Why George Lucas is NOT a bad director- A Visual Essay

[@M613M]

According to the thumbnail, Vader's arm is the reason.

[@AvinDov]

i fuckin knew it

[@Ruffeep]

Now lookin back it was obvious

[@phenofaileen]

MDI Gaming Hahahaha

[@sputnikalgrim]

MDI Gaming that scene. It's like that thumbnail was a troll

[@randomovies1094]

It is, because George actually remembered to give him one

[@TheJennyWalaShow]

George Lucas is a mad dog genius! Inventor and creator, the first to pioneer HD camera, CGI, THX surround, Pixar Studio, ILM. George transformed Hollywood, he is ahead of our time.

[@rc59191]

He's a terrible script writer though lol still love him.

[@uglystupidloser]

hmm. so basically 1 man is responsible for creating hollywood as we know it? this video actually does a great job pointing out all the things that george lucas pioneered and designed. i know that he was responsible for a lot of technical achievements... but your comment and this video makes me realize that george lucas literally changed our world as we knew it. he just used star wars to do it. and keep doing it.

[@dubbingcollapse9966]

There is a simple reason why i don‘t hate Lucas. Because he actually TRIED and had ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE IDEAS. Sometimes i really prefer not perfect implemented good ideas over perfect implemented but unoriginal and uninteresting ideas being stolen and not unique. Hell the current sequels couldn‘t even survive without the uniqueness of the OT George Lucas alongside others created.

[@pian-0g445]

DubbingCollapse like why do you think things like “I hate sand” later on became a meme but weirdly, loved because of how stupid it was, but also because it was with heart. Definitely not great at writing casual dialogue but it’s the other things that matters.

[@CrazyHorseInvincible]

George has made exactly one original sci fi movie: THX 1138. If you think the hero's journey in space is an original idea, then you might be dumb enough to call yourself a "fanboy" and think it's a badge of honor. Try branching out and getting some perspective.

[@handsomebrick]

He comes from the New Hollywood era, when most Hollywood directors were like this.

[@ThatGuy-y2c]

Watch Hidden Fortress and tell me George Lucas has original ideas. He had some great weed in 1975 and came up with a *good* idea, based on a bunch of disparate sources, including the films of Akira Kurosawa and the serials theaters used to show before features in the 40’s and 50’s.

[@handsomebrick]

@@ThatGuy-y2c Don't forget that when David Lynch did the first movie adaptation of Dune, he had to change a lot of things in the novel to avoid looking as if he had ripped off Star Wars, ironically because Star Wars had ripped those things off from Dune. I suspect this could be a possible reason why the sci-fi community resented Star Wars when it first came out.

[@Ruleof2Review]

That opera scene with Hayden wasn't an editing mistake. It was an acting moment, and it was great. And I agree with you. George is the man!

[@MrBeiragua]

I think he was "impersonating" a hater. The way he explains the editor's craft implies he liked the scene in a way.

[@Dragonage2ftw]

Was it really?

[@moist_captain]

Some people say George Shouldn't have had so much control over the prequels. I think it was absolutely right that he did.

[@johndrennie]

☺

[@freddybeer]

Hayden leant his fucking head forward! There is no MORPH! I didn't watch the rest of the vid past that point so forgive me if it's later brought up again. There is no MORPH. Because Anakin's hair is long and on his collars no matter what, you can't see his hair raise. All Hayden did is TENSE and lean forward. He heard something interesting! If anything, all this does is point out how brilliant Hayden's nuances were.

[@masterchief4766]

i dont care if he is bad at directing or good at it, or writing etc, but he created our childhood and star wars, thats why he is a legend

[@Ghost-ze4xy]

EN9ITY so true 👌👌👍👍👏👏

[@kristopherdickson6606]

He gaveth then tooketh away

[@gamble777888]

He did so with A LOT of help from a lot of extremely talented people. The Star Wars universe was molded by many creators and the fact he took sole ownership and exploited it the way he did is kind of lame in my opinion.

[@vlopez078]

Adrian Arenas ok but those talented people are just technical. They don’t have the creative mind that George has. Without his mind there would be nothing to help make come to life

[@gamble777888]

Sorry but to say he was the only one responsible for the creative elements of Star Wars original trilogy is false. You can say that about the prequels (which were terrible), yes, definitely, but not the OT. The story, direction, writing, creature design, special effects engineering, world building and plot were all made by a group of people not just George Lucas.

[@Sam_T2000]

George Lucas > Rian Johnson

[@aurorauplinks]

Lucas knows the series better because he was overseeing the expanded universe and used that to help craft the prequels with his visions, how ever johnson is a good potentially great director too, though lucas has the history of changing filming technology as well as style, johnson may be a great name soon if he does a great trillogy etc

[@Сайтамен]

In case of Star Wars, everyone is better than Rian Johnson.

[@Penguin2923]

Wrong. George Lucas >>>>>>>>>>> Rian Johnson.

[@christophzeit6282]

Rian Johnson was obviously the wrong choice to be placed in the director's chair for a SW movie. His other movies (Brick, Looper, Knives Out) are solid, quality movies. But Lucas deserves the hate he got. Everything that needed to be said has already been said. Just read a little bit about the production details and behind the scenes quarrels that were going on during the making of the OT. There is a pretty good reason why actors like Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill were pretty much done with Star Wars and fed up with Lucas already in the 80s. Do yourself a treat and watch the behind the scenes documentary of the phantom Menace, it's mindblowing, absolutely amazing. Lucas comes across as a completely incompetent, bumbling idiot, the producers and editors around him trying desperately to question some of the weird decisions he's making, the chaotic and pretty much nonexisting direction of the actors, just staring at him in disbelief and confusion, with open mouths, in utter shock of Lucas' complete lack of any understanding of how to construct a story and to make a movie outside of an artificial green screen context. I mean, it's amazing, that they even released that material ("I've gone too far in a few places", "Its stylistically designed to be that way" etc have become notorious quotes by now). The effects are fucking terrible, for 1999, 2002and 2005?! And that from a selfproclaimed cgi pioneer and genius. Unbelievable. The whole "fixing Vader's arms" per cgi in post is such a typical Lucas thing. I really don't want to bring up the Han shoots first controversy, but it's unavoidable, because it's just so exemplary to show how Lucas works. Tbe special edition version of that scene (with han' s upper body jerking awkwardly to the side) is of the worst post edits / cgi corrections, I have ever seen. Comparable to the Henry Cavill mustache cg in justice leage. Absolutely terrible. Lucas' pretty much nonexisting editing skills have always been notorious too, Spielberg even jokes about that in a lot of interviews. Everyone knows by now that the first movie had been saved in editing, very prominently by his wife, whom he battled in court for some of the rights for years. Recommend watch: The People vs George Lucas; The RLM revies of the prequels.

[@Sam_T2000]

@@christophzeit6282 - my comment > your comment _Brick, Looper,_ and _Knives Out_ are all highly overrated movies, and I actually think _Knives Out_ is just bad. George Lucas certainly has his shortcomings as a filmmaker, but the man is a real storyteller, Rían Johnson is not.

[@donrabbit9233]

He created Star Wars, he's a damn lagend

[@JackDManheim]

That was 1977. You seen Red Tails recently?

[@ryangettig274]

good Flick!:)

[@gentlemandemon]

Yes, but by most accounts, the first movie was unwatchable before his wife took control of the editing from him. And in Empire Strikes Back, which is often considered the best of all the Star Wars movies, he made the smallest contributions, only having a story credit; he wasn't the director, one of the screenwriters, or even a producer.

[@ryangettig274]

God Bless George Lucas & May He Always Be Well!!Going to see The Empire Strikes Back as a 9-10 year old American kid was thrilling!I used to train in the backwoods like I was on Dagobah+Golden Childhood Memories!!! He's not the best with dialogue,though:(

[@gentlemandemon]

Ryan Gettig He also didn't write, direct, edit, or produce Empire

[@dracowulfalphyn5503]

The whole idea behind Count Dooku was genius; with him being the former master of Qi-gon Jinn and the former apprentice of Yoda. Also, just think about what could have been the motives behind Count Dooku's turn to the Dark Side. 1: His former apprentice Qi-gon dies. 2: He turns to dark to do greater good. 3: Separatists are the Confederacy of INDEPENDENT Systems and probably desire freedom from the Republic. In other words they think that they are the good guys. 4: Count Dooku's persuit of power could have formed from a desire to help the galaxy. And that parallels Anakin's reason for turning to the Dark Side.

[@dracowulfalphyn5503]

Now about Jar Jar Binx... I actually thought that Jar Jar was an interesting character. When I watch Episode 1 I had absolutely no problem with with him. I think it is just too bad that he didn't have a much better role in Episode 2. He could have been a character that people could have fallen in love with. And in Episode 3 he could have died saving Yoda and it could have been sad but heroic.

[@trekkiejunk]

Wait, was this expanded universe stuff? I don't remember any of that in the movies...

[@cykeok3525]

Dooku really did want to overthrow the corrupt Republic, and form a new government with himself among the new ruling class. When he started, it really was for the good of the people.. and it is that ambition that Sidious used to lure him to the Dark Side. The path to hell is paved with good intentions.

[@BenignViewer]

All good concepts that go under-utilized in the films themselves. P.S. On #3: North Korea call themselves the DEMOCRATIC Peoples REPUBLIC of Korea (DPRK) and the less said about the highlighted words under that regime the better...

