9 Reasons Why George Lucas Sucks

July 3, 2007 | by John | Filed Under Celebs, People | 19 Comments

9-reasons-why-george-lucas-sucks

George Lucas is a rather unassuming, bearded fellow who lives entirely on coke and candy bars. Somehow, this man managed to produce the greatest series of postmodern art films ever created, and then turn around and ignite the indignant passions of the very people that catapulted him to stardom – the Star Wars fanbase.

Thirty years ago, with the release of Star Wars in 1977, George Lucas became a hero to millions of 12 year old boys. Now, in 2007, he sucks. Let me tell you why:




1. Greedo shoots first. In the original version, Han Solo shoots Greedo first, under the table. In the 1997 Special Edition version, George Lucas makes Greedo shoot first from point blank range (and miss). Then Han shoots him in retaliation afterwards. This led to an online petition demanding the changes be retracted.

In the 2004 DVD release, the disputed scene was altered again to have Solo and Greedo shooting at almost the same time (though Greedo still shoots first). The 2004 DVD release also altered the scene to where Han “dodges” the shot by digitally leaning him to the side.

The 2006 DVD had two versions — the 2004 changes and the original theatrical version. The theatrical version features no changes, including Han Solo shooting first without Greedo firing a shot. When announcing the dual version DVDs, Lucasfilm made note of the fact that the controversial scene was included by saying: “…and yes, see Han Solo shoot first.” This is just one of the many revisions he continues to make to the movies and storyline.

2. Jar Jar Binks. Named by George Lucas’s son, this abomination was put into Star Wars Episode I to provide comic relief. I don’t remember laughing.

Jar Jar was widely rejected and often ridiculed by the fanbase. Lucas’ animation team even warned him that Jar Jar was coming across poorly and that there was concern over how the character was to be projected. Lucas responded by saying that he put Jar Jar in the film specifically to appeal to children. The issue was then forever dropped.

3. Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Many felt he acted the part poorly. But the blame can’t lie entirely with Hayden due to George Lucas’ equally poor script. The love scenes were entirely too forced, unnatural, and too obviously scripted. If anyone wants a citation for this, go watch the prequels.

Furthermore, Lucas felt that replacing the spirit of Anakin with Hayden in the 2004 DVD release of Return of the Jedi was justifiable. This created further controversy.

4. Ewoks. Many Star Wars fans objected to these furry little beasts. In fact, some consider the ape-like chipmunks to be the beginning of Lucas’ “fall from grace.�

5. Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker. A terrible choice on Lucas’ part. The kid was just annoying. This is evidenced by the fact that he received nominations for Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Couple (Jake Lloyd and Natalie Portman) at the Golden Raspberry Awards.

6. Lucas is a bad director and an even worse screenwriter. The Empire Strikes Back is arguably the best Star Wars movie, yet it was directed by Irvin Kershner; Lucas did not write the screenplay either. Also, many people feel that the more involved Lucas becomes with a Star Wars movie, the worse it becomes. He received nominations for Worst Director and Worst Screenplay at the Razzie Awards.

Additionally, while directing the original Star Wars, his only directions were “faster” or “more intense”. At one point, when he temporarily lost his voice, the crew provided him with a board with just those three words written on it

7. He’s arrogant. Even when confronted by the poor quality of his screenwriting, he puts the blame on his audience rather than himself: “People take it different ways, depending on their sophistication.�

8. He might be a control freak. One example is that the author of the Revenge of the Sith novelization dedicates his book to George Lucas. Yet the book is copyrighted by the aptly named company, Lucasfilm. The real owner of the book dedicates the book to himself, the owner.

9. Overuse of CGI. Lucas apparently had an obsession with using CGI for nearly everything. In fact, it was somewhat of an irritation for the production staff. “He directs in the editing room,” one said. Hardly a frame of film was shot that he didnt recompose later using computers. Many fans feel that Lucas overuses CGI, and that in many cases more traditional special effects or film making techniques would be easier, and indeed preferable.

