AHC: Save Star Wars

"Star Wars" as an intellectual property is a story of glory and failure and love and hate, with all the complexities and nuances you would find in the universe of the film series itself. One thing for certain is that the history of Star Wars for the past 16 or so years has been one of disappointment and alienation among the fan base. George Lucas went from being a hero who could do no wrong very quickly to a polarizing figure who, if not disliked, upset most people. And the Star Wars franchise, previously of a critically highly acclaimed quality, not just in the films but also in various books and comic books, had an albatross around it.

It began with the "Special Editions" in 1997, which soon became the only editions and were the basis for the constant reworking and changing of the original Star Wars film series. The original theatrical versions, the ones which made the history of Star Wars, which influenced a generation, which affected even the likes of Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, have never been properly released since the age of VHS and LaserDisc. The original master prints were probably directly cut for the Special Editions, and left to possibly rot away. And Lucas refuses to release the theatrical versions, and says the reworked versions are his true vision and is the only one that exists.
It reached a fever pitch with the prequel trilogy, the quality of which was very poor. Red Letter Media did a review on all three films which thoroughly dissects and explains just why they are bad. I won't go into length here. In short, they are shallow, over reliant on special effects, under reliant on story, poor acted and poorly written, and likely arose from little oversight or revision of the script, and potentially Lucas not really understanding his own film saga and trying to make an homage to Star Wars within the same universe.

The poor quality of the prequels and George Lucas' behavior and attitude about everything since 1997, and his reaction to the fan base has left Star Wars with a mixed legacy.

The challenge here is to save the Star Wars series from all that: to not allow a poor prequel trilogy, to not allow Lucas to take an attitude and to take on behaviors that upset and alienate the fan base and prevent a theatrical version release and which lent to constant revision, and to not create this mixed legacy and polarizing enviroment on the whole.

Emperor Norton I said:

"Star Wars" as an intellectual property is a story of glory and failure and love and hate, with all the complexities and nuances you would find in the universe of the film series itself. One thing for certain is that the history of Star Wars for the past 16 or so years has been one of disappointment and alienation among the fan base. George Lucas went from being a hero who could do no wrong very quickly to a polarizing figure who, if not disliked, upset most people. And the Star Wars franchise, previously of a critically highly acclaimed quality, not just in the films but also in various books and comic books, had an albatross around it.

It began with the "Special Editions" in 1997, which soon became the only editions and were the basis for the constant reworking and changing of the original Star Wars film series. The original theatrical versions, the ones which made the history of Star Wars, which influenced a generation, which affected even the likes of Ronald Reagan and the Cold War, have never been properly released since the age of VHS and LaserDisc. The original master prints were probably directly cut for the Special Editions, and left to possibly rot away. And Lucas refuses to release the theatrical versions, and says the reworked versions are his true vision and is the only one that exists.
It reached a fever pitch with the prequel trilogy, the quality of which was very poor. Red Letter Media did a review on all three films which thoroughly dissects and explains just why they are bad. I won't go into length here. In short, they are shallow, over reliant on special effects, under reliant on story, poor acted and poorly written, and likely arose from little oversight or revision of the script, and potentially Lucas not really understanding his own film saga and trying to make an homage to Star Wars within the same universe.

The poor quality of the prequels and George Lucas' behavior and attitude about everything since 1997, and his reaction to the fan base has left Star Wars with a mixed legacy.

The challenge here is to save the Star Wars series from all that: to not allow a poor prequel trilogy, to not allow Lucas to take an attitude and to take on behaviors that upset and alienate the fan base and prevent a theatrical version release and which lent to constant revision, and to not create this mixed legacy and polarizing enviroment on the whole.

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Start off with having Lucas die from a freak accident involving a truck full of cat food and a nearby cat sanctuary. Then have someone with a far smaller ego placed in charge of the prequels.

Cymraeg said:

Start off with having Lucas die from a freak accident involving a truck full of cat food and a nearby cat sanctuary. Then have someone with a far smaller ego placed in charge of the prequels.

