George Lucas

[Paul]

George Lucas' career post-Return of the Jedi can be summed up in two words: ego and greed. I'm not sure which has served him worse, though.

 

People try and defend the prequels against criticism by saying shit like, "It's a kids' film - why would you like it?", or "How could it ever live up to your childhood memories?". The crucial point missed in these comments is that the originals stand up to repeated viewing even now. People have been watching them for 30 years, not just living off memories of their first blockbuster at the pictures when they were a kid.

[Section_31]

George Lucas' career post-Return of the Jedi can be summed up in two words: ego and greed. I'm not sure which has served him worse, though.

 

People try and defend the prequels against criticism by saying shit like, "It's a kids' film - why would you like it?", or "How could it ever live up to your childhood memories?". The crucial point missed in these comments is that the originals stand up to repeated viewing even now. People have been watching them for 30 years, not just living off memories of their first blockbuster at the pictures when they were a kid.

 

Damn right.

 

Show me a character in the prequels who have even 10% of the appeal of even a 'fringe' character like Lando?!

 

Awful, awful films.

[Hoddy]

There's a complete sense of fun missing in the recent films. It's all too serious. It's as if they just started believing in their bullshit - there was no character like Han Solo to turn round and say "err, what the fuck are you guys on about?"

 

Case in point - compare the flirtatious, comical banter of Han and Leia with the nauseous, eye-rolling exchanges between Anakin and Padme. Some of those scenes were the worst written I have ever seen. Ever.

 

Hayden Christensen was shit.

Natalie Portman is fit. But she was shit (and she's not been shit in ANYTHING else I've seen her in... which makes you wonder), and her death scene is one of the most laughable in film history.

 

It was basically she was too upset to go on living anymore. You what?

[philyhamann]

Lucas got lucky, he is a hack.

[ATXRED]

The guy who played Darth Maul was the stunt man showing Lucas the choreography for the light saber fights. Lucas decided it would be easier to cast him, than have him teach some other guy who would have no lines.

[Juniper]

Ray Park, that was. He was also the headless horseman in Sleepy Hollow. Can't think of anything else he was in off the top of my head.

 

 

X-men

 

Since we don't really know him, lets get aquiented with Mr Park.

 

Ray was born in the Southern General hospital in Glasgow. He then lived in Govan, Glasgow until the age of seven when he moved to London. His parents now live in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow.

 

Jnp's top four Facts of Ray Park

 

1.Was a member of the British Wushu Team.

 

2.Holds a second degree black belt in Wushu and came in second place at the 1995 world championships.

 

3.Has younger brother.

 

4.He's left handed.

[Karl_b]

Even the introduction of the double-edged light sable was illogical. It seemed a much more useful weapon but is never, ever seen again in the whole of the saga? Did Owen and his buddies from the Heath and Safety police ban them or something?

 

Bastards, taking Ledger from us.

[WaltonRed]

I frigging loved my action force/GI Joe toys when I was little. Film will be shit though.

[The Chief]

X-men

 

Since we don't really know him, lets get aquiented with Mr Park.

 

Ray was born in the Southern General hospital in Glasgow. He then lived in Govan, Glasgow until the age of seven when he moved to London. His parents now live in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow.

 

Jnp's top four Facts of Ray Park

 

1.Was a member of the British Wushu Team.

 

2.Holds a second degree black belt in Wushu and came in second place at the 1995 world championships.

 

3.Has younger brother.

 

4.He's left handed.

 

Thanks for that JNP, I really feel like I know the fella now, I almost feel like I grew up with him.*

 

 

*Only kidding mate.

It's truly sad when you have to explain that you ARE only joking just in case someone takes offence. Just goes to show what some people are turning this site into.

[Juniper]

Thanks for that JNP, I really feel like I know the fella now, I almost feel like I grew up with him.*

 

 

*Only kidding mate.

It's truly sad when you have to explain that you ARE only joking just in case someone takes offence. Just goes to show what some people are turning this site into.

 

 

Me too, I know more about Ray Park than my normal fwends. We tight man, tight.

 

So are you kidding or are you being serious? please clarify.

[Dark Poet]

Lucas lost the plot from the moment his imagination vomitted up an image of an Ewok. Everything before that point was some of the most memorable cinema ever. Everything after became a merchandising exercise.

[Neil G]

There's a complete sense of fun missing in the recent films. It's all too serious. It's as if they just started believing in their bullshit - there was no character like Han Solo to turn round and say "err, what the fuck are you guys on about?"

 

Case in point - compare the flirtatious, comical banter of Han and Leia with the nauseous, eye-rolling exchanges between Anakin and Padme. Some of those scenes were the worst written I have ever seen. Ever.

 

Hayden Christensen was shit.

Natalie Portman is fit. But she was shit (and she's not been shit in ANYTHING else I've seen her in... which makes you wonder), and her death scene is one of the most laughable in film history.

 

It was basically she was too upset to go on living anymore. You what?

 

Totally agree.

 

When I went to watch the Special Editions at the cinema for the 20th anniversary, one thing that struck me was the number of times I laughed out loud, or at least chuckled audibly. The banter between Han, Luke and Leia is really snappy and funny at times. Lucas showed how good he was at writing and directing sharp, zippy dialogue in American Graffiti, and him losing sight of that was for me the biggest factor in the prequels being so shit.

[Section_31]

I hate this man, what does that even mean?

 

On May 8, 2010, at the 30th Anniversary Screening of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back held at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, Lucas was asked about the current status of the live action show. He stated that production of the show was currently on hold: "The live action TV show is kind of on hold because we have scripts, but we don't know how to do 'em. Because, they literally are Star Wars, only we're going to have to try to do them... a tenth the cost. And, it's a huge challenge... lot bigger than what we thought it was gonna be."

