George Lucas is cinema's biggest hypocrite

[Chang Style Novice]

From imdb


Lucas on Colorized Stooges Movies: Nuts to Nyucks

George Lucas, a longtime foe of "colorized" movies, has sharply criticized Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment's decision to release two Three Stooges DVDs today (Tuesday) that will allow viewers to watch them in either their original black-and-white or digitally colored versions. In an interview with the Associated Press, Lucas said, that the Stooges' slapstick comedy belongs in a black-and-white universe. "Would color distract from their comedy and make it not as funny anymore?" Lucas said. "Maybe just the fact that they're in black and white makes it funny, because their humor is dated. But by putting it in black and white, it puts it in a context where you can appreciate it for what it was. But you try to make it in full living color and try to compare it to a Jim Carrey movie, then it's hard for young people to understand. ... It's not fair to the artist."

This from the guy who digitally replaced one actor for another in the DVD edition of "Return of the Jedi!"

[MasterKiller]

I'm not a big fan of colorization.

[Chang Style Novice]

I hate it with the white-hot fury of a thousand suns myself, but digitally replacing actors 20 years after the fact isn't okay with me either.

[red5angel]

I'm ok with him replacing actors. It's his creation, his universe and ultimatley his to do with what he pleases. It actually makes some sense if you ask me. I"ve always had a problem with the fact that the Emperor from ESB is not the same guy as in ROTJ.

[Kristoffer]

I can't see the reason to color it..

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by red5angel
I"ve always had a problem with the fact that the Emperor from ESB is not the same guy as in ROTJ. This is the travesty CSN is referring to in ROTJ:

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5360/HaydenJedi.jpg

The really bad thing is that Hayden didn't look at Alec Guiness like Sebastian Shaw did. When Anakin and Obi-Wan make eye contact, it means something. Now, it's like they don't even acknowledge each other. You'll also notice that young Anakin is wearing the same robes as old Anakin. That's because they only replaced the head, and it kind of glitches in spots.

[Judge Pen]

I'll agree that GL is a hypocrite. He can tinker with his creation all he want, but for God's sake preserve the original for comparison. We're talking about film history here.

[red5angel]

I've seen the images and the video. It still doesn't bother me, it just makes it more consistant now.

He's maintained and even says that he feels films are mostly left unfinished and he has a chance to go back and finish them, bring them up to date with the new films.

[Chang Style Novice]

Well, I feel differently, and I bet so does Sebastian Shaw. So much for Lucas' BS claims about "respecting the artist."

[red5angel]

sure it sucks that sebastian shaw isn't in the film now but it's not "his" film, it's lucas' film and he can do with it what he pleases. Sort of like people who are in one version of a film but edited out just before it hits the theaters. It sucks but whatcha gonna do? He still got paid, and he's still on the originals if you got 'em.

[Chang Style Novice]

Some would say - I among them - that once a piece of art is exhibited it no longer belongs just to the artist, but to the whole world.

[Judge Pen]

Lucas obviously disagrees. Pity.

[MasterKiller]

Lucas isn't the first artist to revise his work after publication/release, and he won't be the last. Writers do it all the time, as do musicians, and we've seen the popularity of the "Director's Cut" rise significantly in the last 10 years or so.

Leaves of Grass is a significant edition of American poetry, and Whitman continuously tinkered with it.

I'm opposed to the changes to THESE FILMS because of the cultural impact they've had, but not to changing films in general.

[Chang Style Novice]

Yeah, that's no problem. My beef with Lucas has two parts.

1 - He's trying to bury the previous versions. And being somewhat successful as well.

2 - His claim of 'respecting the artist' falls apart with Sebastien Shaw. Lucas obviously doesn't respect the man or his performance since he's trying to erase it. While the Star Wars movies are masterminded by Lucas, he's far from the only one with an artistic stake in them. What's next? Replacing Alec Guiness with Ewan Macgregor? It's a small step away.

[Judge Pen]

Choice. I can't choose to buy a DVD version of ANH where Greedo doesn't shoot first. That ****es me off!

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by Judge Pen
Choice. I can't choose to buy a DVD version of ANH where Greedo doesn't shoot first. That ****es me off! Actually, you can't even buy a DVD of Greedo shooting first, because in the DVD, they shoot at the same time.

[Judge Pen]

Fine, where Greedo doesn't shoot, but just gets shot.

Another thing: if they shoot "at the same time" then how has that sanitized the movie and Han's character? My understanding is that Lucas didn't want Han to seem like too bad of a guy and that shooting Greedo under the table was just too mean of an image to present to the kiddies. Fine, but if they "shoot at the same time" then Han was still planning to kill Greedo whether or not Greedo was going to shoot. He couldn't have known that Greedo was going to shoot. He's not a Jedi (or is he? Hell Lucas could change his mind on that too!) Man Lucas ****es me off when I think about this crap.

[David Jamieson]

shaw wasn't vader anyway, he was always a composite character.

His voice was James Earl Jones, the Character Vader was David Prowse and Shaw was only in that one little bit. Why not update it and who in hollywood isn't a hypocrite anyway? lol :p

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by Judge Pen
Another thing: if they shoot "at the same time" then how has that sanitized the movie and Han's character? My understanding is that Lucas didn't want Han to seem like too bad of a guy and that shooting Greedo under the table was just too mean of an image to present to the kiddies. Fine, but if they "shoot at the same time" then Han was still planning to kill Greedo whether or not Greedo was going to shoot. He couldn't have known that Greedo was going to shoot. He sees Greedo's trigger finger move, then shoots. What's the big deal? He's a space cowboy!