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The problem is Lucas' ego (we also always seem to have him die in some way before 1997 to prevent all this). He doesn't have to slip on a historically placed banana peel, though. What he does need is to be kept in check. By the time you got to 1997, none of those people who previously critiqued him or offered alternate suggestions were around. Instead what you had was a bunch of 'yes-men'. And if they weren't 'yes-men' out of kissing butt, they were so either out of fear of criticizing George Lucas or assumption that he knew what he was doing. The prequel trilogy and other decisions involving Star Wars was totally George Lucas. Regardless of whatever it may be, one person should never be totally at the helm of anything without any comment. The question is, where did all those people around during the original trilogy go? Why were they around in 1977 and the 80s, but not by 1997 and the 2000s?

Emperor Norton I said:

The problem is Lucas' ego (we also always seem to have him die in some way before 1997 to prevent all this). He doesn't have to slip on a historically placed banana peel, though. What he does need is to be kept in check. By the time you got to 1997, none of those people who previously critiqued him or offered alternate suggestions were around. Instead what you had was a bunch of 'yes-men'. And if they weren't 'yes-men' out of kissing butt, they were so either out of fear of criticizing George Lucas or assumption that he knew what he was doing. The prequel trilogy and other decisions involving Star Wars was totally George Lucas. Regardless of whatever it may be, one person should never be totally at the helm of anything without any comment. The question is, where did all those people around during the original trilogy go? Why were they around in 1977 and the 80s, but not by 1997 and the 2000s?

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Speaking of that, one person still around who can talk to Lucas is Spielberg. The problem is, it's never Spielberg who convinces Lucas of anything; Spielberg doesn't seem to critique Lucas. It's Lucas who manages to convince Spielberg of things. You can see that in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Lucas managed to convince Spielberg to do things he wouldn't have on his own, and for the worse.

Emperor Norton I said:

Speaking of that, one person still around who can talk to Lucas is Spielberg. The problem is, it's never Spielberg who convinces Lucas of anything; Spielberg doesn't seem to critique Lucas. It's Lucas who manages to convince Spielberg of things. You can see that in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". Lucas managed to convince Spielberg to do things he wouldn't have on his own, and for the worse.

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I would point out Spielberg hasn't been knocking them out of the park for awhile either so I don't know even if he could influence George that he'd be the right person for the job.

Draco said:

I would point out Spielberg hasn't been knocking them out of the park for awhile either so I don't know even if he could influence George that he'd be the right person for the job.

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He doesn't have to influence him to be director. He would need to be an influence in the creative process.

deathscompanion1 said:

I actually like the Prequels better than the originals....

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLrpBLDWyCI

Maybe have the original trilogy be less successful, so the prequel trilogy that eventually gets made is entirely by somebody else?

At the least stop him from mangling the originals, but if he's involved in the prequels it'll suck regardless I suspect.


Since he eventually sold up, maybe he could be tempted to sell up sooner?

George Lucas doesn't have to die to save Star Wars. I think there are other ways of keeping him from being in a position to make prequels, or to have the energy to complete the special editions as we know them. I don't happen to know enough about Lucas' biography to point to something other than a cliche divergence. But if you want to avoid the prequels, and if you want to avoid the special editions, you need to give George Lucas something else to do in the 1990's-2000's. I don't know enough about his biography to point to a concrete divergence, or to say what that "something else" might be.

It can't be saved, its one of those constants..........like killing Hitler, night following day etc.......'something' always intervenes to undoo what you have done.

To "save" Star Wars in your image--I am talking about your image because I have seen a few PT apologists here, is to have Lucas never get divorced--his wife arguably balanced his more crazier and outlandish decisions, and have him have closer contact with some of his staff in the first 3 movies so they could be readily available to help. Alternatively, have a skilled director buy the rights to Star Wars FROM Lucas and see where it goes. There's No Business Like Show Business TL does seem to have a better image of the prequels as well.

