Comments on: How Lucas Ruined Star Wars, and How to Save It

By: Hello Larry

Hello Larry — Sun, 26 May 2013 22:12:00 +0000

Stop trying to tie in toy licensing for starters! Star Wars went downhill ever since George Lucas figured out how much more money he could make in licensing out the Star Wars franchise to toy companies, and how making cute cartoony characters would appeal to children and their parents. The Phantom Menace pod race was nothing but a shameless segment aimed at the 7 year old market.

Sadly, Disney is not above sacrificing artistic integrity to making money off toys so Star Wars isn’t going to get any better in the next while.
Secondly, Lucas went TOO FAR in make the Star Wars storyline overcomplicated with convoluted political metaphors.

By: sdfhserh

sdfhserh — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:57:00 +0000

all the star wars are good and all of u suck

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Yes, George Lucas ruined Star Wars, but the only way to make it any worse would be to let Joss Whedon anywhere near it.

By: Geoff Thorne

Geoff Thorne — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 23:43:00 +0000

i don’t like the last three movies. I do like the Clone Wars series.

No. George Lucas owes you nothing. You bought the early product he was making meaning it satisfied you and felt your money was well spent. That’s the deal. You weren’t “supporting his corporation;” you were just buying a product you liked.

If he makes something you don’t like, you don’t have to buy it. He doesn’t have to consult you or even consider you (or a million yous) if he doesn’t want to. He owes you a big fat zero.

I don’t like the changes he made to his property either. Hell, I didn’t like finding out Luke and Leia were siblings. But that’s tough.

Businessman or not, this is COMMERCIAL art and that’s all it ever was. He could make ninety STAR WARS projects and give them away free or keep them in his basement. None of it has anything to do with us.

If you don’t like what he’s making, stop buying it.

By: Darth Fedup

Darth Fedup — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 03:45:00 +0000

Are you kidding? That’s a pretty complacent statement. Either that or you genuinely enjoyed all 6 Star Wars movies in which case you are entitled to your opinion.
But make no mistake. Lucas was not sharing his art. Maybe he did with American Graffiti which was semi-autobiographical of his teen days in Marin County, but Star Wars became nothing but a overcommercialized mess.
Rembrandt shared his art work, Beethoven shared his musical art. Artists do for arts sake, without compromises; not for making big bucks off licensing products.
What do you think Boba Fett, Ewoks, Jar Jar Binks, and was all about? It wasn’t about an artist sharing his work. Open your eyes — it was about exploiting and profiteering. As Carrie Fisher once said (in regards to Lucas owning her image and likeness as Princess Leia), “Everytime I look in the mirror I feel like I have to pay George Lucas a royalty”.
I have nothing against George Lucas licensing his products for toys. Afterall, he said he did it to maintain control rather than letting the studios do it. BUT, and the big BUT, is that the licensed toys started to dictate the story of Star Wars. It was like, “Insert cute character in this movie because it will make a toy that the kids and parents will love and it will sell millions.”
And, yes, Lucas does owe his patrons who supported his corporation and work. We paid for his success and he pays us back by making a series full of plot holes, no continuity, and selling out to toy companies.
His work was no longer art after Empire Strikes Back, or even after A New Hope. It was disingenuous platitude.
Steven Spielberg also licenses toys and products for his movie and a lot of his work is also highly commercial (and sometimes plain awful), but despite that he will not let it compromise his work. He does not do sequel after sequel each worse than the other. Now, even though Spielberg is hopelessly commercial, he is an artist because he won’t compromise.
Lucas is a businessman,

By: firstgengeek

firstgengeek — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:16:00 +0000

Sorry to say this but Star Wars needs to be remade.
The franchise was ruined by two things right after A New Hope: licensing toys to target children, and taking a simple story (Lucas admits he adapted Joseph Campbell’s concepts from Hero with a Thousand Faces) and making too much melodrama, subplots, and complications (“Luke I am your father!”).
The Kenner toys that came out right after Star Wars (before it was known as “Episode IV” and before most of you geeks were born) already ruined the continuity. In A New Hope, Leia’s name was pronounced Lee-ah. It was the damn announcer for Kenner toys in 1978 who mispronounced it as Lay-ah. I remember this being a scandal on the school playground when I was a kid…Yes, I am an ORIGINAL, first gen, Star Wars geek.
Lucas should have kept the story straighforward as a space war allegory for axis and allies, and Luke’s pursuit of Darth Vader in an effort to avenge his father’s death. The force should have been kept a “sixth sense” and development of intuition rather than some magical witchcraft.
Lucas turned his original, great idea of a space war epic and turned it into his own narcissistic medium for expressing everything from spirituality, to ridiculuous children’s fantasy which approaches ludicrous limits even beyond Umpa Loompas in Willy Wonka and we, his fans, could no longer relate!
Star Wars needs to be remade properly without its creator at the helm.

