DVD Review: The People vs George Lucas

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Star Wars fans are a passionate bunch.

I love Star Wars. I was born in 1987, so obviously I missed those films when they were originally released. I only had The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on VHS, so when the Star Wars films were re-released in theaters in 1997, that's when I finally got to see A New Hope, and really started to fall in love with them. I remember being excited for A Phantom Menace when it came out. The theater was so packed I didn't even get to sit with my dad. I had to sit with a bunch of randoms. My initial reaction to that film, aside from Jar Jar and "Yipee!" being awful was that it wasn't so bad. Then I met up with my dad in the back of the theater. He fucking HATED it. And so my weird relationship with Lucas' films began..

This entire doc is about Fanboys/girls and their relationships with George Lucas. Most of which are pissed. Star Wars was their favorite, and they're not pleased with George Lucas essentially trying to "re-write history" by going back and making tweaks to his original movies. 

We've all heard the complaints,(Jar Jar, Han shooting first, medicholrians, "Noooo!") but there were a few brought up that I never really thought about until now. Lucas re-touched a lot of the special effects in the original trilogy once more CGI technology became available, but how would you feel if you were the one that did that work back then? The visual effects team got Oscar nominations, and now their hard work is being re-done. That's really shitty.

It's not all Lucas bashing, there's a few people that admit that some are too hard on him. Like the ones saying he "raped" their childhood. They brought up the episode South Park did right after Indiana Jones 4 came out. That's the only episode of that show I've ever felt uncomfortable watching.  They also give him credit for encouraging fan made contributions on his website.

This is on Netflix Instant right now, and I thought it was a good watch. Since Star Wars is the subject, it's not going to be for everyone. But the contributors are funny and come on, you know you heard "The Phantom Menace" for the first time and was like "wtf is that?"

Grade: B

Memorable quote: "This is a crucial scene, and you fucked it up! How are you going to un-fuck this?"




Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 21, 2014 at 11:51 AM

    "Raped" my childhood? C'mon. I'm as big a nerd as the next person, but that's taking your fictional worlds a bit too seriously. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 22, 2014 at 7:00 AM

      Exactly. That got thrown around so much that South Park actually made an entire episode centered around that phrase.

      Delete
  2. DellAugust 21, 2014 at 11:17 PM

    This sounds like a fun watch because I can't think of anyone who pisses off their fans as much as GL. I actually grew up with the original trilogy and don't agree with him constantly tweaking it all these years later, but yeah, "raped my childhood" is taking things a bit too far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 22, 2014 at 6:59 AM

      It really made me look at the visual effects thing a different way. Now I just feel bad for the people that originally worked on them.

      Delete
  3. s.August 22, 2014 at 3:43 AM

    That South Park episode was so...unpleasant, but then again pretty much everything recreating that scene from Deliverance is. I'm not big on Star Wars, but I remember getting Phantom Menace for free as a bonus when I bought VCR (I'm so old) and it took me a month to watch it because it was so freaking boring and annoying.

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  4. JoshAugust 22, 2014 at 10:43 AM

    I've wanted to see this for years, so I need to check it out. I practically wore out the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS. They were my favorite movies as a kid. I even loved The Phantom Menace when it first came out!

    ReplyDelete

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