George Lucas on Akira Kurosawa

George Lucas discusses the influence of Akira Kurosawa.
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS is out now: www.criterion.c...

[@noahdamm612]

"Maybe Hidden Fortress, not really top of my list but I like it." *Proceeds to make an entire universe inspired by it*

[@shotbro4998]

He said “not the very top of my list,” so it makes sense, he’s saying it’s one of his favourites

[@juanguzman4796]

He said not at the top of his list but he was very impressed by it.

[@vipermedia5198]

@@juanguzman4796 Id imagine he would be.. he stretched that out into 3 films

[@jasonleetaiwan]

Jedi are inspired by Seven Samurai. C-3P0 and R2-D2 are inspired by Hidden Fortress.

[@Peter-dk4fz]

I actually thought he might be taking the piss there

[@Gyork_]

Yeah he is right tha Kurosawa cared so much about framing and composition in general, I personally feel that modern film makers should give it as much attention as he did.

[@EconAtheist]

You can tell so much story in just framing/composition, and get a precise mood right off the bat. I feel like contemporary American film is often the 'ehh, make of it what you want, it's your experience!' attitude. NTTAWWT for the appropriate flicks, but it's too pervasive IMHO and really takes away from storytelling.

[@nishanbhujel]

Bong joon ho is the only one who religiously does that in every film.

[@ethanedwards7557]

He learned it from Ford.

[@nathanreiber6819]

​@@nishanbhujelno. Not true

[@HULKHOGAN1]

These days they hire trash in the industry because kids are born with smartphones now so anyone can fill right... No. Get properly educated and stop wasting movie budgets and our time with your trash.

[@fortnitepros8025]

I’m always impressed at how humble and normal George Lucas always seems

[@knightinashes6934]

He really is a film maker and enthusiast at heart. Star Wars may be what he is known for but if you look at his movies like THX 1138 and American Graffiti, he truly is a great movie maker.

[@kdizzle901]

I agree

[@kdizzle901]

@@knightinashes6934 yea but Spielberg can come off as pretentious and cocky sometimes

[@vaibhavgaur5268]

​@@kdizzle901lol can he? 😂 I would wager he can be if he chooses to, being a titan such as he is. Random losers like you shouldn't get salty, it's okay, you for example are arrogant for criticizing him while you aren't actually worthy of licking his boots

[@philippburnett6045]

@@knightinashes6934shame he didn’t make more movies other than SW

[@ct-rachet]

Less we forget .. for he will be in our hearts.. he was a great story teller and maker .. Rest In Peace Akita kurosawa

[@theuncommonn00b12]

In memory of Akira Kurosawa

[@lucaspreslavski9563]

The Uncommon n00b lol that brought me here

[@Phoenix-jd4yf]

@@lucaspreslavski9563 same was curious who the guy was

[@bebo2629]

@@Phoenix-jd4yf Watch his movies.

[@Phoenix-jd4yf]

@@bebo2629 i just might, love japanese culture, and if it has that, id love to

[@bebo2629]

@@Phoenix-jd4yf A lot of Kurosawa miovies have a historic japanese setting. I would recommend all of his older classics and his movies from the 80s like Ran and Kagemusha (Kagemusha was produced by George Lucas). Ran and Kagemusha are big epics with amazing colors.

[@Arash7m]

Toshiro Mifune is a funnier character than we've had before

[@GaiusLibrietscientia]

Seven samurais♥️

[@zenmollusc6128]

he'd have certainly been a different Obi-Wan to Alec Guinness

[@arpitdas4263]

George gets it. Films aren't just shoving in a kiss scene or explosion every two seconds. They're the highest of all art forms, each frame a representation of an idea, poetry in motion

[@o.l4890]

Yeah like talking about sand

[@lukeharper8231]

@@o.l4890 nice one, very original, really got George there!

[@nonegone7170]

@@lukeharper8231 It's hard to deny that George forgot the lessons he learned from his films.

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

@@nonegone7170 He forgot all his lessons due to all the moichandising of his films post Jedi. The George of the 70s would have hated the George who made the prequels and sold his creation to Disney.

[@kidkangaroo5213]

>highest of all art-forms >source: trust me bro

[@jcman-lp6lg]

Ikiru and Rashomon to me was life change completely changed my views of the world and people. I am thankful I am no longer the negative, toxic, hateful person I was years ago there are many aspects of it in me still but it is something I am trying to improve.

