Why should Lucas care about AOTC (prequel) detractors?

If you're a prequel pertractor I have one piece of advice for you.

Hang yourself.

Do it soon, and spare yourself the pain of seeing another "bad" Star Wars film and spare us your whining for the next three years.

It is the only way . . .

 

Ok that was rude and on called for. Don't tell some one to do that just becsue they like the PT and you don't. Ok duckman

 

Didn't you ever wonder "what if?" after watching a film and try and think of a way that would make you enjoy it better.

Bashers have been doing this since Return Of The Jedi and all it has done is make them more bitter, more cynical, and more dissatisfied with the saga as a whole. I'm sorry, but when I find something I like, I'd rather concentrate on the parts I enjoy rather than focusing on the elements I'm unhappy with. When you focus on the negative, it seems it is too easy to train yourself to see nothing but the negative.

 

after seeing TPM and AOTC, i started liking ROTJ more. at least its not as godawful as the PT.

maybe if episode III is as extra-terrible than I & II as I & II are totally inferior to ROTJ, i might start liking I & II!

clever strategy george.

 

Dr. E, I'll repeat this sentence for your benefit: "When you focus on the negative, it seems it is too easy to train yourself to see nothing but the negative."

 

Good points made about negativity.

But I don't think "bashers" get any more positive from having to live with moronic posts such as this. You ask for trouble with such posts. So live with it, and don't tell people to go hang themselves. This is rude, uncalled for, and suggests mental problems.

 

hey Ree Yees thank you for backing up what I said. It's one thing to tell someone you don't like somehting. It's awhole other thing to tell someone to go hang them selfs for like something you don't.

 

Earlier in the thread Hawk suggested that Lucas felt TPM was not a success, which is why he trimmed Jar-Jar's role into little more than a cameo. Here is a quote that from an article that shows otherwise.

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The consensus among critics is that the Force has returned to director George Lucas. His latest movie, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, has seemingly answered many of the criticisms levelled at his previous movie, The Phantom Menace. The film, which is the second prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars, opens around the world on Thursday. Back at the farm: History repeats itself in Clones.

Lucas, who started writing Episode III a month ago, dismisses the notion that Phantom Menace was a let down. "That's a media perception," he says. "I don't think I was off track - I loved that last movie and it was the most successful Star Wars film of all time." He adds: "Sixty per cent of the reviews were great." Lucas acknowledges that a hard core of fans will always be disappointed. He says their views receive more attention now that they can sound off on the internet.

"Normally you'd have to go to a fan convention to hear all this stuff and nobody ever bothered," he explains. Attack of the Clones is set 10 years after Phantom Menace. As an independent-minded director, who refuses to take a focus group approach to film-making, Lucas says he knew he had to make some unpopular decisions in setting the scene in Episode I.

"I knew when I made the film that I was doing something that was not commercially wise - but I had a story to tell and to me this is one big movie. It's one 12-hour movie in six parts and it's a story," he explains. "When I started with a nine-year-old boy I knew there's a certain core of fans that when you have a nine-year-old hero - forget it. "It suddenly becomes a Disney movie - they won't have anything to do with it." Many Star Wars fans are proud to say that they have grown up with the movie - it has become part of their lives. Lucas suggests such attitudes may explain why some have been disappointed with the prequels. "It's harder for them to accept the fact that these are made for adolescents - they're movies for young people they're not movies for 30 year old and 40 year olds," he says.[hr][/blockquote]

 

George Lucas was right on all accounts. TPM was wildly successful, it had more positive reviews than negative reviews, and the older fan might have preferred a movie made specifically with their tastes in mind.

Yet I love a well-made Disney movie, even now. A great children's movie is easy to spot, because so many of them are low quality. And the truth is: TPM doesn't stand out as a good movie for children. It divides its loyalties too much - tries to please everyone and ends up falling short as a top-rate entertainment.

 

It didn't fall short for me.

 

Yeah like Lucas is going to flat out say: "I was dissapointed by the reaction and I cut out certain things to suit the fans." I wouldn't admit it. Nobody in their right mind would. It's like a linesman second guessing him/herself. People lose faith in you if you admit you change your ideas due to pressure. Lucas would be a goose to admit it.

