ROTTEN TOMATOES: George Lucas - A Super-Producer's History

George Lucas - A Super-Producer's History

by Jen Yamato | May 14, 2008

Summary

Take a closer look at the blockbuster-laden career of Indiana Jones producer George Lucas in our retrospective here. Back to Article

(21-40 of 48 posts) | Reply

Merlin235 writes:
on May 15 2008 07:18 AM

Lucas is a lesson to all of us: stick to what you're really good at. He is an amazing producer with a fantastic imagination. A brilliant film vissionary...who possesses the writing and directing skills of a 10 year old. His best work was producing and creating, while leaving the directing to others (Star Wars Ep: V, VI, Willow, Indiana Jones, etc). Thanks for creating some awesome characters.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 15 2008 07:36 AM

Lucas may be a poor writer of dialogue, but he isn't a "bad" director. Please watch THX 1138 and American Graffiti before you say that. The acting problems in the new trilogy were caused more by the script than the direction.

(Reply to this)

TombstoneLawDog writes:
on May 15 2008 08:52 AM

In reply to this comment (#1736001)
Dude- Lucas wrote the scripts for all three new movies. He was joined by Jonathan Hales on writing the second one, but that's HIS dialogue.

He is a gifted visionary and we owe him a large part of our collective imagination's childhood. ..and this doesn't remotely change the fact that he has not been a good director for at least twenty-five years.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 15 2008 09:54 AM

In reply to this comment (#1736035)
Did you misinterpret what I said Tombstone? I know he wrote the scripts, and they were terrible.

I'm merely saying that he's a very talented director. You can't say that someone is a bad director because the script is terrible. A bad script will make any movie hard to sit through, no matter how good the direction is.

(Reply to this)

tgibfo writes:
on May 15 2008 10:13 AM

One has to weigh the brilliance and gratitude one has for Lucas for effectively creating some of their best childhood memories with the revulsion and anger one has for Lucas for effectively skewering their childhood memories with "upgrades" and awful prequels.

As a friend pointed out, quite correctly, the man has been responsible for six of my favorite movies of all time, so really, I'll just try to ignore SW 1-3 as best as I can.

I want to be a Wookiee in the TV show.....

(Reply to this)

tgibfo writes:
on May 15 2008 10:20 AM

I would argue, by the way, that a really good director is one who can not only move the camera well, but who can pull good performances out of his/her actors - a director is responsible for the whole visual package, including knowing when the source material is weak and needs an upgrade. Lucas isn't that.

(Reply to this)

TombstoneLawDog writes:
on May 15 2008 11:35 AM

In reply to this comment (#1736078)
Arendr, I'm rejecting the idea that there is a substantial difference, where one person is responsible for both script AND direction (AND casting, AND production design...)- Lucas *KNEW* what he wanted the scenes to look like when he wrote the script. He CHOSE to direct exactly what was written. Choosing to direct a sh#tty script when you have as much ABSOLUTE control over a project as Lucas did means Lucas, as director of this project, was not very good.

NEVERTHELESS, his direction was pretty mediocre, even from a standpoint of direction alone. All three of the films focused on how things LOOKED- beautiful space ships. Lush alien worlds. Exotic aliens, pain-stakingly rendered with the latest in CGI. Almost NONE of it necessary, and almost ALL of it distracting. Where's my proof? Compare any of these three movies with the original, both in content and effects. Ask yourself: 'which was better?' Then ask: 'Which had bigger spectacle?'

My final argument; when Lucas went back and re-released the 'real' trilogy in the 90's, what did he do? Added more effects. What did this add to the films? NOTHING, and nothing we wanted for, the first time around.
Or, for example, did you WANT Greedo to shoot first? Or did you NEED that scene with Han talking to Jabba? Style over substance.

Great visionary and gifted man. Bad director.

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 15 2008 11:53 AM

In reply to this comment (#1736165)
Thanks for elaborating, and I do agree with you to a certain extent. I think there was some fantastic direction in the new prequels at points though. The scene where Padme and Anakin are staring out the windows right before he kills Windu is a much more powerful scene than any time they were in the same room.

Perhaps the technological limitations of the 70s are what made him such a fantastic director at that time. He wasn't able to overpopulate his films with his effects, so it made them much more seamless, and less cartoony. Look at how Nolan or Aronofsky have used effects in their recent films. It ends up looking much more organic, and I believe, more powerful.

I think Lucas' sandbox is too big. He needs to be confined and limited to really produce strong work.

(Reply to this)

AudioNinja writes:
on May 15 2008 11:53 AM

um, no love for American Graffitti?

==TJ==

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 15 2008 12:35 PM

In reply to this comment (#1736183)
The article is about films he produced.

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato writes:
on May 15 2008 03:03 PM

Word, arendr. I like your observation about constraint; "necessity is the mother of invention."

(Reply to this)

Dachshund96 writes:
on May 15 2008 03:55 PM

Lucas can't make any mistakes at all because if he does he will just edit them into something else later.

Surely Han didnt shoot first. He would never do something like that.

(Reply to this)

bijibadness writes:
on May 15 2008 04:27 PM

In reply to this comment (#1736437)
oh boo hoo

(Reply to this)

arendr writes:
on May 15 2008 07:02 PM

In reply to this comment (#1736388)
Thanks Jen!

(Reply to this)

GameDesigner writes:
on May 15 2008 11:01 PM

Lucas has always been a GREAT storyteller. But as a writer and director, he falls short. That's why Star Wars V is considered the best because Lawrence Kasdan wrote it and Kershner directed it. That's also why, after eagerly looking forward to the next trilogy, I immediately noticed how BAAAD the dialog and acting was in parts 1-3. Meessa so sorry but that's how it is.

(Reply to this)

Lost*Highway* writes:
on May 16 2008 02:48 AM

Nothing but rubbish.

(Reply to this)

skingus12 writes:
on May 16 2008 05:03 AM

In reply to this comment (#1736865)
Could you do better? WTF.

(Reply to this)

High School With Money writes:
on May 16 2008 11:12 AM

Even in a celebratory news item of Lucas, the haters have come out in "drove". That's right, a singular drove as always. They STILL can't stop flappin' their toothless gums about him, which is why he pohnz them all. Be sure to kiss your autograph prequel DVDs goodnight, haters.

(Reply to this)

Jedi Master 007 writes:
on May 16 2008 12:38 PM

Go Lucas my fav. director

Whooo

(Reply to this)

gm1200 writes:
on May 16 2008 08:37 PM

In reply to this comment (#1735606)
It doesn't say Henson voiced Yoda...just that he helped create him. Which he did. which is how Frank Oz came to voice him since he and Henson were virtually inseperable.

(Reply to this)