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The People Vs. George Lucas

“Why would Spielberg and Lucas do this?” – Stan, “South Park”, an episode featuring George Lucas violently violating Indiana Jones and a Stormtrooper

I am sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. What is a better way to show your grandchildren that you love them than to take them on a vacation that they would remember for the rest of their lives? Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, The Wax Museum, Universal Studios, southern California. One little problem, my parents kept having children, like the old woman in the shoe… then came me. Even the most loving grandparents in the world were not prepared for me. Four grandchildren and two older people, whose idea of excitement was Wednesday night bowling. I am not saying it was the worst vacation ever, but I will say that my grandfather almost lost an eye, a trip to the emergency room, eye patch, bed rest ordered. On the way back to the hotel that evening I saw something that captured my attention. There was a long line of people wrapped around a rather large building. What could these people be braving the hot California sun to see? My older cousin informed me that they were waiting to see something called Star Wars, whatever that was.

I knew I had to see it. That night I jumped out the hotel bathroom window, ran the handful of blocks to the theater as fast as my second grade legs could carry me, looked at the crowd of teenagers, went to the front of the line, promptly burst into tears in front of a group of teenage girls, claiming my older brothers had taken my all my money, and all I wanted to see was Star Wars. One of the young blonde girls cradled me, and paid for my way in. I learned two things that evening, one, I really liked girls and, two, Star Wars was awesome. (It should be noted that my sainted grandmother claims this did not happen. Granted, she was asleep in another room, and I would have never tattled on myself, but when it comes to my childhood character, please believe her. Just ask my mom if I was an easy child!

California might have seemed like a strange universe to some rubes from Iowa, but Star Wars offered new cinematic worlds of imagination to a generation of young people. Even though much of it was taken from the comics of Jack Kirby and old movie serials. I am not saying that Lucas stole from Kirby’s New Gods but I am sure if Jack had chosen to sue, there would be a pool house on Skywalker Ranch named after him to this day. Star Wars changed the movie industry forever. Along with Jaws, it introduced the notion of the summer blockbuster. Film merchandising kicked into high gear. Special Effects, which had stagnated since the 1950s, kicked into high gear as other filmmakers tried to out do George Lucas’ masterpiece. Computers were introduced into the production process. The movie probably even saved 20^th Century Fox which was almost bankrupt on the eve of its release. The company’s stock price tripled, becoming one of the leading media conglomerates in the world. Darth Vader became the iconic cinematic villain. John Williams’ musical score became the most recognizable series of notes since The Beatles went their separate ways. With countless conventions, novels, comic books, two cartoon series, a second trilogy of films, and an upcoming television series (and maybe one of the lowest moments in television history, “The Star Wars Christmas Special”) coming out of the original trilogy.

There have been better films, the first two Godfather films for example, and movies that have been financially more successful, but it is impossible to find a franchise in which fans have taken more ownership. There in lies the problem for the creator, and real owner, George Lucas. It is his universe, his toys to play with, and legally he can do with them what he wants, and much to the chagrin of some fans he is constantly tinkering with the product, never happy with what is already on the table. The documentary The People vs. George Lucas is a love/hate letter from rabid fans to the director.

Problems between Lucas and fans popped up as far back as 1997 when he released a special edition of the original trilogy. It featured special effects upgrades that were not possible when the original films were released and, to the hostility of many diehard viewers, minor changes in the plot. One of the things that bothered Lucas, who now had young children, is in an interaction between the hero, Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and an alien named Greedo, in a cantina. Unlike the cowboy gunslingers the character was based on, Han fires his laser pistol first, killing Greedo who never fires his weapon. Lucas changed things so that Greedo fires first. Han went from a heartless mercenary to a good guy.

But that was just a minor bump in the road, as Lucas had claimed for years that there would be only three films, in 1999 he came out with a second trilogy of films, a pre-quel trilogy, because he wanted to show his children what daddy did. After sixteen years of waiting, expectations were high, especially with heavyweights like Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ewan McGregor, and Natalie Portman joining the cast. Lucas’ PR machine released bits and pieces of the movie to whet fans’ appetites. Darth Maul looked like a worthy successor to Vader. The pod racing scenes looked amazing. Yoda was going to be CGI’d instead of being a puppet. Some fans camped out in front of theaters for weeks. What did they get? A suckfest centered on a muppet of a kid who could not act his way out of a paper bag. Maul is dispatched within minutes of the movie’s beginning. There were plot twists and turns that were incredibly stupid. But, there was one character that fans particularly hated, Jar Jar Binks, a sci-fi version of Stepin Fetchit, meant for comedy relief for the kids,. While the quality of each successive film improved, the second trilogy never recaptured the magic of the first three films. (I would argue that what made the first three films was Han Solo’s having fun, not the Joseph Campbell “force” mythology that dominated the latter films. Without a Han-like character enjoying himself, the last three films got bogged down under their own weight.) With the second trilogy, Lucas appeared out of touch with what the fans wanted. The magic was gone. Lucas, the emperor, appeared to be wearing no clothes. This is a must documentary for Star Wars fans, but 99 % of the stuff discussed has been batted around geek dorm rooms for the last decade.

While Lucas says that there will be no more Star Wars films, much like George W. Bush claiming we would find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, this reviewer thinks it is pretty safe to say that in a decade or two, a third trilogy will be made, especially when Lucas has grandchildren running around. Grandpa will want to make a bedtime story for them, have them see what he did that made him famous. Will he recapture the magic of Luke and Leia? Probably not. You cannot return to your childhood as hard as you try. As much as fans of the franchise will want to return to watch films that give them the wonder of childhood back, it is impossible to rebottle that magic, and people will have to accept that the Star Wars universe is Lucas’ toy, to do with what he wants.

Verdict: Nothing new, but enjoyable