George Lucas inspired a whole generation of new filmmakers, one of them was Christopher Nolan, and Nolan is inspiring a whole generation of new filmmakers right now.
George is honestly such a humble guy. He’s never attacked fans for disliking his films, or even called fans dumb for not understanding his work or anything, he’s only ever expressed disappointment at the hate fans have thrown his way. He barely even acknowledges how much of a visionary he is as much as just complaining that nobody ever did what he did, which to me speaks more of a frustration with having to BE the visionary and face those challenges rather than conceited that he IS the visionary.
Well said! I still say Episode 3 was close to a masterpiece. But since 1 & 2 were definitely not it gets lumped in with “the prequels “. But he doesn’t complain, he doesn’t rage, he simply accepts he has no control over it and moves on.
Nolan: I’m here to ask great questions. Lucas: I’m here to tell great stories. I wish Nolan had the opportunity to ask all the questions that he wanted, but at the same time I found Lucas’ comprehensive answers super fascinating. This segment should’ve been at least an hour longer >.
An hour long Question/Answer session should be put to Jbrams and Rian Johnson and give them a chance to explain how exactly they monumentally fucked up the Sequel Trilogy; just to give us all a understanding what exactly went through their heads. WHY Rian made the decisions he made to basically go and deconstruct the Star Wars mythos with his TLJ, and add nothing at all new. And why Jbrams just basically cut-paste and rehashed practically everything that had came before, and why he became so obsessed with all his empty "Mystery Boxes" which amounted to zip.
You can see they rationale through snippets from several interviews. Abrams has a poor understanding of Star Wars and thinks everyone loves mystery boxes. Star Wars is just mystery boxes. Who is Vader? Luke’s father. Mystery box. He literally thinks this way (I think a search of Abrams and mystery boxes will bring it up). I don’t know about RJ but he seems to want to make a twist, kind of like M. night. There is the famous exchange where Mark Hamill says RJ needs to think about the fans and he basically says no. Ironically, this “think about the fans” is something Mark learned from Lucas. Mark suggested the end of RotJ be Luke wearing Vader’s helmet and going to the dark side, giving a dark ending like ESB. Lucas said no, we need to think of the fans and give a payoff with a happy ending. Also why I think Kiera’s proposed ending would have missed the mark. Star Wars is a fairy tale and fairy tales tend to end happily either through spiritual redemption or just a traditional happy ending.
If you're willing to pay that much money for a movie, then I'd recommend to my Congressman that taxes need to be raised to begin paying down the national debt. I mean, I'd recommend that anyway. And especially on all entertainment, all television consumption, television advertising, carbon consumption, movies of any type or in any format, cruise ships, amusement parks, luxury items and services, and on the income of the top 1%. Read The Age Of Eisenhower by William Hitchcock.
@@michaelkays9801 I meant more like the equivalent of "The disaster Artist" for " The Room" or "The Social Network" for Facebook. But that'll work for now :)
I really like Nolan's stuff - but in a certain way, his films are cold and distanced; very technical. But, yeah, better Nolan than most other directors.
I was super impressed with Nolan's interview skills. He never missed a beat, and the fact that he names department heads like John Barry and John Mollo tells me he is already well read on the behind the scenes. There are too many videos of George giving the same answers over and over again, but this is only because he keeps getting the same questions, and Nolan rose to the occasion with adequate research.
"I gave them the script, they said 'I don't understand this... but you're a really talented guy, go ahead and make it" I imagine that's what happened when Nolan handed Warner Bros the Tenet script too.
star wars reproduced some very basic binaries, whereas tenet has something of the esoteric about it. arguably both are needed to reproduce certain social universalities and commonalities. i imagine this is an important part of how a "industry" operates. maybe
George Lucas IS and will ALWAYS be a movie genius. His contribution to the movie industry is absolutely amazing. From Star Wars to LucasFilm to ILM to THX. He's a visionary and a pioneer.
