Young Anakin Says Star Wars Ruined His Childhood

[Funkyterrance]

Supposedly, Haley Joel Osment did audition for the role of Anakin Skywalker, but never got a callback.

Probably George Lucas' doing, what a bonehead. Ever since I heard about him hanging out around the Playboy Mansion I have lost all respect for the guy. So that's what you've been working towards all this time George? Disappointing if he were just a fat nerdy guy who always wanted to be one of the "cool kids".

[acrovader]

Lucas hadn't been accused of being a bad director until the prequels. Everyone forgets that he was nominated for 'best director' Oscar with A New Hope.

[Funkyterrance]

Lucas hadn't been accused of being a bad director until the prequels. Everyone forgets that he was nominated for 'best director' Oscar with A New Hope.

It's very possible he was an OK director but if he ever had any talent he's lost it since. You need to know when to say when and usually the case with directors is they can go pretty strong into their, say, 40's, 50's? (depends on the individual to some extent) and then they start to lose their touch. Also, who is to say how much help Mr. Lucas got for his direction of A New Hope? At this stage of the game, at the very least, I think it is safe to say that George Lucas is a poor director.

[Werewolf]

It's very possible he was an OK director but if he ever had any talent he's lost it since.

I agree with this. But I don't think Lucas really lost it. I don't think he honestly ever had it.

A huge reason SW A New hope turned out good is because of the constributions of others. Mostly from the skillful editing by his ex Marcia Lucas (which he has since tried to erase from existance) turing his absolute mess of footage into an actual movie. A New Hope wouldn't be the movie we know without her.

Empire was great because Lucas was mostly hands off and was written and directed by others. Jedi, the weakest of the original trilogy, had the most control by Lucas.

[Brazoo]

Lucas hadn't been accused of being a bad director until the prequels. Everyone forgets that he was nominated for 'best director' Oscar with A New Hope.

It depends what you're talking about. If we're talking about directing performances, in the original reviews of Star Wars (sorry, I can't call it "A New Hope) everyone basically thought the acting was fine - not great - and it was totally overshadowed by the fantastic vision of the rest of the movie anyway.

[acrovader]

Well, apparently the Academy thought he was worthy of a nomination for 'Best Director'.

I think too many people suffer from 'Lucas Derangement Syndrome'- insofar that they are more than eager to harp on his failures, yet refuse to give him credit where credit is do.

Did Lucas drop with the prequels? Yes.
Did Lucas make bad decisions with the Special Editions? Yes.

I think it's gotten to the point that all this whining over what Lucas has done or not done is laughable. Seriously.

I think he had the potential to be a very good director, even great director had he not give up after Star Wars. The next movie he was going to direct was 'Apocalypse Now'. Who knows how that would've turned out.

The biggest problem for Lucas is that he grew lazy and arrogant. Spending 20 years out of the director's chair for so long hurt him.

If there is ANYONE to blame for Phantom Menace would be Frank Darabont. Darabont was the one that convinced Lucas to write the screenplay himself. He was adamant that Lucas write it himself. He also pushed Lucas to direct it, too. Early 90's interviews with Lucas had him saying that he only planned on being executive director on the prequels. Further, I'm sure pals like Spielberg, Coppola, Howard, and De Palma supported Lucas directing the films.

So yes, Lucas had it, but lost it. Nobody, I mean NOBODY, was *****ing about Lucas as a moviemaker prior to special editions / prequels era Star Wars.

IN FACT, WHEN LUCAS PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THAT HE WOULD BE DIRECTING THE PREQUELS, FANS WERE ECSTATIC.

[Werewolf]

I think it's gotten to the point that all this whining over what Lucas has done or not done is laughable. Seriously.

Same could be said of the Lucas apologists. I've noticed there are two extreme camps in SW fandom.

You know, I'm an 80s kid at heart. I'm really not that into SW. Lucas didn't ruin my childhood. If Micheal Bay couldn't with those terrible Transformers movies, Lucas sure the heck didn't. To me, the prequel sucked, meh, life goes on. But that doesn't change that SW A new hope is the cultural phenominom that it is just because Lucas was the greatest director in world or even debatably really good one. It's also because of all the unsung people, like Marcia Lucas, that helped make it the film that it was.

[Bruce Banner]

There's definitely been a tendency over the past decade or so to overlook Lucas's early achievements and denigrate his talents, which is a trend that essentially began in the wake of the Special Editions and the Prequels.

In truth, most of that anti-Lucas criticism has been so laughably extreme that it's bordered on vitriolic hysteria.

American Graffitti and Star Wars both had nominations for best director by the Oscars, Golden Globes, DGA awards, etc. And Lucas's screenplays for both movies also received many nominations.

It's certainly true that he surrounded himself with other very talented people during the making of his earlier films, but to suggest that it was only their contribution that made those movies good is simply false.

[Mok]

So in the end Lucas was a one trick pony .