Any time someone starts bandying around the word 'Wacky' I get nervous, very very nervous.

This just adds reinforcement to my belief that Lucas should not be allowed a) near press of any sort and b) near films.

I'm also of the belief that Star Wars should be put to bed, at least for a while. Churning more out, day after day, year after year is just pissing all over a lot of people's childhoods.

Damn! I liked the first 3 movies... How stupid of a comment is that?....

Plus, Star Wars did a great job of creating a universe and characters, the only thing is that we shouldn't let Lucas anywhere near the plots/dialog/production of any more of these. Someone else can do a fine job.

George Lucas is a dick.

Let's hope the new Indy is like 1 and 3... don't include 2, because that was a joke.

@Log1c: That, and don't let him near anything he's already made.

Well, props to Lucas for saying that. He could be admitting that the movie is not very good, but on the other hand, I think a lot of naive fans are going to walk into the theater expecting the "Second Coming" as he suggested. Even if the Star Wars prequels were the absolute best sci-fi films of all time, hardcore fans still would have left theaters feeling they were entitled to the movie they had imagined in their own minds for all those years. That is a risk one takes in resurrecting an old franchise.

Hate Lucas Hatevibe Hate hate hate...Can i join the club now?

The thought of George Lucas working on any script at all gives me the jibblies. Those horrible memories of stiff dialog from Episode 1 come flooding back to mind. For that matter so do the horrible memories from Episodes 2 and 3. Please stop now, George. Just stop.

The Jar Jar Chronicles... Ugh!

"...[I]t won't be the movie that they have been making in their minds for the last 19 years, so they all get bent out of shape."

He has a point. It's become the fashionable pose to reflexively bash anything Lucas does these days, and to accuse him of "pissing on" (or worse) people's childhoods. Plot points and dialogue that wouldn't get a second glance in other movies are declared risible or ridiculous, because his movies are held up to much closer scrutiny.

I remember, with episode 1, the bashing began a good two years before the movie ever came out. I remember Harry Knowles reporting on some early production notes, and loftily declaring that he had problems with the name "Jar-Jar Binks." This was long before we knew anything about the character, it was the NAME ITSELF he was bashing. And remember when "The Phantom Menace" was announced as the title? There was a huge outcry from fans, angry that it didn't fit the geek-wank movie they were imagining, with lots of references to "darkness" and "shadows," preferably ending with an "Of The Jedi."

Yes, George Lucas is best when there's someone like producer Gary Kurtz, or writer Lawrence Kasdan, reining in his instincts or helping shape his ideas. But "pissing on" your childhood? Get serious. You're still going to be there opening weekend. You're going to be sitting there with a big grin on your face through the whole movie, and as soon as you get home you're going to hop on the internet like Comic Book Guy, declaring Crystal Skull the "Worst. Movie. Ever."

Then you're going to see it again.

A lot of the critics forget that they didn't like the first three

No, George, lots of people remember that they didn't like the racist Gunga Din rip-off with the annoying kid who foreshadowed the second worst part of Episode I. And lots of people also remember that they found the third movie to be a pale-retread of the original, and only watchable thanks to the addition of Sean Connery.

@kingzilch:

Erm, by that I did mean other people's. I won't be there because I didn't really enjoy the Star Wars films (other than as kids films) and I really can give the Indiana Jones films a miss.

Just a lot of people feel that way and unfortunately they're the people who pay for his lavish ideas, so going to the press saying something like this and producing what has been widely recognised as dross for the last few years will not make him many friends. You *do* have to look after the fans, at some point.

@kingzilch: I completely agree. If Lucas has somehow destroyed a person's fragile childhood memories, then he or she has a lot more problems than just Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

@kingzilch: No I won't be sitting there with big grin on my face, I'll be trying to stay awake the way I was during the Star Wars prequels, that I waited for the lines to go down to see and that I've never watched again, not even on cable.

This man is such an arrogant dick it's not even funny. He's not pissing on my childhood by any means, merely destroying his own legacy by pissing on his own work because he's too much of a tool to realize or admit he's a lousy writer and director.

@IntoAshes: @codydog: Oh c'mon. Lucas has certainly faded, and the prequels weren't great but the original three movies were seminal moments in film history and for a generation.