[@alexanderstilianov]

I don't see Dooku as being altruistic. He was in it for the political power and wealth if you ask me. Can't blame him in such a time.

[@METALLIFY16]

So people got mad because the Prequels were "more for kids" but also upset because the trade federation stuff and space politics was "too adult"? People just love to complain.

[@Avenging_Archer]

Not to mention that that plot was put there to explain stuff. The Last Jedi was so full of plotholes that are a reason why the film is so bad... how come the first order is already chasing the Resistance immediately after losing Starkiller base? How did the First order so quickly took control of the entire galaxy? Why are there affluent people partying it up if the capital system was blown up like 4 days ago? Etc, etc.

[@donovanstepan5528]

Lestat220289 people are blind sheep who just want action

[@donovanstepan5528]

Lestat220289 can't go into a movie called star *WARS* and expect no politics

[@freddybeer]

This was noted in Big Bang Theory. Raj says, lets do the Star Wars marathon but pretend The Phantom Menace never happened and Sheldon effectively and swiftly points out all the IMPORTANT plot devices and elements that wouldn't have happened without Episode 1 and why it's crucial to the overall arc. George had a plan. Disney don't. It's that simple, folks.

[@philippealain-art]

METALLIFY16, You understand everything.

[@spongemonkey27]

Title correction: Why the face morph edit in revenge of the sith is acceptable - A Visual Essay There is absolutely nothing in this video that talks about George Lucas' direction. This video is about the development of editing technology. Lucas wanting to splice different takes together has absolutely nothing to do with being a good director. How is it possible to be confused about this?

[@andreraymond6860]

I agree. Lucas is a technologist.

[@UnknownUser-gd3ls]

you're a fucking idiot

[@spongemonkey27]

Unknown User why

[@andreraymond6860]

Good description of a director's job. I notice you didn't mention working with actors...

[@DeadandPaid1996]

André Raymond they actual did mention working with actors

[@mdubmachine]

I know I'm not alone or unique in this, but I've always seen George Lucas as a great visual director with a fantastic imagination. He also managed to put together the some of the best people and found some of the best studios/companies to bring his vision to life (ILM, Ralph McQuarrie, Ben Burtt/Skywalker Sound, John Williams, etc.). It's his ability to "properly" execute his visions in dialogue and specific story beats that is "questionable," in my opinion.

[@patrickmeisel7481]

What Lucas understands that J.J. Abrams (a writer) doesn't understand is how to compose a three-dimensional image. He's classically trained by the likes of Kurosawa. It shows. The prequels and new hope have scope. Whereas The Force Awakens is flat and unimaginative. It doesn't capture a galaxy. It captures a toy franchise.

[@Hirnlego999]

Force Awakens has actual human emotions. Almost everyone in the prequels are fucking boring. Dead CGI sets, awful dialogue, plots that go nowhere.

[@vlopez078]

Hirnlego999 please tel me more about all the interesting characters in the sequels and all the great plots that go somewhere

[@miguelpadeiro762]

Hirnlego999 force awakens, human emotions???

[@Hirnlego999]

Yes, a lot more just like the original trilogy.

[@michaelstark8720]

Force Awakens is boring charcters, unexplained universe and stupid story. Every plot from prequels went where it should. To make great story which prequels have without a doubt.

[@Darkness1984]

Jar jar is the key to all of this.

[@erwinrommel9648]

If we can get him working...

[@gapsule2326]

Hesa a bombad pioneersa.

[@lisciatoredimele8919]

George Lucas 'Cause he's a funnier character than we've ever had before

[@MattTheMagician23]

If the prequels were written better, then maybe Jar Jar would have worked. I have a vision for the prequels that would have felt like the originals.

[@napalmparade]

Darkness1984 You don't know what you have done!

[@seanstark9211]

George Lucas is an ideas man period.

[@trekkiejunk]

Totally agree. And a very good idea man. I love his pulling from other cultures, history and myths to compose so much of what Star Wars (and to a lesser degree, Indy) was. But it took good screenwriters, directors, and in the case of A New Hope, EDITORS to bring his visions real heart and quality filmmaking. He's very much like Gene Roddenberry in that way.

[@zoltanz288]

And also a visual effect guy too. He revolutionized visual effects TWICE.

[@MB20978]

Howard the Duck was one of his best ideas.

[@Fnordathoth]

"I love his pulling from other cultures, history and myths to compose so much of what Star Wars". Ideas he borrowed from Joseph Campbell, whom he has given full credit for his inspiration in many interviews.

[@agfagaevart]

Editors / Editors. People talk as if George left them to it while he went down the pub! He was ALWAYS involved in the editing.

[@SpectreManz]

I wish he never sold the franchise

[@Сайтамен]

He did it because of whiney "fans"

[@callmecaleeeb6648]

Yeah:(

[@underscore_5450]

I'm glad he did. The man barely made 2 good movies.

[@gantzuka]

If it weren't for the whiny fan and people writing the expanded universe. I doubt it would have been a problem. I don't think any of the Star Wars movies were bad. Just some off putting scenes. Like any romance scenes between Anikin and Padmae, didn't feel natural at all.

[@joshuasandoval455]

Filoni is about to save the franchise!

[@candiduscorvus]

People hated the prequels so much they went and saw them five times each.

[@derpcena5078]

candiduscorvus ?

[@Gooberpatrol66]

candiduscorvus That'll show 'em!

[@RoScFan]

candiduscorvus i loved the prequels

[@liudmilakorovina4495]

candiduscorvus prequels were really great!

[@simplythebest2k]

Because in reality people loved it. He people that didn't like it were a few of harcor fans that then made a living out of Over critiquing the movie. After watching many reviews I found they are all objectively crafted to give an ambiance that fits their motive rather than actual mistakes that can't be refuted.

[@rorschach1848]

I’ll always be disappointed that Star Wars “fans” harassed George Lucas because they didn’t like Jar Jar so he scrapped the character and threw away the sith lord plot twist. “Jar Jar is the key to all of this.”

[@abadalfa]

He was the key to EP1 cause the movie would've been too heavy without him. George was talking about pace and tone and the balance Jar Jar created for the film, which ended up happening. Jar Jar also was the key to solving the plot (gets an army for the Naboo) and he also existed for the reason of showing how "the will of the force" can act upon the inoccent creatures, that's why everything turned out fine for him, Jar Jar doesn't struggle to create a bond with the force, he's instead almost the will of the force made into a creature.

[@jvenom174]

@Daniel James He has said himself that he doesn’t think he’s a very good director. I think his main problem is how he sets up the camera for dialogue scenes with the Shot reverse shot method in the prequels and in Return of the Jedi, the overuse of cg environments for exposition scenes, not giving the editors much creative freedom, and throwing actors into a completely blue screen world of filmmaking when they have not been trained for it at all. I also think he never got over how well received the original Star Wars was considering that the final edit was not his, and the people who did edit Star Wars ‘77 basically went behind his back because they knew George’s edit was not good. The history of Star Wars’ success belongs to a large number of creative people who worked on all the first six films who usually have all their credit unintentionally taken from them and put towards George Lucas. He did direct and write the prequels, but he did not have anybody around him willing to challenge his ideas like he did while making the originals. Although, I don’t think he had many people challenging him on Return of the Jedi either which is why that movie is lackluster compared to the first two. George mainly came up with premises, names, ideas for character and set designs, and wrote the original Star Wars script that would eventually be heavily revised on set by other people working with him including the actors. George is a business man and an idea man. He’s a lot like Dan Akroyd, and much less like John Landis. He needs smart and trustworthy people around him to flesh his ideas out, and criticize him when he starts getting lazy with how he directs his films. You can see in the behind the scenes footage of the prequels that George mainly sat in a chair behind the monitors rather than being on his feet behind the camera more often than not.

[@jvenom174]

@Daniel James he did but the movie was edited completely more than a few times. I think he fired one editor then re edited it himself for the second time and then his wife at the time worked with different editors to make a version with better pacing. There’s a lot of speculation and hearsay about who gets credit for what, but I’m pretty sure the final edit was not the one he did. I think his then current wife persuaded him to use the edit she helped make.

[@Szarko32c]

After Last Jedi I started to miss Lucas.

[@ealing456]

Not after The Force Awakens?

[@smoothmiles24]

I'd say no because JJ did a good job keeping Lucas' vision... Rian Johnson deviated a lot, and yet I still like Last Jedi, but it's def a new generation's star wars... it doesn't have the same feel of a Star Wars movie, but that doesn't mean it's bad... just... different.

[@jokerofmorocco]

TFA was a decent movie, imo better than I and II but it was really TLJ that ruined Star Wars

[@ealing456]

I felt like TFA was a Star Wars Greatest Hits album. When Starkiller base was revealed, it almost felt a little like parody. Each to their own though ;)

[@BobPantsSpongeSquare97]

You must be high because the last Jedi with its shitty flaws is far more competent than any of the prequels. Lucas failed at the basics such as dialogue

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

George Lucas can't write dialogue he said so him self he's good at ideas and world building but not characters and story.

[@LUNITICWILL]

almost like Bethesda Game Studios

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

***** OHHHHHHH! True.

[@KitchenSinkSoup]

***** yeah.

[@basedbattledroid3507]

Matthew McCallum Exactly, he's a great visionary but terrible planner. Which is why CGI doesn’t work for him, because it's mostly planning whereas practical effects are more creativity and accidents.

