Oh wow.  You know.  At first I thought it was really funny him talking about the "scientists" that told him it was a 50/50 chance that Indy could survive in a fridge.  Then I realized.  This is how truely detached from reality a billionaire can become.  Think about it.  These are the people that are donating the most to political campaigns.  These are the people that are deciding practically ever aspect of our daily lives.   I'm depressed now.  =(

(@Mog: SHUT UP!!1! A LOT OF SCIENTISTS SAID IT COULD HAPPEN...AT LEAST A MILLION!! SCIENTISTS THROW AROUND VAGUE STATISTICS LIKE 50/50 ALL THE TIME!! YOU JUST DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT STATISTICS, OR VARIABLES, OR PROBABILITY THEORY, OR HIGHER MATHS, OR PHYSICS, SO JUST KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!1!! DON'T QUESTION MR. LUCAS! AT LEAST 1/2 OF ALL SCIENTISTS THINK YOU COULD SURVIVE A NUCLEAR BLAST AT CLOSE RANGE BY HIDING IN A REFRIGERATOR! JEEZ, YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!1!!)

I think someday I'd like to retire from making Hollywood blockbusters and start doing private "art house" films, y'know like Michael Bay and James Cameron. =D

 He seems fairly hostile towards the fanbase that he aliented with the Star Wars prequels, the reedits, and nuking the fridge, and ultimately clueless about the reasons why so many people who were once devoted fans have ridiculed him for the direction he has taken with formerly beloved franchises.

As far as his new movie? From his own description of the film, it sounds as if he has exceeded everything I ever could have possibly expected from a George Lucas treatment of a Historical subject beyond my WILDEST DREAMS! "A popcorn film...with plenty of corn", "the John Wayne treatment." Oh, Joy!

(I would LOVE to hear a reaction to this movie from a Hollywood director who has experience both with making films that try to portray a more accurate depiction of war AND has personal combat experience, like i dunno, hmmmm...Oliver Stone?)

Critic reactions to Red Tails will indeed be interesting to hear. Once Friday hits, keep your eyes open!

What I also found interesting is Rick McCallum's statement- "Once [Red Tails] is finished, he’s done everything he’s ever wanted to do. He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker."

  So. What was 'everything he ever wanted to do' 'as a man and a filmmaker' then? Are the only movies he really wanted to make American Graffitti, Star Wars, Indiana Jones (I know he didn't direct any of those even, but obviously he was highly involved), and now Red Tails, which he has indeed wanted to make for years? Granted, Star Wars and Indiana Jones....really changed a lot in films and film history (I guess Indiana Jones changed mostly film culture, but still); is that what Lucas really deliberately wanted to do? I guess that's not hard to imagine, seeing as how he seems to have always thought of himself as a 'visionary' that everyone else needs to catch up to. That may have been true when he was making the Original Trilogy, and certainly A New Hope, but after that....probably not so much. Maybe what he actually can't stand is not being in that kind of position anymore; maybe it actually makes him unhappy to think that people can now more easily do the things that he wanted to do, and did do himself.

  Like I said, given that Lucas never seems truly happy with anything he does, I find it a little hard to imagine that he's just calling it quits by saying, 'Well, I did everything I wanted to do.' Did you really, or are you just tired of filmmaking? Like I also said, I get the feeling he really doesn't have a true passion for the actual filmmaking process itself, and really hasn't for many years....if ever. :/

ShirowWolf when you meant loooonnnng you meant it, but I really am not interested in Lucas to read the other five pages.

I did indeed warn you! D: I gave the basic highlights of the article anyway; I did the work so you don't have to!  A lot of it is about Red Tails anyway, or...random bits here and there. It's overall a decent article, though, I think.

George Lucas is already whining that the poor reception Red Tails is having is due to perceived racial prejudices; I am paraphrasing here but he said something along the lines of Hollywood wanting white protagonists. If the movie bombs he'll likely blame "racism" for it.

Just like he previously insinuated that his trouble finding a major studio willing to distribute the picture was racially motivated. How sad and pathetic.

http://gaming-realm.com/2012/01/as-george-lucas-exists-blockbusters-to-m...

