to marry writing with a love of the movies.

In 1977, when I was 12, Star Wars saved my soul and sanity, Mr. Lucas. I would hop the No. 37 bus from Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland to get to Severance Mall and sit through the movie three times in an afternoon to escape a stepfather who specialized in

Ep3 better be turbo DARK or I'll strangle Lucas!!!
I feel stupid asking this.... what does "lol" stand for???
Little old lady???