[@RJrules64]

Writing Dialogue is not the same as Characters and story. How can you possibly argue he's bad at characters and story? He's written in so many cultural icons that it's incredible! The story of Star Wars is amazing and loved by millions of fans around the world. He is bad at writing Dialogue, but excellent at writing characters and story.

[@LiamRedmondVideo]

Its refreshing to see a video that isn't shitting on the Star Wars prequels. Good job and thanks.

[@shillaryclinty8661]

Amen!

[@LiamRedmondVideo]

Shillary Clinty Couldn't agree more and you have a user-name that makes fun of Hilary Clinton so I double like your comment

[@shillaryclinty8661]

+Liam Redmond Soul mates !!!?

[@LiamRedmondVideo]

Shillary Clinty Well lets stick with compatriots for now ha

[@shillaryclinty8661]

+Liam Redmond Trump2016 ???

[@funguy873]

George Lucas ruined Star Wars? Ridiculous! Star Wars fans ruined Star Wars imo. We are now complaining about the Sequel Trilogy, and it's our own fault.

[@2ndairborneguy790]

People just have standards. I love the PT and the haters annoy me but they didn't ruin Star Wars.

[@Nico-lw5ol]

@@2ndairborneguy790 well it depends, I guess if fans wouldn't have went so hard on George he maybe would have done another trilogy or found someone else to continue after him. I think a lot of ambition faded away after the backlash for the prequels and I guess a bit of fear came up. But this is just speculation, however haters have a lot of influence I would say

[@2ndairborneguy790]

@@Nico-lw5ol George always said that since the prequels came out the story was about Darth vader, and since he died, there was no more story to tell, therefore no more movies. Fans may have had a part to play but I trust what George said there.

[@Nico-lw5ol]

2nd Airborne Productions well but he had plans nonetheless. and maybe he would have done another series of films or something like that. his focus on videogames was strong, maybe something in that direction would habe been following up his work. but still a lot of people talk the prequels so bad that I feel weird liking them sometimes.

[@abadalfa]

The ST is not Star Wars, and it has nothing of George on it, not even a tribute.

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

Always glad to see some Prequel defense videos. The fact of the matter is (as you pointed out in the video) the prequels were just as game-changing in terms of technology as the original films were, perhaps even more so given the complete digital revolution in Hollywood.

[@SamuelFaict.Filmmaker]

Jurassic Park and Terminator 2 did far more for the industry than the Prequels, and those two examples are even good movies!

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

You know how nearly every Hollywood movie today uses some amount of green screen backdrops whether they're shooting on set or in studio? Which movie was the first one to do that, creating entire environments and worlds digitally? The Phantom Menace. That's just one of hundreds of innovations the prequels achieved. JJ even said so. "We wouldn't have been able to do nearly any of the visual effects we did in this movie had George not broken every rule that he did to allow these visual effects to be discovered." soundcloud.com/thedirectorscut/episode-5-star-wars-the-force-awakens-with-jj-abrams-and-lawrence-kasdan

[@SamuelFaict.Filmmaker]

TheWWIFlyingAce JJ was actually talking about the original Trilogy.

[@SchmitzCinemaStudies]

+Samuel Faict See this is how I know that you didn't listen to the interview. Allow me to quote what JJ said just before that: "As opposed to a fix it in the mix thing which happens all the time and I know that George gets a lot of grief for kinda green screen blue screen thing and I think it must be said that..."

[@SamuelFaict.Filmmaker]

The Force Awakens, hell, the whole production of The Force Awakens was a big FU to George and the Prequels. Read between the lines. Everything JJ said during TFA production was a big FU to the Prequels. I even once met the guy, we made out, JJ said to me that it was all BS what the Prequels ment. It was a dump on the SW franchise.

[@deleteduser121]

The prequels were a combination of Wagnerian opera with Greek tragedy set in space in a modern movie. Never been done and will never be done again. What George was trying to do was amazing. The prequels were supposed to start out light and fluffy and descend into darkness just like a tragedy does.

[@deleteduser121]

***** Yes you put that perfectly. Contrary to what the loud mouth minority of haters say. The prequels were actually the most star wars thing made. And I can watch them over and over because as Lucas said they are so dense

[@ChrisPTenders]

I think most people don't think that deeply about it, and a "vocal minority" are the ones who misconstrued the perception of the prequels negatively and got the vast majority of people who don't think about it a lot to think about it in a negative light and join the hate band wagon because they were loud and they had an edgy, compelling, and passionate argument. The prequels aren't bad movies by any stretch. Episode II has one bad scene I can think of, and one LSD what the hell am I watching scene, and the rest was gold; or would have been considered such - but now there's a renaissance of the late 70's and 80's style of movie making sweeping the internet, where that's regarded as the golden age of film and any other style of film is regarded as an abomination to the art of film making. The prequels went for something more archaic, in dialogue, tone, and thematically; but they acclimated to the style of film prominent at the time. For what was popular in the late 90's and early 2000's, the prequels adapted their antiquated aspects to the times flawlessly. Sadly it's becoming more prevalent today for people to revile almost anything made in the late 90's to early 2000's, since many films went for subtlety and style over iconic and memorable. Movies then relied on shock value humor rather than more natural, situational humor; and stylized action sequences to showcase new advancements in technology rather than sticking to tried and true more convincing and grounded methods. Movies were about spectacle over immersion, and post 2000's people are pretty sick of spectacle. People want personality and attitude to enhance the excitement film has to offer. That's why most people like The Force Awakens, despite it's pretty shallow characters, themes, and plot. It has personality, and that enhances the characters, which enhances the spectacle, and makes for a more exciting one-off experience. It's the trend, and until people get bored of it, it's the only thing they'll like... hence the term "small-minded" is fairly apt. Personally, I like the now outdated style of movies the prequels used. They aren't bad, they're just part of an era this generation is disinterested in, so anything the prequels have to offer is considered boring because of their obsolete tonality. And because we live in an age where 20 and 30 year old adults have the entitled mentality of four year old children, that equates the prequels being the "rape of their childhood" which justifies the typical social bashing of a visionary, for not getting it right in their very short-sighted self-absorbed eyes, that has permeated society through every stage of advancement in anything all throughout history. I think the prequels are a shining example of brilliant story-telling in an era of mediocrity and vanity. Not labeling or belittling anyone here, just being blunt about how I see the situation.

[@wolfman8325]

loads of films and series do that - the prequels were just shit, accept it

[@ChrisPTenders]

The_Angry_Raccoon If anyone asked you why you think the prequels are bad, you know you'd just refer them to the Plinkett reviews. You were great in that one MCU movie that wishes it was Star Wars, btw. Stole the show mate. #Disney is life.

[@wolfman8325]

Chris Merritt The Plinkett reviews do cover a lot of why the prequels suck.

[@QazwerDave]

I personally love how the trade federation was used to tear the Republic and the Jedi Counsel apart. We got to see the politics of the galaxy in action. I missed that in the Original Trilogy !!

[@fruze8478]

I dont know why people still criticise the prequels intead of being appreciative. Personally I liked the little or big backstory of star wars.

[@madmaniac2552]

Spartan Fruze because they aren't good films.

[@faltanato6375]

Spartan Fruze I love Prequels,my favorite movies are this: 1-Ep3 2-Rogue one 3-Ep1 4-Ep6 5-Ep2 6-Ep5 7-Ep4 8-Ep7 9-special hollyday. I didn't rank Ep8 cuz i have not watch it.

[@Quirrel]

Shut the fuck up Charles you piece of shit.

[@eyb0ss253]

Prequels are terrible films compared to the Original trilogy. Simple as that.

[@jreddoch1]

People criticize the prequels bc they are terrible movies. . .

[@EskildFors]

Really interesting video. Fascinating to see how heavily altered modern films are. But, the problem with the Star Wars prequels were never the effects or editing - which were great for their time. And the actors weren't bad. The dialoge in the script however, was cringeworthy!

[@rumpio5505]

“Cringe” wasent even a thing back then

[@JeffPenaify]

The problem with Georges screen writing is it is excellent dialogue and showcases his characters, lore, and universe... but only on paper, his dialogues flow like they would in a novel and would be strong in a novel, screen writing is a totally different spectrum you can make subpar dialogue stand out with strong world building and characters and events in a novel, on film dialogue and the craft of writing it takes a whole new element. George needed a great screen writer to sell the interactions thats truthfully the only damning flaw in trilogy prequels imo

[@sebastiaankruis3006]

Jeff Boxing There are other flaws, like Jar Jar, having no real main character, the relationship of Padme and Anakin and arguably some parts of the story. I don't really agree that George Lucas is a great storyteller, he has just great ideas, but someone else has to make a framework for his ideas to work. But aside from that, I agree.

[@Mega-Brick]

+RobRollie And it shouldn't be. "Cringing" is a very real thing you do in awkward or uncomfortable situations, but something being _bad_ or making you _upset_ should never be defined as "cringe-worthy". I don't know about Eskild Fors, but I don't physically cringe and recoil in pain each time I hear a prequel dialogue.

[@Dragonage2ftw]

This.

[@misterjohn2]

CG wasn’t “forced” into the Prequels, CG was pioneered by the Prequels.

[@owRekssjfjxjxuurrpqpqss]

I don't think this essay proved that he's not a bad director tbh, it needs a little more argument but you made interesting points. You focused very heavily on the morphing and editing techniques but there are many other reasons people have argued that Lucas isn't a great director and you didn't address any of those.

