Would George Lucas be more highly regarded if he carried on directing after he did Star Wars?

This is something that I've always wondered, as I think one of the reasons why critics and film buffs are rather dismissive of George Lucas is that he's really only done four films so far, and two of them are part of the same series. Also, as he's spend so long as just being a producer, or executive producer, who are considered to be only interested in making money, I think that might have also harmed his image as an artist. If you take someone like Steven Spielberg, for instance, who during the eighties had has name stuck on countless films, also carried on directing, which I think saved him losing his power as a director. So, if George had carried on directing, maybe doing small, experimental stuff like he plans to do after Star Wars is finished, do you think he would be higher regarded as a director? Sorry if this thread doesn't make much sense, but I've always wondered this!

 

Yes. He'd probably be a better director, too.

 

I certainly hope so, because I'm certainly interested in what he makes afterward. Remember, Star Wars may be what we younger people remember him for, but to anyone who was alive in 1973, when Star Wars came out 4 years later, it was the new film from that guy who made American Graffiti. Even though I wasn't alive in '73 or '77, I think Graffiti is the better film.

 

Only if he did more films ( non-scifi movies ) like American Graffiti and yet more serious.

If Lucas kept directing, he would have directed ESB and ROTJ. So, I don't think he path would have changed that much.

SW is the reason why wasn't very highly regarded. He created the Special Effect blockbuster, and he kept on returning to it.

Therefore, Lucas became associated with popcorn cinema, not high class art cinema.

That's also why almost any movie (and Lucas believes this) with his name attached to it receives a critical drubbing. Critics think Lucas == popcorn movie, not serious flick.

Until Spielberg did Schindler's List, he had no respect either (ever after doing films like The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun), thanks to the Indiana Jones movies and ET.

To get respect, Lucas must do a Schindler's List.

 

Though I wouldn't mind to see Lucas do something totally serious. It is sad to here that he won't be respected until he does.

 

I think the biggest knock against Lucas IS the fact that he spent a long amount of time, and a good deal of effort, setting up his companies. Alot of people love to cite this as an example of greed or wanting to build a commercial empire. But the thing is, due to the care and effort he took in his financial arrangements, he has the freedom to do whatever the hell he wants, with the worlds premier special effects studio to his own, while some older directors are hard pressed to find money to do anything that isn't either a sequel or a "Golden Years Celebrity" movie like Warren Beattys last flick, where a bunch of out of place comedy celebs from the past come out to do another "great" movie with their best friends.

 

Some random thoughts:
When I watch Lucas' films, I never think to myself, "Cool shot" like when I watch Spielberg or Hitchcock.

If Lucas wants to be regarded as director he has to direct more films. He also has to direct good films. When you think of the top directors they are in charge of the best films.

Can Lucas make a Pvt Ryan, Gone with the Wind, or Citizen Kane?

Does he want to?