   I wrote up an article about this story, and posted some additional thoughts!

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505271_162-57362574/george-lucas-billionaire...

     Here's another recent, and not terribly coherent, interview with Charlie Rose that Lucas did. He....honestly doesn't say a whole lot in here. That's the thing about Lucas; in some ways, you'd think he'd have a lot to say, but he's really not that articulate.

     The only really good thing out of here from him is when he mentions that filmmaking has really changed, and been revolutionized to the point that it's so much easier to make movies now, and just about anyone can do it. That's true, and a good thing. It's just because of how technology has changed.

     However, after Lucas blames 'the media' for...I'm not even entirely sure what, Rose points out that Lucas 'is the media,' and there are thus...things Lucas can do to try to change things. Lucas doesn't agree. I agree with Rose; if Lucas wants to, there are a ton of things he could do with his company and the means he has at his disposal. Hell, he could start his own news network if he wanted to. If Lucas really thinks things like "the rich have bought the government," and he wants to get the word out about that, to inform people and get them involved, he can do that. He just evidently doesn't want to, and that's his choice, too. It doesn't mean that anything Lucas could do would work; maybe, maybe not. My point is, Lucas doesn't think he has the physical capabilities of doing anything, which I think is just not so. I'm not saying I think Lucas should do something like this or not either, I just think it's silly for him, with everything he has, to say nope, he can't do it, all he can do is "make something that entertains people." And well, even that isn't entirely true anymore, since fans are so displeased with him. 9__9

    Oh, Lucas is also evidently not fond of capitalism, and yet...he won't stop using it. Yep, he's one of those kinds of Hollywood Elites, which is not a secret either, exactly. I think it just goes to show you all the more that yeah, ol' Georgie is....just off his rocker.

    Maybe a better analogy would be, let's just say, the stars in the Lucas Galaxy are getting ever dimmer. >->

I saw a review on local Breakfast Television recently. The movie was panned by the critic as a very cheesy affair with the sort of writing that just can't make you take the movie seriously.

The critic essentially said the effects in the action scenes were decent (the high point), but interrupted in a spectactularly terrible way a la George Lucas (the rest of the movie blows).

I read another review that said basically the same thing, yeah. No surprises here!

http://movies.ign.com/articles/121/1218385p1.html

   Lucas is still storming away from Star Wars and its fans, as he prepares to...depart making blockbusters. So in here, he discusses the....'Han Shot First' controversey. Yeah. Lucas feels the need to...stomp all over this, for some reason. And I really do mean that because he's trying to convince fans that Han didn't shoot Greedo first.

   Seriously.

   Uh...yeah, Lucas, he did. We're not all dumbshits like you believe we are. Clearly, in the theatrical, original cuts, Han was the only one who fired, in that scene. There's....honestly no other way to interpret that scene. Lucas seriously claims, "It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom." Uh. No. It wasn't confusing. At all. You can even watch the letterbox edition if you have the disc release that contains the theatricals and the 2004 cuts. There's...no way around it. It happened. If you ever doubted my proposal that Lucas really is trying to change the history of his movies, well, here's a perfect example.

    Lucas changed it, of course; first, in the Special Edition, he changed it so Greedo fired first, and missed, with...really bad CG editing in which Han casually dodges the shot...then he killes Greedo, and in the 2004 disc release, it was slightly altered so that they fire almost at the same time, but not quite, and the...digitally-moving Han isn't as noticable. Lucas claims he changed this because it made Han look like 'a cold-blooded killer,' which he repeats in the above article. In fact, Lucas states, fans "wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn't." Uh. I had never heard any fan say that before. The idea never even occurred to me until I heard this from Lucas, many years later.

   I like Jame's Rolfe's answer to this idea. When he reviewed the Star Wars movies, he showed a clip from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, when Tuco is taking a bath, and kills his own would-be killer with his gun hidden in the bath. The funny thing is, you have to wonder if Lucas himself was inspired by this scene for Han and Greedo's cantina showdown. After killing the guy, Tuco says,  'When you have to shoot, shoot! Don't talk!' Exactly. Isn't that what Han was doing? Greedo was a greedy (heh) flunky working for Jabba the Hutt, and just wanted Han's money; he seemed like he was certainly willing to kill Han to get it. Isn't that reason to defend yourself?