Glass Onion said:

George Lucas doesn't have to die to save Star Wars. I think there are other ways of keeping him from being in a position to make prequels, or to have the energy to complete the special editions as we know them. I don't happen to know enough about Lucas' biography to point to something other than a cliche divergence. But if you want to avoid the prequels, and if you want to avoid the special editions, you need to give George Lucas something else to do in the 1990's-2000's. I don't know enough about his biography to point to a concrete divergence, or to say what that "something else" might be.

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There actually is a biography of George Lucas. It's called Skywalking and I suggest picking it up if you can find it, as its an interesting read. George Lucas did not hire yes men to run Lucasfilm. He hired people who are strong in areas where he is weak, specifically the more business and investment oriented aspects of running his company, and he listens to their advice. His problem is that he finds the film making process to be very stressful, and he doesn't like it when other people try to edit his films. Case in point, he just about had a fit when he saw the final print of American Graffiti and realized that Universal had cut two mins out of the film and he was constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown while shooting Star Wars. Having to fire his editor doubtless didn't help matters. I wouldn't exactly call him a control freak, but I get the sense that he only welcomes criticism from people that he trusts, and that's why he sometimes get fed with the fans.

Emperor Norton I said:

The problem is Lucas' ego (we also always seem to have him die in some way before 1997 to prevent all this).

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I think an equally big problem is all these fanboys placing the original trilogy up so high on a pedestal that nothing could ever reach it.

The Kiat said:

I think an equally big problem is all these fanboys placing the original trilogy up so high on a pedestal that nothing could ever reach it.

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Misplaced Nostalgia disappears very quickly in the light of any scrutiny. It was never that the original trilogy was so beloved that nothing could touch it; everyone (don't place it down as just fanboys) from 1997 till that film finally came out in 1999, and even before that from when RoTJ came out till 1999, was waiting expectantly for that first prequel film. They were willing to give it a chance and were assuming that it would be great. And how could it not be since George Lucas was great at what he did? The issue comes that it didn't meet expectations of being good. Not only did it not meet expectations, it didn't even come close. It was not a very good film. Had it been at least a good film, it would have been accepted and very likely praised more than it even deserved. It wasn't a good film.

I will very strongly defend against the lines of "expectations were too high", "the original films seem better because you were a kid when you saw them", etc, because they are a cop out for a series of films that failed in quality. Not only is it a cop out, but it was born out of what was actually a serious cultural psychological trauma. The films were so bad relative to the original trilogy and relative to the expectations for how good this new set of films would be that everyone adopted this attitude of "they must be good. I must be wrong" which lead to all those excuses for the prequels. The Star Wars prequels were not the only ones that lead to that reaction: the 2000s saw a series of films that lead to that reaction. The sequels and prequels we saw besides that, like "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" got that reaction. And the truth is they just sucked.

("Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" wasn't that bad. I think that is overstated. It wasn't that great, and the faults in the film came from George Lucas tinkering with a much superior script from the 90s, and it shouldn't have been made unless it was going to be great and be the start of something new, but it wasn't bad. It certainly wasn't up the the snuff of it's series, though.)

Mike Stearns said:

There actually is a biography of George Lucas. It's called Skywalking and I suggest picking it up if you can find it, as its an interesting read. George Lucas did not hire yes men to run Lucasfilm. He hired people who are strong in areas where he is weak, specifically the more business and investment oriented aspects of running his company, and he listens to their advice. His problem is that he finds the film making process to be very stressful, and he doesn't like it when other people try to edit his films. Case in point, he just about had a fit when he saw the final print of American Graffiti and realized that Universal had cut two mins out of the film and he was constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown while shooting Star Wars. Having to fire his editor doubtless didn't help matters. I wouldn't exactly call him a control freak, but I get the sense that he only welcomes criticism from people that he trusts, and that's why he sometimes get fed with the fans.