[@leonardoiglesias2394]

There are enough reasons in the universe, in people, in life, for being hateful. Doesnt mean we should act hatefully.

[@ChicCanyon]

For my money those are his best works. I truly believe the world would be better if people were required to view Ikiru specifically but Rashomon is a masterpiece in its own right.

[@williamgregory1848]

The legacy of filmmaking technique left by Akira Kurosawa for subsequent generations of filmmakers has been diverse and of international influence beyond his native Japan. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dynamic style, strongly influenced by Western cinema yet distinct from it; he was involved with all aspects of film production.

[@magiccookies420]

An absolutely brilliant man, listening to him speak it’s like hypnotism, I could listen to him talk for hours

[@HULKHOGAN1]

Thanks George! Watched Seven Samurai tonight. Fantastic film

[@CyPorter]

Just watches Hidden Fortress. Great movie.

[@facu_avm]

I recently saw “The Hidden Fortress” and I was able to notice many similarities with Star Wars Episode IV. You can clearly see that George Lucas took A LOT of inspiration from that film, and many other Kurosawa films to make Star Wars. Just the opening scene of Hidden Fortress makes you remember about C-3PO and R2-D2 stranded on the dessert of Tatooine.

[@xixie5854]

Kurosawa’s movies are like poetry, they rhyme.

[@quantessenz]

No, they don't, but they are stylistically designed to be that way.

[@wamblecropt7506]

They're so dense. Every scene has so much going on.

[@thecolourdead]

he cant keep getting away with it!

[@Progger11]

​@@quantessenzYou can't undo that, but we can diminish the effects of it.

[@covert0overt_810]

"i think ive gone to far in a few places"

[@acon2211]

I've seen Dodes'ka-den in theater as a cinema student in high school when I was a teenager. Almost 20 years later I see that a very few people seem to know about this film, since no one mentions it. So I'm just suggesting everyone to look for this film on the internet, watch it if you can. This is something special too. Very surprising. But powerful. I remember how much I loved discovering this film, how moved I was when getting out of this theater. :)

[@PrivateAckbar]

Bridge Over the River Kwai and the first Blob movie were two films i fell in love with staying up late as a toddler. They're GREAT!

[@65g4]

A toddler 🤣🤣🤣 a toddler wouldnt get Bridge On The River Kwai you dont get films like that until your at least 10 so sure you so saw it when you were a toddler sure you did

[@NexusVerbal]

"When I first saw the film, I mean, I respect Kurosawa as a filmmaker, but I don't think he captured Seven Samurai the way I would have." - George Lucas - A joke. The right people will get it.

[@murtazarizvi368]

i think he meant that his vision wasnt like the film he saw. it was like force awakens that the second teaser showed a different movie than the actual movie

[@KyleRoy]

Ragnarok It’s more of a goof on Lucas than Kurosawa.

[@murtazarizvi368]

i dont know why people dont respect other's opinions

[@NexusVerbal]

The joke is a reference to this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nWmUgaJ9gLRjp6M

[@huss1836]

why should anyone respect your opinion? what matters is to listen to each other

[@seanmatyas3938]

I just watched Dreams a few days ago and it was a beautiful film

[@300daysandnights]

Criterion Collection presents: Akira Kurosawa movies as they were originally intended to be seen. Now with updated explosions and a more modern soundtrack. In Sanjuro, The titular character was never supposed to kill the three men leaving the villain hideout. We have digitally altered the footage so that the three draw on Sanjuro because they don't like him walking with them. He also intended to have Imperial Walkers in the background of the final battle in 7 Samurai. Now there will be three prequels that will follow Kambei before the events of 7 Samurai. We will trace him back to his childhood and up to his emo teen years. Coming Next Year: Yojimbo as you have never seen it before... IN 3D!!!

[@decoyflame]

I would actually love to see that.

[@grahamkristensen9301]

And all the swords are replaced with walkie talkies!

[@sanjurokuwabatake9960]

Akira Kurosawa real swords used that films. Yojimbo and Sanjuro movies actually are Master Piece in the film world.