Don't dismiss the entire body of work just because of a few bad apples.

Godfather III doesn't diminish the brilliance of the first, nor the astonishing genius of Apocalypse Now. And if the world had written off Francis Ford Coppola (and Sean Connery) after Finian's Rainbow, we'd never have had those two.

Lucas doesn't deserve the full-on hate on: I do with he'd move on to another universe though...the Star Wars mythos has been mined to death.

@darcymcgee: Ok. I really meant "the prequels sucked. Wind. A lot of it. Except for the lightsaber fight with Yoda, 'cause that rocked even if it seemed wildly inconsistent."

I liked the title "The Phantom Menace." It sounds like a a 40s serial, and is actually germane to the plot (both Maul and the Trade Federation are red herring "phantom" menaces; the real menace is actually the phantom-like Sidious). Mind you, the title is one of the few things I did like about the movie.

"Attack of the Clones," now THERE'S a lousy title. But, ironically, a better film (can you even call these hard-drive creations "films"?)

I loved the first three. This sounds like good news to me. I'd be pretty pissed if it was transformers and the temple of doom for sure.
As for the Star Wars stuff. There were three star wars movies. They came out in the 70's and 80's. Everything else was just retirement package for Lucas as far as I can tell. But that's what happens when you do a bunch of movies with effects a decade ahead of the rest and then come back two decades later and make more with effects from the previous decade. You can't really get upset when you can tell that the level of dedication on the film is monsterously below the originals.

It also seems stupid to expect the 4th Jones to all of a sudden be an Oscar winner (or whathaveyou) when the other ones weren't. I want it to be nearly similar to the first 3. Save for the most recent Bond, I want all my bond movies to have a beautiful heroin and lots of action and bad sexual innuendoes (In your endo!) and not worry about creating new character tension or development. Who would watch a Bond character piece?...

@IntoAshes:
Yep. And I think he knows it.

@kingzilch: you got it.. And lucas will feel so so bad, he might shed a tear as he self finances (!) the next hundred episodes..

Note to fanboys; it's his ball and his bat, and his game and his money and his personal hand crafted universe. you don't like it? Cool. Make your own movies. Become one of the most successful movie makers of all times, and see how much you care about arousing the ire of a billion cheetoz stained keyboards..

It's like the question the developer asks Arthur Dent; "Do you know how much damage this bulldozer will sustain when it crushes you like a bug?"

(and yes, i know i didn't get the quote right)

@darcymcgee: i was snarking

@darcymcgee: Lucas has certainly faded, and the prequels weren't great but the original three movies were seminal moments in film history and for a generation.

Don't dismiss the entire body of work just because of a few bad apples.

I'd agree if it weren't for the fact that Lucus has publicly and repeatedly disavowed all his early work, saying that what everyone liked about those films was a mistake born out of lack of experience and the technical limitations of the time period. If he could, he'd remake Star Wars from scratch, to bring them in line with the prequels. Short of that, he'll just reedit them into oblivion.

A man who mistakes craft for flaws and would replace substance with cheep effects and flashy nonsense belongs nowhere near a camera.

The thought of George Lucas writing the scripts and dialog for the shows . . . I probably would have watched the shows, but now, I'm not so sure. He should be providing the money, maybe going so far as the treatments and high level story. But let someone else write the scripts, George. We've all had enough of the corny wooden dialog. Honestly, you give young Anakin the line, "Yippie!"? I was willing to put up with the gay-rastafarian we know as Jar-Jar, but that moment absolutely killed EP1 for me...

i've heard him whining about how people are going to hate the new indiana jones for a while now.

i don't really trust his opinion. Its like he made all 3 prequels telling us how awesome they were gonna be and people hated and talked shit about them.

Now he's finally let that sink in, and its time for indiana jones and he's sulking. The difference this time is quality control. he's got spielburg looking over his shoulder and telling him "No" whenever he tries to do something stupid. That also probably has something to do with his attitude.

I'm just glad there's no "special edition" of American Graffiti. That was a fun movie.

George Lucas with help can lead to some great stuff, like the first three Indy movies or the first three star wars movies. But when he gets into egomaniacal, self-indulgent mode, he kind of forgets to do things like edit his scripts. And movies.

But Indy IV certainly, and the Star Wars shows probably, aren't going to be Just George, so I'm mostly hopeful.