By: Geoffrey Thorne

Geoffrey Thorne — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:26:00 +0000

Star Wars is fine.

If you want to see it done right, just tune into CLONE WARS on CARTOON NETWORK.

Leave George alone. He doesn’t owe you anything and nothing has been ruined. The original versions still exist and the crappy recent versions need not be considered if you don’t like them (I don’t either).

Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. He’s SHARING it (for the price of a ticket) with anyone who wants to join in. If you don’t like what he’s selling, shop elsewhere. That’s how commercial art works.

End of story.

By: asdman

asdman — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:24:00 +0000

I didn’t read the whole. I can’t stand stupidness like this. What’s your problem with explained things? I think it’s good to know little things like this. These little things make the story of Star Wars.
P.S: Phantom menace is the only shitty SW movie.

By: crumb

crumb — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:00:00 +0000

why does the bp oil spill make you any more angry than lots of other oil spills which have been just as bad?

By: Mathias Quintero

Mathias Quintero — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:20:00 +0000

I didnt find the first movies that bad at start because I am 15 i saw them first, now i regret it a lot

By: Pigsphone

Pigsphone — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:53:00 +0000

Gary Kurtz

By: Pigsphone

Pigsphone — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:50:00 +0000

Yes, Let it go. Star Wars is dead and all the evidence burned. We can’t even get a true copy of the original, all replaced with shiny new special editions. It was not enough for Lucass to make 3 crappy new films he had to go back in time and mess up the originals.

When Ben (remember Ben?) Kenobi stand on the bluff above Mos Eisley and calls it a wretched hive of scum and villanay, it looked like that back in ’77 but now they drive into freaking Toon Town, Comic Jawas and silly robots mugging for the camera, I half expected the talking taxi from Roger Rabbit to zoom by and flip luke off for cutting him off.

But we remember. It was cool and we will not forget. Han was a bad ass that shot Greedo in cold blood because he knew where it was going, not because Greedo shot first. Jabba was a big fat british guy and Han did not step on his tail.

But we should have known this would happen from the let down of Jedi. “Yeah Star Wars needed a musical number”?!?!?!, and Boba Fett going out like a bitch is inexcusable. and Ewoks. YUCK.

So anyway, get over it, Star Wars is dead forever.

By: Pigsphone

Pigsphone — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:50:00 +0000

But we should have known this would happen from the let down of Jedi. “Yeah Star Wars needed a musical number”?!?!?!, and Boba Fett going out like a bitch is inexcusable. and Ewoks. YUCK.

So anyway, get over it, Star Wars is dead forever.

By: Brother Coen

Brother Coen — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:34:00 +0000

And yes I wrote “write” on purpose.

By: Brother Coen

Brother Coen — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:33:00 +0000

The author is write. George Lucas is a fat sack of shit. The prequels were so terribly acted… and the dialogue was so campy. The special effects felt out of place and the casting was shit.

Not to mention how that fat bastard Lucas even tried to ruin the true, original Star wars by adding retardedly out of place CGI Jabbas and sand pit monsters.

The Matrix sequels all had plenty of impressive fight scenes, like the impressive light saber battles in the prequels… but they’re all still terrible movies. If you disagree, you’re probably an idiot, and you definitely have bad taste in movies.

By: Big d

Big d — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:12:00 +0000

Learn to be men and think with your dicks

By: Big d

Big d — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:10:00 +0000

Gosh frederic goth is a flaming virgin

By: Big d

Big d — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:09:00 +0000

Seriously talking about electronics and nerdy movies is so unproductive. Why dont you get laid or get drunk or have fun

By: Big d

Big d — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:08:00 +0000

Why don’t you fags argue over Jessica alba and Jessica beil.

By: Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:17:00 +0000

The biggest problem with jerk-offs like this author isn’t their blindness to everything that is good and wonderful about Star Wars. It’s that they write off every last opinion as fact, completely ignoring that the vast majority of Star Wars fans who thoroughly enjoyed the prequels. And don’t just blow away Lucas’s contribution to the original Star Wars, saying that the studio had influence on its making. That’s how every studio movie works, dumbass. Stop bitching already.