[@iiosomnia]

seven samurai holiday special

[@arkantos2227]

@@iiosomnia but wait... they've recruited an 8th samurai, Jarochi Jarochi Binksonura. He's so fast he catches flies in mid-air with his tongue, or katana, depending on how hungry he is. Watch out for him.

[@EpicThe112]

Nice video and I would consider that the AT-AT or the AT-TE came from the Japanese mecha robots. For the Germans they inspired George Lucas to make C3-PO from the metropolis movie

[@Thelegend-fm2tt]

Oh yea hahahah I see the remblence

[@theodorerooseveltsantlers270]

Jidaigeki = Period Piece in Japanese. Kurosawa and Kobayashi were experts at these films in the 50s and 60s. Masaki Kobayashi most notable films were Harakiri, Kwaidan, Samurai Rebellion, and The Human Condition Trilogy.

[@milkmannick]

Who would stab first in Lucas' version of Rashomon?

[@metal134]

kemosahbe Well, the way I remember it...

[@grendelum]

@metal134 - no no, it was like this...

[@wadewilson6773]

Wait no it happened like this...

[@arpitdas4263]

The woodcutter 😁

[@nathanisaacs76]

A spirit said it happened like this

[@MrYoungcam]

Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Yojimbo, Dodeskaden

[@noneofyourbusiness1114]

Its seems to me to four most influential directors were kurosawa, Fellini, welles, hitchcock, and john ford

[@zoetropeguardian]

Amongst many, many others for George Lucas like Jean-Luc Godard, Bruce Baillie, Norman McClaren, Sergei Eisenstein, Arthur Lipsett, etc..

[@tootspogsforever5590]

Satyajit ray?😊

[@GaiusLibrietscientia]

Este é o comentário brasileiro que procurava🇧🇷, Akira Kurosawa tem um trabalho belo e revolucionário para a época. Tenho 17 anos e meu primeiro filme dele foi Os sete samurais.

[@DanIel-fl1vc]

The visuals and the sound is amazing, the stories...bit whimsical. I think if you take Mel Gibson's story telling and combine them with the visuals and sounds of kurosawa you would end up with a very good movie. Main issue with kurosawa I think is that he drags out on unimportant story points. The pacing is too slow.

[@BlueHooloovoo]

I bought the special edition Criterion of Seven Samurai and Rashomon. Brilliant films.

[@DerWaidmann_]

Anyone else here think Rashomon is the best one?

[@soundeducation5554]

Yup

[@fxvtv]

Sanjuro perfected Seven Samurai - and Sanjuro is way better than Rashomon.

[@dbnovaro]

it is a sin to pick just one, at least I dont manage to pick just one.

[@mnd1955]

Throne of Blood for me.

[@jeromeduque2511]

RAN

[@GDemon]

Jar Jar Binks.

[@SCharlesDennicon]

Lucas and Spielberg should stop slaughtering the word "Ikiru". XD

[@Pancrasio-it9qd]

XD

[@daniadejonghe4980]

Yup!

[@alexkrajci]

R.I.P. Marlon Brando (1924-2004)

[@axilator]

You can tell Kurosawa was a huge influence to Lucas, I mean look at Darth Vader's helmet and Samurai Armour..

[@DanielLopez-zt4ig]

Kurosawa is the key to all of this.

[@JBTriple8]

Loved His use other non Sci Fi Films Im Glad Rian Johnson is doing the same with The Last with 3 Outlaw Samurai, To Catch A Thief and Twelve O'Clock High

[@1997residente]

that made me appreciate TLJ...many of us forget they were meant to be tribute to older movies !

[@Dr._Atom]

Yet TLJ is a terrible movie lol

[@JBTriple8]

@@Dr._Atom il agree to Disagree you Know Rian Johnson is an Indie Director like George Lucas more similarities then you think

[@thomasmuandersontheneousul4184]

@@Dr._Atom I'll never understand that judgment. I was not impressed by TLJ the first time and thought it was overrated but slowly appreciated what Rian tried and did. You can def not like it but calling it "terrible" is absurd. He just did stories with perhaps more style and more cleverness than people liked. Showgirls is terrible. Battlefield Earth is terrible. Last Jedi is just a peculiar way to tell a story. Doesn't make it bad just unconventional.

[@Black-White-BW1]

@@JBTriple8 So?

