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Did A New Hope actually in the long run, ruin George Lucas' career?

posted 9 years ago by TMC-4
24 replies | jump to latest

Up to that point, George Lucas was one of the top up-and-coming directors, with THX 1138 being a critically acclaimed cult film, American Graffiti being a huge hit that was nominated for Best Picture, and Star Wars of course took over the world. However, the production of the film was absolute hell for Lucas, being constantly stressed out and almost having a heart attack.

So for the next 22 years, he took a backseat to his movies, handing the director's job to his friends while he wrote and produced. By the time he finally came back to directing for the prequels, not only had his directing ability weakened, but he had become so rich from everything Star Wars brought him that he put himself in full creative control, which is a relatively unwise idea for any director. So while Lucas made a phenomenal movie in Star Wars, he wrecked himself in the process and then took too long to get back in the game.

And don't forget that for Episodes IV-VI, he had Gary Kurtz there saying "No, that's a bad idea - don't do it." For Eps I-III, he had Rick McCallum there saying "Ok George, I'll figure out how to do it."

That and his desire to sit in an air conditioned warehouse turned green screen, and do nothing but direct people walking from one side of the screen to the other, turning around and walking back was probably a LOT less stressful, but also a lot less interesting.

[–] poem 8 years ago

I like neither THX 1138 nor American Graffiti. 

And "critically acclaimed cult film" is just a nice way to say "the critics liked it, the watchers not so much".

---
A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

[–] ebright99 8 years ago

THX 1138 is the kind of film that a popular audience will never enjoy. That's why it was made for just one million dollars. It was as much an experiment by the studio as it was by the filmmaker himself. After Easy Rider Warner decided that they would invest in micro-budget films. Instead of making a $10 million movie they made 10 one million dollar movies and threw them out there to see if any would stick the way Easy Rider did.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pjglynndoora 8 years ago

No, I don't think so

[–] TwoThousandOneMark 8 years ago

Yes if you mean he had painted himself into a corner.

Remember also the Hollywood doors he allowed to close on him despite his SW success. He never had to cave to outsider opinion.

Besides, he helped write each Indiana Jones movie- ppl often forget that success.

...top 50 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056413299/

[–] residentevil6901 8 years ago

All the money it made him I don't think he cares, I wouldn't. Selling it for 4 billion to Disney? What a ruined career. Look at him, he looks like he doesn't care about anything.

[–] grendelkhan 8 years ago

Ruined? No; derailed? Yes. Lucas early ambitions were more in the realm of documentary filmmaking and more avante garde stuff, like the French filmmakers of the New Wave. THX1138 is the closest to the latter, while American Grafitti is a loose autobiography (or fictionalized, if you prefer). However, the technical aspects of making Star Wars led to Lucas having to become a businessman, like his father (who owned a stationery/office supply store). Lucas had experience, from American Zoetrope and saw how Coppola's hands-off leadership led to its demise and the dream of a place for making films, outside the rigid confines of the studio system. Lucas' father, despite a rocky relationship with George, instilled good business practices in him and he ran his companies as businesses. Having created them, he needed to keep them going, if for no other reason than keeping people employed. That led to ILM branching out to do FX work for other films and the development of the THX sound system, as well as investing in things like Pixar.

Lucas was able to create his independent filmmaking structure, via Skywalker Ranch, that had been his dream. The problem is, he was the one running it, which didn't leave time to do the films he dreamt of. He also started a family, when he and Marcia adopted their oldest daughter. Lucas adopted two more children after the divorce and focused on raising them, as a single parent. by all accounts, he was able to set a normal business day structure, so that he spent time with his family; ironically, one of the reasons his marriage broke up (Lucas was involved heavily in his business and Marcia wanted to start a family and have a normal life).

So, Star Wars interrupted his career as a director; but, he found his calling as the creator and director of a filmmaking venture, succeeding where his mentor, Coppola, failed.

If you really want to get insights into George Lucas, read Dale Pollock's biography, Skywalking. He had tremendous access to Lucas, his friends, colleagues and the Lucasfilm archives. He does a pretty thorough job and hit a little too close to home, leading Lucas to remove himself from connection to it. he comes across as a complex person, with more than a few problems in relating to people on an emotional level, which mirrors some of the critiques of the Star wars series.

Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!