[Trumo]

How about

 

The Star Wars Holiday Special

[RedKnight]

I hate this man, what does that even mean?

 

I think it means that the tv series would cost the equivalent of making a full length Star Wars movie and it's not cost effective to do it that way. Plus doing it any other way would make it look shit and not like Star Wars.

 

The jabroni should get back to directing and writing films that have nothing to do with Star Wars. If he had an ounce of artistic credibility he'd be doing that instead of milking three movies he made over 30 years ago, because that's what the prequels and anything else since are.

[Section_31]

I think it means that the tv series would cost the equivalent of making a full length Star Wars movie and it's not cost effective to do it that way. Plus doing it any other way would make it look shit and not like Star Wars.

 

The jabroni should get back to directing and writing films that have nothing to do with Star Wars. If he had an ounce of artistic credibility he'd be doing that instead of milking three movies he made over 30 years ago, because that's what the prequels and anything else since are.

 

It just shows how limited his understanding is of WHY people actually like star wars. The space battles and the lasers were the icing on the cake, they weren't the cake itself, the story and the characters were what made the originals.

 

Battlestar Galactica was a huge success but wasn't made on a film budget, it had its fair share of outstanding battle sequences but mostly it was built around story, conflict and character - each episode was 1000 times better than the entire prequel trilogy.

[RedKnight]

It just shows how limited his understanding is of WHY people actually like star wars. The space battles and the lasers were the icing on the cake, they weren't the cake itself, the story and the characters were what made the originals.

 

Battlestar Galactica was a huge success but wasn't made on a film budget, it had its fair share of outstanding battle sequences but mostly it was built around story, conflict and character - each episode was 1000 times better than the entire prequel trilogy.

 

It does highlight his limited ability as a story teller and his narrow view of how a story can be told. If it doesn't have whizz bang effects then it isn't competently told, in his view. You look back and sometimes you wonder how he ever did the original trilogy well in the first place, I reckon some of it is fear. He was out on a limb with Star Wars and Empire, it was only when he got relatively comfortable with Jedi that some 'questionable' decisions were made. When his financial future was on the line, that's when he made the toughest and smartest decisions. He should fuck off anything else prequel related, the saga is getting too bloated now. Hand the script and directing duties to someone else and either do something in the Old Republic or leave it alone.

 

Or like I say, he could go and direct another movie that had nothing to do with Star Wars. He won't though, his directing skills are limited to "faster and more intense" from what I've read.

[Ted]

Those Red Letter Media reviews of the prequels were pretty fucking amazing.

[Section_31]

It does highlight his limited ability as a story teller and his narrow view of how a story can be told. If it doesn't have whizz bang effects then it isn't competently told, in his view. You look back and sometimes you wonder how he ever did the original trilogy well in the first place, I reckon some of it is fear. He was out on a limb with Star Wars and Empire, it was only when he got relatively comfortable with Jedi that some 'questionable' decisions were made. When his financial future was on the line, that's when he made the toughest and smartest decisions. He should fuck off anything else prequel related, the saga is getting too bloated now. Hand the script and directing duties to someone else and either do something in the Old Republic or leave it alone.

 

Or like I say, he could go and direct another movie that had nothing to do with Star Wars. He won't though, his directing skills are limited to "faster and more intense" from what I've read.

 

It's pretty amazing, sometimes I wonder if he'd actually stolen the scripts because the difference not only in quality but in the basic understanding of film and story are so massive between both trilogies. Some of his decisions were luckily undone by others too, apparently he wanted C3PO to talk like a Brooklyn used car salesman (?) and was furious when Anthony Daniels put his own 'English butler' take on it. He also wanted Indiana Jones to be a womanising tomb robber before Spielberg and Ford told him to get the fuck out.

 

Those Red Letter Media reviews of the prequels were pretty fucking amazing.

 

They're great but also disturbing in that they highlight how utterly bereft of even the basics of storytelling the prequels are. The Phantom Menace for instance, doesn't even have a central character. Incredible.

[Ted]

I know, he completely tears them apart. It's fucking brilliant.

[RJ Fan club]

The Prequels were film franchising by numbers. Disjointed, bloated, too many effects to compensate and very poorly cast.

 

It's like they just got a committee and focus groups to put it together. Like that episode of the simpsons where the toy company monitor the kids to create a toy.

 

Yeah we need a cuddly toy that fires rockets but is also your best friend.

[Anubis]

Just watched the Red Letter Media review of the Phantom Menace. I've never seen it before. That is a brilliant deconstruction of the film. For me, the highlight is the behind the scenes footage, where it's obvious they all know they've fucked up badly. Even Lucas.

[chorlton]

I thought he plyed well against the mancs and was decent again today.

[Section_31]

Just watched the Red Letter Media review of the Phantom Menace. I've never seen it before. That is a brilliant deconstruction of the film. For me, the highlight is the behind the scenes footage, where it's obvious they all know they've fucked up badly. Even Lucas.

 

The Revenge of the Sith one is boss mate, it's 90 minutes long and just destroys the whole thing. It shows how many times Lucas uses the same shot of two people walking and talking, stopping, then one turns and looks out the window, then turns back again. It's the only kind of shot they can do because of the green screen - pathetic really.

[Anubis]

The Revenge of the Sith one is boss mate, it's 90 minutes long and just destroys the whole thing. It shows how many times Lucas uses the same shot of two people walking and talking, stopping, then one turns and looks out the window, then turns back again. It's the only kind of shot they can do because of the green screen - pathetic really.

 

I think I've just got enough time before I play taxi.