By: Chadaustin76

Chadaustin76 — Thu, 12 May 2011 04:48:00 +0000

No, actually, Star Wars (1977) was just simply titled “STAR WARS” when it was released in 1977, WITHOUT any episodic numbering. In fact, there was no title in the original crawl for the 1977 release. The Empire Strikes Back was the first of the SW movies to feature an episode number in the title crawl when it was released in ’80. Just before the release of Empire, Lucasfilm decided that any future versions of Star Wars would contain a subtitle (A New Hope) and be labeled Episode IV. Star Wars was re-released in 1981, and this would have been the first time anyone would have seen the “Episode IV” label (along with the “A New Hope” subtitle). From then on, all future theatrical and video versions of Star Wars contained the episode IV numbering and subtitle, and over the years it began to seem like it was always thus. Lucas has been tinkering and re-tinkering with these movies since way before 1997. You can still find original, unadulterated versions.

https://picasaweb.google.com/doubleofive/StarWarsSpecialEditionChangesHD#5537297938499700482

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:46:00 +0000

real geeks use all 3. and realize linux has as many flaws and issues as PCs and is as limited and as much of a bank account burden as MACs.

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:45:00 +0000

jesus frodrick……STFU.

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:42:00 +0000

HUGE point you make. the puppetry, scale models, and lack of CGI in the original film adds so much to it.

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:39:00 +0000

lucas didn’t rename the old movies ep 4, 5, and 6. theyve always been named that. if you had been to the theaters to see them in the late 70s and 80s you’d know that. or perhaps you just don’t remember. which would be understandable…it was…..siiiiiiiiiiiigh…..so very long ago. (tear).

also, you can get the original movies without the re editing and touch ups. theyre on the bonus disks of the dvd versions of the trilogy.

it’s the only way to watch them. :)

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:24:00 +0000

hey frederick groth….SFTU. this article is a gospel. and i honestly feel he held back in all the things that lucas did to the original trilogy when he ruined them with his rediculous prequels. the article didn’t even go into the rediculous re edits of the original trilogy.

also….don’t bash trek. i bet your a jock. because true sci fi geeks and even star wars loyalists like ALL sci fi. including star trek. making a condecending comment about star trek just makes you look like a tard.

also….the only thing i don’t agree with in this article is that lucas cannot save star wars from what he’s done to it. like a rape victim……we’ll never forget what we’ve seen or been through. no matter how lovingly we’re touched in the future. i do think the animated clone wars has tried to get back to the original spirit of the films. however theyre made for kids and soft where they could be awesome sci fi goodness.

but saying this article isn’t right on and considering yourself to be a lucas loyalist is rediculous. all you are is a yes-man. exactly what didn’t do the SW prequels any favors. so enjoy masturbating to your precious jar jar and if you can take lucas’s balls out of your mouth long enough to read an article being critical about the prequels, just remember……you are the douchbag that thinks the prequels are awesome.. YOURE THAT GUY!!! hahaha….

ps…….i bet you got a jar jar and jake lloyd tattoo before you even saw ep 1 and are forced to defend the films. “ep 1, FOO SH’NICKINZ!!! jar jar binks that guy’s gonna be the $hit! i tell you!” -seth rogen (in Fanboys)

By: John J Owens

John J Owens — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:20:00 +0000

By: George C.

George C. — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:43:00 +0000

Lucas could have put Sponge Bob and friends into the prequels and legions of tasteless people would still criticize those of us who publicly expressed our feelings about how inappropriate that was.

By: Philip Berne

Philip Berne — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:32:47 +0000

Haha! You like the prequels?! Ha! Sorry, friend. Thanks for reading, though I feel bad that you have to suffer through your days thinking that those terrible movies were good.

By: Frederik Groth

Frederik Groth — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:54:47 +0000

Phillip Berne……. No words for you’re dumb dumb comments… Can’t believe im wasting time on reading you’re comments. Hope that you will some day let go of that pointless hatred against something so great as star wars. Go watch star trek.

By: Frederik Groth

Frederik Groth — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:47:45 +0000

… Okay… Listen here. I am ashamed to read this. You clearly never realized the greatness that is star wars. Star wars is a home away from home. A sanctuary in our minds. And that is the star wars charme, that you can build on the universe that is so great. George Lucas CREATED star wars, so shut the fuck up and go watch star trek if you got so much against him. Shame on you all for this heresy. May the force be with those who stay true to Lucas.