I agree. Warts and all, his movies have forever impacted the mainstream Hollywood filmmaking industry. Not just directors, but people interested in sound designing/mixing/editing, visual effects, etc. And for that I respect him deeply
Star wars is so important and so big on its own, that it is super easy to forget, that lucas has another equally important movie serie in his resume - Indiana jones
@@coolnamebro George wrote Indiana Jones (along with two others) and it wouldn't exist if he hadn't pushed it. His talent was taking two ideas from movie serials and translating them to major modern movie franchises. It's too bad he didn't keep going with that, by say a superhero movie (like Shazam!) or if they had war serials, something like the team in _Saving Private Ryan._
@@coolnamebrohe basically created modern special effects, the modern blockbuster, and did some really good design work. It was super special for a while. Compare Star wars to action before that. Or star trek which was a contemporary. Everything looked crappy compared to star wars But at some point, everybody else learned it too and it's not special anymore. Basically, the thing that made him stand out, we got used to. But doesn't change how important it was
I really enjoy hearing George Lucas speak. He's insightful, intelligent, bare-knucked honest, and really devoted to the story he is trying to tell. His speaking style is a lot like his style of directing and editing: he covers a lot, but he feels the need to say it all. I for one, love the stories he tells, and I really unabashedly love the prequels.
A whole heap of seemingly random stuff that magically all comes together and on point at the end? Yeah I agree. Disney forgot the magic at the end though... That casino side story added nothing.
Prequels are so more important than most Star Wars fans realize like the end of first episode with duel of fates playing really shows how much Qui gon is underrated he was only thing stopping anakin from his ultimate fate of being vader
@@cecilabbott6092 With all due respect to George, Nolan is definitely the one with more credit to his name, and has shown amazing skill in storytelling and direction in practically every film he's produced. George created an amazing story, but he needed a ton of help from others to tell it, and it was pure luck that those others were the right people to elevate his silly space opera into something spectacular.
@@SamTheMan0425 You're being mightily unfair here. They are both giants in their respective fields, Nolan in 'serious' movie-making, and Lucas in franchises. Star Wars and Indiana Jones aside, I would agree that Nolan is by far the superior director, but Star Wars and Indiana Jones exist and have influenced countless movies since then. I mean, the original SW and Indiana Jones movies are still revered 40 years on, only time will tell what people will be saying about Nolan in 2040. You'd have to be an absolute spastic to not take movie-making advice from Lucas tbh.
7:05-7:15 13:30 buy-renting 21:15 "didnt knoww what to do" 22:40 cost-aware writing 26:45 desing dep. "on my side" 27:40 29:36(30:55) molding plastic (costumes), vacuum-forming (sets) -32:15- 34:45 (36:10) watching a strange (not-known to you) culture (Kurosawa influence #2) 38:00 Star Wars - solely made on sound-stages 39:50 "I go to cheapest place to film" 41:00 proving self to english crews 45:45(46:40) four 2nd units, to shave last weeks
There's a quote in Nolan's The Dark Knight about living long enough to see yourself become the villain. I think that since 1997 it can be said Lucas has become a villain. Reediting the original Star Wars movies, Jar Jar Binks, and the Crystal Skull in 2008. 2008, the year of Nolan's The Dark Knight. So it's interesting to see Nolan have an interview with Lucas.
Rigel Bellatrix yea.. I agree some of his choices weren’t spot on.. but tbh he created only the greatest franchise ever. (I hate the new Disney films) Indiana Jones, Pixar, ILM and the list goes on .. all that far exceeds any missteps. So He’s no villain. You and I will have to agree to disagree on that my friend. He’s a stalwart creative force. A maverick amongst his so called Hollywood peers. We might not agree all the time with his choices but they’re his. And I still respect him more than pretty much any filmmaker out there. The only others I would include are Spielberg, Nolan, Scorsese, Mann.. they’re all in good company.
@ Arguable - people attribute far more to Lucas than he actually contributed to it. Those poor bastards that slaved to create ESB and ROTJ get no credit as a result of this ridiculous mindset. Lucas was not the writer or director of those films for very good reasons - those reasons are made apparent in the CG/VFX heavy, plot/script lax mess that is the prequel trilogy. That's not to say he did not contribute significantly to ESB and ROTJ as a producer, but to call him the "visionary genius" in play for them is a massive discredit to the writers, directors, cinematographers and all the other crew involved in those films.
I wouldn't call him a visionary. The only talent George has is world building. He made a galaxy that people loved and was very relatable, but when it came down to the actual plot/story, Star Wars isn't that great. The only reason Star Wars was successful is because George had a crowd of people around him who weren't afraid to tell him something was bad if it was. There's a reason he didn't direct ESB or ROTJ.
