# Should George Lucas be allowed to direct or produce films every again? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813 "2012-07-10T18:02:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/1 "2012-07-10T18:02:28Z")
My wholehearted opinion is God NOOOOOOO. do not let that man anywhere near decision making. Take his IDEAS, take his BILLIONS, and then let people with actual talent take care of the details. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/2 "2012-07-10T18:15:13Z")
Y’know I seem to be the only person on the planet who didn’t hate the prequels. Yeah _Phantom_ was poorly executed and stupid, but I honestly think that had they toned down the comedy and trimmed down the second arc that the good aspects of the film would shine a bit more. _Attack_, if you can ignore the awful romance plot and Christensen’s wooden acting is actually has pretty solid action and is certainly enjoyable if only as a popcorn film. And I think that _Revenge_ is a genuinely good movie, in fact I like it better than _Return of the Jedi_. I honestly think that a very large amount of the hatred for these films is from nostalgic fans who had their hopes too high and responded to disappointment with anger and hatred. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/3 "2012-07-10T18:18:19Z")
Fortunately, you are in no position to say whether or not Lucas makes more movies. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/4 "2012-07-10T18:20:22Z")
Sorry, but he’s so wealthy that not only does he own the ball that is _Star Wars_, but he owns the field, the stadium, the uniforms, and the beer vendors. He can make what he wants, to his heart’s content. I don’t detest the prequels, but I do see in them a lot of both Lucas’s strengths (overall vision and story, imagery) and his weaknesses (direction, pacing, dialogue). It’s not at all surprising to me that ESB was the best of the movies, when it had people not named George Lucas doing the screenplay and the direction. ---
**Author:** ![Rubixcube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Rubixcube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubixcube)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/5 "2012-07-10T18:28:50Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Fortunately, you are in no position to say whether or not Lucas makes more movies. Hey, I didn’t say Lucas was a great filmmaker, only that I think the hatred of him and his recent films is overreacting at best. Lucas isn’t a genius, or even that talented anymore. He made some films that where disappointing especially compared to the original trilogy, but people are acting like he personally raped them and their puppies, it’s honestly ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/6 "2012-07-10T18:39:07Z")
Movie studios exist to make money. Of course they’ll “allow” Lucas to hack again. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/7 "2012-07-10T18:45:58Z")
Also, the Star Wars prequels are what I think of as perfect home-watching, DVD movies. Overall they’re crap, but you can easily zip to the good parts and watch just those. This makes them different from, say, _Fellowship of the Ring_ or _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ which are great movies overall but does not chop up well; you pretty much need to watch the whole thing start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![JMH125](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JMH125](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMH125)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/8 "2012-07-10T18:47:06Z")
i don’t think he will direct again, just because he’s old and it’s physically taxing, but i’m sure he will put his personal brand stamp on a few more projects. And he does (or DID) have good ideas when he was younger. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/9 "2012-07-10T18:53:52Z")
It’s been eight years since the last of the prequels, folks, and it’s not like the guy sodomized your grandmother and ate your dog. He did the movies; you don’t have to watch them. Since then, he’s only worked on the last Indy movie with his buddy Steve and the Clone Wars cartoons. Time to move on, people. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/10 "2012-07-10T19:03:26Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Movie studios exist to make money. Of course they’ll “allow” Lucas to hack again. He’s his own movie studio now (Lucasfilm). IIRC, Fox’s only involvement in the Prequels was distribution. Even less of a restraint on him to do whatever he wants to do. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/11 "2012-07-10T19:07:19Z")
> [@Rubixcube](#): > > Hey, I didn’t say Lucas was a great filmmaker, only that I think the hatred of him and his recent films is overreacting at best. Lucas isn’t a genius, or even that talented anymore. He made some films that where disappointing especially compared to the original trilogy, but people are acting like he personally raped them and their puppies, it’s honestly ridiculous. I don’t think his post was directed at you. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/12 "2012-07-10T19:27:35Z")
Argh! George Lucas is a talented director who has only directed three projects. Three. [ol] [li][A dystopic SF movie.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/)[/li][li][A deeply felt nostalgic film about the past.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/)[/li][li]A space opera.[/li][/ol] Unless you have seen all of these wildly different projects, you do not have a valid opinion about his directorial talent. He was [nominated for two Oscars for #2](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/awards), for both writing and directing! All the pissing and moaning is from people who, I suspect, have only seen the space opera. I love the _Star Wars_ series and accept it for what it is. But it is not, and never was, the pinnacle of what George Lucas is capable of producing. He has all the money he’d ever need to produce more deeply personal films and I think that will still happen. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/13 "2012-07-10T19:32:48Z")