Lucas is frustrating because he was so good. THX-1138. American Graffiti. Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back. Return Of The Jedi.

I myself would certainly rather watch THX-1138 over the first two prequels...

@kingzilch: Your points are well taken, but the invention of midi-chlorians remains infuckingdefensible.

Star Wars only seems like it will drag on forever because Lucas can't get his act together. I remember back in the late 70s when he said he would produce one episode every 3 years, meaning the first 9 would have been in the can by 2001. Ha! We're still 3 short...

The fact that he thinks anyone would expect F-14s flying under freeways in and Indiana Jones movie kind of show how detached he is from his fan base.

An X-Wing running a raid on the 101 however...

Umm, I think this is good news about Indy. I'm pretty sure he was referencing the abomination known as "Live Free or Die Hard" when he mentioned F-14s flying under freeways. I think he's saying, "expect a sequel, not an overblown ADD kids fantasy like all the other crap thats come out in the past ten years"

Seriously, I think CGI has done more harm than good to movies. The actions scenes are way too over the top anymore.

@capntim: I think you hit the nail on the head, capntim. Spielberg saved (made, really) the first Indy movie (ruined the second, unfortunately, so maybe I'm talking out my arse here) by consistently telling Lucas "NO". We'll see...

I'll still see the movie, regardless of what anyone says... and both bastards know this.

@rbb: Shh! Don't remind Lucas that he has 3 other movies to completely botch! Please...

@theOmegaMan: I totally agree. I think that the only director that really understands when to use CGI and when to use miniature effects is Peter Jackson. Say what you will about his versions of Lord of the Rings, but his use of miniature and CGI in King Kong was frickin' brilliant. HE should make the three Star Wars movies that Lucas hasn't yet.

@theOmegaMan: exactly. I am all for the new Indy being more of the same. if there was an F-14 flying under a bridge I'd be livid.

Lucas's problem that he has constantly had is that he sucks as a writer and a director. Most of his ideas I've liked. But let someone else with far more talent bring it to fruition. Shall I list examples of when he should have kept his fat mitts of a project? Sure why not. The Ewoks, Jar Jar Binks, and the redoing of Star Wars: New Hope. I could go on forever about him. Fat beard needs to get a hold of himself and know where his proper place is in the greater scheme of things

@capntim:

Exactly. I firmly believe it was the Hand of Spielberg that made Transfomers watchable.

Lucas has had years to redeem himself from Howard the Duck, and pathetically, the quality of the prequils only went down.

Truly awful movies, no matter how I look at them.

Where did all this anti-anti Lucasism come from? How you can WATCH those films and not think, particularly the last two and NOT go... "Wow, that was 2 1/2 hours of terrible?

Are some people simply unhappy being anything but contary?

@Evdor: No, we are not!

Lucas writing is stale... the guy has got to let go of the SW reins and let others take it into new directions.

I question what story Lucas would be able to write that doesn't "re-imagine" some sci-fi idea that I have not read or heard of before? What new story can he bring into any kind of media that would make a sci-fi junkie like me say, "Oooh now that was good."

@Evdor: I keep and open mind and don't bother with the fan blogs. I rate them entirely differently. I think VI is the weakest, the cute little guys look like they are on wires, and Carrie Fisher is bombed or bored.

Then i like # V, with the walkers and the big fight scene.

Then the first three have lots of eye candy with #III having the most drama, the Jedi getting killed.

#II has lots of Natalie Portman, which is fine.

# IV is very crude, especially the acting, which is sub-wooden, but it sets the pattern. The problem is that people have seen that one so many times they are imprinted with it, and can no longer see the flaws, which are many and frequent.

It's like not being able to see the wires that hold up the Cowardly Lion's tail in Wizard of OZ.

I think it is perception. Like with people my age saying "The Stones Suck, their new music does not sound a good as the stuff i heard seven thousand times already"

#I is hard not to see as racist, on several levels, the Jewish junkyard guy, the Oriental villains, and of course Jar Jar. But i did like the big battle scene, the pod race and the victory march with the reggae cakewalk music.

And i must admit, i have only seen the first three twice each, and last three three or four times each. So if i got something in the wrong movie, too bad.