What I find odd is that you completely ignore the fact that Sam Jackson said that Lucas took the criticisms to heart and the other evidence that demonstrates Lucas gets "hurt" by the backlash. Amazing turnaround with that interview don't ya think?

Oh, and there is also the fact that the only major character in SW (who also happened to be vastly unpopular) was given little more than a cameo. Man what a coincidence!

 

If you think you have to tear things apart to be "imaginative" then why don't I ever see you tearing apart the classic trilogy?

Last time I checked, TPM and AOTC were totally in one piece. Simply offering a criticism and some "new" imaginative ideas is called keeping an open mind. And it is more imaginative than spending day in and day out spewing out Lucas PR tripe that someone already does for a wage. Oh, and to show how open minded I am, I actually did a "TOP 10 reasons TESB sucks" thread a while back. This is my favourite film of all time but, hey, I actually can think for myself unlike the people who worship another man's life.

 

I'm baaack,

I posted this in another discussion, but it is relevant here so... enjoy!

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One last OFF TOPIC comment on GL and GL's work on the films...

I applaud his work on making movies look and sound better.
I appreciate that he did continue the SW stories in other mediums (comics, games, books, etc.).
I'm glad that he does try to encourage his fanbase, if he didn't TFN wouldn't exist and most fan artist and writers would be facing time in court...

Nevertheless, I can still appreciate the world he created, but have issues with the way he presents the story and stylistic choices that he has made.
I can have issues with the way he markets the films and issues with the way his producer (no names) has manipulated the fanbase.
I can have issues with the way he demeans his product and in some case, the fanbase.
I can have issues with his attitude concerning the success of the films.

I have been following SW since I was 4 years old and I have read a lot of contradictory comments from him and articles about him.
Yes, a artist's personal views and life can affect his work or people's view of his work. (Look at popculture, is Michael Jackson such a money maker, creative genius, etc. with all of the plastic surgery and child-rape charges?)

There are two subjects here SW films and the creator... I am a consumer, so I have a right to be critical, I'm a fan so I still feel I have a right to be critical, as much as GL created the saga, I helped pay for it over the years and while I don't expect him to ask me how to make his films, I do expect him to have some responsibity to the previous works he created and to have some sense of taste.

His work has influenced many people from my generation to pursue their vocations and/or personal philosophies on life.
Nevertheless, I don't expect to agree with everything he's done with his films or personal views or feel the need to defend his work or him, especially if I don't agree with it in some way. To defend his work or him, out of sheer loyalty is stupid.

I can still find some entertainment value out of the films, discussions like this prove it, but I can find fault as well.
I tend to think negative or positive comments are a benefit to a discussion and if they didn't exist, this board would be empty.

End of OFF TOPIC observation...

(Or sometimes, I think people like to play the (unspoken) game known as the Basher/Gusher wars, where it's more fun to be the "bad guy". )

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I'm sure many of you can find fault with it, but I don't care, my BASHER CAP was off at the time. Those are my honest views on the subject...

I won't have to put my BASHER CAP on in order to discuss this, right?
I'm not in the mood to play....

 

I just don't see how you could accuse Lucas of degrading his own work, or his fans. Just look at the beginning documentary, the very first thing is Lucas explaining how you have to love a project like this to do it. he wouldn't be wasting 10 years of his life if it wasn't important to him. I think it is pretty unjustifibly disrespectful to accuse him of not trying as hard as he could.

 

I think it is pretty unjustifibly disrespectful to accuse him of not trying as hard as he could.

I think Lucas is trying his hardest, I just think he's gone a bit rusty. I wish he had directed some non-Star Wars stuff during the 90's, to flex his muscles in a certain sense. It would have given him a chance to experiment behind the camera more, and he could have had a reputation that would have amounted to more than just being "Mr Star Wars"

 

You really think his lack of camera movement or trick shots amounts to being rusty?

 

You really think his lack of camera movement or trick shots amounts to being rusty?

I'm talking about a more general sense, I mean the actual process of directing actors and making a film. I mean Steven Spielberg has kept active in terms of directing movies, and he's produced a wide range of work. Some good, some bad, some great, some awful. Minority Report had a visual look and a complicated story that puts most summer movies to shame. I mean Spielberg has kept practising his skill, so he's been able to develop it over the years.