Would George Lucas do better at derecting with Pot

[FettKyle]

A while back I heard a rumor that george was on pot doing the first movie ANH if not I think he would do better anyway if he had some external influence.

[Mr Bean]

He was not high or anything in the way, Remeber at Heart Lucus is a big kid, he does not do drugs, jaywalk or beat people up for thier lunch money he is a big kid who loves playing with Toys

[Kelly Antilles]

A while back I heard a rumor that george was on pot doing the first movie ANH if not I think he would do better anyway if he had some external influence.

It was his American actors who were using drugs, especially Carrie. George is clean-cut. He'd never do that.

[FettKyle]

yeah and where I come from we got a lot of nice pot heads that started as early as 8.
Any way how come ANH is much better then TPM and ATOC combined has he lost his edge or was he just lucky.

[Kelly Antilles]

I think he's focusing more on the visual effects than the story. But, that's my opinion.

[The Dark]

The new ones are over-budgeted. Seriously, I feel the old ones were better because the stuff wasn't all computer animated, it had a more human feel to it (sorry if I'm getting too close to that musician's "soul" that some believe in and others don't). Everything was somewhat dark and dingy, whereas the majority of TPM (haven't built up the nerve to see AOTC yet) was so bright and cheery it made people want to gag...and that was BEFORE Jar-Jar appeared. I hope the third movie goes into the more dark form of the original movies, since it will probably be about Anakin becoming Vader and Sidious/Palpatine becoming Emperor. I would love to see it start out bright and slowly get darker throughout the whole movie, though that sort of symbolism is unlikely, since Lucas seems almost as dense as B&B recently.

[FettKyle]

Maybe he is puting the movies out to fast so he cannot come out with the good story or maybe it's the Cg and you know it is hard to act when most of the scenes is in blue screen and the actor doesn't really know where he is at.

[Sea Skimmer]

The new ones are over-budgeted. Seriously, I feel the old ones were better because the stuff wasn't all computer animated, it had a more human feel to it (sorry if I'm getting too close to that musician's "soul" that some believe in and others don't). Everything was somewhat dark and dingy, whereas the majority of TPM (haven't built up the nerve to see AOTC yet) was so bright and cheery it made people want to gag...and that was BEFORE Jar-Jar appeared. I hope the third movie goes into the more dark form of the original movies, since it will probably be about Anakin becoming Vader and Sidious/Palpatine becoming Emperor. I would love to see it start out bright and slowly get darker throughout the whole movie, though that sort of symbolism is unlikely, since Lucas seems almost as dense as B&B recently.

I know what your saying but Lucas didn't make the first three movies back in the 80's specifically because the technology of the time could not do what he wanted for them. Models and blue screen alone could not cut it.

Really, most of the shots of the Clone army, the Arena, much of Naboo, several species, all old not have been done any other way, and much of what could be done would require tight close up shots, rather then wide open ones which show you vast views.

[The Dark]

I know what your saying but Lucas didn't make the first three movies back in the 80's specifically because the technology of the time could not do what he wanted for them. Models and blue screen alone could not cut it.

Really, most of the shots of the Clone army, the Arena, much of Naboo, several species, all old not have been done any other way, and much of what could be done would require tight close up shots, rather then wide open ones which show you vast views.

I'll agree with the detail of the Clone army not being possible without CG animation, just like the battle at the beginning of LotR, where much of it is CG. I haven't seen the Arena scene, so I'll pass judgement on that. On Naboo, the only thing that might have been improbable was the swim to Gungan City and the heyblibber ride. Everything else could have been covered with matte paintings and sets (well, maybe the last ground fight also, but that's debatable). Last, the super-exotic aliens aren't really what Star Wars is supposed to be about. When all is said and done, it's the classic good versus evil mythological warfare, and the aliens are eye candy. I appreciate them, but aliens like Chewbacca and Jabba the Hutt impressed me more than the Toydarian or the Dug (or even the little I've seen of the Geonosians). Truthfully, I think Lucas has just lost his inspiration, and it's become something other than what it was. The villains don't seem quite as diabolical, the heroes less challenged, and the plots less grandiose (and the acting less inspiring, but nobody can replace the beloved Sir Alec). I guess I'm just disappointed overall with the new ones, and disturbed that I can't pin an exact reason why.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Steam/smoke from blasters hitting walls was good in ANH. It gave everything a less clean touch. It was grity and real. In AoTC and TPM everything is clean. Blaster blasts spark and scortch stuff.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Well, what if Lucas was high while making the OT? What would be different?

And, of course the actors used . Name one actor that doesn't.

As for the enviroments, the more dingy environments of the OT probably had to do with them being set on places that are supposed ot be that way, while the new movies take place on "brighter" places, such as Coruscant and Naboo, because they are meant to be that way. However, in TPM and AotC, there were darker areas, such as Tattooine, the industrial areas of Coruscant (Of course, Dooku visiting Sidious wouldn't have been as appealing if they met somewhere more upbeat), and Geonosis.

As for Lucas, you said he lost his inspiration. You know what would give him inspiration? That pot he was rumored to have been smoking a quarter of a century back!

