The People vs. George Lucas
2011 Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
Synopsis
They gave him their love, their money and their online parodies. He gave them... the prequels.
The passion the original Star Wars trilogy inspires in its fans is unparalleled; but when it comes to George Lucas himself, many have found their ardor has cooled into a complicated love-hate relationship. This hilarious, heartfelt documentary delves deep into Lucas’s cultural legacy, asking all the tough questions. Has Lucas betrayed his masterwork? Should he just have left the original trilogy alone? Is The Phantom Menace so bad it should carry a health warning? Utilizing interviews taken from over 600 hours of footage, and peppered with extraordinary Star Wars and Indiana Jones recreations lovingly immortalized in song, needlepoint, Lego, claymation, puppets and paper-mâché, above all this film asks the question: who truly owns that galaxy far, far away—the man who created it, or the fans who worship it?
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Entertaining look at the fanaticism surrounding the biggest franchise the world has ever known. Brings up a few things I had never thought of that make me dislike most things Lucas has done since the 90s even more. All in all it's more entertaining then The Phantom Menace.
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I always said during Anthropology class in college that if I were to write a dissertation it would be on Star Wars, and this may be as close to an anthropological dissertation on Star Wars as we’ll ever see. Though I originally thought this would be a direct bashing of George Lucas, his Star Wars prequels and the revisions he has done to the original trilogy, it’s obvious that this documentary is much more than that. Primarily staring Star Wars fans, this documentary is just as the title describes: a court case-like premise praising and criticizing Lucas, letting the audience decide whether Lucas is a visionary filmmaker or out of water marketer. This documentary also branches out into other major…
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The documentary charts the saga of the love-hate relationship of Star Wars creator George Lucas and the fans. Lucas gave us one of the most iconic films of a generation. Fans revere it, made films about it, and lapped up every piece of merchandise that he sold. But this symbiotic relationship has evolved into frustration with the release of the prequels and the special editions.
Fans have claimed that Lucas has raped their childhood, inexorably destroying our cultural fabric. The documentary looks how the worship has transformed into a begrudging hate and frustration with the director.
The opinions skew more towards the anger of the fans, but it does provide some compelling defenses of Lucas by people such as Kevin…
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"George Lucas doesn't have the right to change his movies. Now, let us tell you how great The Episode I Phantom Edit is."
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Highly entertaining documentary about the love/hate relationship many disillusioned STAR WARS fans have with George Lucas, especially in the wake of Episodes I-III and the "special editions" of Episodes IV-VI.
Pretty much every point of contention is discussed here ("Han shot first!", CGI overkill, the Holiday Special, midi-chlorians, the unavailability of the original editions, and of course Jar Jar Binks) by an array of fans, critics, and filmmakers. On one level, it's an amusing TREKKIES-like documentary of fan obsession at its most pure that is frequently silly and sometimes alarming in its intensity. On another, it gets at some truly multi-sided issues at the meaning of author ownership and the sometimes paralyzing and blinding effects of nostalgia.
No great shakes as documentary filmmaking, but it's engaging, fast-paced, funny, and even thought-provoking.
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Very entertaining and well put together, with some interesting counter arguments against the Lucas bashing on the validity of creator ownership - which is all very well, but Lucas can't campaign for film preservation, yet continue to deny the originals SW films still exist! On the other hand, he has released a library of sound effects etc, which fan film-makers use gratis to create their own tributes / redux versions. An interesting slice of modern pop culture that is a self consuming animal. The debate can and does continue to rage. In say, 10 years time, with his successor firmly in place at Lucasfilm, how will the relationship between that organisation and the fans develop? And is Star Wars really…
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A poor documentary lacking any thesis. What did the filmmakers set out to do/prove? By the end of the movie, all I can guess is film fans complaining a lot. What we have here is fans loving George Lucas/hating George Lucas/loving George Lucas again.
Also, The name is a bit of a misnomer, because there is no presence from Lucas himself, or ILM. Essentially, this film is a one way bitch fest, loosely arranged into love-hate chapters.
Two stars for the fun Stars Wars fan footage.
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Given all the ways this doco could've been unbearable, it was surprisingly not. Balanced - everyone could probably take away what they want from this. For me it was that fans complaining about minor re-edits and too much merchandising are just unbearable.
There's one thing we can all agree on though, and that is the prequels are pretty bad.
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Not sure if the general lack of argument on the side of Lucas is because of a lack of credibility or the lack of an argument on his side.
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I always said during Anthropology class in college that if I were to write a dissertation it would be on Star Wars, and this may be as close to an anthropological dissertation on Star Wars as we’ll ever see. Though I originally thought this would be a direct bashing of George Lucas, his Star Wars prequels and the revisions he has done to the original trilogy, it’s obvious that this documentary is much more than that. Primarily staring Star Wars fans, this documentary is just as the title describes: a court case-like premise praising and criticizing Lucas, letting the audience decide whether Lucas is a visionary filmmaker or out of water marketer. This documentary also branches out into other major…
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@Camdun_Roar: Everything I was thinking and wanted to say to Lucas but with more style and aplomb then I ever could 8/10
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It has a bit too much star wars for my taste, I realize that's weird, but there was an interesting theme of ownership and popular culture, that took a back seat to the more factual stuff that wasn't as interesting to me.
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George Lucas is an asshole, he contradicts himself and seems to not give a shit about the franchise he created.
That said Star Wars fan really are insanely self entitled, this is basically ninety minutes of circle jerking about how great the original trilogy is and how shitty everything else is.
I'm not a Star Wars fan, I mean the films are pretty good but I have no strong feelings towards them. Yet I found The People vs. George Lucas strangely enjoyable.
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Basically born a Star Wars fan I figured it was about time that I finally got around to watching this and I'm glad I did. So much of this was completely on point and just furthered my love/hate releationship with George Lucas.
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The amount of fan-made material showcased in this film is immense. Some of it much more interesting and engaging than the Star Wars prequel films.