[@sleuthentertainment5872]

Without The Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai, Star Wars would have been never existed

[@AstroApolloMan]

I'm also here cuz of clone wars season two episode 17 bounty hunter

[@wolfassassin5684]

Fax

[@sharik6862]

Why?

[@lobesteral]

@@sharik6862 The episode was dedicated to Kurosawa

[@cozielawtasie3463]

Tosche station → Toshi stastion → Toshiro Mifune Coruscant → Korusant → Kuro-san → Akira Kurosawa

[@thomasmuandersontheneousul4184]

I doubt Coruscant - George didn't come up with that. But Tosche seems plausible.

[@AudioPervert1]

ask Werner Herzog about G,Lucas ... or even better Lars Von Trier.

[@travisbest9041]

What would the Bavarian have to say about those two?

[@zoetropeguardian]

Lars von Trier has a different philosophy than George. So it's a non-starter. Werner Herzog only recently watched Star Wars for the first time and he seemed impressed. So, what was your question again?

[@JP-kd9fq]

S/o Modesto California’s finest

[@ossshhhh]

imagine seeing Rashomon in cinemas, damn...

[@zsedcftglkjh]

Now this is podracing!

[@heyreallygiger]

Now remake Ikiru with more singing/dancing aliens.

[@scrapetv3826]

I bet that all those times he was stuck watching The Blob as a youngster influenced his look as an adult.

[@po1s0ned]

wow youre so clever

[@scrapetv3826]

po1s0ned You're right, not my best work, my Phantom Menace I guess.

[@po1s0ned]

ScrapeTV now that was clever as fuck

[@siral4487]

I'll mention hidden fortress last since that's the movie I copied to make my vast fortune.

[@x.noybic7007]

Kurosawa and Frank Herbert

[@jarrodyuki7081]

oh really?

[@threebedrooms1076]

Hidden Fortress isn’t top of his list, yet made his millions off of it.

[@johnnyratazana]

he ripped the shit off of hidden fortress in star wars.

[@cordia96]

I don't mind. We know what happens when Lucas try to do it on his own...

[@johnnyratazana]

***** i don't mind it too much either. don't like lucas anyways, not even star wars.

[@Nintendozilla98]

johnnyratazana I understand that Star wars had a many scenes and a plot that was very similar to The Hidden Fortress...but...WHY YOU NO LIKE STAR WARS!?

[@thedude7567]

Parts of it but not all.

[@Bond335]

+johnnyratazana and that's a bad thing? art is imitation dude. we retell stories all throughout human history. there's no shame in taking something you like and giving your own twist on it.

[@mememejst]

jar jar binks is a samurai

[@skyeslaton3435]

Without kurosawa, there would be no blockbusters

[@WarriorPoet01]

Korusawa never edited; then re-released, a movie in which Sanjuro “cut second”.

[@mistaando9741]

"maybe hidden fortress" class a bullshitter lol

[@GMoneyChuck89]

All I hear coming from this man's mouth is "Money, money, money, money, jar jar, money, money mooney mooonies."

[@richie8811]

+Kiefer I Midi-chlorians, son.

[@zoetropeguardian]

Yeah because he's a San Francisco filmmaker. He had to use merchandising to stay independent of Hollywood just like his friend and mentor Francis Ford Coppola with his wine business. Jar Jar was also for kids and inspired by Buster Keaton in part. He obviously worked for his intended audience.

[@MrMadvillan]

the way George Lucas trims his beard at his jawline isn't doing him any favors 😬

[@cravis123]

Kurosawa's movies ar too profound to be compared with a SF movie like star wars...I am not against SF movies but for me Star Wars is like a story before going to bed... It never got my attention...I just can't understand why everybody are crazy about movies like star wars...Once I tried to watch the first star wars(the original one) but It put me to sleep...

[@adamortega1]

cravis123 what does SF mean?

[@josephine1465]

@@adamortega1 science fiction. And I agree. When I first watched A New Hope, it bored me to death.

[@grendelum]

_TL;DR “I didn’t learn a thing about film”_ *-Lucas*

[@nineleafclover]

I'm sure you know much more about film than George Lucas.

[@fahadus]

Star Wars inspired James Cameron to pursue film making.