The are only entertainment. You want Eternal Truth? Read the Tao Te Ching

@Theoban: Like Hollywood gives two thirds of a single fuck about anyone's childhood.

@Evdor: See, this is the attitude I get tired of; the idea that I'm somehow being "contrary" because I try to avoid the unrelenting negativity and acknowledge the bad AND THE GOOD.

It's pretty much impossible to have an intelligent discussion about Lucas and Star Wars now, because as soon as someone makes the attempt, a billion haters jump in and kill the conversation with "but...JAR JAR!!!!11!!LOLZ" like some scifi version of Godwin's Law.

Fine, you want me to stop being "contrary?" Okay, here goes.

ZOMG EVERYTHING ABOUT STAR WARS SUCKS AND I'M GONNA SEE CRYSTAL SKULLS TEN TIMES SO I CAN TELL EVERYONE HOW MUCH LUCAS RAPED MY CHILDHOOD.

Happy?

The thing about Lucas I can't understand is that, if he could come up with something so original as Star Wars, WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HE COME UP WITH ANOTHER GREAT STORY AND STOP FLOGGING THE STAR WARS HORSE TO DEATH. Every other director of film maker is known for there many movies, good or bad; but when he dies, all everyone's going to be saying is, "Damn, he was amazing, but he shoulda put that star wars shit to bed.

@shenanigans: because people only have so many good ideas, and damn few great ones. ER Burroughs had two good ideas, Tarzan and John Carter, A. Conan Doyle had two or three, and Sherlock Holmes overshadowed the others. And so on.. LArry Niven had a bunch of great ideas, and people still hate him for being a right winger. Heinlein wrote the same book over and over. Arthur Clarke had lots of ideas, wrote 100 books, but people alike that are very rare..

And Clarke didn't have to raise a hundred million buck to produce a book.

And what do you want? He has three of the top ten movies and five of the top twenty-five..Historians will be saying 'God he made a lot of money, Damn he caught the zeitgeist, he revivified SF.."

Here is my new motto. "The bogs bark; the caravan moves on."

@shenanigans: The thing about Lucas I can't understand is that, if he could come up with something so original as Star Wars, WHY THE HELL DOESN'T HE COME UP WITH ANOTHER GREAT STORY AND..."

The last chapter of Peter Biskind's "Easy Riders & Raging Bulls" has a great description of Lucas's creative empire as being like a massive inverted pyramid with the entire thing growing out the single point that is Star Wars III [or whatever the hell it's called now]. With the exception of the Indiana Jones films, everything other film other than SW that he's been involved with has been a massive financial failure. The Star Wars films are the entire reason for the existence of just about everything he does. The reason he hasn't come up with any more great ideas is that he hasn't had any.

Oh, and you know, if the prequels had been as good as Revenge of the Sith we'd be celebrating the guy's genius. Pity the first two were utter shit.

If Lucas really raped that many childhoods then there would be a lot more strippers in this world.

@Lieutenant 030: What about "American Paint", the prequel.

@Seth L: Transformers was watchable?

Well, there was that scene where Megan Fox lifted the hood of the Camaro.

@tezby: "The reason he hasn't come up with any more great ideas is that he hasn't had any."

True, but he has not needed any. He is not a genius in filmmaking. He is a genius lies in marketing, both himself and his product. I am sure I was not the only kid out there with Star Wars sheets, comics, figures, and lunchboxes and basically everything else that he could plaster the name to.

Star Wars really kicked off the multiplatform marketing of today.

He has made so much money that he could continue to produce and direct 1000 episodes of Howard the Duck and it would not make a dent in his change purse.

ILM
THX
Skywalker Sound
Lucasarts

He is the Jabba of the entertainment industry. ;)

IntoAshes at 07:55 AM
George Lucas is a dick.

Seconding this.

all evidence does seem to point to massive dickdom

Does anyone still trust ANYTHING George Lucas has to say?

Seriously, the guy IS Darth Vader.
The latest trilogy is actually more autobiographical than he'd like to admit.

It's about this young kid who thinks he's the chosen one (like Lucas, when he was younger and modeled Luke Skywalker after himself) but as he grows older he realizes he's not and he crosses over to the Dark Side (again like Lucas, who turned the Force - that supposedly lives in all of us into a FAAKIN virus in your blood)