[@farrex0]

Well I believe that he means that he was a necessary director. Thanks to the risks he took the industry now has so much amazing tools. It is like a game that sucks but innovated in many things that thanks to that game now every other game looks amazing. So this "essay" says that we should be thankful for Lucas's risks even though he sucks at the other stuff.

[@picanteesteban4020]

Ryan He is a bad writer. Thats the problem.

[@simplythebest2k]

There is a lot of reasons but people don't discus them because their to busy following the trend of if you don't agree the prequels are bad your not cool.....

[@IceCreeeaaam]

John christopher You can't prove an opinion. If somebody likes or dislikes something they don't need to explain why. I fucking HATE tomatoes. I can't prove they are bad but I still hate them.

[@simplythebest2k]

***** Unfortunately that's not entirely true. People are influential and mostly base opinions based on what the trend is at the time in order not to be the outcast.

[@insaneapples1559]

He's not a bad director, he's a bad writer. Always has been. He needed extensive help and rewrites with the original Star Wars script, and didn't write a word of dialogue for Empire or Jedi. Being a director can honestly come down to delegating tasks and trying to attain a vision. What made the prequels so bad was the writing. What you can argue from a directorial position was his over-use of CGI, but I generally find that analogous to a kid and a new toy. Either way the writing killed it, and even a great director can't direct their way out of a bad script.

[@Renwoxing13]

After wathcig this video I now understad why, it was becaus he was in complete control of the purse strings, and decided he could write as good as an actual writer and pay himself intead on someone else. .. . . BIG FUCKING MISTAKE!

[@insaneapples1559]

Creating a story and writing scenes and dialogue is not the same thing. It doesn't surprise me he probably wrote the first draft for Empire before he threw it out and gave it to far better hands.

[@insaneapples1559]

Not sure what the point is here. There's no official screenwriting credit for Lucas on Empire and clearly that wasn't the final script. For all you know Laurence completely re-wrote it. To quote the script, "I want proof, not leads!"

[@insaneapples1559]

Древнибор Drevnibor Im not sure what your point is on this.

[@insaneapples1559]

Древнибор Drevnibor The text you quoted from Laurence seems to support that however. He said Lucas provided a bare bones rough draft, basically an outline, which would likely be absent of any specific scenes and dialogue. Maybe there was a word or two, but given he took no credit says to me there probably wasn't, or at least it was changed by Laurence. Either way we can agree he's a poor screenwriter.

[@OllieByGolly]

"Why George Lucas is NOT a bad editor..." Fixed it.

[@Rodshark75]

Except he never edits his movies, his ex-wife did the original trilogy and a couple other people did the Prequels.

[@misosazay]

when the director is in full control of the editing, he does the editing.

[@DarthVandigo]

I quite enjoy the Prequels. Story is great, CGI is actually quite good, and there are actually a ton of physical sets used. Yes, the acting can be subpar at times, but it's not like the Original Trilogy had great acting. What I find hilarious is when people say that "all off Lucas' movies that he directed are trash." or some variation of that, but they all forget that he wrote and directed A New Hope, and that started everything and is the 2nd best film in the franchise. Lucas really did need some help fleshing out the scripts for the prequels, but that aren't garbage, as many will say. He's had the story in his head since '75. And he told it.

[@thatguynamedskyy6756]

DarthVandigo, I feel as though the story is pretty good, just executed poorly. The CGI isn't as bad as bad as people say, but it would have looked better if it were practical.

[@RaMraM-zm1el]

I like the Prequels more the OT because I enjoyed the films and got me engaged more

[@johncrossing]

I agreed with you right up to 17:20. The “bad acting” wasn’t really bad acting. Even the most accomplished actors can’t make shitty dialogue sound good, or pre-written characterization work in context. Natalie Portman is a great example. She’s a GREAT actress. In these movies, she looks like an idiot, because of the lines that were written for her character. That all falls on Lucas.

[@Pazuzu4All]

It was bad acting. They didn't emote well at all. The problem was that Lucas didn't give proper direction to the actors, which is why most of the performances could be so wooden. Even great actors can give bad performances when their director doesn't know what he's doing.

[@freddybeer]

I think Natalie, like Carrie, had trouble connecting emotionally to the material. (Remember, that interview with Carrie talking about blowing up Alderaan? George took her aside and said 'Hey, she's really serious. This is her home planet).' Natalie had to be 'spoken to' in the scene where she cries after seeing the Jedi Temple on Fire in Episode III. She got there eventually. No such trouble with Hayden - whom crew members said he went method and stayed in character ONLY after Anakin went to the Dark Side. He would stand in corners, head down, mumbling to himself.

[@DarthSharp]

I think that Lucas has a lot of Golden Age of Hollywood sensibility/influence and there was a lot of in the prequels and he tried he tried to genre blend. Christopher Lee in particular once played Count Dracula in 1957. Is it any coincidence that he plays a rather verbally theatrical character named "Count" Dooku, whom is also like Dracula being a kind of byronic hero? Anakin and Padme play to a forbidden wartime (WWII) romance. Plenty of films in that era have 'bad dialogue' or lines that are delivered in a stilted or sometimes cheesy way. I think that is just something he liked. On the plus side, Ewan McGregor had one of the best transfermations and performances throughout the films. I have never been a prequel hater in any capacity. That's not say that perhaps some of the films could of been executed a little better or that some of the CGI was a over the top and a little off-putting at times, but I am fascinated by his older school approach and the different kinds of stories/characterization/aesthetic he tried to blend together. I think there is a lot more in prequels than meets the eye.

[@aurorauplinks]

you guys should enjoy the animated 3d clone wars too its rather amazing at times etc kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4vFooGVdr2LpMk

[@darthsomething]

Gaius Wyrden Ok

[@dantenarede]

Prequel's Obi-Wan is better, that's a fact.

[@alexanderstilianov]

I have a soft spot for old man Ben Kenoby. It's the mystery.

[@Thatturtlethatsaysmeanthings]

Nah. Lacks character depth, some people like that tho

[@coffeecomics3583]

That's an opinion, dummy.

[@99Plastics]

@@coffeecomics3583 Not really, if we take a basis for what is considered "better" in acting and movies we can come to factual conclusion that his version was indeed better.

[@irishjoe2941]

SynthwaveHyena exactly! I agree with ya

[@godstomper]

lucas is a visionary. But ya his writing is soso.

[@TheJiminatorHS]

its not even his writing, its his dialogue. the overarching story of the prequels is great

[@sebastiaankruis3006]

Could'veBeenBetterProductions The IDEAS are great. Lucas needs some framework to put his ideas into. His ideas, like for example how Anakin falls to the dark side, are great, the execution (those stupid Naboo scenes) is bad (which includes dialogue and humor).

[@coreymckee4844]

godstomper the zack Snyder of that time.

[@Lord_Insectious]

I loved Hayden as Anakin cuz of his great acting skills n i hate how people said he was bad. It's the same with how George made the prequels even with the sand scene cuz it was meant to be a witty pick-up line from Anakin to Padme.

[@Rodshark75]

Judging from your spelling and grammar, I can see why you think Hayden was great in the prequels. He actually IS a good actor, but the script and direction he was given made him turn in a horrible performance.

[@nathanjora7627]

Rodshark75 ... I beg to differ. Whilst his performance was mostly average in epII (though generally not bad, except he fireplace scene), with some highlights (the death of his mother and following scene), his performance in epIII was mostly great, even fantastic at time (like every scene when he is darth vader, when Padme tells him she is pregnant, when he speaks with Obi Wan before his departure to hunt Grievous, etc.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

@@Rodshark75 not even close. He was the perfect look for a young darth vader look.

[@e.n8461]

I don't even know why people hate the prequels and love the sequels

[@jvenom174]

I also don’t get the reverse of that statement either. I don’t see much reason to love any Star Wars movie past Empire. Some decent stuff in Return, some good looking action and special effects in Rogue One, and the chemistry between Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Solo movie are pretty much the only things I can think of that are acceptable past Return of the Jedi for me. TFA was a fine little retro movie that reminded people what the spirit of Star Wars once was in 1977, but it was still unnecessary and kinda bland with crappy jokes. The prequels were just mishandled by the creative team surrounding Lucas at the time. George has always needed people around to flesh out his ideas and refine them, because he’s more of a first draft guy instead of a finally tuned machine type of guy. Rian Johnson pretty much had the same level of freedom that George did with the prequels, and when that kind of indie filmmaking state of mind is not put into check when making a blockbuster, then everything tends to fall apart usually. George came from the same place that Rian did, and in my opinion they both made a critical mistake with not having people bold enough to criticize their respective scripts more before filming.

[@RetrocadePodcast]

It's stylistically designed to be that way and George can't undo that, but he can diminish the effects of it.

[@lethelweapon5]

redlettermedia?

[@jimbeaux89]

Dude, I loved the prequel’s. I don’t know why they get so much hate

[@kutuluu]

George Lucas is a genius who writes horrible dialogue and made bad choices with the prequels. But that is nothing compared to what he has achieved and given to movies and nerd culture. And all those wonderful games from Lucasarts.

[@freddybeer]

You know it was him that gave us MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, right? It's space fantasy dialogue modelled on Flash Gordon. Even the OT has terrible dialogue at times but no one ever mentions that, right?? LOL!