[@00billharris]

Asking this palooka what he thinks of Kurosawa is like asking Ms McGillacuddy, the award-winning third grade teacher, what she thinks of Einstein.

[@conradojavier]

Lucas: Only thing Missing of Jar Jar Binks, & CGI Cartoon Characters, & Hayden's Ghost, & Greedo Shot First.

[@carlabroderick5508]

George Lucas, lose some weight.

[@zoetropeguardian]

He did in case you're still keeping track.

[@Gonzalouchikari]

Samurai films + WWII dogfights + Flash Gordon + Western = Win.

[@mw-cf5dr]

no

[@TheJustproxy]

that's what we call a clusterf*ck.

[@anthony7311]

+Pedro that's what you call Star Wars

[@miguelpereira9859]

That' pretty much it.

[@broken1394]

Dollars yes, artistry nowhere near.

[@jakenagy11]

I’m here from the clone wars episode where it says in memory of Akira Kurosawa

[@lucaspreslavski9563]

Jacob Nagy same

[@JEK_VaNNNNN]

Which episode?

[@SeeDeath]

WaddleSenpai S2 E17 “bounty hunters”

[@alexandervue9464]

That's tight they honored kurosawa

[@willamtaze6406]

Literature just saw the episode in his memory and came here

[@AllThatJuice-]

People nowadays dont realise how much of the huge billion dollar making pop culture stuff we love now, is owed to the legends of the past who's works were originally used as inspiration.

[@joshbeck9761]

People wouldn't spit ignorance about Lucas and starwars if they actually cared to understand his relationship with film. His theories and inspirations. Lucas is a visual director for most, he was always a believer in imagery driven story telling rather than oral story telling. He made films without dialog. So he is not a good dialog writer as people point out as if it's a sin. Lucas never strived to be a strong writer because to him that's not the essence of visual story telling.

[@kreigguardsman3355]

He and Gendy Tarkoskiy have that in common

[@kingamoeboid3887]

It's better than M Night Shyamalan for The Last Airbender because he spells out exposition that isn't a less is more sort of way like this scene in The Searchers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWfMd4pjfdR5rcU

[@yommish]

He made films without dialogue? The prequels are 70% dialogue and 30% lightsaber twirling.

[@clankers8929]

You have a point

[@gamemediafan1714]

That's why for he should've hired a qualified writer to write the actual scripts for the star wars prequels instead of doing it himself.

[@allanmacbadger5692]

Akira Kurosawa and Andrei Tarkovsky are two of the major influences in world cinema.

[@wastehazey6468]

Hidden Fortress has two of the funniest characters in film history imo, very enjoyable film

[@theseageek]

Kurusawa’s movies aren’t just movies, they are cinematic experiences

[@danieltobin4498]

Say what you want about Lucas but he has good taste in movies

[@JGSkywalker]

with Star Wars Visions, we've come to a full circle.

[@clankers8929]

The Duel. Presented in Black & White no less. With not much dialogue. But emphasis on imagery for sure. Instant favorite. Thank You Kamikaze Douga.

[@krishnachandradas8386]

I think the movie Ran 1985 was best, man so artistic.

[@azami666]

landed here, after watching star wars: vision trailer and knowing that george was influenced by akira kurosawa

[@Zottix]

A legendary director was inspired by a legendary actor. How beautiful.

[@kaminskasmitchell]

George SWEATING trying not to bring up where he got the ideas for C3P0, R2D2, and Princess Leia (also the Ewok battle at the end of Return of the Jedi is straight out of Seven Samurai)

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Nah 3PO, R2 and Leia were ripped from Hidden Fortress not Seven Samurai

[@yamanakabiiru]

No Kurosawa = No Spaghetti westerns No Kurosawa = No Star Wars

[@subutaynoyan5372]

No Kurosawa = No fucking Ran Forget those Spaghetti Westerns, humanity would be bereft of Ran!

[@rexmundi3108]

Pontius Pilate on Jesus Christ

[@sebastianbalbo1906]

We understand that kurosawa was working on STAR WARS IN 1971 ..

[@Rombizio]

John Milius was a genius.

[@beavisdoge237]

Still is.

[@Conn30Mtenor]

The spear duel in Hidden Fortress.

[@Tejah]

I wonder if Star Wars would be half as good without Kurosawa's influence.