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I'm not saying George Lucas' ego was born out of any personal negativity. What I'm saying is, everyone told him on a very regular basis that he was the best and that his films were so wonderful and that he affected them so much and that he inspired them, and he was so praised by such a loyal and dedicated fan base to such a point that after a while there's no way not to have a perhaps even slightly skewed and inflated sense of capability and self. That's a bit of a paradox situation. And it's not even Lucas necessarily hiring 'yes-men', but just the fact that if you watch those behind the scenes of the prequels, you can see no one say one word to George Lucas of criticism or opinion. They all look afraid to say anything. And that's because they hold George Lucas in such high regard (at the beginning at least), think he must know what he's doing, and they aren't going to do anything other than what he wants, and no one is going to be the guy to criticize or second guess George Lucas. It's like Akeem in "Coming to America": "What do you think?" "Whatever you think". And that group of people that were with Lucas in the original series of films aren't there by the prequels. Again, the question must be asked where did they go and how do you get them to be there, or get people capable of properly filling their niche to be there come time for the prequels?

That said, on Lucas' ego (or more correctly, hard-headedness), I would like to quote this:

While Lucas, Spielberg and Ford considered Darabont’s draft, delivered on 4 October 2003, the appetite for a fourth Indiana Jones was further whetted by the DVD debut of the original trilogy, previously available only on video and laserdisc. While fans reveled in the copious bonus features on the new DVDs, Spielberg and Ford both reacted enthusiastically to Darabont’s script. Lucas, however, did not. “It was a tremendous disappointment and a waste of a year,” Darabont later told MTV. “I spent a year of very determined effort on something I was very excited about, working very closely with Steven Spielberg and coming up with a result that I, and he, felt was terrific. He wanted to direct it as his next movie, and then suddenly the whole thing goes down in flames because George Lucas doesn’t like the script.” A despairing Darabont confronted Lucas directly. “I told him he was crazy. I said, ‘You have a fantastic script. I think you’re insane, George.’ You can say things like that to George, and he doesn’t even blink. He’s one of the most stubborn men I know.” - See more at: http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/fe...the-city-of-the-gods.php#sthash.kwaIDH2P.dpuf

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By the way, I would like to mention that George Lucas and his personal changes and his relation to Star Wars and the fans and his fall from grace is a much better story of Anakin Skywalker in meta form than anything the prequel trilogy managed to do. Had that been transcribed into a prequel trilogy, those films would have been amazing. So much so in fact that I do wonder on occasion if it isn't all some Andy Kaufman style game on the public, where George Lucas is playing an alternate reality game on everyone to give us an amazing prequel trilogy in real life form.

I'm thinking the prequels could have been saved if Lucas got Ridley Scott on board for ESB and ROTJ, then made the prequels in 1989/91/93, and gone more towards Heart of Darkness/Collapse of USSR/Fall of Roman Republic in Space than have the prequels be about Anakin being an emo.

1989 - Star Wars Episode 1: The Republic Cracking

The Galactic Republic is in a time of crisis. The Human supremacist government in Coruscant has ignored the plight of various species across the galaxy, whether in the form of lack of representation for the non-human sentients or the blatantly corrupt bureaucracy that suppresses their identities like Apartheid South Africa. This has led to fertile ground for demagogues, such as General Palpatine of the Republic military, as well as rumours of a Sith Cult operating in the galaxy.

Newly initiated Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent by the Jedi to Tattooine to negotiate a peace between the Hutt Clans and the Galactic Republic. There, he meets a pilot named Anakin, who is hot-headed, but does have a lot of potential. Though advised against this by other Jedi, Obi-Wan decides to train Anakin, arguing that he will need allies in such a critical time.

However, as negotiations are undertaken, an assassination attempt is made on one of the Hutt Clan leaders. Over the course of the movie, Anakin and Obi-Wan learn that the assassin belonged to the Unity Front, a human supremacist terrorist group who wanted to maintain the current order and embark on a terror campaign against Tattooine. Though they confront and defeat the Unity Front, the damage is done, and various species secede from the Galactic Republic, sparking the clone wars.