[@zorkmid1083]

For those that remember the "Koronis Rift" game: supposedly, he was the one who recommended the alien pop up in the front window. Total genius!

[@authorjoannawhite]

HOW WAS THE DIALOGUE HORRIBLE?

[@ConnorsGameRoom]

"I'll bet you didn't notice his arms were replaced!" Kind of the whole point of the surgery wasn't it?

[@hhajjar]

dude, you need a microscope to see these edits. The first seconds where Anakin breathes into the mask are the most epic seconds of the entire Star Wars. the main issue is: George's movies, including the prequels had a BLOODY STORY! a character's ARC! a magical universe that captured everyone. This is what Disney's star wars is lacking. The fight between Maul/Qui Gon/ Obi is epic, the fight between Mace Windu and Palpatine is Epic, the Fight between Yoda and the Count is Epic! not to mention the plots the darkside of the force how it played everyone, Sidious is a master of deception. You love everyone in the movies, they have stories behind them, you feel connected to them even if they appeared for seconds like the Y-Wing Squadron in New Hope each fighter is somehow a legend, tell me who did can you connect with in Disney's SW? Damn even Sebulba pulled up a better script than what we are getting now.

[@Blazingator]

oh boy are you wrong on so many levels.. Tell me something about Darth Maul that you know from the movie apart "he looks cool and has a cool lightsaber and is a sith". The have a story, yes, but it's so poorly told that prequels are on the verge of being "so bad it's good" category. Tell me something about padme as a character, what is she like, what does she like, hwat are her goals? She is all a big "i'm anakin's girlfriend" character.. Honestly, i don't know why am i even saying all this when you honestly consider literally the worst fight in the entire series epic (that is windu (and jedi masters that die in the first 5 seconds) and palpatine). The execution is terrible and that is not even an exaggeration. You like the concepts, not the films.

[@Сайтамен]

Darth Maul is side villian, Palpatine's student. And he killed Qui-Gon, so he influences on plot. Boba Fett did nothing in the OT, but everyone somewhy loves him. Padme's arc: from naive brave girl who fight for her planet, she became clever politician who tried to stop war and conserve Republic (in deleted scene she even organized Rebel Alliance). Worst fight is in New Hope. Execution is normal if you watch the movie and listen dialoges. And yes, prequels were great. They get us great world of the Republic and Jedi, told the arc of Anakin Skywalker which gets more sense to OT. And they did the univerce more serious and mature. Of course, the epic star battles and saber fights...If you don't like it because of stupid reasons (Jar Jar, midichlorians, love dialogues), it is such your problem. Without George would be no Star Wars.

[@bitza9950]

He is obviously depressed at this point, cut the dude some slack..

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

HDSeaton Yeah I agree.

[@cantorlok2815]

He isn't a bad director, he's just a bad dialogue writer.

[@DBSG1976]

Count Orlok Amen...those "love scenes" with Anakin and Padme make my wife cry out in pain.

[@herschelhatcheriv9577]

no he's not even a director.

[@cantorlok2815]

Herschel Hatcher Yes he is.

[@herschelhatcheriv9577]

Then why doesn't he direct? He doesn't even try to direct in the prequels (the only films he's ever been in full control of) I learned things in directing 101 that he hasn't even grasped yet. He doesn't do anything as a director. He doesn't even give his actors basic things like business or motivated movement. He never has subtext-motivated camera movement. He doesn't care at all about directing, he puts zero effort into it.

[@herschelhatcheriv9577]

Count Orlok ^

[@darkdoescosplays]

Damn brilliant and needed video.Fed up of the Lucas hate. One of my favourite aspects of both trilogies is how every film in one way or another used ground-breaking technology which wasn't commonly used. People give him shit for telling the story HE wanted to tell... It can be rare in the film industry to have one person have true control of the story they want tell, let alone rare for a person to create his own film company out of it. In many ways Lucas Film and all the subsidiaries are to film makers what Mojang Games and Minecraft were to indie games (before being sold to Microsoft). People who say he ruined the films should try getting into the position he managed to in the film business. I mean, wow, people have such a dislike of the guy it's almost like he should be wiped from existence EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HIS EXISTENCE THAT GAVE US STAR WARS!!!

[@flowerlandfilms]

He's one of the greatest directors of all time, a one off unique talent. He doesn't need defending, if "The Internet" doesn't like him "The Internet" is a tasteless moron.

[@grumpydaz6522]

Well said

[@grumpydaz6522]

plagiarism = TFA. It's a direct copy of A new hope. It's like no brainpower was involved in innovation or script. There is no story within a story, no adventure. nothing is there. Empty dialog for zoned out viewers. Jesus, my kids where embarrassed because, I snored too loud in the theater during Godzilla. Tfa makes Godzilla look like a hit. I recently watched a free copy of tfa from a friend, and still felt ripped off for having watched it. I was even too horrified to even fall asleep. At least Godzilla gave me the best sleep I'd had in a while and entertained the audience through my snoring and kids trying to wake me. Anyway, the prequels had their problems,(mainly no. 3) but not for lack of effort or imagination like tfa, Revenge of the sith was the letdown in the prequels, it seemed very rushed. Kind of like Mr Lucas had, had enough of all his "fans" whining and said F**k it, Good enough, they're gonna bitch anyway, lets just get this movie finished and get on with our lives. Can anyone blame him? The only reason I have a problem with Abrams, is the he is a fraud,he has no talent or vision and just coast's on the hard work of others. He comes in on a well established, well liked franchise, f**ks it up and runs with the glory. Only dimwits could like tfa, most did not, yet it falsely appeared to be successful because people were expecting something near the same caliber as Mr Lucas's work. The next movie wont get nearly as much attention. I guess they'll blame the economic climate or piracy for the revenue loss. I dont think even Mr Lucas could fix Star wars after Abrams is through with it.

[@grumpydaz6522]

He's not stupid. He has his opinion. The problem is negative emotions get out of control. Difference of opinion makes us individuals.I may have different opinions to him but, I actually like his gumption

[@arcgamer8688]

+EsechavaHD He is a hater,like many others.Now he will tear apart bouth Deadpool's and Deathstroke's reputations!Don't listen to him,or even me.Listen to your own brain.If you think TFA was a remake,or the prequels are good,you are right and no one can denie it!

[@arcgamer8688]

+Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) I am a honorable warrior,so I won't accept such insolence.But I will not let the rage consume me.You are just a hater.

[@Jared_Wignall]

George Lucas is awesome. I think he's a fine director. He may not be Kubrick or Hitchcock, but he is very good at the films he directs. Sure his screenwriting might not be the best, which he acknowledges is a weakness of his, but his storytelling with plots and the vision he has for the films he creates for himself or others to direct is amazing and is the best quality he has when it comes to filmmaking. This is a great video. Thank you for making this.

[@gabrielreed1096]

I agree. People hate on the cgi, but fail to see past that to the story that is there.

[@Jared_Wignall]

Yeah, I like practical effects too, but there are some things you can't do in camera. This is where CGI comes in handy. Even Christopher Nolan, who I love as a filmmaker and director, uses CGI here and there. While he is for practical effects, he does know there are somethings you can't do with practical effects, like making Harvey Dent's face realistically burnt is a great example.

[@ironvader502]

The fun thing about the "all was CGI"-complaint is that it's simply wrong. The only two scenes where everything in the background was CG are the droid factory and the talk - scene between Mace, Yoda and Obi-Wan in Episode II, and those only because they weren't in the original Script and added very late. in 90% of all other scenes, most of the buildings, scenery, landscapes, Backgrounds and Sets are Sets, Real-World locations, models or miniatures. The arena of Geonosis in the background ? Model The Hangar where Obi-Wan and Anakin fought Dooku ? Gigantic Set Most outside- and inside shots of Kamino ? Model All Landscape-shots of Mustafar aswell as the Mining-complex are taken on a model, the Lava is just real footage of Lava from Mt Etna, and all inside shots, aswell as the plattforms Anakin and Obi-Wan fight on are sets. The Mountains in the background on Aldeeran are the alps, filmed in switzerland, Theed and Naboo are all models, or real places in Italy. The underwater-landscapes in EpI are models, and remember the scene in EpIII where a bunch of wookies storm towards droids Landing on their beach ? The Wookies were real people in costumes, and the beach a model. The filmed the wookies in Front of a bluescreen, then put the model-landscape behind them. The exact same way they did it back in the OT. Both Obi-Wans and Anakin Jedi-Starfighters from the Beginning of Episode III were live-sized mock-ups, aswell as a additional Cockpit-only Set for scenes from inside. Basically every detailed background or building we saw in close - up from the outside was either a Set or a model, from Utapau to even extremely minor sceneries like Cato-Neimodia. EPIII alone had vastly more models and sets built for it than the entirety of the OT COMBINED. Wether people want to accept it or not, it's very possible that Ep III relied LESS on CG than TFA.

[@joshuahopkins8747]

Um...have you seen the behind the scenes from the prequels? They didn't leave the studio. Ever. It was all on green screen with a few props to make up ground work.

[@Сайтамен]

@@joshuahopkins8747 They did. Tatooine and Geonosis were filmed in desert.

[@elartedericardobenavides1647]

the visual effects on clothing, architecture, dialogues, hairstyles, futurism aesthetics etc, created an original visual language that only George can create!!! Disney with all the money of the world have not been able to do something like George did with few millions of dollars!!!