    Besides, even if Han was indeed...'a cold-blooded killer' in this scene, did that really change what fans overall thought of Han in the rest of the series? Not really. I don't think. He does change and becomes less of a 'scoundral.' That's clearly the Han fans like the most, and how they see him.

   It's funny that Lucas claims fans are so mean to him, and that basically forced him to stop making Star Wars, and yet, he seems to think fans are all stupid and wrong, and doesn't seem to think they deserve much respect.

As I said before altering that scene takes away from the character.

From Han? How?

Han Solo shooting the only shot he did it because he knew that something bad was going to happen if he didn't escape. But having him shot in self-defense he is just reacting to something.

Ah, I see.

Eh, I don't think the edit 'takes away' from Han exactly; I mean, I guess he does seem a little more bad-ass in the original, so....Hmmm...But overall, not really. The scene also is portrayed differently, of course, but nah, I don't think anything is really taken away from Han.

I think it takes away from the charcter but in a competely differnt way: I takes away from the journey and evolution of the character of Han Solo.

In Episode 4 He's out for he and his own. Watches his own back, Watches Chewie's back, and Watches the Falcon's back... that's it. To use D&D terminology, you could call him Chaotic Neutral. All in all a selfish person. By Episode 6 He's grown into someone who cares deeply for his friends and fights for a cause other than his own. One might even call him, Chaotic Good.  Having him not shoot first it takes away from this selfish self serving image.

Having said that though, and after giving it more thought. You know I'm tempted to believe that Han never shot first and this is why.

Take a look at the prequil movies... take a look again at the original 3, take a closer look at some of his dialogue choices ("When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.") 

This man does not have the forsight or talent to write character depth or evolution. So obviously Greedo shot first.

   I've got it.   

  Actually, the main reason I now believe Greedo actually did fire first is because of mass hysteria. Everyone who ever saw A New Hope, at any time, whether all in a crowd or at home, hallucinated each and every time they saw that scene, and still hallucinate every time they see it. I mean, Lucas clearly is such a...brilliant man, and think about how everyone else is always so far behind his visions; the world still hasn't caught up to the great things this man sees, and never will. It's because of this, that....somehow causes hallucinations whenever the scene is watched in its original form, by anyone. There is simply no other explanation. And well, that's what Lucas is essentially saying in these new comments; it was just mass hysteria. No one, anywhere, ever saw what Lucas actually filmed; they saw something totally different that was not what he filmed or in his vision. That has to be it.

....yes, it was impossible to write all of that with a straight face. >D >D

I'm on the side of Greedo shooting first taking away from Han. It's also really stupid as Boba says right in Empire that Han is no use to him dead. So Jabba obviously will only pay a live bounty on him. So Greedo shooting first makes no sense. But as far as it taking away from Han as a character? Like Aestolia said Han starts off as more of a 70's antihero type and undergoes a metamorphosis into a hero. He's no fun if he starts off as a boy scout, and not a scoundrel. As well as being a much flatter character overall. The reluctant hero in spite of himself becomes just another cookie cutter paladin cliche. Ick.

Oooh Maze nice call on the Boba Fett line, that never even occured to me. You get a geek cookie!

Yay! I like cookies. < 3

The only exception mentioned is another Indiana Jones movie, which they are still trying to make.

Well, the contract with Paramount was for five Indy movies. The fifth one is supposed to be about Ghengis Khan.

 Well, I think it does make sense, story context-wise, and here's how I'd explain it: Greedo seemed to think he was just hot shit, and probably thought killing Han would make him a more bad-ass bounty hunter. Boba Fett, who already was a bad-ass bounty hunter, was clearly smarter than Greedo, and knew it was best to take Han alive. If possible, since it was initially unknown if carbon-freezing would kill him. Good thing the facist Empire has everyone else's money!

I still think it was stupid that Lucas altered the original film to make Greedo fire first, though....Ugh...

http://www.newsarama.com/film/star-wars-phantom-menace-3d-release-120215...