[Patrick Degan]

Part of the problem, I think, is that George Lucas wasted a lot of years making everything exceptStar Wars. Some of that time was spent well with co-producing the original Raiders Of The Lost Ark and handling part of the production for Akira Kurosawa's legendary movie Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior. But it was also the period when he began making increasingly kiddified movies and building his entertainment empire (which, admittedly, he's been pretty damn good at). But he's had more of an ear for the market rather than an eye for the art as the years have worn on, and that has dimmed his vision from when he was a devil-take-care wildcat filmmaker back in the 70s. He became less inclined to take chances artistically. These days, the only real chances he takes is with technology. But its not the same thing at all, and I believe we all agree on that.

Let's face it, it was a bad sign when he incorporated the Ewoks into Return Of The Jedi. Pure marketing to the kiddies. Indeed, the marketing effort was so aggressive that we know the Ewok name from the advertising; the word never appears in the actual movie itself. The Ewoks and all the damn muppets making up Jabba the Hutt's mob. He's become so oriented toward making his universe kid-accessible that its come at the sacrifice of the grittier and greyer aspects of Star Wars. The lowest point for this trend, to date, was his alteration of the original film so that we see the stupid scene of Greedo shooting first and missing from two feet —just so that we can have no doubts that Han Solo is a Good Guy™.

The movies now have become half storytelling and half testbed vehicles for the new digital filmmaking technology, and he's been willing to sacrifice artistic integrity on that altar as well. I can tell you that I did not like the Special Edition versions of the original movies, because you can tell where the new footage has been grafted in. Lucas did not even try to make the additions and the original footage match up with one another. I remember distinctly that the print of ANH-SE I saw here in New Orleans was messy with negative scratches in the original footage and plastic-looking artificial CGI in the additions. Very sloppy and unprofessional. Being a graphic artist myself, the sight of it disappointed me no end. I'd rather have an arm cut off than do that sort of half-assed job for a client.

As I've said, I give George Lucas credit for a lot of things. But he stopped being an artist twenty years ago. Attack Of The Clones was a better movie than The Phantom Menace to be certain, and Lucas' movies retain a certain quality in the storytelling. But they are not all they can be by any stretch of the imagination, and the finest CGI work does not paper over such a large hole. It never will.

[Shinova]

I've heard somewhere that Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were not directed by George Lucas. Because of that, those two movies turned out with better acting, more involving plots, etc.

We do have to admit that Empire Strikes Back had the best acting and plot out of all the star wars movies so far (Not sure about plot, but definetly acting). And it wasn't directed by Lucas.

Remember that Lucas hates actors. He'd love it if he had cgi actors to work with instead. CGI meaning completely life-like cgi of course.

[HemlockGrey]

He does? Why?

[Kelly Antilles]

I've heard somewhere that Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were not directed by George Lucas. Because of that, those two movies turned out with better acting, more involving plots, etc.

We do have to admit that Empire Strikes Back had the best acting and plot out of all the star wars movies so far (Not sure about plot, but definetly acting). And it wasn't directed by Lucas.

Remember that Lucas hates actors. He'd love it if he had cgi actors to work with instead. CGI meaning completely life-like cgi of course.

Lawrence Kasden directed ESB. That is what he needed to do with the prequels, leave someone else to direct and he concentrate on the technical aspects of the movie. After all, that's what he's doing anyway. He doesn't care about the acting.

[Damaramu]

Actually, Irvin Kershner directed ESB.

[Vympel]

Yeah Kelly, how'd you make a mistake like that ... tsk tsk tsk

Lucas should've let others direct.

[Mark S]

Personally, my theory is that Lucas was watching Full House with his kids while writing the scripts to the new movies.

I believe the screenplays to ESB and Jedi were co-written by Kershner as well. Lucas gets credit for the story.

I don't get the hatred toward the Ewoks though. Savage teddybears draped in bones. Cute to look at but not while they're getting ready to eat you. Great contradiction.

[Guest]

I don't get why ppl have such a problem with the new trillogy? Sure it looks more polished and stuff but the main problem is ppl are tuning in and expecting another masterpiece. Ppl watched the 1st trillogy with no such expectations. All these movies with hugs billion dollar budgets have spoiled us.

[Guest]

I don't get why ppl have such a problem with the new trillogy? Sure it looks more polished and stuff but the main problem is ppl are tuning in and expecting another masterpiece. Ppl watched the 1st trillogy with no such expectations. All these movies with hugs billion dollar budgets have spoiled us.

I partially agree with this sentiment. It is difficult to produce a masterpiece on demand, especially with the OT to compete with. However, GL was just asking for trouble with how he did EPI.

[Vympel]

I think the style of Ep 1 was on purpose- Ep 2 is getting forboding and returning to the OT 'used universe' thing- with its seedy underbelly's, cold military hardware etc. Ep 3 will be a joygasm for Empire Strikes Back fans.

[irishmick79]

Episode One, outside of the lightsaber duel at the end, was a fairly dismal movie. George Lucas sacraficed any artistic integrity for the sake of kidifying his movie, and brought a pre-pubescant Anakin Skywalker along with Jar Jar Binks into the saga. The complete and utter failure of both those approaches destroys the movie as a whole.

[Slartibartfast]

The movie could have been good AND having a kid and a 3d comic relief as stars... but not the way they did it. The kid didn't have to be a Shirley Temple ripoff and the comic relief didn't have to be Roger Rabbit. I mean, C3P0 is comic relief and even he isn't that annoying.

[Frank Hipper]

I hope in epIII the newborn Vader slaughters Jar-Jar in some creative and gory fashion.

[Admiral Drason]

I hope in epIII the newborn Vader slaughters Jar-Jar in some creative and gory fashion.

We can only hope.