[@ace9924]

Kurosawa knew how to create tension and dread and in general strong emotions through the use of music that enhances the scene. And star wars had that element which was inspired by him.

[@zoetropeguardian]

Star Wars was influenced by many things beyond just Akira Kurosawa. It's the most recognised influence but it only tips the iceberg. I think George would've found a way to make Star Wars a success but he's better for learning from Kurosawa just as any filmmaker is. They're both masters at their craft. I've learned a lot from both.

[@chenzenzo]

"you ever meet a guy and about 5 minutes into talkin you think to yourself, " THIS GUY'S FULL OF SHIT! "

[@heliopyre]

Seven Samurai was stylistically designed to be that way, but George can diminish the effect of it. how do you go from admiring Kurosawa in film school and making the original trilogy to making the green screen nightmare that was the prequel trilogy? it's like he forgot everything he learned and respected up to that point.

[@JPJones03223]

The prequels are just as good as the original trilogy. Get your head out of your ass.

[@JPJones03223]

heliopyre So you accuse me of jumping on the ring theory bandwagon, yet here you are spewing shit DIRECTLY from red letter media. I've always liked the prequels, but I still used to subscribe to the idea that the originals were far better. Well, I re-watched the prequels before and after Episode 7 came out and I was able to form my OWN opinion. I realized everything I loved about the originals was there in the prequels and the special effects and action were actually far more entertaining. I'll go over all your parroted arguments and describe to you how ridiculous they are. 1 - "Camera work is terrible" What? You can't criticize something by saying it's "terrible". That's not criticism, that's meaningless noise. The camera work in the prequels is frequently brilliant. Good Framing and composition give the viewer a sense of place, and the sense of place in the prequels works. Look at the shot of Anakin and Padme entering the arena in AotC. Lucas pulls the camera out of the tunnel and reveals the immensity and majesty of a giant termite gladiator stadium. You are THERE in just one shot. That's good filmmaking. And it's just one example. There's the entire pod race sequence, the mustafar duel, duel of the fates. Lucas uses the camera to transport you to new worlds. That's something JJ Abrams couldn't do for shit, so if you're going to criticize someone's camerawork, look to the guy who insists on closeups, and refuses to pull the camer away so we can see where we are in space. 2 - "Characters are flat, boring, and one-dimensional" Again, why do you say that? Anakin is one hell of a complex character. Going from idealistic child, who only wants to help people, to putting his faith in the wrong mentor, to succumbing to temptation and turning on those who love him. He is a textbook tragic hero, a good man who's tragic flaw causes him to lose those closest to him. And if you're going to bring up the "What's his personality" shit with the Jedi, my response is, Jedi aren't supposed to have distinct personalities. If they did, they wouldn't be like the samurais that they're supposed to emulate. They're meant to be stoic, noble, and quiet. Look at Ben Kenobi. He's got the exact personality of Qui-Gon. Don't give me that shit. I'll get back to you with the rest. Hopefully I can teach you something about forming your own opinion and not picking from a set of other opinions to claim as your own.

[@heliopyre]