You guys are hilarious in this thread. Your mighty OT is HIS story. Him directing ESB and ROTJ or not, he's still responsible for them and what happens in them. The guy did so fucking much for this industry ( because yes he did not only create Star Wars ) and there's still people out there that will refuse to give him all the credits he deserves and recognize him as the amazing visionary that he is and how ahead of his time he was. " bUt hE MaDE tHE prEquELs "
@@JM-ub9cl Right on the money. Let's not forget he created ILM ! The company that is responsible for all the special effects in the industry of cinema.
Best Lucas interview I've seen. I loved how he was so open about all the disasters that took place making the movie. I had read about these things before but hearing it straight from the man himself was very entertaining.
Check out the book "Making of Star Wars" by JW Rinzler! It's an incredibly thorough beginning to end, fairly unbiased look of the entire process of the film. There are books for each movie, but the first was the most interesting, just because of all the details of getting the film off the ground and the production that Lucas touches on in this video. Also, it includes some looks at early story treatments which is super fascinating to see how different the story was at first.
Have you seen "An Empire Of Dreams"? For me, that's the best documentary of the whole making of process and it shows how often George was about to get a heart attack.
As others have said, Lucas is a genius, not just for Star Wars, but what he did for the industry - SPFX, Surround Sound, presentation quality etc. He changed it for the better and we owe him everything for that.
Yes, we've heard Lucas tell this story a thousand times, but notice how Nolan doesn't interrupt Lucas, in case there's one more thing he can learn. So much respect.
I do - loved Jar Jar. Fans gave George a lot of difficulty with the prequels. I don't think he had the stomach to make any more films after that. I do think his films could have benefitted with a script writer at times.
Not absolute. He never could admit, that the classic trilogy became so great, because he didn't work alone. There were people and limitations, that held most of his bad ideas back, mostly only allowing the good ones to shine through.
@@SceneComparisons Admiting help and stating flat-out that without them he would've messed up even more little details - conceptionally and directingly -, are two separate things.
There is only a 10 year divide from the last george lucas to disney. If it was 20 years or more, then I think the degree of separation would have been great enough for them to do something different.
@@royalwarlord2342 Disney's fake "sequels" are abominations. Simply put - these movies are so bad, that Star Wars would benefit from their non-existence.
Best George Lucas interview I've ever seen. Nolan did a great job. Two masters who respect each other and we can sit in and listen to their conversation. Loved "This is going to be the biggest film in the history of movies". Yup, 2020 and we are still talking about it.
I want to see George's sequels! Ideal situation would have been something like this, what do you reckon: 1. Make George Lucas' sequel trilogy. Christopher Nolan directs with Jonathan Nolan, James Luceno and Timothy Zahn as screenwriters to tweak/adapt George's scripts for the big screen. 2. Film said Lucas sequels in one go and release them in 1 year bursts after they are all made with George Lucas as the final arbiter/consultant for the story and any lore: Episode VI - SHADOW OF THE FORCE Episode VII - KNIGHTS OF THE WHILLS Episode IX - RISE OF THE NEW ORDER 3. In the interim, make and release "Labyrinth of Deception" - based on the Luceno novel "Labyrinth of Evil". Suggested director - Deborah Chow. (Morrison and rest of prequel cast to reprise their roles). 4. Make the movie "Knightfall" - based on a blend of the Luceno novel "Rise of Darth Vader" and the comic "Conclave at Kessel". Cast to include Jim Caviezel as Master Shyrne and Anna Akana as Padawan Olee Starstone. Hayden to reprise role as Vader. Suggested director - Patty Jenkins 5. Make "Rogue One" just as it was directed by Gareth Edwards. 6. After all of that, make 3, or 6 movies based on the Old Republic video games. Suggested cast for George's sequels (I would not use the crap Disney cast): Original heroes (Leia, Luke, Han, Lando, R2, C3PO, Yoda) Obi Wan - CGI ghost of Alec Guiness with voice of Ewan McGregor Anakin - CGI ghost of Hayden Plageuis/primary villain - Anthony Hopkins The Whills - Judi Dench, Diane Lane, Denzel Washington, Kevin Costner, Jackie Chan Mara Jade Skywalker - Gal Gadot Kira Skywalker - Naomi Scott Sam Solo - William Mosley Solo child who turns dark - Ben Barnes Jaina Solo - Olympia Valance Red Twilek Jedi Hunter seductress - Chloe Bennet Other Jedi students - Kristen Kreuk, Veronica Ngo, Ki Hong Lee, Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie Dark Jedi students/Jedi Hunters - Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Colin Salmon, Emma Watson Mace Windu/Jedi vigilante - Samuel L. Jackson Imperium Vizier - Jeff Goldblum Imperial Empress Marisiah Fel - Jessica Alba Leia's cousin, Queen of Naboo - Catherine Zeta Jones Pandoran King - Antonio Banderas Galactic warlords - The Rock, Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Clint Eastwood, Zac Efron Jan Ors - Kelly Hu Kyle Katarn - Robert Downey Junior Layla Katarn (daughter) - Sybilla Deen Aayla Secura Force ghost - original actress Just a suggestion. But I reckon infinitely better than what we got
@@darkjediknight2923 I think it would be cool if Christopher Nolan moved away from the Skywalker sage and told a new story- but I would love it to be a story that focused all on the Jedi and the Sith- because Jedi lore is my favorite part of Star Wars!