What sucks the most about George Lucas?
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Comments

19 Responses to “9 Reasons Why George Lucas Sucks”

  1. [...] 9 Reasons Why George Lucas Sucks, from Who Sucks. Star Wars: A New Hope was life changing, and every movie was incredibly enjoyable in it’s own way (even Phantom, with way too much Jar Jar), but it’s hard to disagree with anything on this list. [...]

  2. [...] 9 Reasons Why George Lucas Sucks (tags: scifi) [...]

  3. diggsucksballs on July 17th, 2007 at 3:15 pm

    I love it, but yeah, George dropped the ball when someone introduced him to the computer and he was allowed to make anything happen :(

  4. I voted “arrogant.” Even if he sucked at writing/directing, at least if he were humble enough to get someone else to do it (like Empire) the films would turn out well.

  5. [...] Rory wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptGeorge Lucas is a rather unassuming, bearded fellow who lives entirely on coke and candy bars. Somehow, this man managed to produce the greatest series of postmodern art films ever created, and then turn around and ignite the indignant … [...]

  6. I agree with david – I voted for “arrogant” because a bigger/less stupid man would just acknowledge that he’s more the idea man than the craftsman and get someone with some actual talent to write and direct the films (versus basically ruining the foundation of my childhood by churning out crab). So yeah, it’s the writing and directing but the arrogance has gotta come first.

  7. [...] mogul’s capability to effectively create space-centered set design, now they are increasingly turning against the director who’s overuse of CGI technology aided in the creation of three critically-panned Star Wars [...]

  8. awww but i liked the prequels alot mbetter than the originals because the prequels had better plots, characters and presentation. eh give it a rest, if you dont like his films then please dont watch them.

  9. Jaden, you’re a knucklehead just like Lucas. The prequels were garbage. Actually, if they were done a little better, they would be garbage. Lucas will remain forever a loser to me until he comes to his senses and releases the original theatrical versions of episodes IV-VI. Everything in this list is true, and then some. The replacement of Anakin in Return of the Jedi as outlined in #3 above is simply blasphemous.

  10. I enjoyed all three of the original Star Wars films when first screened. (Decades later, the prequels were fun, if not actually targeted at my generation.)

    I do not enjoy revisionism. It’s bad enough when Ted Turner attempts to colorize the black and white classics, but I can not help picturing George Lucas fantasizing about ‘fixing’ the Mona Lisa’s crooked smile…

    Mr. Lucas, tear down that wall between original Star Wars and it’s fans!

  11. your all just angry because he is rich and awesome and was very successful and you werent. give the guy a break he’s a freakin amazing director and screen writer or what ever

  12. Bob and Jaden are complete idiots, anyone who considers Lucas a ‘great director’ and ’screen writer or whatever’ is a f#@#@ing certifiable twit and should die in a fire,

    Thank you

  13. The fact that he changed Anakin’s spirit to Hayden is proof that Lucas is a f**king dumbsh*t.

  14. Just read 9 reasons, very interesting points, i think you are right.

  15. you conclusion is precise and certainly right!

  16. Movies that Don't Suck on December 24th, 2009 at 8:05 pm

    Empire… best of the BEST! Do you understand me? THE FUCKING BEST! Fuck those prequels and fuck Return of the Jedi! Irvin’s take on Star Wars can never be matched. Not even Lucas can hold a candle to that sci fi epic.

    “OH THE AUDIENCE JUST DOESN’T UNDERSTAND THE WORK OF ART I’VE CREATED-” FUCK YOU GEORGE! God…please… just go away. -_-

  17. A lot of the fan reaction to Lucas and his newer work is the subject of a new documentary. It’s called The People vs. George Lucas. I found a trailer for it on youtube (found it without even knowing it existed, actually); I’m curious to see how much of this stuff makes it into the doc.

    Also, another guy made a 1-hour long, 6-part youtube video review of The Phantom Menace, and basically picks it apart into a million pieces. Both thought provoking and relentlessly funny.

  18. Completely agree with your comments on this – thanks for taking the time to post.

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