you're right. those points were made in the redletter media review. and the reason why I used them is because I agree with them. that's what happens when someone gives me a convincing and well reasoned argument I change my opinion. you talk about how you've formed your own opinion as though you haven't been influenced or listened to other arguments but that just tells me you haven't learned anything or thought critically about the subject. you did make a good point with the arena scene which, ironically, was a same point made in the RLM review. but look at the other shots. the strength of that one should make the glaring weakness of the others clear. I'm not sure how saying something is "frequently brilliant" is any less noise than calling it terrible. go back and look at the shots that don't have cgi. they're static and boring. on the mustafar fight. I can't believe you're using that as an example of a good fight scene. as I said before. it's over choreographed and goes on far too long. the length of the fight makes it become underwhelming by the halfway point and the number of sequences within it are laughable. both the absurdity of it and how over the top it is take away from the core emotion that should be coming through. case in point the duel at the end of Return of the Jedi. it didn't go on forever, they didn't fly all over the show, and they expressed emotion in the way they fought. the fight was about the characters, not the spectacle. unlike 3. duel of fates is the same. I thought it was awesome when I was a kid but it has the same problem as the above one. complete lack of emotion. nothing in the fight changes emotionally with Qui-Gon's death. Obi-Wan just continues the same lifeless fighting he was doing before. tension and emotional stakes are far more interesting to me than fancy fight choreography. Don't even bother bringing up Abrams. the guy has flaws. too many closeups and lens flares. but a least he cares enough to actually get out of his chair and film on a location unlike Lucas. there is no comparison between the physical locations and practical effects of the original trilogy and 7 and the hollow use of green-screen in the prequel. Anakin is not a complex character, nor is he a tragic hero. I don't know what you've been reading or watching to inform this opinion but I suggest you get better taste. Anakin was a kid with no real stake or agency in the first movie and from ep2 onward he was a moody brat who wanted power. that isn't complex and at no point shows him as the great and noble Jedi that Kenobi fondly remembers. you aren't a tragic hero if you complain all the time then slaughter a bunch of kids. his character was written poorly. you might be right about Qui-Gon basically being the same as Obi-Wan but I don't see how you could defend Padame. you can say Jedi aren't supposed to have distinct personalities. but how it that a positive. that's boring. the comparison to samurai is appropriate because that was a big influence on Lucas. but he fucked it up. go and watch Kurosawa's films. the samurai aren't flat emotionless robots. just because it was as Lucas intended doesn't mean it was a good decision. in fact it was a bad one. there was no good reason to make them emotionless. Luke, Obi-Wan, and Yoda weren't emotionless in the OT. and neither is Obi-Wan in the PT. he's trying to tell us one thing but whats show is in contradiction to this. it should have been an ideological difference on how power is used that separated the Jedi and Sith rather than an emotion. that would have made the characters easier to empathize with and made Anakins fall more tragic. I can't wait to have you inform my opinion more by teaching me how to form my own opinion.

[@JPJones03223]

The Red letter media "points" are extremely flimsy, and I understand you agree with them, but simply repeating someone else's opinion and saying "I like this opinion so I'll use it as my own" is not how you should think about movies. This "camera work is flat and boring" argument is basically wrong. I gave you a good example of composition, explained why it works, and alluded to other examples that work in the same way. If you don't agree that the duel of fates or mustafar duel has camera work that allows you to follow the action clearly, then I don't know what to tell you. And the non-CGI scenes being boring; what makes it boring? The fact that the camera doesn't swing all over the place? That it's just over-the-shoulder shots? If so, the Godfather doesn't have super entertaining camera work during the talky scenes, but it works. I might as well talk about the "lack of emotion" in the lightsaber duels. I'll speak for myself when I say, I'm not exactly clamoring for emotion in a Darth Maul vs Qui-Gon fight, but even in that duel, the scene when Obi-Wan comes out of the tunnel and goes off on Maul for killing Qui-Gon; that's pretty damn emotionally charged. The rage in Obi-Wan's eyes as he prepares for the doors to open, combined with a fighting style that actually conveys his anger, it's a rush; For me, of course. And the mustafar duel, if you think it it was "over choreographed" (which translates to extremely well-choreographed to me) or it went on too long (Again I'm not one to complain about too much of a good thing) then we'll agree to disagree. It's big, long, and action packed, but it's also one of the 2 or 3 most emotional of the series. A note on JJ Abrams and "real locations/sets!". I love practical effects, I love locations, I love sets, I love all of that. I agree with the argument that Lucas may have used CGI in the prequels where he didn't have to (Phantom Menace is a perfect combination of CG and practical effects, IMO), but I'm not going to be one of those people that denounces something because it's CGI or praises some because it's practical. Ep. 7's sense of place, it's imagination, it's scope, were all sorely lacking. One because of the lack of George Lucas and his incredible imagination, and two, because Disney and Lucasfilm were beholden to the red letter media sheep that refused to praise something that had CGI in it. By purposefully shooting everything on location, you are limiting yourself to visiting worlds that look like earth. The audience misses out on visiting a planet that is one enormous city, or a giant Termite mound planet, or a planet covered in lava. It's limiting, end of discussion. And if it makes you feel better, most of those CGI sets were actually miniatures, so if they looked bad to you, blame practical effects. With Anakin, you can have problems with how he is written, and you did bring up points. Points I don't agree with, but points nonetheless. However, those objections you have don't disprove my assertion that he is a complex character. You say from Ep. 2 onward he was "moody and just wanted power"; I don't know how long it's been since you've seen Ep. 2 and 3, but that's wrong. We see in Ep. 1 that Anakin has a strong connection to his mother. He has a dream where his mother dies and the dream comes true, this sets the foundation for his eventual turn. He is so enraged that he abandons his Jedi code, loses his temper, and kills women and children in a wild rage. The fact that he reacts so strongly, losing control of his better judgement excellently plants the seeds for what happens in Ep. 3. When he dreams that Padme is going to die, you can understand that he would be desperate to save her, even turning to the dark side. I'm sorry, but saying Anakin is one-dimensional is just not correct. Re-watching the prequels this past time, this is what jumped out to me most. Anakin's story is really interesting, especially in the way it contrasts Luke's story. The two make each other's better. Padme isn't as complex, I suppose, but the prequels aren't Padme's story. Just like the originals aren't Leia's story. And just like Ben Kenobi and Qui-Gon, look at Padme and Leia. Are they not the same character, with different backgrounds? They both show their feistiness, one does it with snappy dialogue and the other does it with grand political speeches. They both fall in love for no particular reason, and they both factor into the story in a dramatic way. That's what I noticed in re-watching the prequels. They are so similar to the originals. All 6 movies are clearly envisioned by the same man. They are all fun space adventures with big themes. I'd be wasting my time to refute every claim you make. I guess what made me so upset about your original comment was that you seem to think George Lucas just lost the imagination and storytelling he had in the originals, like Charles Barkley in Space Jam. I can't disagree more with that. I can clearly see Lucas' spirit in all 6 movies in the Saga, and I think the prequels' story makes the originals better. Plus I just really, really like Episodes 1,2,3, and people who simply say, "yeah, those suck and everybody knows it" make me angry. Not just because they don't like what I do, but because they look at the films with someone else's eyes.