  Here's an article with an interesting title of Is the Cold War Between George Lucas and Star Wars Fans Over? I'm not sure how this was a 'Cold War,' when fans have been extremely vocal and expressive over their dissatisfaction with a lot of things Lucas has been doing, and his refusal to listen.

  In regards to whether I think it's 'over' or not, well, since Lucas hasn't been listening to fans, and simply just isn't interested in doing so, then I'd say effectively Lucas 'won' a long time ago. And of course, now Lucas is blaming fans and critics for his new uh, desire to not make Star Wars movies anymore.

   The article mainly discusses experiences the writer had seeing The Phantom Menace in 3D. There's a quote here, and I'm not entirely sure....who's talking, but it seems to be one of two sisters who "had seen a preview of Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones with George Lucas himself at a special event at the Skywalker Ranch, and after interacting with the Star Wars creator they see him and his views as completely genuine." 

   Oh I don't doubt Lucas's views are 'genuine;' he really does believe he has the best ideas and everything he does is for the best. That's part of the problem, of course. Anyway, so one of these sisters, I guess, says, “If [the hardcore fans] knew [Lucas] personally, they would know that he probably isn’t [all] about the money.  He's interested in new technology, making things better and wishing he had the technology back a long time ago do to the things he's doing today. I know that is what it is with him. He just thinks its a way of just improving on what he has done and making it more attractive to a younger generation.”

   Well, it's kind of hard to argue that money is definitely not a huge factor, given all the complete Star Wars crap that rolls out. And keep in mind this stuff has to be approved by Lucas or someone at his company, not a movie studio like Fox, or something. What I think more fans have a problem with though are Lucas's views that he's 'making things better,' and his "wishing he had the technology back a long time ago do to the things he's doing today." Yeah, we know that, and Lucas can't accept that he can't change the past; he just won't let go of it. But he's trying though; he's trying to alter the history of his movies, I tell ya.

   And of course, this raises the question of how long can you keep 'improving' on something before it's enough? Lucas doesn't seem like he'll ever be satisfied with Star Wars, so he'll probably just kept screwing around with it until he dies. As far 'making it more attractive to a younger generation,' wow, that's just bullshit. I know that is what Lucas thinks he's doing, and needs to do, but I think most fans seem to agree he isn't doing 'younger generations' any real favors. And he...won't listen to those criticisms or reactions.

ShirowWolf "Well, I think it does make sense, story context-wise, and here's how I'd explain it: Greedo seemed to think he was just hot shit, and probably thought killing Han would make him a more bad-ass bounty hunter."

How would failing at collecting a bounty make him a "more bad-ass bounty hunter"?  I guess it could make sense that Greedo was just an idiot and/or a complete psychopath, but in that scenario Han simply shooting him makes more sense.  Ok.  Han at least knows of Greedo.  So it would stand to reason that Han would know what a psycho/incompetent he was.  Know that Greedo was likely to just kill him for no reason whatsoever.  I run into someone like that I'm sure as hell not going to give them a chance to be a psycho.  I'm just going to put them down like the rabid dog they are.

@Shirow: Boba Fett, who already was a bad-ass bounty hunter, was clearly smarter than Greedo, and knew it was best to take Han alive. If possible, since it was initially unknown if carbon-freezing would kill him. Good thing the facist Empire has everyone else's money!

And of course, now Lucas is blaming fans and critics for his new uh, desire to not make Star Wars movies anymore.

I always assumed that if Han had died during the carbon freezing, that Boba would have been reimbursed at least some of the money he was out by the Empire considering he was working with them. And remember he didn't say he was worth LESS to him dead, but that he was worth NOTHING to him dead.

Wow! Me and George agree on something. I'm not interested in watching Star Wars movies anymore.

  Well, yeah, that was my point; if Han died, the Empire was just going to repay Fett. Keep in mind, Fett made his 'no good to me dead' comment before Vader told him that the Empire would reimburce him. Had Han died, I doubt Fett would have told Vader to shove his Imperial money back up his Dark Hole. Or something. :P

K. But Greedo didn't haz an Emperor in his back pocket. If he failed, he failed. And he would have teed off the Hutts, as Jabba specifically put out a live bounty contract. Not a very good idea for a Tatooine bounty hunter trying to make his name imo. Gangsters don't hire flunkies who can't follow directions. They are moar likely to make them disappear just on general principle.

