[Hannibal]

If George Lucas says the word "ultimately" or "underpinnings" one more time I am going to blow up Skywalker Ranch.

If he says the word "mythology" or "Joseph Campbell" one more time, I am going to find every copy of Star Wars Episode III and burn them before they reach DVD...

If he says the words "homage" or "I like to tell stories" I am going to buy every box of Star Wars cereal and cram it down his throat...

I watched the commentary to ep.iv a new hope on DVD the other day...he says "ultimately this is about the droids..." then..."ultimately this is the story of Princess Liea" then "ultimately this is Obiwan's story" then later, "ultimate this is a story about a young boy..."

SHUT THE FUCK UP LUCAS, YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT, AND IF EVERYBODY DOESN'T KNOW THAT BY NOW< THEY WILL IN 2 MONTHS. ULTIMATELY, STAR WARS IS CRAP, AND ITS UNDERPINNINGS ARE BULLSHIT, ITS NOT AN HOMAGE, ITS PLAGIARISM, and the STORY SUCKS.

Ultimately, George Lucas sucks. ultimately.

And so does Joseph Campbell.

[Paladin]

Who's Joseph Campbell? :?

[Michel Orla]

Some quack who tried to explain the mythogical hero. I tried reading a few of his books, but like Lucas's latest movies I got bored and lost ten minutes in

[Despondent]

but there were photos of David Prowse in costume!


Yeah, like the movies: take away untainted OT Vader and you got nothin'.

[Paladin]

I watched the commentary to ep.iv a new hope on DVD the other day...he says "ultimately this is about the droids..." then..."ultimately this is the story of Princess Liea" then "ultimately this is Obiwan's story" then later, "ultimate this is a story about a young boy..."

Are you serious?! :x

[Hannibal]

Over the time period of the film during the commentary, he keeps saying the same crap over again that everyone has heard a million times, like he's rationalizing everything he's doing, and at the same time keeps changing what he's saying to rationalize it again.

I think he forgot this was being recorded and that idiot fans will play it back over and over again.

They will ultimaTELy be confused when over the course of 90 minutes he changes his story 6 times.

Ultimately.

I think I should edit together how many times he says myth, mythology, Joseph Campbell and underpinnings, as well as "ultimately." It may be fun.

[littlejerryseinfeld]

you are a very angry man, hannibal.

[Private Zod]

My most hateful line is when he describes Episode 2 as a love story. That is like calling Gigli a love story.

[Garth Vader]

I do see where yer coming from. lucas also always says "these were always ment to be saturday matinee cereals" when referring to the prequels, which i guess could be an excuse.

[Hannibal]

Matinee seriels? Nobody waited 3-4 years to see the next "cliffhanger." He's a liar and an idiot. If he wanted a serial, he should have made a Star Wars TV show. saturday cliffhangers came out one after another and no time waiting around for idiots to create jar jar binks...duh...

This post has been edited by Hannibal: 24 February 2005 - 04:10 PM

[J m HofMarN]

I think its time we just pretend that George Lucas died a dignified death, preferably involving heroin and a shotgun. All we have left now is his wife, Courtney Love Lucas. This reality is much more comfortable for me.

[Paladin]

You know what? I'm seriously starting to question GL's sanity.

I really think that SOMETHING must have gotten into him for making up such crap. Can anyone be so ridicules? It might have been OK if we were talking about a teenager who writes stuff in his spare time and doesn't care that he's ripping things off or doesn't care WHAT he writes, so long as he's writing, but this is a case of an esteemed Hollywood director, writer and publisher gone THIS low?

[Hannibal]

UtiMAteLY, The Mythological uNdERPinninGs of Star WaRs are ULtimAtely derIveD from PrevIOUs SourcES and UlTiMately, an HOmaGe to EarLIer wORks.

[CowboyCurtis]

(Is that Alec Guiness playing Hitler? What movie was that?)

Seriously now, I think I've brought this up before. I wonder if he isn't suffering some form of psychosis. I'm no psychiatrist/psychologist (whatever the F the difference is), but this is a man who operates from ego and wounded pride (I'm presuming).

