Saga Point of view - George Lucas was right not to listen to the embittered fans

Correct, & it's not a knock against the Prequels. He's been clear about this since the 70's.

 

And Lucas didn't say he didn't like directing the Prequels. Let it go.

MJ

 

Everyone had let it go. He said last year he didn't enjoy directing blockbuster movies. He wants to get back to small experimental films. In the past 39 years the only movies of any kind he directed were the three Prequels.

 

And you are putting words into GL's mouth.

MJ

 

Maybe I should be more precise and call this everyday people wisdom. Dexter is a wise guy as we can see during his conversation with Obi Wan, is not that he is stupid or ignorant or anything like that. I was refering to the way that he received that knowledge and wisdom and it is simple: life experience. He was there (or in many places, as Obi Wan knew) he saw that, he knows. Nothing particulary esotheric here. The Jedi are those who have transcendal knowledge, not Dexter. Obi is going to an everyday place (almost Earth like, and that is a big complain by many fans, why the place look so ordinary) to receive an answer to question that couldn‘t be resolved by scientific means. This is the big paradox. Of course the oppositon between creative thinking ( Obi Wan) and rational simplistic comparison of information (droids) is present but this is Obi Wan‘s personal achievment: to seek an answer in a so unusual place. This is the first time when this Jedi by the book acts like this in this movie and even becomes more interesting as character.

 

No you're taking words out of it.

 

Qui-Riv-Brid

Uummmm....

It was the most dramatic and consistently good of the three, as well - as it happens.

Well, for you it's the best of the 6 because Lucas wrote it and he knows best about Star Wars... or something

I've no idea what you're saying here.








Darth Downunder

Which ones for instance?

I'm asking because:

Liam Neeson was one of those who said that, adding that "it's hard to act against a green ball" or something... even though some of his most bored, flattest line readings were against humans, often in full sets ("you should trust my judgement", "now get on board", and some of his most expressive bits were with Watto etc.

 

How? Where is the Lucas quote please.

Also didnt Lucas say that he wanted to do VII? But he said time for him is more important than money?

MJ

 

According to this, TESB cost $33 million. That's how I remember it.

According to Fox, ROTJ cost $32.7 million, while Rinzler puts it at $42.5 million.

 

However, a lot of people use his dislike of directing in order to justify why, according to them, the PT "were so bad", and why it was a very good thing he's away from every new Star Wars projects...

It may not be your intentions to be a knock against Lucas and the PT, but to a lot of people it is...

 

Criticizing the writing or directing in the PT doesn't require his dislike of directing

 

I definitely think it's a good thing that he's retired from SW. For his sake & for the good of the Saga. However his dislike of writing & directing is no slight against the PT. As I said, he's made his negative feelings clear about those two duties since the late 70's.

 

However, as I said previously, a lot of people are making the link between his negative feelings towards aspects of film-making and the "bad quality" of the PT. What I've heard a lot was "The PT is bad because Lucas didn't like directing and writing. His dislikes towards those aspects of film-making are shown very clearly when you watch the PT".

 

It's certainly possible that his dislike of those roles negatively affects his output. That makes perfect sense & is true about most things people do. For instance, if he loved writing he may spend more time on it & re-draft his scripts more, resulting in better scripts. If he loved directing, esp working with actors he'd probably engage with them more, provide more direction & film more takes. So yeah, IMO the PT would've been better if he liked & embraced those two jobs more.

 

I'm not sure why you're going for this "I've got the feeling that you had ulterior, critical motivations for saying he disliked directing" angle, considerind that DD and all the others here arguing that he dislikes directing... actually openly criticize the PT, on this very thread, in pretty much every other topic.


If anything, you probably should take that as a mitigating element, as "PT is flawed because he wasn't into it" is a LOT milder than "PT is flawed because he's incompetent".

 

Darth Downunder

what nonsense . you really believe that he doesn't enjoy it at all ? He must be a tremendous masochist then .

and btw - he did plenty of writing between '79 - 1999 . and by my math he's directed 4 movies in the last 40 years , but I love the way you say only 3 prequel movies , have you any appreciation of the amount of time and work involved in directing 3 big movies like that ?

.

 

Well, directing more than 1 movie per 10 years, in that sense, would then require even more amount of time - something with a dislike for directing might not find that appealing, hence only directed 4 movies in 40 years


What's a "masochist"? There's plenty of masochists around, particularly if you include "forcing yourself to do work you don't enjoy doing in order to reach a desired goal" under the definition of masochism

 

or I guess you could say he wrote and directed 3 movies back-to-back for 10 years , which would be masochism on an astounding level .

