Why hasn't George Lucas directed more films?

[green_garnish]

Everythin in the PT is consistent to the essence of what was established in the OT.

I can go to the mat for that.

Agree 100%. The inconsistencies were less intrusive than those within the OT itself.

[Powerboy]

I liked his work on the two American Graffiti movies but I think he was always interested in the technical aspects and running things behind the scenes to the point that trying to direct movies was just too much.

[thwhtGuardian]

I liked his work on the two American Graffiti movies but I think he was always interested in the technical aspects and running things behind the scenes to the point that trying to direct movies was just too much.

There are two American Graffiti films!?

[Kirby101]

Everythin in the PT is consistent to the essence of what was established in the OT.

I can go to the mat for that.

Really, can we start with Leah remembering her mother and Obi-Wan's age.

It's fine if the inconsistencies don't bother you, but many, many fans watched the prequels saying, "What the...".

There are probably more pages on the internet about them then the ones in the Gospels.

[Joker]

Oh cool, another “actually, the Prequels are very good” threads getting started.

These movies have been dissected so many times, and nobody has ever done it and walked away with a compelling case for their misunderstood genius. It ain’t gonna happen here, either.

They’re bad. They’re poorly acted, the dialog is awful, the shot compositions are boring and they’re stuffed to the absolute limit with stuff on top of more stuff with stuff behind it, and stuff running in front of it, to the point that the spectacle of it all contains no impact because it’s just an endless parade of nothing.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Really, can we start with Leah remembering her mother and Obi-Wan's age.

It's fine if the inconsistencies don't bother you, but many, many fans watched the prequels saying, "What the...".

As I said "everything in the PT is consistent to the essence of what was established in the OT"

Stuff like this doesn't qualify as "essence".

In the case of Leia remembering, what she clearly says is a kind of dream or vision and not a literal memory from her childhood. She relates this in person to Luke (i.e. no flashbacks) so we can chalk that to an unreliable narrator. Leia is also force-sensitive so it's likely an imprint of her mother's grief and feelings entered her as a child.

In the case of Obi-Wan aging rapidly on Tatooine, you can chalk it to the environment on Tatooine, grief, survivor's guilt, and so on. Even without that there are people who go gray and age rapidly from their mid-30s to their 50s. It can happen when you go from a Jedi who traveled first class while living at the plush-as-all-get Jedi Temple on Coruscant to living on the skids in Tatooine. Poverty can do that.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Oh cool, another “actually, the Prequels are very good” threads getting started.

When you come at the King...yada yada yada...

A thread asked for "Why Lucas didn't direct more films" rather than explore they why of that, and the what of it, someone decided to do Prequel Bashing instead.

These movies have been dissected so many times, and nobody has ever done it and walked away with a compelling case for their misunderstood genius. It ain’t gonna happen here, either.

For you perhaps. But that's neither here nor there.

...the shot compositions are boring and they’re stuffed to the absolute limit with stuff on top of more stuff with stuff behind it...

This sentence is in total contradiction. How can shot compositions be "boring" (and no they are not boring) and be "stuffed to the absolute limit with stuff" and so on.

The second part of your clause is correct in that the Prequels are dazzling for the level of detail and thought in each frame, all of it designed and selected by one guy. That part is true.


Anyway, here's the thing, regardless of the personal grievances about some SW fans, the prequels are classics. Lines from the prequels, scenes from the prequels, music from the prequels, moments and sequences from the prequels as well as the aesthetic and look, and technical achievements of them influenced a decade of movies. So they are classics in the way any movie is a classic.

It's not like Avatar, a movie that came and went.

[Kirby101]

As I said "everything in the PT is consistent to the essence of what was established in the OT"

Stuff like this doesn't qualify as "essence".

In the case of Leia remembering, what she clearly says is a kind of dream or vision and not a literal memory from her childhood. She relates this in person to Luke (i.e. no flashbacks) so we can chalk that to an unreliable narrator. Leia is also force-sensitive so it's likely an imprint of her mother's grief and feelings entered her as a child.

In the case of Obi-Wan aging rapidly on Tatooine, you can chalk it to the environment on Tatooine, grief, survivor's guilt, and so on. Even without that there are people who go gray and age rapidly from their mid-30s to their 50s. It can happen when you go from a Jedi who traveled first class while living at the plush-as-all-get Jedi Temple on Coruscant to living on the skids in Tatooine. Poverty can do that.

