George Lucas Blames 'Star Wars' Critics for Killing Series

[Olgar Shiverstone]

"For any fans awaiting future "Star Wars" films from George Lucas, it's going to be a long wait. The creator of the famed series says he's not going to make any more of these movies and that he's essentially retiring. And for that he blames the harsh feedback from certain fans."

Good freaking riddance, George. You're the creator and then revised your creation into something we couldn't recognize. May Jar Jar Binks haunt you the rest of your days.

Han shot first!

 

[billd91]

While that may be so, nothing I saw in the many trailers or reviews convinced me those movies were worth my $$$.

I would say Revenge of the Sith had some ideas that could have been well done by a better screenwriter and director. But Attack of the Clones? Even worse than The Phantom Menace.

 

[TwistedBishop]

I agree with Lucas on this. Why should he make more movies when people piss on him repeatedly for them? Whatever your problems with the prequels or OT changes, he's a filmmaker and these are his movies. It amazes me that people will berate him for taking chances when that's exactly how Star Wars got made in the first place.

The whole "critics killed Star Wars" spin is more evidence of the way the internet nonsensically rips the guy apart. I also don't see him canceling the Clone Wars series, the inevitable live action show, the comics or the games. He hasn't even ruled out someone else making movies in the future. He's saying he's done personally with them. What a monster. Unless he does decide to make more. THEN he's a monster. Wait, what? Internet logic wins again.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It amazes me that people will berate him for taking chances when that's exactly how Star Wars got made in the first place.

Phantom Menace was so full of derivative stuff it could hardly be called taking chances.

 

[Starman]

I agree with Lucas on this. Why should he make more movies when people piss on him repeatedly for them? Whatever your problems with the prequels or OT changes, he's a filmmaker and these are his movies. It amazes me that people will berate him for taking chances when that's exactly how Star Wars got made in the first place.

The whole "critics killed Star Wars" spin is more evidence of the way the internet nonsensically rips the guy apart. I also don't see him canceling the Clone Wars series, the inevitable live action show, the comics or the games. He hasn't even ruled out someone else making movies in the future. He's saying he's done personally with them. What a monster. Unless he does decide to make more. THEN he's a monster. Wait, what? Internet logic wins again.

If all someone is looking for is fawning devotion, then they should not be putting out their creations for public consumption. People form opinions. Some of these people will voice their opinions. A smaller subset of these people are going to be giant douchebags about it. That's humanity for you, right or wrong. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Show your movie/book/artwork only to your family members and close friends or whomever else you know that will, if not give you praise, at least give you nothing worse than, "That's nice." Screaming that you're taking your toys and going home just makes you look like a petulant, entitled whiner.

 

[Kzach]

While that may be so, nothing I saw in the many trailers or reviews convinced me those movies were worth my $$$.

Don't worry, they're not.

 

[Kzach]

I agree with Lucas on this. Why should he make more movies when people piss on him repeatedly for them? Whatever your problems with the prequels or OT changes, he's a filmmaker and these are his movies. It amazes me that people will berate him for taking chances when that's exactly how Star Wars got made in the first place.

You haven't read any of this thread, have you.

Note that this is a statement and not a question.

It isn't JUST about Lucas ruining the originals and make prequels that were completely horrible, it's about Lucas being a total douchebag to his devoted fans and a complete egomaniac, not to mention the incredible greed with which he pursued his rights to the franchise, milking it for every penny he could find.

You call him a film-maker, I call him an extortionist and a con-man who took advantage of the good-will and devotion of his audience in order to squeeze them and the franchise until he drew blood, and then squeeze some more, all the while destroying what he made in the first place solely due to his insane ego and selfishness.

Really, you need to read up on the entire story before making snap judgements in threads you haven't even bothered to read.

 

[Lwaxy]

I happen to like most of the prequels. Minus that silly midichlorian business. And I find it disgusting that some "fans" keep attacking him personally because they do not like his movies.

Yup, they were developed for a young audience, and nothing wrong with that. Maybe that's disappointing for some die hard fans, but I remember the fun my son and me had when he grew up with these movies.

 

[Insight]

Creative people (ie those who make a living creating content - art, music, writing, films) need to realize that their success is based on public perception. And this is not success financially; there are plenty of terrible films that make truckloads of cash - see the recent Transformers films for an example.

If you're not willing to allow the public to have their opinion, or if the vast majority of the public opinion is against the quality of your creation, it's time to question whether or not to continue to pursue this line of work. Perhaps Lucas realized that he could no longer satisfy the public with his work on Star Wars. If that's the case, it IS time to step away. Maybe not forever, but for a time. Try something else.

The sad thing is that the prequel movies could have been so much better if Lucas had stayed the "idea guy" and exec producer (as on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) and let someone else write and direct. Lucas' unwillingness to relinquish control and allow others' ideas to creep into the project really doomed these films from the start.

 

[Zaukrie]

The name calling and vitriol here, on this thread, convince me that he's right.....SW's fans take it too seriously, and are pretty meanspirited when talking about Lucas. And this is tame, compared to other sites....

That said, I expect SWs movies to start coming out after Lucas has passed. Also, they movies were better when he was the idea guy, not the director. But I'm not going to be mean about those comments.