.

 

-tried to get others to direct it
-it was an almost 10 year project after "hiaturs" and he clearly said he doesn't wanna do another one

-as I said, if willpower=masochism, then sure, fine
(condemn hedonism encourage masochism.. lol)

 

I'm not sure what your point is .

.

 

I'm not surprised, considering I already had to tell you twice.


The point-

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... is conceded.
Lucas loves directing since he's directed 4 movies in 40 years - I appreciate what an effort that is, and that going through this effort without liking it would make him a masochist, which is an absurdity: there are no masochists.

 

I seem to recall reading that Lucas directed the other two PT films, in part because he did have fun working on TPM. That there wasn't as much stress on that film as there had been on ANH, much less the other two films. I believe it was in the press conference talking about using the Fox studios in Australia, back around the end of 1999. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Lucas doesn't like the process, but he he had a better time with the PT than he did on the OT due to having more advantages this time than he had the last time.

 

So does anyone have an actual quote where Lucas says he doesn't like to direct? Or is it the usual internet trash of no actual proof, but, because the internet says it, it must be true? Because the quote I have seen have Lucas saying he quit directing for over 15 years to be a Dad!

First of all, Lucas wanted to and was going to direct ROTJ, however, the sheer amount of work he had to do on the movie as a whole stopped him. However, he pretty much ended up directing it anyway.

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20085640,00.html


I have never seen anything where Lucas has said that he hates, or doesn't like directing. That doesn't mean it isn't out there mind you, as I am sure I haven't seen every single quote ever by Lucas.

What I have seen him state many times in different interviews over the years is that after ROTJ he made a decision to step back and slow down because he was a single father. So it would make sense that Lucas wouldn't be directing much after the OT because his first adopted daughter came along in 1981, and Lucas and his first wife divorced in '83. Lucas than adopted again in '88 and '93. So his focus turned from making movies as a director, to being more a producer/writer so he could be more a Father than anything else. It is a very similar reason that Abrams was going to turn down TFA at first. After spending so much time directing the Trek films (as well as other movies), Abrams made a promise to his wife and family to take a break from it. Abrams had to get the blessing of his wife before doing Star Wars.

So that lull that people want to point to as an indication that he must not have liked directing, was actually because he decided to be a Dad, and not run around the world directing movies. I think Lucas has issues not with directing itself, but, with how much time of his life he has to give up to the whole process..

Opening of this documentary where Lucas speaks of how the movies are his life, and the time he has to invest in it...



TPM Webisode where Lucas explains (towards the end) that he stepped back after his older daughter was born and focused on his family...



In the Charlie Rose interview, Lucas points out that above all us (writer, storyteller, director) he wants to be known as a great dad.

Most importantly Lucas points out that he gave up directing for 15 years to become a Father... He gave up making movies to be a Father to his Daughter because it was "the right thing to do"... @ the 9 minute mark



So again, does anyone have any quote from Lucas stating that he didn't direct any films in that hiatus because he didn't like directing? Because my information shows that he still wanted to direct, but, made decisions that were based first and foremost on Family and then time.

 

I don't know if he's explicitly stated "hating directing" as the reason for his hiatuses. But he, and people he's worked with, have stated that doesn't enjoy directing or writing that much.

1.) Quote from Rick McCallum in Emirates Magazine, December 2015 issue: http://www.emirates.com/ye/english/open-skies/2873144/a-force-to-be-reckoned-with

2.) George Lucas: Interviews, pages 17,18 (https://books.google.com/books?id=P2P7pwHeZSkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false)

3.) George Lucas: Interviews, page 115 (https://books.google.com/books?id=P2P7pwHeZSkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false)

4.) RollingStone interview with George Lucas in 1980, around the release of TESB: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-empire-strikes-back-and-so-does-george-lucas-19800612

 

That is interesting. I always knew about the writing. However, I think the "hating" directing bit is a bit of a love/hate thing. Like he says in the one quote, he dreams up a scene and how he wants it too look, and than it all falls apart. He just seems to want to dwell on the limitations of directing and the problems associated with it. Even a talented painter, or musician gets mad at their work (mistkaes limitations) and will destroy a incomplete painting or rip up their sheet music when they are frustrated.

Yet, I do believe he loves the aspect of directing in that he's making a movie. I would bet that his experience on the Prequels was far better than anything he experienced before.