Can't someone just *ask* Lucas?

IrishLuck1980

New member
You know what. Everyone says it was because of Lucas we have Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I agree. But there is one small thing you are forgetting. The Original Star Wars Trilogy needed help while be written. Lucas's original stuff was crap. Don't believe me? Here. The Star Wars Prequels are proof. They were written and directed COMPLETELY by George Lucas. AND THEY SUCKED!!!

Star Wars Original Trilogy: Had Lawrence Kasdan, Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand.

Indiana Jones Trilogy: Had Lawrence Kasdan, Philip Kaufman, and Frank Marshall and of course Steven Spielberg

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy: Written and Directed by George Lucas = CRAP
 

IrishLuck1980

New member
Perhaps I have judged the Young Indiana Jones release too harshley. Minus the packaging, it really is a great release. And the more I read about the creation of Young Indiana Jones the more I am appreciating the way these DVDs are setup. I just wish we, the fans, would be given a choice.
 

Vendetta08

New member
Matinee Idyll said:
And let's not forget 'THX-1138' and 'American Graffiti' - two of the best American features of the 70's.

I hated THX. The most boring wodden movie I've ever seen in my entire life. Lame acting, horrible looking, and then Lucas had to go back and add in CGI to it. AHHH, my eyes! The new CG enhancements make the movie look even worse than it did before. Nothing seems to fit.

I've never seen that movie on anyone's "best of" list, the only reason it's rarely acknowledged ever is just because it was directed by Lucas.
 

Matinee Idyll

New member
You're wrong, but that's ok.

Don't you think the fact that the cold, inhumane Dystopian vision Lucas presented was reflected in the pacing of the film was a deliberate stylistic and thematic choice? To show THAT future (with its obviously parallels to our present) in any other way would not have been as effective. 45 minutes into the film, and I wanted to get the f@ck out of that place as well - that's a sign of great filmmaking. I could have lived without the CGI additions, but they're not too bad.

I'll give you some advice, stay clear of European cinema entirely. Most of that early Zoetrope stuff (I'm looking at you 'The Conversation'!), hell, early 70's American cinema in general - derive most of their style from French and Italian artistic sensibilities. To folks raised on a diet of shallow, mainstream, explosion-a-second Hollywood bollocks the Euro style can seem slow, 'wooden' and 'lame'.

If you think THX is 'boring', well, go back to your popcorn. You're out of your league.
 

Adamwankenobi

New member
Matinee Idyll said:
You're wrong, but that's ok.

Don't you think the fact that the cold, inhumane Dystopian vision Lucas presented was reflected in the pacing of the film was a deliberate stylistic and thematic choice? To show THAT future (with its obviously parallels to our present) in any other way would not have been as effective. 45 minutes into the film, and I wanted to get the f@ck out of that place as well - that's a sign of great filmmaking. I could have lived without the CGI additions, but they're not too bad.

I'll give you some advice, stay clear of European cinema entirely. Most of that early Zoetrope stuff (I'm looking at you 'The Conversation'!), hell, early 70's American cinema in general - derive most of their style from French and Italian artistic sensibilities. To folks raised on a diet of shallow, mainstream, explosion-a-second Hollywood bollocks the Euro style can seem slow, 'wooden' and 'lame'.

If you think THX is 'boring', well, go back to your popcorn. You're out of your league.

Quoted for truth. :D:whip:
 

Matinee Idyll

New member
THX-1138 is a damn incredible film - wish more people could see that! Completely f@cking bleak - moreso for me than 2001, Blade Runner, Brazil or any of the similarly themed films I've seen. This is the 'real deal' - completely breaking down your senses until you feel like one of these sad drugged up folks.

I can't think of a sadder thing than George being really ****ed over by the studios on those first three pictures (studio interference, 'freaks up front', etc), subsequently stops taking chances as a filmmaker, and loses his muse so utterly. How terrible. Young Indiana Jones was the last great thing he was involved with.

And I'll be honest with you, I think part of the perceived failing of 'Young Indiana Jones' to a mainstream American audience was the fact that it had predominantly European cast and crew. This is reflected in the direction, pacing, cinematography, score, etc - and while it never reached the 'artiness' of Georges early work, I think the series had many echoes of the thematic strands that went through his first 3 feature films (desire for escape, etc).

I mean, check that out.

THX - Longs to free himself from this 'civilized' prison.
American Graffiti - These smalltown kids on the verge of adulthood, all the ones with any sense want to get out and live - even if they can't yet articulate what they want to do once they leave.
SW - Lukes desire to escape Tatooine, tied with his obligations.

It's a very personal theme for Lucas, himself having come from a smalltown with big ambitions. Young Indy, with the character constantly wishing to rebel against the rule of Ms. Seymour, or his father, and do things his own way fits nicely into some of the ideas that pervade Georges best work.
 

