To be fair, I wouldn't necessarily say any of Star Wars, at least the ones written by George, are exactly "well-written".
I concur. He has always been FANTASTIC at ideas and plot. The details are more hit than miss, but still. There was a story Scorsese told about when he was in the editing room for New York New York and Lucas poked his head in just to say "You'll make another $20 million if you have them stay together in the end", and Scorsese just covered his face with both hands and lamented his lack of marketing talents.
they're kinda hammy sci-fi schlock
Exactly. And not all Star Wars needs to be that, but the originals certainly are. It was updated Flash Gordon.
Of course not, but the man (like a lot of humans) isn't perfect. And it's crucial (not to get too political here) for society to recognize their 'heroes' are fallible. And that's okay.
I do think it's telling that ANH was really only saved in the edit
God bless Marcia Lucas, more on that later.
I know AOTC was co-written, but TPM and ROTS were written solely by George
Well, supposedly both TPM and AOTC had some dialogue doctoring by Carrie Fisher. She also claimed to have rewritten some of her scenes with Han with Harrison Ford. Ford famously said "You can write this shit, George, but you can't say it."
I think ROTS is only as good as it is because it's clearly the story he wanted to tell most and was building toward
Agree. I get he wanted it to rhyme, and having things result in the Clone Wars was the downer ending, the defeat, ala ESB, but man do I wish he had the story beats of TPM coincide with the outbreak of the Clone Wars, then the second movie be in the midst of it. I dunno, I am STILL armchair editing the PT even 25 years later damnit.
But what I really wanted to say, since I love this story and haven't posted it on this forum yet, is how, yes, Lucas wanted to tell the ROTS story most, and I didn't fully realize why until I learned about the whole demise of his marriage with Marcia Lucas. When he did THX-1138, Lucas made enough money to buy a house. Then with American Graffiti, he made enough money to not have to worry about work. With Star Wars, he made enough money to buy a really nice house, AND not have to worry about work. After Empire, he came up with Skywalker Ranch and went to work on that, kinda setting the tracks for taking over Hollywood. But Skywalker Ranch also has amazing, state of the art editing facilities. People are still going there to cut movies, and he did that all for her. Essentially, he wanted to take over the galaxy with her at his side, when all Marcia really wanted to do was have that nice house and raise children with him. So I respect the hell out of him that he put such a personal touch on the galaxy's biggest prick/worst husband.
After their divorce, he of course force choked her right out of Hollywood.
saying that Star Wars has a "kiddy" problem lately feels a little like revisionist history
Agreed. Again, I don't think all Star Wars should be for one age group or another, but definitely think its great to have some Star Wars for littles, some Star Wars for biggers, and even Star Wars for grownies.
our gradual decline as a society, at least as far as interests and attention spans go, plays a part too
Ah man, no kidding. My kids certainly have that issue, but I'm so proud when they actually sit for a movie. One of my kids sat and watched the entirety of The Abyss with me a month or so ago and I was quietly thrilled.
audiences nowadays certainly don't seem to pick up on as many subtleties
NO KIDDING!
Which isn't bad or good, per se, just a product of the times
I guess. And I certainly can be in the mood for dumb and exciting, but I still appreciate things that make me feel and think.
The good thing about Star Wars is there's something for everyone
This is true, as long as shithead fans LET that happen! Not all Star Wars is for me, and I can accept that. All I ask is for everyone else to as well.