Shaw was only in that one little bit. Shaw also has the death scene when he asks Luke to remove the mask.

http://img45.exs.cx/img45/5499/darthpsychoticRevealed.png

[Judge Pen]

Originally posted by MasterKiller
He sees Greedo's trigger finger move, then shoots. What's the big deal? He's a space cowboy!


:rolleyes: Admit it, you hate this change too. I know you are a huge fan and all, but come on, you were ****ed when you saw this change too.

[MasterKiller]

I like it better this way than Greedo shooting first. All the changes pizzed me off, even the subtle ones you guys probably never noticed.

For example, in the original ESB, Luke doesn't make any noise when he jumps from the Bespin Air Vane after Vader tells him he's Luke's dad. He makes a concious decision to jump and does it. In the Special Ed, they dubbed in a cackly scream which was really the Emperor's scream when Vader tosses him into the power coupling in ROTJ, only modified.

After the Emperor tells Vader he needs to start worrying about Luke, etc.... they added a line, obviously with someone other than James Earl Jones, when Vader says "Prepare my shuttle" to one of the Imperial captains. That line didn't used to be there and it feels out of place.

When Luke crashes on Dagobah and R2 gets eaten by the swamp creature and spit back out, Luke used to say "It's a good thing you don't taste good." When they re-did the sound for Dolby 5.1, that track was damaged, so in the SE, they used a different line where he says something like "You need to quit messing around."

There are a few more subtle changes like that most people would never notice.

I also hate the Jedi Rocks music video in Jabba's Palace in ROTJ.

I can handle all the new jawa jokes and crap, but I don't approve of any changes to existing material in the OT. I'm a stickler for canon, and once you start changing things, you have nothing to base canon on.

[KC Elbows]

Wow, and I thought Hayden's disembodied head was a win-win all around. It is depressing that the latter, less capable Lucas is trumping the Lucas at his height's accomplishments at every turn.

Ever since the digitized Jabba in the OT, he's been clearly out of control.

[David Jamieson]

who wanted jar jar binks to die in the first three minutes of his introduction? raise your hand.

*raises hand, looks around room...

[MasterKiller]

Besides, it's not like he didn't change AOTC and TPM, either. The DVDs are not the same as the theatrical releases.

[SunBeam]

The fact is Lucas has NOTHING LEFT! He is bankrupt of ideas and has to go back and jack around with the original films. I mean how many updates have been done? I know they were cleaned up and released once and then again with the augmentations adding to. I believe there was a second clean up before that. He is going to milk it until the teats falls off the skinny cow. The original movies are his greatest accomplishment. They are now toys for him to play with. He is willing to abandon the original core fans that made the series a success in an attempt to broaden the appeal of the films to a newer and younger audience. I can understand the desire to go back to something that seems incomplete compared to the original concept to “get it right” but to make such changes and deny access to the original work is a travesty given the fact that your success was made on the original. Give me a choice on the DVD to choose the original or updated version. He seems ashamed of how the first ones turned out and wants them to fade away. Film artist like music artist should be able to change up something they created but in music, I can easy find the original on a re-mastered CD or greatest hits album. That is not the thing that burns me the most. How can Lucas rub elbows with elite of Hollywood (especially Spielberg) and no one pull him aside like they would a drunken buddy and tell him to put the bottle down. Why even deal with actors George? Just CGI the whole thing!


THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE ANTI-LUCAS FOUNDATION

- Sbeam

[MasterKiller]

Originally posted by SunBeam
How can Lucas rub elbows with elite of Hollywood (especially Spielberg) and no one pull him aside like they would a drunken buddy and tell him to put the bottle down. Why even deal with actors George? Just CGI the whole thing! You mean the Speilberg that CGI'ed all the guns in E.T. into walkie-talkies? That Speilberg? :D

[SunBeam]

:eek: AH! MasterKiller


You are so correct. Indeed this is a sad state of affairs. I think Indie survived with out a whole sale retread. Think of damage could have been done there

[Judge Pen]

Originally posted by SunBeam
:eek: AH! MasterKiller


You are so correct. Indeed this is a sad state of affairs. I think Indie survived with out a whole sale retread. Think of damage could have been done there

:eek:

I never thought of how much they could have screwed that up after the fact.

[Chang Style Novice]

I agree - that's an excellent example.

[KC Elbows]

Fortunately for me, I hate ET. Perfect example of Spielberg's worst trait- there's not even a word for it, it's like the offspring of saccharrine and sentimental. He makes it even more so by removing guns. Typical. Look at me, I'm famous for having a shark eat a swimmer, but I know what you want, it's everything to be okay all the time, unless I'm going for critical acclaim, then I won't let a few jews get in my way without a fight.

I believe I may have let my annoyance with Spielberg overcome my posting sensibilities there. His stories are just so kid-divorce-fiftiessentimentality-fearofthedark-bedwetter, for lack of a better term. His skill is good, his stories, not so much.

[Lice]

Thank goodness for KFM forums. I know I won't spend my money on these DVDs now. I own the 'whatever' edition videos where they added the terrible music videos et al to ANH and ROTJ. Not to mention all of the other changes made that really ruin the whole experience for me. I saw those movies enough as a kid that I *expect* certain sounds/visual effects/lines/etc. And watching these new editions really ruin the whole experience for me.

In short, Spielberg and Lucas can go to hell. The last good thing they did, that I can think of, is Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade.

BTW, did anyone see the South Park episode that addresses this? (It came out after Speilberg raped ET.) It was about changing Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tres drole.