Sunday, November 4, 2012

Sad But True: Star Wars Won't Seem Like Star Wars Without Lucas' Deep Involvement

(Image taken from: georgelucasneck.tumblr.com)

Fact: George Lucas pretty much tarnished his entire legacy with the "always intended" prequels to his mega-hit Star Wars with Episodes I-III.

Another fact: Jar Jar Binks shall always be the biggest stain on Lucas' career, besides the ketchup stain on his flannel shirt.

All that considered, with Disney recently acquiring Lucasfilm for a staggering 4 ba-ba-ba-ba billion (That's ba-billion with a ba) dollars, something just doesn't feel right. Especially since Disney has announced that they're going ahead with making another Star Wars trilogy, this one taking place after Episodes IV-VI.


Now, from what I've gathered, this new trilogy is supposed to be a bit darker than the "It hurts my eyes" CG disasters that were Episodes I-III. This new trilogy is also supposed to be based on a treatment that Lucas wrote that may or may not feature Luke Skywalker in his 30's and 40's. Even so, a new Star Wars trilogy, even if it would suck horribly in his hands, just doesn't seem right not being under the all-seeing eye of George Lucas. God is to mankind as George Lucas is to Star Wars. And while that might seem sacrilegious (Or is it sacrilicious?) to make such a comparison, I think it's apropos when thinking about what a landmark film Star Wars was to cinema. Lucas is pretty much the God of Hollywood. What other director, even with so many mistakes, holds as much clout as he does? Nobody, that's who! That's why he's Hollywood's God.

So, for Lucas to retire off to Tatooine or Florida or wherever else he plans to retire and not have direct contact with this next trilogy, well, it just seems so wrong. I think I'd rather have Lucas make another bad trilogy than for somebody else to take the wheel, even if it's as good as Episodes V and VI. I mention these two SW's because they were arguably the best of all of the films, and also the only two that Lucas didn't direct. That said, Lucas still has to be directly involved! It wouldn't be Star Wars without him. It just wouldn't!

But maybe I'm just a Lucas loyalist, even though I hated Episodes I-III beyond measure. I think I just like him as a person. He IS donating his $4 billion to education, after all. I kind of don't want to see him disappear into the pasture. What are your thoughts, though? Is the world of Star Wars better without him in it? Leave comments below.

Oh, and just as a reminder...


2 comments:

ant said...

Im a hardcore rotj fan. I don't kno what more I want from the series. I would think for a sake of source purity I would want Lucas involve but he himself takes liberty with the source information. A new set of eyes could be a good thing. I think when its all said and done we would have want Lucas involve. however for the hope of new star wars fans I hope I will be wrong.

Rich Knight said...

I know that a new set of eyes could be a good thing, and I'm confident that Disney will pick somebody who could bring that to the table, like they did by picking Joss Whedon for The Avengers, but I feel that Lucas IS Star Wars. The SW Universe, while disrupted now with the prequels, is his own vision. But maybe I should actually read the books before I comment more on it. I hear they're all quite good. That said, they also had Lucas' supervision. With Disney basically buying him out, I doubt he'll have much of a say in these new films. That's what troubles me. Thanks for reading!