[@zorkmid1083]

To quote the Emperor: "You will pay the price for your lack of vision!" :-)

[@ThatGuy-y2c]

Check out Blade Runner and tell me he created an “original visual language.”

[@nathanjora7627]

Benjamin K He created an original vision. Hell, Coruscant is nothing like blade runner except in the lowest levels, and that’s because decrepit overpopulated urban areas all look like this. Also, read Asimov, or K. dick, tell me that Blade runner isn’t just that put to screen, aesthetic wise. Also, Blade Runner is one type of environments. Star Wars is plenty of environments, from clean to dirty, futuristic to natural, wealthy to poor, spatial to terrestrial, all seamlessly integrated in one movie, three times (since he made three prequel movies). It’s not anybody who could’ve mixed high fantasy, cyberpunk, space opera, etc in one coherent whole.

[@jvenom174]

@@ThatGuy-y2c George borrowed heavily from Akira Kurosawa, Joseph Campbell, Flash Gordon serials, Metropolis, and the visual aesthetic of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. Most filmmakers borrow styles and it’s completely fine. I think the reason why it’s so frustrating in George’s case is because a lot of his fans think his visual style is really pure and unique when it’s definitely not.

[@Dog-999i]

Why is the clickbait red circle in the thumbnail? That's a really bad sign already.

[@nizzleprizzle9783]

Spanishdog17 it worked on me for sure

[@madrid_seu]

Spanishdog17 look a but before 10:00

[@christopherryan8900]

9:07

[@fundhund62]

Why Van Gogh wasn´t a bad painter. Why Federer isn´t a bad tennis player. Why Bobby Fischer wasn´t a bad chess player. Why Mozart wasn´t a bad musician.

[@Blazingator]

this comment implies that Lucas indeed is a good director, which is not true at all.

[@orlandofurioso7329]

@@Blazingator and your comment implies you know better, which you don't

[@Blazingator]

@@orlandofurioso7329 interesting, proove it.

[@orlandofurioso7329]

@@Blazingator Directed a new hope (which was not saved by Marcia according to the book by JW Rinzler), even if Kirshner is said to have directed empire alone he mostly worked with actors while Lucas helped with the general direction, had a huge hand in Return of the jedi. Directed the first five seasons of Clone wars, directed THX 1138 and American graffiti which is, by the way, the movie that kickstarted Harrison's career. You don't build all that out of luck.

[@Blazingator]

@@orlandofurioso7329 no, no, no, i don't care about George Lucas. Proove that i don't know better.

[@matthewgaudet4064]

It was never more apparent that Lucas was the brain trust and creator of the star wars stories, when Disney could not find a decent story with 4 tries and 2 bad films out of 4. Star Wars is dead, they killed Luke Skywalker after they made him a coward.

[@jvenom174]

They really needed to plan the trilogy out extensively before filming. I believe Lord of the Rings took about 10 years to get ready and it shows. That whole trilogy was meticulously crafted. It really apparent when you compare it to the hobbit trilogy, because that whole debacle was rushed into production a lot like the Star Wars sequels were.

[@XthegreatwhyX]

The directing was never the issue.

[@EggheadDash]

George's strengths come primarily in the post-production side of the film creation process rather than the production or pre-production stages. The scripts are atrocious (even in A New Hope Harrison Ford complained that "you can type this shit, but you can't say it.") and he seems to like actors to give either bland emotionless performances or ridiculously over the top ones. You can't blame the actors of the prequels for their performances, most of them have plenty of great performances in other films, and they gave good performances the first time quite a bit but then George told them to bring it down and those were all the takes he used in the final cutf (with the exception o Ewan McGregor who used the excuse that he was trying to emulate Alec Guiness and George mostly let that slide, while none of the other actors had that excuse due to being either original to the prequels, in a radically different form like Vader, or being portrayed by the same actor as in the Original Trilogy like the droids and Palpatine). Yet the CGI is actually pretty good when he doesn't try to show it off too much like in the Panaka scene, and in the special editions and DVDs quite a few shots were actually improved with CG. The problem shots are the ones that added it completely unnecessarily like with Jabba, Greedo shooting first, or adding all the creatures to Mos Eisley, but some like the new Emperor, the full shots of the Wampas, the covering up of some of the special effect errors etc. actually do improve the film. Even in the prequels themselves the CGI yoda in the Phantom Menace Blu Ray looks a lot better than the puppet, although part of that was that the design and build quality of the puppet were pretty poor (why make him look older than he does in the OT?)

[@Bacon56ful]

Quentin Tarantino is insane but thank god he makes movies

[@DBSG1976]

Low Powered Training Round Matthews One of the best dialogue writers in the business.

[@Malidictus]

People HAAATE the Star Wars prequels because they're jumping in on the bandwagon. When a lot of us saw the Phantom Menace, we went away thinking it was decent, only to later be convinced it sucked by really loud, really angry people. It's taken a decade or two for people to calm down, but we may finally be able to examine the movies as movies, not as "THIS WAS MY CHILDHOOD!!!" The primary flaw in the Star Was prequels is the acting and the technology of the time. The acting is almost universally terrible, delivered by inexperienced, wooden actors likely without much in the way of coaching. Ewan McGreggor and Ian McDiarmid were pretty good, but almost everybody else was awful, including Samuel Jackson. The excessive amount of green-screen technology left the actors with little in the environment that they could interact with, turning what should have been a movie into essentially a stage play without props. That and the CGI quality of the time really wasn't good enough to be paired up with live-action actors without clashing very obviously. But those are all technical issues. The story the movies were trying to tell is actually pretty good - a poignant tragedy of a trouble child's upbringing being terribly mismanaged. It's a story about the effect of thrusting this much responsibility and expectation onto a young and fragile mind and how it all ends up backfiring. The execution is what lets it down, partly because the actors and special effects failed to deliver it, partly because the movies were packed with too much unnecessary filler. That last one can and should be laid directly at the feet of George Lucas. He has a penchant for cramming several parallel stories and large numbers of characters into the same movie, which has the knock-on effect of outright murdering any sense of pace or flow. I'm not sure what there is in the Prequel movies that isn't in Return of the Jedi, only made worse by shoddy puppets and really obvious stop-motion.

[@Dreadpirateflappy]

I saw it at cinemas the week itr released and thought it was utter crap compared to the original trilogy. Only amazing thing about the film was Darth Maul.

[@Malidictus]

Steve Nugent "Compared to the original trilogy" is a bit of a double-edged sword, because it requires ignoring large parts of "Empire Strikes Back" and the majority of "Return of the Jedi." I first saw the original trilogy as a child at which point I liked everything sci-fi, but re-watching it as an adult... A New Hope is the only one I still like, and even then I can't stand C3PO and R2D2. When I watched "The Phantom Menace," I wasn't exactly blown away, but I saw it as a decent movie, which is the most I could say for any of the other Star Wars movies having seen them recently at the time. Yes there are Midichlorians and nearly all of the actors suck, but nearly all of the actors in A New Hope suck just as much. Harrison Ford and Peter Cushing were sort of an exception, but the rest of the cast felt like the kids in the first few Harry Potter movies - green and still learning the ropes. The Phantom Menace is still trying to tell a grand story and introduce a much broader world than any of the old trilogy ever gave us. I don't feel Jar Jar Bings is enough to undermine that.

[@general-husky9100]

Malidictus I LOVE THE PREQUELS

[@OSleeperTactical]

The wife and I watched the prequels recently. Other than cringing through the romantic bits in episode two we loved them. She cried all the way through the end of episode three and I loved the lot to details throughout

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

Oh, the edits were fine. It's the characters, the transitions, the dialogue. The story is actually somewhat interesting. I don't even care about the edits flaws when everything else is so bad. Lucas' original trilogy WORKED because he yielded to advices of others. The two BETTER Star Wars were not even directed or edited by George Lucas. George Lucas DIDN'T work alone on the original trilogy. Lucas' original idea was too much and fit into one film. Also people change.

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

For instance the Vader scene. The bad part is not the edit. It's the "Noooooooooooo!"

[@davidhagberg6118]

yes he says that in the end of the video. you should watch it ;)

[@DarthAlphaTheGreat]

We do not agree though. The prequel were bad. The politics were boring (kids movie, my asscheeks it's good kids movie), the dialogues were boring, the characters are bland. No, prequel sucks pretty much everything except the overall plot--even plot elements suck. Not total garbage, but they are bad. The cuts and edits are fine, the actions are fine. But a good story is about the specific plot elements, the lore/setting, the pacing, the character and the emotional investment of those characters in the film (hence our own emotional investment). Graphics and action are addon. Prequel only achieved 1/5 on those really, and that's the lore, absolutely amazing lore material, horribly executed.

[@davidhagberg6118]

you are right. the movies are way to boring to have al that exiting content/combat, i mean palpatine vs mace should be epic as my left buttcheck so i dont understand how they made it so amazingli boring

[@wheelmanstan]

the prequels are sterile, they're like an orange computer screen verses an orange painting, no brush strokes, no texture, no imperfections, Lucas was so bad with the prequels that it almost makes you think he just got lucky directing a new hope, the men that directing empire and return weren't even that great yet they still kicked ass with it

[@CreativoErratico]

You can't use Sally as an example. That's cheating. She was the fucking best.

[@ViggoMor10sen]

9:09 Why would you ask if we noticed what was odd about the scene while cutting away from the part where it's actually visible? You ask the question, then cut away to offer context and justify the change, without letting people actually take in the moment for themselves and see if they noticed anything.