When you read "Skywalking" by Pollack, you can't help but pick out things that would/might drive a man to the brink. I mean, Star Wars, you are driven to make it, commercialize it, etc. No matter what the source and "homages" may be, it seemed as if he was driven (like a madman) to make this film. Even during his production of the film as he was driving himself crazy to edit it, his friends would come in and tell him a better way to write it, edit it, or that opening crawl sucked, and they helped him rewrite it.

You'd think this would do something to a person, your work constantly being criticized and picked apart. It's got be devastating, especially for a man seems so meek and underspoken as George Lucas. Then when the film is reviewed for the first time by executives, it's torn apart (I can't remember the exact person who did, but I'd have to look it up), and then it gets taken away from you and edited again. And, the criticism keeps coming.

Then when it's released, your self-esteem has to be scraping the bottom of the barrel, and even though it does gangbusters... criticism in generally rather harsh (though there are good reviews, too). Not until the Oscars do you receive any recognition for its merits (except your own, writing, directing).

Then, when you have the opportunity (and the capability) of doing "whatever you want" in making the sequel, you immediately try to take in too much and you try to micro-manage it. Even though you drop out of the directing role, you think you've got it under control by bringing in someone who will hopefully operate as you do (or you think they do) [Kershner], but then things still get out of hand with production.

Okay, I'm rambling, and I'm not making excuses for Lucas. I'm saying here at some point his ego completely kicked in, his pride. He might be thinking, "by gum, I've got the power. I've got the backing of millions of fans, and made more money than God to prove that I'm on the right track, so I'm going to do it myself again."

At no point does it seem was there an honest assessment of his weaknesses. At no point did he seem to discover the "underpinnings" of his success---his TRUE success--his CRITICAL success--and at no point did he determine that to make the prequels a true success, he should have done his research. He has scads of money---he could've hired a whole team of research writers who would pour through the internet (as it's obvious Lucas does not partake in the webworld) and pick out the fan interests.

Anyway, rambling too much.

I'm saying Lucas has wounded pride, and this is how he reacted. Like a big child. "No, you can't have the originals." "Jar Jar is a product of genius...here, Jett draw something else for my next movie"

This post has been edited by CowboyCurtis: 25 February 2005 - 03:06 PM

[BinarySunset]

Another "old thread" that I'd like to add to (perhaps this belongs in one of the MANY other threads that talk about Lucas, but here is where I'm putting this).

I've been reading all the speculation stemming from frustration over what GL has done to OT by creating PT (or rather, the WAY he's created PT). In any case, I wholeheartedly agree with most of you in what you have surmised. It's a bit scary to me that he is now the poster child for "genius crossing the line into insanity" (assuming you are of the opinion he was a genius).

Anyway, here is something a friend of mine sent to me in an email quite some time ago; I happened to find it as I was cleaning out my archives. It's supposedly from an "un-named source close to the original filming". I have no idea how authentic this source is, and I don't have the link it came from, BUT... the theory is too delicious to pass up. Take a gander:

Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 10:33 AM
"the Death Star, while George's idea, fast became a metaphor for his out of control ego.  And it only took one small targeted "hit" to the right area for the entire station to crumble.  Some of the staff were having fun behind his back, especially in viewing rough cuts of Luke in his X-wing flying at a fast speed around [its] equator...

there were times when we felt as if we were flying around [the perimeter] making sure not to get too close to the surface - we didn't want to be near him in case he blew up..."

I'm not necessarily a "Lucas basher"; I don't call him all kinds of names or heap upon him "fridge curses" [I love that, btw]. It's more that I feel embarrassed for him. As a classically trained musician and vocalist, I was taught that you don't mess with a masterpiece. It's painfully clear to me that Lucas NEVER learned this or he's decided to blatantly oppose the adage. It's incredulous and sad that he seems to be making himself a laughing stock, not to mention causing us all a lot of frustration.

And with this in mind, I wonder if the "Death Star metaphor", as well as other things, became commonplace on the SW sets, etc.

Thoughts? Comments?