[@thekinginyellow1744]

You are completely insane. Episode IV was brilliant, Episode V was good, Episode VI was OK, Episode I sucked so badly I simply stopped watching at that point.

[@tccandler]

"George Lucas on Akira Kurosawa" is like "Britney Spears on Mozart".

[@ace9924]

I wouldn't go that far buddy. If it was Abrams on kurosawa then I'd agree with you.

[@Severin69]

Samurai's hate sand.....

[@Joel34016]

Starwars was inspired by kurosawa movies

[@jacksonwilburn6775]

It stinks that the only thing you accomplished was Star Wars

[@jkorshak]

I'll take American Graffiti and Indiana Jones for $50, Alex!

[@jacksonwilburn6775]

@@jkorshak Who was the director and screenwriter of Indiana Jones? who is.... Stephan Spielberg and Lawrence Kasdan! Story was by Lucas but that means nothing bud. In terms of American Graffiti... wow... stunning film absolutely pinnacle of cinema. Nice try

[@jkorshak]

@@jacksonwilburn6775 American Graffiti. Critically and commercially successful and influential - exceedingly so, and quite the accomplishment. Indiana Jones, without Lucas a non starter - it doesn't exist. I'll further take THX and Skywalker Sound and Industrial Light & Magic for $75, Alex. The idea Star Wars comprises Lucas' only accomplishment is simply garbage.

[@jacksonwilburn6775]

@@jkorshak notice how you said was. That movie holds up like spoiled milk. I don’t even think Star Wars is a success artistically. It’s A success commercially obviously. But the special fx and everything was done before it and done better. I.e. 2001: A Space Odyssey and more.

[@jkorshak]

@@jacksonwilburn6775 Oh, so the measure now is contemporary relevance. Never mind your earlier measure placed in the past tense, "ever accomplished." Weak. Star Wars as a franchise is more popular now than it ever was - it's generational now. So, why not contextualize it some more? Artistically now. You've moved on to an artistic measure for, as you see it, illustrating Lucas' lack of accomplishment. I like how the first thing you use as a measure is 2001, which kind of says something about the "artistic" accomplishment folded into the fabric of Star Wars with that to measure against. No one is comparing Star Wars and Lucas to 2001 and Kubrick except you. And even that does not tarnish or take away Lucas' Star Wars based accomplishments and all the others already mentioned. Can you show me where on the doll George Lucas hurt you?

[@rezaghasemi7651]

ran is the best movie ever made