  Well, true, but like I said, Fett was clearly smarter than Greedo, so.... :P

   Han certainly didn't seem to think too highly of most of Jabba's goons, anyway, except probably for Fett. In the...infamous 'Jabba Scene', first reinserted in the Special Edition, Han does say to Jabba, "Look, Jabba, next time you want to talk to me, come see me yourself, don't send one of these twerps." :P

You can't use an addition to excuse an addition.  Face it.  Someone made Star Wars a good movie and it wasn't George Lucas.  Yes it makes more sense Han being attacked when you add in Jabba.  Not for the reason you mentioned, but because it might not have been a bounty yet anyway and Greedo was just being a psycho. (although even still Han knowing Greedo he should have simply shot him to stay with Han not being an idiot)  The movie was much better and made much more sense without that crap CG abomination that was ep 4 Jabba also though so to hell with that.

@Shirow: What is this Special Edition you speak of? Jabba in A New Hope? Preposterous! I actually may have seen part of one of the altered versions on cable once, but I didn't watch the whole thing. I did catch the weird floaty Jabba. He reminded me of Baron Harkonen from David Lynch's Dune. Except shorter. In general I like to pretend the reedits nevah happened. Thank god for vhs tapes being so durable.

I assume ShirowWolf is talking about this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9lPP46FMCU

Also here is a behind to scene of why it was removed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ufJAp6meU

Same here about VHS. I have only seen one VCR die.

 I don't really see how it addresses the whole Greedo shooting first issue, unless it's to make it seem less consistent w/ the script. Why else isn't Han's response to Jabba bringing up Greedo's death: "It was self defense. He shot first." That'd be the only logical thing to say imo.

HAHA, that cg Jabba is soooo bad. It doesn't even look like they are in the same movie. Han's body language totally doesn't match up. Yeah, that's the bit I've seen before. The Baron Harkonen Jabba.

Yeah, I've had a coupla vcr's die. But one was like 20 yrs old, and the other my kid killed. And I have vhs tapes I "borrowed" (permanently) from my Dad that are like 30 yrs old and still work. Getting harder to find new vcr's when one DOES die though. Hadto buy a vcr/dvd combo this time.

Yeah, it is true that when Jabba directly asks Han why he killed Greedo, Han just doesn't answer. I guess I assumed he felt that Greedo was so pathetic in his attempt at trying to get Han's money, it wasn't even worth acknowledging to Jabba that he even did it. His remark about Jabba sending his 'twerps' to do what Jabba should do himself though is probably just Han's way of saying that, again, he doesn't think too highly of any of Jabba's goons, and if he has to, he'll get them before they can get him.

Which is talk to him. That's what he says Jabba should do it himself.

Iono, that conclusion seems to require a lot of suppositions and assumptions that there is no on screen context for. Sure Lucas and co. have probably gone back subsequently and manufactured some convoluted and torturous rationale for Greedo just going postal on Han. But that is all subsequent (as well as mostly being conveyed in peripheral media) and frankly just doesn't fit the film or the characters as they were presented throughout the trilogy in their original theatrical release as well. I mean he waited 20 yrs after the initial release to throw this in. He had an awesome Jabba puppet after Jedi. There was no reason not to throw Jabba into A New Hope if he was so important to the plot in the mid 80's. Why wait another 15 yrs and then use a patently inferior cg Jabba? And now he actually tries to say that Greedo ALWAYS shot first? That the FX was just not up to par? He's like that cheating boyfriend who you catch hooking up with someone else and they try to convince you that you just "didn't understand what you saw." "C'mon, Baby are you going to believe me, or those lyin' eyes of yours?" FU GEORGE!! I KNOW WHAT I SAW!!11!!

..the mid-80's? A New Hope came out in 1977! :P

I do agree though that the Jabba scene honestly doesn't serve a real purpose, and well, this is pretty the case for most of the other cut scenes in the Star Wars movies. Most of them are redundant and just repeat something already said. There are some exceptions, mostly in the New Trilogy, actually...As with all the other things Lucas has kept altering or adding, reinserting Jabba into ANH really doesn't make a true difference or add more real value to ANH. I actually like the fact that it's more of a mystery as to who or what he even is until we finally do see him as the greatest puppet ever created, in 'Jedi.