[@Balthazar2242]

This is such a fascinating video, thank you! I really love hearing people be positive and un-biased about people like George Lucas. It shows a lot of maturity to not go along with the typical "he ruined star wars" mantra without considering all the variables, and the fact that he's a human being with a personality. Personally, I think I see why the prequels turned out the way they did. Lucas obviously had a different vision of what "Star Wars" was than the fans did. He had a whole Universe in his head that he wanted to put on screen, but it was so different than what we wanted that we hated it. Not to forgive it completely, but I think I just acknowledge that he's a human and people make mistakes, and have differences of opinion.

[@StefanTravis]

He's _not_ a bad director. Just a lousy writer.

[@cbacara3711]

Stefan Travis OTHER way great story teller bad execution of it

[@Hugglebuns]

Stefan Travis It probably didn't help that they had to take jarjar out after the phantom menace.

[@eternalpain232]

which he admits iirc

[@CHECKMATE426]

Yeah I think in the way of dialogue definitely bad. But, the screenplays for ANH for instance are really solid in terms of structure. This is thrown out the window in the prequels obviously but he fails in dialogue not in plot.

[@seangannon6005]

Stefan Travis I wouldn't say he's a completely bad writer, like the actual plot and development of the movies was OK. it was the scenes and dialogue themselves.

[@johns123]

This was neat -- I had no idea about this editing stuff before today. Thanks for this!

[@JamesRoyceDawson]

This is an interesting video about editing, but as a video essay, it completely fails at its title premise. At no point do you actually argue why George Lucas is a good director. Being a risk taker and pushing new editing techniques don't make you a good director. A good director is someone who knows how to marshal a film to completion and work well with actors to get the best possible performances out of them. George demonstrably fails at these. You could argue that he's a decent producer for getting the prequels made, but after the first Star Wars, he wasn't involved in the writing or directing of any of the Star Wars films people actually like.

[@macree01]

He actually co wrote all 3. You are right he didnt direct 5 and 6 though.

[@juresaiyan]

I thank you for this video. I've defended the prequels for 15 years now, and I'm glad I'm not alone. Although, my defense goes even further than this video.

[@grumpydaz6522]

Same here. Sort of. I wish he didn't second guess himself with whole Jar Jar Sith thing . It would have blown even the haters away.

[@justinwilliams6375]

If you had to defend something for 15 years, that should be a red flag and a tell tale sign of the thing you're defending. On and On, till you realize it, you'll always BE defending it. pointlessly.

[@juresaiyan]

Justin Williams i think you misunderstood my reply

[@darkness_of_the_night]

You're wrong. It's a matter of love. For instance, if you love your wife, you will always be ready to defend her against critique from other people. If you have loved a song or piece of music for decades and you hear other people saying that it's terrible, you will also defend it. Anytime. ... And the same goes for a film that you love.

[@jacktaylor3001]

Lucas is a frakkin genius at directing. Underrated. He's a master film maker. American Graffiti is still my favorite of his. The prequels were just fine.

[@AlyssMa7rin]

The reason the Prequels were 'bad' is that Everyone looked at them expecting them to be even better than the OT, but were disappointed when they were just good Movies.

[@wolfinwool]

George Lucas is a visual genius. Storytelling? Working with actors? To quote Lord Vader. . . "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

[@ferdvds]

His ex wife actually had a huge impact on the original trilogy as she managed to take some of Lucas's crazier ideas and watred them down. She was also responsible for a lot of the nicer character moments that brought the characters to life and made them relatable. Lucasfilm has tried to bury her contribution ever since the divorce. The prequels might have been a lot better if she still had an input.

[@Kissamiess]

Hmm, interesting. I always thought it was Gary Kurtz shooting the bad ideas down.

[@Fnordathoth]

Gary Kurtz also had a huge impact

[@zorkmid1083]

Don't forget that Harrison Ford played a big role in making sure the original trilogy's dialogue didn't suck too much (even Alec Guinness mentioned this). Since he wasn't involved in eps 1-3, though...

[@user-xt4pk7my6h]

Lame. Now sjw wars is led by MaRey Sue

[@Сайтамен]

By your logic, Kubrick, Cameron, Hichkok also didn't do their films themselves.

[@nathanjora7627]

9:11 « Remember the shot in episode III when Vader was introduced ? » Do I remember one of the most iconic, meaningful, emotional, impactful, scene of all Star Wars if not cinema history, a scene that crowns the second trilogy of one of the most important cinematic saga of all time, a scene that reveals the full transformation of one of the most well known villain of all time, thus accomplishing the first half of the character arc of a beloved character ? ... Yeah, it does ring a bell. 17:23 « the reason we’re made at the prequels is because of bad acting, overwhelming amounts of CGI, and how cheesy it all is » I mean... Maybe for you, but I like them for their great acting, creative and groundbreaking use of CGI, and how the creators tried to make it unique.

[@FistKitso]

He's not a bad director, he's a questionable *writer*.

[@uu119816]

No, he's bad at both

[@uu119816]

+Stefan Sings Swing I agree. However, after I looked at his whole career instead of a single film I came to that conclusion. What was your point anyway? Because that's a pretty stupid thing to bring up

[@uu119816]

***** Are you touched in the head? I didn't bring it up.

[@SuperMarley0]

He is a very bad director, the entire prequel trilogy are static shots, no creative , or and movement with the camera.

[@johnnystevens1248]

+José Abel Salazar Lizárraga "photorealistic"

[@deloreanized]

What kind of title is that? George Lucas is one of best filmmakers of his generation.

[@OgreJoe]

1:59 What movie is that?

[@miklosernoehazy8678]

OgreJoe ...I think it's one of the Frankenstein movies... ...Son of Frankenstein or some such sequel...

[@tony1954]

Finally someone who agrees.

[@arcgamer8688]

I agree too!

[@Mythic2827]

A majority of agreeing = Doesn't equal correctness. He's a good director... but his storytelling went into the trash for his 21st century films.

[@Dang00TheAlien]

Can we stop hating the prequels because its been like 12 years since ROTS, lets turn our hate to the new trilogy

[@blondon1368]

I am genuinely glad that I watched this video. I loved the Prequels growing up, and whilst not as good as the original trilogy, they are still great movies. It is good to see someone actually saying positive things about the man who created the series.

[@ICE787709]

Now I finally understand why most dialog with the characters feels so stale. It's cause George shoehorned in tons of different performances. Now I have another argument about why the prequels are bad. Thanks man.

[@Wyvern07_]

Still can’t see the shape morph

[@freddybeer]

Me neither. Hayden tensed and leant his head forward. That's all I see.

[@EchthelionII]

I think a little bit of his hair moves down at the bottom.

[@nathanexplosionn]

the Datth Vader arms thing is BS too. just two different takes. one was probably specifically shot for the trailer.

[@zorkmid1083]

The hair isn't moving naturally on the film, as if part of Anakin's head was changed in post-production. Personally, you'd have to be mega-detail-oriented to have been bothered by that instead of paying attention to Palpatine's great monologue.

[@abdmin3268]

@@nathanexplosionn The shots are identical, only the arms are different, George likes to edit unnecessary stuff in this film, like in TPM he asked the editors to change the time when Captain Panaka sits.

[@DingleDangle66]

Fake Star Wars fans disrespect, and hate this guy.. This guy is a legend, I prefer ROTJ over Empire Strikes Back..

[@zg234]

I agree with many of your points. George Lucas is an absolutely incredible storyteller and world builder. I still maintain that The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are the series' strongest entries because they combine Lucas' wonderful, original ideas with some amazing execution to put them onto the screen. I think a large part of the reason why the Prequels failed is because Lucas struggles with actor communication, and especially screenwriting.

[@grumpydaz6522]

The only error George Lucas made with the prequels was listen to the JarJar Binks haters and stop Jar Jar from revealing he was Sith. I found Jar Jar as annoying as I did Yoda to start with. But that was the masquerade both Yoda and Jar Jar were to play until their Identities were revealed. Its a shame George Lucas second guessed himself because Jar Jar never evolved as a Sith and remained annoying for all time. " Jar Jar is the key to all this." George Lucas quote. Anyone who disagrees should go back and watch Yoda's Debut and tell me he wasn't just as annoying as Jar Jar.

[@bladerunner1b]

" Jar Jar is the key to all this." meant he had to be believable for the film to succeed because he was the first CGI character to have so much screen time. The Jar Jar as a Sith is just funny fan stories made up by fans to try and make the travesty that was Jar Jar Binks seem better. And i'll admit some of them are brilliant. Lucas never had that intention though.

[@aurorauplinks4703]

Jarjar is unnatural as a character and is implied to be a illusion or not their because a 3d character arm goes right through him, once only once, in a scene that was easy to reshoot

[@termin3455]

What’s the song in the background?

[@derpcena5078]

The problem was his writing, not the effects

[@TameTones]

Derp Cena Shut up. It was completely both.

[@willv3462]

Caldorian he didn't design storm troopers, and just because he's been writing for a long time doesn't mean it's good.