Vendetta08

New member
Matinee Idyll said:
You're wrong, but that's ok.

Now you're just being ignorant. The first two lines I typed went as following:


I hated THX. The most boring wodden movie I've ever seen in my entire life.


Just how can I be wrong about "hating it" or it being "the most boring wooden movie I've ever seen." If I am wrong, then do you mind telling me what IS the most boring wooden movie that I've ever seen was?

Don't you think the fact that the cold, inhumane Dystopian vision Lucas presented was reflected in the pacing of the film was a deliberate stylistic and thematic choice? To show THAT future (with its obviously parallels to our present) in any other way would not have been as effective. 45 minutes into the film, and I wanted to get the f@ck out of that place as well - that's a sign of great filmmaking. I could have lived without the CGI additions, but they're not too bad.

45 minutes in, I was thinking, "this is stupid, there is no plot. Lucas's young weak ability to tell a story is showing."

I'll give you some advice, stay clear of European cinema entirely. Most of that early Zoetrope stuff (I'm looking at you 'The Conversation'!), hell, early 70's American cinema in general - derive most of their style from French and Italian artistic sensibilities. To folks raised on a diet of shallow, mainstream, explosion-a-second Hollywood bollocks the Euro style can seem slow, 'wooden' and 'lame'.

If you think THX is 'boring', well, go back to your popcorn. You're out of your league.

The full on white background just wasn't my style. You liked it, that's fine, but I didn't. I definitely think THX is boring because it's sure as hell isn't entertaining.

IrishLuck1980 said:
THX, a masterpiece? You have gone insane. It's crap. Nothing enjoyable about it.

Like Indyll said, it's not meant to be enjoyable and it surely isn't. So in that regard, Lucas succeeded beyond expectations. I thought it was a boring bleak mess with wodden acting, a non-existent plot, and a story that goes nowhere within 85 minutes.
 

Matinee Idyll

New member
I can't believe I'm doing this.

Vendetta08 said:
Now you're just being ignorant. The first two lines I typed went as following:


I hated THX. The most boring wodden movie I've ever seen in my entire life.


Just how can I be wrong about "hating it" or it being "the most boring wooden movie I've ever seen." If I am wrong, then do you mind telling me what IS the most boring wooden movie that I've ever seen was?

You are wrong in your assessment that it is a wooden, boring film. It's infinitely superior to nearly anything made by the Hollywood system since. That kid was a visionary, no question. Which makes his 'fall' from perceptive indie filmmaker to populist big budget popcorn producer all the more heartbreaking.

45 minutes in, I was thinking, "this is stupid, there is no plot. Lucas's young weak ability to tell a story is showing."

Again, it's an impressionistic, surreal work of ART - it doesn't abide by 'conventional' (read: inane) Hollywood storytelling techniques.

The 'wooden' acting comes from the fact that the people in the film (and that's us, by the way - if you're into allegory) are doped up to their gills so they won't realise how pathetic their mundane existence really is.

The full on white background just wasn't my style. You liked it, that's fine, but I didn't. I definitely think THX is boring because it's sure as hell isn't entertaining.

When you're ready to start viewing films as more than a mere mindless 'entertainment', try it again.

Don't you see - you're being 'drugged up' on a diet of recycled, derivitive Hollywood büllshît in the same fashion as the characters in the film are? You can't even recognise quality filmmaking when it's sitting right in your lap! - I just hope you, like THX-1138, realise, snap, and get the frig out before it's too late!

Anywho, off to bed - nighty night!
 

Lynx

New member
Matinee Idyll said:
You are wrong in your assessment that it is a wooden, boring film. It's infinitely superior to nearly anything made by the Hollywood system since. That kid was a visionary, no question. Which makes his 'fall' from perceptive indie filmmaker to populist big budget popcorn producer all the more heartbreaking.

No, he really isn't, That's his opinion. And since it doesn't contradict a fact, his opinion isn't wrong. Neither is yours, but it doesn't make you right, either.
 

Vendetta08

New member
Thanks guys but I stopped reading after his first sentence that began with "you're wrong in your assessment..." Don't really need to go any further as I can tell what the rest of the post consists of, "you're wrong on this part, I'm right on that part yada yada." Not much to debate here. Moving along moving along, nothing to see here.
 

Matinee Idyll

New member
Lynx said:
No, he really isn't, That's his opinion. And since it doesn't contradict a fact, his opinion isn't wrong. Neither is yours, but it doesn't make you right, either.

Don't be absurd - that tired spiel is the last refuge for those who haven't the experience, knowledge or capacity to trial objective thought or comprehend anything beyond their own self-imposed ignorance.

"The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."

Oh, the most wooden and boring film you've ever seen is probably The Phantom Menace or The Mummy Returns, Vendetta. If you can honestly reason that either of those films is in any way superior to THX-1138 (without mentioning CGI or lightsabers), you will have my respect.
 
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