As I said, you can discount them and like the movies, but this "essence" argument is foolish.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

As I said, you can discount them and like the movies, but this "essence" argument is foolish.

Essence is stuff like plot, theme, character, and motivations...and everything in the prequels was established in the OT.

Many people said that the Prequels made the Jedi come off as unsympathetic, well in the OT, Obi-Wan and Yoda
a) Lied to Luke,
b) Manipulated him to kill his father,
c) Still order him to murder his father after he finds out the truth.

The stuff about the Jedi having child soldiers, go back to ESB, the first thing Yoda notes to Obi-Wan's force ghost is that "Luke is too old". Given that Hamill's Luke is about 18 or 19...and the modified "too" that implied that Jedi initiates in their youth are much younger. Both the Prequels and the OT are about young kids drawn to the Jedi and ultimately rejecting the advice of their mentors. It's just that Anakin rejected it in the wrong way and chose someone worse, whereas Luke rejected it out of love and stayed true to himself. People noted that the Jedi's attitude to emotions and so on feels useless to dealing with someone with problems. Again, in the ESB, Yoda thinks Luke should do nothing about Han and Leia.

What you saw was totally consistent with what was established in the OT.

[Alan2099]

Oh cool, another “actually, the Prequels are very good” threads getting started.

These movies have been dissected so many times, and nobody has ever done it and walked away with a compelling case for their misunderstood genius. It ain’t gonna happen here, either.

They’re bad. They’re poorly acted, the dialog is awful, the shot compositions are boring and they’re stuffed to the absolute limit with stuff on top of more stuff with stuff behind it, and stuff running in front of it, to the point that the spectacle of it all contains no impact because it’s just an endless parade of nothing.

George managed to get a lackluster unmemorable performance out of Samuel L. Jackson. You have to put in effort to make that man dull.

[ed2962]

There are two American Graffiti films!?

The second one was not well received. And George Lucas did not write or direct it.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

George managed to get a lackluster unmemorable performance out of Samuel L. Jackson. You have to put in effort to make that man dull.

It's not lackluster or dull, it's showing Samuel Jackson can be a calm, methodical, rational presence. He cast Jackson against type to show off his range.

[thwhtGuardian]

The second one was not well received. And George Lucas did not write or direct it.

That's probably why I never heard of it.

[Kirby101]

Essence is stuff like plot, theme, character, and motivations...and everything in the prequels was established in the OT.

Many people said that the Prequels made the Jedi come off as unsympathetic, well in the OT, Obi-Wan and Yoda
a) Lied to Luke,
b) Manipulated him to kill his father,
c) Still order him to murder his father after he finds out the truth.

The stuff about the Jedi having child soldiers, go back to ESB, the first thing Yoda notes to Obi-Wan's force ghost is that "Luke is too old". Given that Hamill's Luke is about 18 or 19...and the modified "too" that implied that Jedi initiates in their youth are much younger. Both the Prequels and the OT are about young kids drawn to the Jedi and ultimately rejecting the advice of their mentors. It's just that Anakin rejected it in the wrong way and chose someone worse, whereas Luke rejected it out of love and stayed true to himself. People noted that the Jedi's attitude to emotions and so on feels useless to dealing with someone with problems. Again, in the ESB, Yoda thinks Luke should do nothing about Han and Leia.

What you saw was totally consistent with what was established in the OT.

You are arguing about other things other than internal story inconsistencies Your Leia and Obi-Wan's explanations are fan fiction, they allow you to dismiss them, but they are there, as well as many more. I have no problem with you ignoring them and liking the movies, but to say they don't exist? Sorry, no dice.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

You are arguing about other things other than internal story inconsistencies

Because what you describe isn't "internal story inconsistencies".

Your Leia and Obi-Wan's explanations are fan fiction,

No they aren't. It's basic film literacy. A movie is not a book, and it's understood that movies will only confirm essential things. Leia's memory of her mother is something she relates on screen to Luke in a way she doesn't entirely remember, leaving it vague. So long as it's not shown in a flashback, it's up to the audience to interpret that how they wish.

Nobody can do a story where every little, tiny, last, and small thing has an explanation. A lot of great movies and also great works of literature have "inconsistencies" like these...Shakespeare's plays are full of them.

This isn't criticism it's nitpicking.