No, of course he shouldn’t be allowed to direct or produce anything ever again. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/14 "2012-07-10T19:32:57Z")
Lucas is such a hack, and the prequils were so bad that nobody even bothered to watch them. Oh…wait. Fool me once (Menace), shame on you. Fool me twice (Clones), shame on me. I have to assume there is a word for someone who goes for it a third time (Sith) and manages to be shocked to find Lucas failed to channel Stanley Kubrick. Whatever. Haters gonna hate. They’re imperfect movies, yet Lucas is stupid rich. I’m willing to hear other theories, but that says to me they are at least entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/15 "2012-07-10T19:39:41Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Argh! > > George Lucas is a talented director who has only directed three projects. Three. > > [ol] > [li][A dystopic SF movie.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/)[/li][li][A deeply felt nostalgic film about the past.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/)[/li][li]A space opera.[/li][/ol] > > Unless you have seen all of these wildly different projects, you do not have a valid opinion about his directorial talent. He was [nominated for two Oscars for #2](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069704/awards), for both writing and directing! All the pissing and moaning is from people who, I suspect, have only seen the space opera. Gee, according to the Internet Movie Database, he’s directed 19 films, including the three prequels, as well as the original Star Wars. > **[George Lucas | Writer, Producer, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000184/)** > > Known for: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, THX 1138, American Graffiti Of course, George also wrote and produced a lot of other stuff, so you can’t just go by his direction. It’s a mixed bag. He’s responsible for the Indiana Jones movies, the TV shows, and so on. He’s responsible for the underappreciated **Labyrinth** , and bears some responsibility for **Body Heat** and **Mishima** and for getting Akira Kurasawa out of the doldrums and into making **Kagemusha**. Of course, he’s also responsible for the Tv Ewok movies and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull and **More American Graffiti** and **Howard the Duck** (which could’ve been something good, handled properly). So the guy is a legitimate genius with occasional very bad misfirings, wehich have been starting to predominate of late. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/16 "2012-07-10T19:54:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Gee, according to the Internet Movie Database, he’s directed 19 films, including the three prequels, as well as the original Star Wars. I suspect that **gaffa** was including all four Star Wars movies which he directed within the “a space opera” heading. If you look at that listing of his directing credits, 12 of the 19 were shorts he made before, during, or shortly after his time at the USC Film School in the late 1960s. One was a documentary of the making of a Francis Ford Coppola film (made in 1969). Two were video shorts he’s made in the past 12 years. Subtracting those, he’s directed only six feature-length films: _THX 1138_, _American Graffiti_, the original _Star Wars_, and the three Prequels. Which is the list that **gaffa** gave. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/17 "2012-07-10T19:56:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Gee, according to the Internet Movie Database, he’s directed 19 films, including the three prequels, as well as the original Star Wars. Eh, most of those are shorts he did as a student, or “making of” documentary films. I think **gaffa’s** essentially right. But your right that his film making goes a lot farther then his directing. He has writing and/or production credits on a lot of great films, and of course ILM has done effects for a lot of good movies. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/18 "2012-07-10T20:03:23Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > But your right that his film making goes a lot farther then his directing. He has writing and/or production credits on a lot of great films, and of course ILM has done effects for a lot of good movies. And, frankly, directing isn’t where his talent lies, as the actors who worked under him as director generally acknowledge. He’s stated that he directed the Star Wars prequels because, upon reflection, he was unhappy in handing over those reins for ESB and RotJ, and wanted the prequels to completely reflect his own personal vision of what the movies should be. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/19 "2012-07-10T20:06:54Z")
Moved to Cafe Society this thread is. ---
**Author:** ![kalinda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kalinda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalinda)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813/20 "2012-07-10T20:16:01Z")
IMHO the older 1980’s Star Wars movies are better than the newer ones. I also liked THX 1138. I haven’t seen all of the more recent Star Wars movies. I think Lucas should produce at least ONE more film. He’s done some amazing stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-george-lucas-be-allowed-to-direct-or-produce-films-every-again/627813.md?page=2)