@@littlestsoul4099 Yes of course. What I mean is, that if there was ever going to be "sequels" beyond ROTJ, then I would 100% want to see ONLY George Lucas' sequel story. Someone like Nolan could showcase it on screen superbly I am sure. So first and foremost, I'd like to see THAT to have a proper saga. Then of course, I would also love to see an Old Republic era story about the Jedi and Sith. Maybe even Jedi vigilantes like the Star Wars version of Batman. Nolan would be great at that also!
@@darkjediknight2923 Full truth. I might not want to see any main line SW movies after ROTJ. Spin-offs with the OG cast, sure, but the saga is best as six episodes
It’s all about sticking with your vision, even in the face of so many trials. There Will always be many trials to get your script made. But it’s your underlying conviction in the material you’ve created, and its potential to be something great, that will drive you to do whatever it takes, despite the odds, to make sure it gets made
Amazing and impressive how George was constantly doubting himself and even expressed the blood and exhaustion that went into making it, yet he still pushed through. The hardest projects seem to unify people and be the ultimate test of how much faith one has even when it’s most hard.
I think that is how most people see his achievement: When he was up against it, he was terrifically creative. When he was comfortable and funded, he became very mediocre. Doesn't make him a bad guy.
Right. It’s ironic how he told Spielberg back in the day, when Jaws was being filmed, “If you get even half of this on film, you’ll revolutionize the way movies are made.” Not that Jaws wasn’t revolutionary in its own way (inspired the term blockbuster, first movie to gross over $100 million, put Spielberg on the map as a director to watch), but Star Wars’ impact on filmmaking/filmmakers/sound/special effects, and the mainstream industry’s focus in what they make, how they market movies, far outweighs Jaws’ impact in my opinion. I mean, by comparison, look at how many big, famous, popular shark movies have been made in the wake of Jaws, versus all the popular, post-Star Wars sci-fi action blockbusters that’ve been made (Guardians of the Galaxy is a series that comes to mind)
@@Overseer2579 Too crude an analysis. Jaws inspired how impending threat is depicted, how horror/thriller can be marketed widely as family entertainment. Star Wars did not kickstart interest in sci-fi, it shifted the marketing of sci-fi to wider audiences through timeless genre-independent themes, and validated the techniques, setting and themes as marketable blockbuster potential
@@TheJthom9 it did kickstart interest in sci-fi, because it wasn’t making big box office money at the time, hence why so many studios passed on the screenplay. In addition, it did also impact all of those other areas you mentioned, like marketing, what studios focused on in terms of the types of films they catered to, using timeless themes and story archetypes to reach wide audiences and make LOTS of money. Jaws did impact what you said about horror and how it’s marketed (I mean heck, Spielberg went on to executive produce stuff like Poltergeist and Gremlins, which I watched growing up). But you are wrong in the assumption that Star Wars did not kickstart interest in sci-fi because it did. It also was revolutionary in its special effects tech at the time, and shifted the studios’ focus to the summer as the prime releasing season for all the big films they were distributing
Not necessarily. If he'd walked off into the desert of Tunisia, never to be seen again, Spielberg still would have made _Close Encounters of the Third Kind,_ released at the end of 1977, but maybe he wouldn't have the head start of using George's special effects crew that would become ILM. Also, _Superman_ was being filmed by Richard Donner that still would have been a huge success in 1978. Maybe we wouldn't have gotten _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ and a lot of space knockoffs in the 1980s? But the blockbuster was here anyway after _Jaws (1975)._
No Star Wars No blockbusters, no Harry Potter, no Lunchboxs and action figures means no MCU. No blockbusters means no pixar. no pixar means no internet. The render farms used for films is what drove much of the technology we use every day. Computers already could handle word processors and payroll stock markers and a lot of work things but without star wars we might not have the internet outside collage and military bases. No internet no gps no gig economy. The planet looks completely different without George Lucas and a single space movie, we might not even have found the Franklyn expiation George if we did not have internet by now in human history. Might have even ended the world by now.