  I guess Lucas waited all that time to start altering his movies because that's just when his madness started setting in. I imagine he'd also say that he 'just didn't have the technology to do what he really wanted to do' until that time, either. But yes, it's another thing entirely for him to start telling fans they....all basically misunderstood what they saw for 35 years, and it was just 'confusing' for everyone. The man really is that dettached from his fans, and reality. It's....really sad.

@Shirow: I meant he had a good Jabba puppet after Jedi came out in 83, so why didn't he add in the Jabba scene to New Hope then if it was so important to the story? Honestly, I think George is just suffering from an undiagnosed case of early onset senile dementia at this point.

Ah, I see. :P

I agree, the Jabba puppet is probably the greatest puppet ever made. By anyone. Ever. As for why he didn't add that into the Special Edition....Well, that honestly might have been a lot harder than it sounds, or otherwise, not worth the trouble. I suppose they could have done some performances with it, and added it into the movie using computers, although. Keep in mind though, the puppet can't slide around on its body like the CGI Jabba can; that's naturally one reason why Lucas no doubt wanted a CGI Jabba there at all. Originally, I believe Lucas wanted to have a stop-motion Jabba inserted there, but I guess ran out of time, possibly money. And as we also mentioned already, that scene itself really isn't important anyway. Why then Lucas did decide to re-insert it back into ANH at all, as opposed to other cut scenes, is anyone's guess. Honestly, we'll probably never know. Maybe it was simply because Lucas loves special effects and simply wanted to make a new special effect.

  Anyway, the puppet isn't actually mobile, and it would have been hard to make it mobile to match up with Han walking around the Falcon. Also, notice the CGI Jabba's other movements and how easily he could do them; the puppet Jabba just doesn't have the same kind of posability. It worked in 'Jedi because Jabba didn't have to move around a lot in the same ways. It also made you wonder if....he could move around so much because he was so fat... >3

  Another question I have is, look at Jabba's brief appearance in The Phantom Menace; he looks pretty good, for a CGI Jabba, and a lot like the original puppet. Why couldn't they do the same thing for the 2004 disc version? Why do the two look so different? Actually, I probably just named another thing Lucas will likely change in the next version of ANH.... >__<

   Also, who knows, maybe digitally adding a puppet performance of Jabba, if it was even possible to get exactly what they needed, into ANH wouldn't look that good anyway. It actually might not have. All the more reason, it would have been best if Lucas just didn't bother trying to add this unneeded scene back into ANH at all. I agree there, too.

   And I think most of us also agree that.....there seems to be only more evidence every time Lucas publically speaks that he is slipping into...some form of dimentia or another. Like the whole Greedo scene we've been talking about for a while; he honestly is trying to convince fans that basically, they were all suffering from mass hysteria for 35 years whenever they watched the original cut. He didn't use those words, but that's what he implies; everyone was just 'confused.' No. No, we weren't. -___-

I agree, the Jabba puppet is probably the greatest puppet ever made. By anyone. Ever.

Ha ha! >D Yes, I love Rygel, and Pilot, too. ;P

Iono. I dun see how throwing the Jabba puppet from Jedi on wheels could have possibly looked any worse than that cgi Jabba. It just doesn't match up to Han's movement or body language in the scene and looks moar like something from a spice induced hallucination than Jabba the Hut.

Ahhhh, why did he throw it in? Because he has convinced himself that he is a misunderstood genius who had some "grand vision" for all 6 movies that studio control over the original trilogy has kept from being fully realized. He's delusional.

Folie a deux on a massive scale. =D

I agree, the Jabba puppet is probably the greatest puppet ever made. By anyone. Ever.

My favorite was always the Snuffleupagus. < 3

   Yeah, but would bother me is if they ever put him in a movie like Big Bird, it would be a Snuff film.

   Ha-cha-chaa!!

Oh how Sesame Street has changed, when watching episodes back in October I missed the cast I knew, also the show doesn't feel right with those green screen effects.