A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Does George Lucas regret making Star Wars I, II and III? Star Wars I especially has been badly received but do you think he has any regrets about its production? I don’t know Mr. Lucas in person, but given what I know about him, his films, and the  Star Wars  franchise, here’s my educated opinion. No, I don’t think he regrets making the  Star Wars Prequel Trilogy;  he created that universe, its history, its population, and the rules that govern how that galaxy far, far away works. Financially, the Prequels did not tank at the box office;  The Phantom Menace  had a worldwide gross of  $983,588,295.  The other two prequels didn’t do as well due to backlash from those fans who hated  Episode I,  but still,  Attack of the Clones  earned $640,912,840, while  Revenge of the Sith  earned $848,754,768. Sure, if the Prequels had been given a warmer reception by both critics and fans, they would have earned more. (And,...

Ad for the 2015 Limited Edition Steelbooks of the Star Wars saga Blu-rays. © 2015 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) Seen on Quora today:  Do you like the  Star Wars  Prequels? Do I like the  Star Wars  Prequels? Sure. They’re not my  favorite  Episodes in the  Star Wars  Saga; that honor goes to the Original Trilogy. After all, I’m a Generation 1977 fan, albeit one who waffled about going to see  Star Wars  for  five months  during its original theatrical release. The movie premiered in Miami in late May of that year, and if it had only had modest success instead of becoming a phenomenon as it did, I probably would have missed it altogether. Luckily for me, in those last pre-home video days, hit movies sometimes had their runs extended, and  Star Wars  had an unusually long one - it was still in theaters in July of ’78 before 20th Century Fox finally s...

(C) 2015 Dorling Kindersley Limited and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On April 28, 2015, Dorling Kindersley Limited's DK Books published Ultimate Star Wars, a large "coffee table" format visual encyclopedia which covers "characters, creatures, locations, technology, and vehicles" that have been depicted in the Star Wars saga in film and on television. Written by Ryder Windham, Adam Bray, Tricia Barr, and Daniel Wallace, this 320-page volume delves into the history of a certain galaxy far, far away across various time periods, including the decline of the Old Republic, the Clone Wars and the birth of the Galactic Empire, and the Galactic Civil War.  Ultimate Star Wars is a comprehensive, wonderfully detailed encyclopedia of the entire Star Wars galaxy that explores characters, creatures, locations, vehicles, technology, and more.  Reflecting the saga's epic scope, Ultimate Star Wars is structured chronologically from Episode I: The Phantom Menace ...

I've been enthralled by John Williams' scores for the original 1977-83 Star Wars Trilogy ( A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi ) since I first owned the 2-LP original soundtrack album from the first installment of the saga. For instance, I have bought the original 1977 recording in all available formats, from LP, eight-track, cassette, and compact disc. I also have the slightly expanded variation available in The Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack Anthology four-disc box set and the even more complete Special Edition 2-CD set. So it shouldn't be a jolting shock to you, the reader, that I bought Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace' s 1-CD original soundtrack recording on the very day of its release (about a month prior to the premiere of Episode I). Like many Star Wars fans, I'd waited for 16 years for a new movie -- the 1997 Special Edition really didn't count as new movies -- since Return of the Jedi 's theatrical run ...

(C) 2016 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. Cover art by Mike Mayhew On November 29, 2016, Marvel Comics published Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, a hardcover volume that collects all four issues of the comics adaptation of the eponymous space-fantasy film by writer-director George Lucas. These comics (and a similar trade paperback compilation) were originally published by Dark Horse Comics in 2005; Marvel, which regained the license to publish Star Wars content in 2014, has also reissued Dark Horse's other Prequel Era adaptations, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, as part of a collection that encompasses the entire Star Wars movie saga. Writer Christopher Cerasi (using the pen name "Miles Lane" in the original Dark Horse edition) and artist Doug Wheatley follow the story in Lucas's screenplay closely, even using the same title crawl text from the finished film. (For some reason, the "crawl" appears twice in this compilation. Fir...

(C) 2016 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. Cover art by Mike Mayhew In May of 1999, Dark Horse Comics (which then had the license to publish Star Wars comics) released Issue No. 1 of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Written by Henry Gilroy and illustrated by Rodolfo Damaggio (with inks by the late Al Williamson, who had worked on the syndicated newspaper  Star Wars comic strip with Archie Goodwin, plus Marvel's adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi ). the first of four issues covered the first 30 minutes or so of George Lucas's 1999 space-fantasy film.  Later that year, Dark Horse collected all four issues in a trade paperback edition simply titled Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  Like most comic books based on the  Star Wars  movies, the four-issue series successfully taps into the spirit of The Phantom Menace, even though some of the events are moved around or compressed to fit the requirements of the printed...

v Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan is a trusted advisor in Chancellor Palpatine's inner circle. An impassioned supporter of civic virtue, Bail regrets that to counter the Separatist threat, the Republic must deploy a newly discovered clone army. Although the Republic garners an equivocal victory at the Battle of Geonosis, it is only the first step in a much larger, carefully conceived Clone War. The noble Senator stands in somber observation as thousands of clone troopers, marching in military formation, board countless warships and disperse throughout the galaxy to new battlefronts. - From the Hasbro Star Wars Saga - Bail Organa (Alderaan Senator) action figure's package blurb   Introduced in 2003 as the 33rd action figure of the Saga line,  Bail Organa (Alderaan Senator)  is the very first figure depicting one of the future founders of the Rebel Alliance.   As "action figures" go, this is a good example of how Hasbro lavishes attention to detail on figures who...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.... It is a time of turmoil in the galaxy. A decade after the Naboo crisis and the election of Senator Palpatine as Supreme Chancellor, a new menace to democracy has emerged as Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master, becomes the leader of a Separatist movement that has enticed ten thousand systems to secede from the Galactic Republic. In the face of this and other crises, the Galactic Senate has allowed the charismatic and seemingly incorruptible Supreme Chancellor to remain in office despite constitutionally mandated term limits. Quiet, unassuming, and devoted to maintaining peace and justice in the galaxy, Palpatine seems to be reluctant to use force against the Separatists. But as it becomes apparent that the 10,000-strong Jedi Order may be becoming overextended in its efforts to maintain the peace throughout the galaxy, Palpatine's stance on negotiations shifts to a harder line as his operatives in the Senate and elsewhere push for the crea...