George Lucas - out of touch?

[Eric Huffstutler]

There is a Q&A section at Time Magazine's web site covering Episode II and one question was asked that may interest those who questioned him reading HTF...
Q&A - George Lucas and Star Wars

Q: Do you read about Star Wars on the Internet?
A: When I was working on Phantom Menace, I saw a lot of the Internet stuff. I lasted about six weeks

 

[alan halvorson]

Maybe he's busy. Maybe the internet bores him - it's not everyone's favorite thing to do.

 

[Brian Kaz]

I know if I were making a movie, the last thing I would be doing is reading fanatic ravings from a bunch of anonymous people about how my film SHOULD be made.

 

[dpippel]

Yep, the masterpiece that is "The Phantom Menace" certainly proved that all of those fanatic ravings were totally unfounded.

 

[Brian Kaz]

Uh, have you ever read some of the things people said they wanted to see? When you've got a million different ideas of what should be in a movie coming at you at once, at least he had the guts to make the film the way he wanted. Good or bad.

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Yoda makes the cover of Time this week. The cover story indicates that "Episode II" is a much better movie (more in line with the trilogy we know & love).

 

[dpippel]

Yes, I've read some of the ravings. Some were way out there but not all. No more bizarre than some of George's own ideas. As for guts, I don't think it took anything of the sort. All it took was money - his money. He could have done anything he wanted because he had the financial resources to do so, and he did just that. In my opinion the end result was decidedly bad. I'd be willing to bet that Lucas understood that he'd be extremely successful with the first new Star Wars film in 16 years, no matter how "good" it was. $431 million proved him right.

I'm hoping that Episode II is at least 200% better.

 

[Joseph Young]

From the classic courtroom episode of the Clerks cartoon:

Randal: Do you think Phantom Menace is as good of a movie as Empire?
George Lucas: Well, certainly, I think it's the best movie I've made yet.
Randal: Permission to treat this witness as hostile. Mr. Lucas, how do you explain that in Star Wars Obi-Wan tells Luke when he met his father he was a great pilot, but in Menace he's just a little boy?
Lucas: Well, my kids thought...
Randal: And how come Obi-Wan tells Luke that Yoda is the Jedi that trains him, but in the movie Liam Neeson trains him?
Lucas: Um, well, the power of myth...
Randal: Isn't it true you knew this was a bad movie, that you wrote it over a weekend but told people you had it written for years?

Joseph

 

[Terrell]

I would love to see these fanatical dimwits make a film. YOu could count on it being the worst creation in the history of modern cinema.

 

[Paul Richardson]

Unfortunately, there's not much Lucas can do with "constructive criticism" like "JarJar Binks is soooo gay, yo! He sucks, d00d!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[Ned]

I would love to see these fanatical dimwits make a film. YOu could count on it being the worst creation in the history of modern cinema.
It probably wouldn't have been any worse than what Lucas did to EP1.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

What I was eluding to was that many had hoped that their posts would be read by Lucas, especially prior to PM-I release. The Star Wars topic was the ONLY thing on many people's minds for so long!

 

[LarryH]

In order to elude criticism, I will only allude to the fact that a dictionary is still better than a spell-checker.

 

[RobertR]

Silly Internet rantings should be ignored. What bothered me a great deal more was that Lucas, out of sheer willfull ignorance and stubbornness, simply REFUSED to face up to his own weaknesses and problems (such as the accumulated rust from not having directed a film in 22 years and his very weak script-writing skills, not withstanding the apparent attitude of some that he simply can't make mistakes), but chose instead to surround himself with yes-men instead of seeking constructive criticism within the film industry.

It's SO good to FINALLY get acknowledgement from the man that he made a lot of lousy choices with TPM.

 

[Damin J Toell]

How much time should we expect someone to spend online when he runs a multi-million dollar corporation and is writing and directing 3 films with little break between them? Lucas has his priorities in a rather different order than most of us here. he isn't out of touch simply because he doesn't have time to waste reading the talkback on AICN. the internet isn't the be all and end all of being in touch.

DJ

 

[Ron-P]

George Lucas - out of touch?

He's not out of touch, he is just too busy CGI'ing everything, he doesn't have the time to do anything else.
Peace Out~

 

[Brian Kaz]

Well, Robert, no one is saying that there weren't lousy choices made, but the fact remains that it was his film to make great or ruin. If I were in his position, I would have been the same way. I'm sure he heeded some advice (he did show it to pals Coppola, Spielberg & Scorcese for feedback). But ultimately the final product was his. It was his ideas, his company producing it and more importantly, his money.
The thing is, it's all subjective. Some people love TPM, some hate it. Not everyone will be 100% satisfied. And as far as listening to other's input, who says it would have been any better? We simply will never know. I mean, that was SO 3 years ago anyway.

Move along....move along...

 

[RobertR]

Some people love TPM, some hate it.

True, but you can say that about ANY movie (even 2001 and Battlefield Earth). That doesn't change the fact that some movies are generally much more highly regarded than others (TPM is not such a film) OR that directors sometimes make a bad film OR that that a director should recognize that someone else is a better scriptwriter than he is.

 

[Brian_J]

I have not read the Time piece yet but Maxim and Newsweek had stories and interview as well and he came off as one of two ways to me:

1. In denial.

or,

2. Stubborn but truthfully realizing just how bad Ep 1 really was.

I believe 2 is more true, based on what I read. Especially when he tried to defend Jar Jar so half-heartedly. "Well kids loved him!"

There was some interesting stuff , especially the stuff about how much he USED to rely on other people's (directors) oppinions. At least, that's the way I took it.

Brian

 

[Brian Kaz]

Robert, as far as I know, Lucas never said he was a great scriptwriter and even admits to not being very good at writing dialogue. As to why he never got help with TPM script, who knows? Maybe for the first one he just wanted to do it himself.

Like I said, it's his film. Nothing we can do about it anyway (we do agree on this at least, yes?). You either like it or don't. You gotta live with it either way.