Just as Obi-Wan and

1991 - Episode 2: The Republic Falling

The Clone Wars. Anakin is becoming more jaded and disillusioned about the war by the Republic's racism and the various atrocities he has seen and done. He also becomes more like vader over time due to war wounds. At this time, he has two children, Luke and Leia, whom he has hidden away from him until the war's end, in case his enemies tried to use them against him. The Jedi also become more part of the Republic than an independent order, with the Jedi taking various command positions in the Republic military. This alienates a lot of people from the Jedi.

The last time Obi-Wan and Anakin fight together is on Geonosis, where separatist forces have set up a transport hub that allows them to access deep into Republic territory. This also showcases Anakin's arrogance and hot-headedness on the battlefield, as he loses a lung in a fight with Count Dooku, a rogue Jedi who left the order because of their support for the Republic.

5 years later, Anakin is now a Colonel, and has been ordered to go to Dagobah, where he is asked to hunt down a rogue Jedi named Yoda, who vanished. the Republic fears that he could command an army against the Republic and the separatists. This Heart of Darkness segment carries over into the next film.

Meanwhile, General Palpatine begins to take interest in Anakin Skywalker, and considers making plans of his own for after the war.

1993 - Episode 3: The Rise of the Empire

After wandering through the horrors of Dagobah, Anakin confronts Yoda, who reveals that he left the Jedi order because he considered the Jedi and the Republic corrupted institutions, and the Jedi abandoned their oath of maintaining peace in the galaxy when they sided with tyrants. This pushes Anakin over the edge, and makes him all but outright hate the Jedi. However, he is aware that the alternative of outright chaos is much worse.

This makes him susceptible to the whims of General Palpatine, who seems to agree with Anakin on so many issues such as corruption and hypocrisy. This relationship leads to Anakin coming under Palpatine's command, and the seeds of the Empire are sown here.

General Palpatine, revealed to be the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, mounts a coup against the weakened institutions of the Republic. He proclaims the Galactic Empire, and a New Order.

Emperor Norton I said:

Misplaced Nostalgia disappears very quickly in the light of any scrutiny. It was never that the original trilogy was so beloved that nothing could touch it; everyone (don't place it down as just fanboys) from 1997 till that film finally came out in 1999, and even before that from when RoTJ came out till 1999, was waiting expectantly for that first prequel film. They were willing to give it a chance and were assuming that it would be great. And how could it not be since George Lucas was great at what he did?

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Add prolonged hype to the least of problems. It can kill any product... just look at Duke Nukem.

The 'failure' of the prequals is only in the eyes of the die-hard fans. All three still rank on the top 100 all time worldwide box office grosses (TPM #13, ATOC #66, ROS #33). If that's failure or in need of 'saving' George Lucas laughs all the way to the bank.
If that's failure your demand for 'success' is quite high.

The 'failure' in your eyes is most likely due to the fact that you had so high expecations to the prequals that it was impossible to live up to them no matter how good the films were. I know I was. You're dissapointed that Anakin wasn't an adault in TPM, you're annoyed over Jar-Jar Binks etc. It's called a hype and a word of advice: Get over it.

I learned to appreciate the films after I realised that what I had was childish dreams of delusion of what I hoped that the films should have been. I've seen this repeated over and over and over on various boards (Stardestroyer.net I'm looking at you) and it's the same pattern each and every time.

The prequals are not in need of saving, or for that matter in any way shape or form a failure by any rational definition. The only thing I ever would change is replacing Natalie Portman due to her wooden acting in ATOC, particulary the romance scenes. They're cringe worthy due to her acting (or really, really good if she were portraying a girl with very low self-esteem).

Having him slip on a banana peel and the creative control going to Spielberg or Coppola or someone else a la AI would at least create a better film.

Though honestly, I think the prequels were utterly unnecessary anyway.