[@willv3462]

Caldorian the original trilogy was fantastic because of Lucas yes, but also because of Ralph McQuarry (who designed everything) Lawrence Kasdan and Irving Kershner. Lucas didn't even direct 2 original trilogy films. He completely directed and controlled the prequels , which are some of the worst films I've ever seen

[@rastarapha]

Derp Cena writing a bible peplum's, investigate movie or greek tragedy is not bad

[@MrAlpaca19]

I agree, effects are not necessary sometimes but the dialogues seemed a big vague, especially in the prequels

[@dukenukem8381]

ITS SO FOCKIN DENSE M8

[@RabbiB0Y]

How do you do a face morph I wondering cause I am working on a film and one of the actors is leaving so I want a seen where the main character changes from one actor to another ( yes this is a doctor who fan film) and I want to make it look good I use WeVideo to edit

[@XENOGALAXY]

I love the prequels. they dont deserve the hate.

[@jmorales09]

Sam Salem Everything deserves some amount of hate.

[@forgottenpotato9868]

Sam Salem I only hated the phantom menace.

[@helterskelter9020]

How old are you?

[@XENOGALAXY]

i grew up on the original trilogy. i love it. the prequels came out and i loved em. i love all star wars. shows, books, comics. i love star wars and thats it. age doesnt factor in.

[@herschelhatcheriv9577]

yes they do.

[@kballwoof00]

His stories are brilliant but the dialogue and acting is so cringe

[@MegaDrunkViking]

kballwoof he directed that acting.

[@handoffbarry]

lol @ Episode 3 being better than any of the original movies. Gimme a break.

[@mokana713]

Alexander West Directors direct what an actor should do. But actors have to actually act, casting directors have to find people who can act, and screenwriters have to set the mood...etc. A lot of people's handprints are on large projects like this.

[@MegaDrunkViking]

mokana713 But we have evidence that Hayden Christensen can act. He isn't the AWFUL of an actor that he was in this movie. A great actor can help a bad script, but a bad director can ruin a good actor.

[@mokana713]

Alexander West My point is that many hands touch a project... Which is exactly what I said at the bottom of my last comment.

[@thebloocat]

Does anyone know the name of the background music?

[@IAmGeorgeLucas]

You guys miss me yet?

[@zoltanz288]

I never wanted you to leave. But nobody cares about what i want.

[@MattTheMagician23]

He's a great director, but a bad writer. Lawrence Kasdan was the mastermind behind the best Star Wars film, in my opinion, The Empire Strikes Back.

[@AirahsELL]

His original version of The Star Wars was that Luke was a weird robot man and Han was an alien. Lucas also finished the first draft of Phantom Menace only a few weeks before primary shooting was supposed to start. Star Wars was saved in editing by people that were NOT GEORGE LUCAS. He was an executive producer on Indiana Jones and thankfully most of his ideas were thrown out as ridiculous trash. Indiana Jones and the Giant Ants was an actual idea he had. He also wanted to have a haunted mansion style movie with Indy until Speilberg told him the idea was shit and they went to do The Last Crusade instead.

[@AirahsELL]

I. Th. Have fun not believing facts. Lucas' original ideas for Star Wars are well documented.

[@AirahsELL]

I could say the same for you denying actual evidence. www.starwars.com/news/7-unused-star-wars-concepts-that-wouldve-changed-everything I found this after 5 seconds of googling "Han Solo was an alien." Get fucked.

[@AirahsELL]

I. Th. Lucas actually did start primary filming 2 months after the first draft of the script was completed. To me this is "a few weeks." 8 weeks, to be exact. Even if you want to take that point, it's still way too soon between first draft and primary shooting to even revise the script into a workable condition. Once again, GET. FUCKED. You're one of these fuckwits who treats Star Wars like a goddamn religion instead of fun space adventure films and can't look beyond his nose to see that the prequel movies are incompetent films.

[@AirahsELL]

I. Th. You seem to ignore the fact that the first draft was COMPLETED. In spite of everything you're saying, it took him that long to finish the first draft. It doesn't matter how much preliminary work he did before it was complete, the point is that everything was pretty much set in stone without anyone going over his COMPLETED DRAFT in order to revise it. If you're so fucking mature (and only a mature person such as yourself would try to legitimize his own points by calling his opponent a "kid") then you would know how long the writing process for something like this can take. It takes longer than 2 fucking months to revise a workable first draft into a completed final manuscript. The first draft and scouting took 3 years to do, but by the time the draft was completed it was too late to go back and revise it and it seems like they had to do everything on the fly. These movies are bad films and bad Star Wars films. They have very little to do with the actual nature of Star Wars as films (being simple adventure movies with a heroic cycle) and seem more like they would have been more suited for an extended universe novel. For the final time, get fucked. I'm done speaking to you. There are plenty of things that these movies did wrong which were pointed out in the Plinkett reviews, and I'm pretty sure that Stoklasa has more knowledge on the the failures of the films and the art of filmmaking in general. I'm getting most of my points from him considering he can be considered as a credible source bordering on actual scholarship if the comedic bits put in for entertainment were removed.

[@Fulcrum1313]

Without Lucas we wouldn't have the VFX that we have now, he is a genius, and the creator of my favorite Saga.

[@pnpdynamic9720]

He Made Star Wars. That itself puts him on Spielbergs level.

[@TheDeimos97]

Great video! You make so many interesting points! I'll never be able to hate George Lucas, he gave us Star Wars

[@lauramcdougal3952]

let's replace them all: fire Kennedy, hire Spielberg; fire Abrams, hire Howard; and fire writer and hire Ernest Cline for Star Wars IX.

[@nizzleprizzle9783]

All you did was just compare stuff he did with other film makers. Just say why he isn't a bad director...

[@thepook04]

Nizzle Prizzle he said he's not a bad director because he takes risks. which is still a weak argument to me

[@deomartinez77]

George Lucas is not a bad director. He has excellent ideas for the most part is a visionary genius when it comes to shot composition. His weakness is that his storytelling and dialogue writing style is extremely simplistic. That's what made the prequels suffer, and for that matter that is what the original trilogy suffers from as well. To compensate for this weakness he works with really great actors who can elevate dialogue and with good screenwriters that fine tune his story ideas. The prequels didn't get any screenwriting help outside of George himself and A New Hope is the only 100% George Lucas written Star Wars story that gets almost no ridicule from the same people that hate the prequels with a burning passion yet that movie can be extremely slow in parts despite the incredible visuals. Anybody that instantly writes off Lucas completely is frankly a pretentious idiot that never understood what the man was bringing to the table in the first place. It's a shame his version of Episode 7-9 won't be seen as he did realize his mistakes with the prequels and was only going to help craft the visuals and the story. He was also going to Executive Produce them with new directors shooting just as he did with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He only sold to Disney when he decided he was to old to invest the energy needed for a potential 8 to 10 year project(He is 72) and wanted to ensure new stories would be told long after his eventual passing. Again this would have been great if it weren't for the fact that Disney decided to ditch George's ideas and instead wanted to make retro films and not to push the creative envelop and try new things as George wanted. Hence the complaints that TFA is too much like ANH. Sigh,...Just a sad shame. Seriously. George Lucas made Steven Spielberg angry jealous the first time he saw Star Wars. Anyone that can do that clearly doesn't suck as a filmmaker lol.

[@LouigiVerona]

What is the background music during narration?

[@bydesign3169]

A few people whine about jaja and cgi but i think if you ask the vaste majority of people they would conceed George Lucus is a good director and helped to make ground breaking changes to movies.

[@charleshall1862]

You are absolutely right. People forget or don't know that Star Wars is not the only work he has done behind the camera. It is the thing he is most famous for. He is a visionary and inventor as well as a storyteller. Look at his whole life and body of work before you hate on him. Star Wars is his creation. He had the right to do with it as he wished. He was ahead of his time and more importantly ahead of technology. What kind of comments would we have if say, we were Greeks and got the last three chapters of the Odyssey and twenty years we got the rest of the story. Twenty years of speculation is hard to live up to. Another example is as a previous commenter mentioned the last two acts of the Ring Cycle and twenty years later the first two acts. I don't think Lucas is the man who ruined Star Wars. I believe Disney and Jar Jar Abrams are successfully on their way to accomplishing that task based on TFA and Rouge 1. Neither hold the same feel as the first six except Adam Drivers spoiled brat behavior like his "grandfather" Hayden Christiansen. But props to Drivers acting ability , he's a good actor and I understand a fine man. Thanks for the video it's insightful commentary and well thought out. And one last thing , as I am making this comment on Dec. 23rd, I hope all the Star Wars community will join me in wishing a huge "May the Force be with you" to Carrie Fisher.

[@finalcountdown3210]

Charles Hall Star Wars may be his creation, but one important aspect of the OT that many people forget is that George Lucas didn't actually direct them. Yes he produced them under "Lucasfilms," but he was not the major director in the making of those films. Most of the changes he made in the "Special Edition" releases were unnecessary and distract from the intended story which he did not tell. Lucas is a great idea man, not a director.

[@shaneclarke8857]

finalcountdown3210 as a matter of fact he did direct A New Hope but he didn't for Empire or Jedi

[@LevatekGaming]

Charles Hall RIP Carrie Fisher.

[@vyrothevirus5304]

+Charles Hall Rogue One is amazing. TFA on the other hand...

[@cerevor]

That's less an essay on the topic in general than specific kind of response to something.

[@elijahrittenhouse3943]

People who don't think the prequels measure up to the original trilogy: okay People who don't like the prequels at all: bad People who blame it on George Lucas: very bad People who like the sequels: get out

[@havennn9677]

I believe George Lucas did great with all star wars movies