By: CLC

CLC — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 02:37:10 +0000

You were on to something until you suggested Whedon. Whedon is more of a hack then Lucas. Everything Whedon touches becomes about small girls beating up men. It was an original idea with Buffy, but then every single thing he makes is about “girl power”. But his version of girl power is making tiny girls act like violent men.

By: Nevest

Nevest — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:10:24 +0000

Don’t know if you read many books, but if so, they’ve done one 9-book series and are in the middle of another covering what happens to the main characters roughly 40 years after Episode 6. It’s some pretty cool stuff. They’ve got unabridged audio versions for the second series which have some amazing production quality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Force

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_of_the_Jedi

By: lorax1284

lorax1284 — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:23:41 +0000

What I disliked most about the prequels is the revisionist history. C-3PO was actually MADE by Darth Vader? Why couldn’t he just have been Queen Amidala’s protocol Droid and companion of R2-D2? That would have been PLAUSIBLE. The character arc for Anakin in Revenge of the Sith is stupid. He is trying to save the woman he loves… so… for love, he MURDERS DOZENS OF OTHER JEDIs. CHILDREN even. It’s MENTAL. And the medi-chlorians thing was just pointless. Oh, and Anikin was the product of a VIRGIN BIRTH? (Facepalm). And Cheech Marin as Anikin’s slave-master on Tattooine. And why if there are robot warriors in sufficient quantity would they ever use humans, even clones? BECAUSE IN 1977 THEY COULDN’T DO MASSES OF ROBOTS SO THEY USED HUMANS BUT NOW THEY CAN MAKE CGI ROBOTS SO TO HECK WITH THE FACT THAT THERE WERE NO ROBOTS IN THE OT.

The Star Wars PT is dreck. They look pretty on screen, George Lucas got my money, but if he’s so keen on ‘reworking’ his old movies, he should scrap the PT and let someone else remake them and just change everything across the board: pretend they never happened, and have someone more talented write the story (and I’m not buying that he planned this all along for a second… he was making it up as he went along.)

By: lennieisdead

lennieisdead — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:52:50 +0000

Agree about the prequels,they were excretable.On the other hand comparing them (or your anger about) to the BP oil spill maybe just a wee bit over the top.

By: marine6680

marine6680 — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:18:11 +0000

I remember the scrolling intro saying Episode IV A New Hope from way back before the prequel was even thought about for production. The official box office name was simply Star Wars, but internally within the movie it was referred to as Ep IV.

By: jeffmcc

jeffmcc — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:52:40 +0000

make ur own pre star wars movies then!! and make movies for all the books while ur @ it!!!

By: bomtron

bomtron — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:26:00 +0000

Since your opinions are actually the opinions of Zuul, I won’t be too hard on you.

But I agree with Byron. I think you are looking at the OT with rose colored glasses. I am a HUGE SW fan, but let me say that none of them are actually “good” movies. They are FUN movies! They are meant for kids and if you don’t like the prequals don’t watch the prequals. He didn’t ruin the OT with the PT. Just ignore the PT and move on.

And for the record, I know several thousand “geeks” who do not agree that Lucas ruined SW. They will be in converging on Orlando from all around the country and the world for Celebration V.

By: ArtInvent

ArtInvent — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:21:55 +0000

So very true, all of it. Pretty much gets to the heart of why the prequels sucked. Of course there’s more. Lucas actually renamed the old movies to make them Episode IV, V, VI. Which is moronic and confusing. How can you just rename a movie retroactively 30 years later? Well, you can’t. I’m just not going to call the original movie Episode VI. Idiotic.

Next, he ‘restored’ the originals with ‘new improved’ special effects that almost succeed in ruining those as well. AND you can’t really get the real original originals anymore. Ugh.

Please please Lucas will you bring in other writers and directors. Someone needs to be able to tell the emperor when he’s got no clothes.

By: Byron Lumley

Byron Lumley — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:05:11 +0000

The problem is, the person who wrote this articles saw the prequels when he was an adult. I personally was of a strange time, I saw the episode one when I was around 10, I had already been shown by my father, the original 3 movies I was a huge fan, but i loved episode 1 when it came out, and that was the key. Had you have seen the prequel saga when you were a kid, you might even hate the sequel saga, if they were made the other way around who knows, it is a lot of nostalgia and a lot of what you loved as a kid. I was lucky enough to be able to see the first 3 movies before I saw the sequel movies but I was still young when the prequels came out. I see flaws in the movies yes, however I still enjoy them. As a final note I like empire most, then 6, 3, 4, 2, 1. But to me it is just one big movie.