(23:57) _The things I wanted to do_ : - _I wanted it to be shot on location-find an environment that I could make look spacey and unreal. I decided a desert would be a good thing_ - _shoot on location so it looked realistic-it should have a patina of immaculate realism. Which is something I learned from Kurosawa: even though this may be a ridiculous story and isn't based on reality, I wanted to make a world that looked like it had been lived-in. One that had logic on every level. That every cultural artifact, every set piece had a reason for being there_ (35:32)
dragonhold4 Easily the best quote in the interview, I was going to link it in the comments, but you’ve already done it. Excellent! I saw George talk about this idea in one of the docs on the making of Phantom Menace, around designing boy Anakin’s room, the Tatooine street market-and, at large, making planets with cultures that felt like people really lived that way-familiarly relatable yet curiously peculiar.
@@TheCapedWanderer Glad to have helped. Tolkien described something very similar to what Lucas did in this interview and dubbed the concept 'secondary world'. I believe there might be a correlation with this to some of the greatest stories that exist.
We connect with places just as much as we do with characters and the new disney sequels fail to create places to connect with imo. They offer great and epic imagery but no places that feel real or get enough screentime for us to build a connection with
this was one of the most beautiful interviews I ever seen, Nolan was so smooth, he left Lucas explain the whole process of making the movie, it's incredible how much effort and problems appeared and Lucas pulled it off, he wrote history with Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
I love this conversation between Lucas and Nolan and I’ve been waiting for the DGA TH-cam channel to upload the full conversation for awhile now, but they haven’t as of me writing this. Thank you for putting this up for all to see. Lucas and Nolan are fantastic filmmakers! Two of my favorites.
Made the two best trilogies of all time in Indiana Jones and Star Wars. I can literally watch any of those movies (and yes even the prequels for me) over and again for eternity. The joy I get from his films is difficult to explain. In a way it's like a therapy for anxiety.
I hope Christopher Nolan gets to interview George again soon as George was really relaxed with him and was only just getting warmed up in the last 15 minutes or so and was unbelievably candid with him. Would have been great to delete into the other questions Nolan wanted to ask about sound etc.
I've read all the books and seen all the documentaries, but there's something else in hearing the creator talk about the making of Star Wars. Thanks for posting 😊
Optimization is one of the most difficult problems in any area. The fact that he was making his movies with that concept in his mind makes him a very intelligent man in my eyes. He inspires.
@@aaronratliff338 and claimed “GeOrGe LuCaS rApEd My ChIlDhOoD”! When they’re claiming Disney did so and have made fun of George Lucas for his prequel trilogy. Phantom Menace is decent for me, Attack Of The Clones is bad, and Revenge Of The Sith has always been my favorite of the prequel trilogy.
Boy are we glad he suffered to bring us some of my favorite movies of all time. Count in the video games and music and books and you cannot possibly quantify the distraction, fun and entertainment Star Wars has meant to me throughout my life. Thank you George!
@@goronful4969 Just because you named a few guys from the olden days doesn't mean they're the bench mark. No one among the people you mentioned pushed cinema to where it was post star wars as far as the arrogant fat man. And he did it all from scratch. Not even Spielberg did that.
@@thomaschristopherwhite9043 bahaha a few old guys. Jaws was the genesis of the modern blockbuster, Star Wars wouldn't have had a template to build off of if it wasn't for Spielberg. Let alone the others I mentioned.
It kinda makes me feel like it was the prelude to Dazed and Confused, which was pretty much Richard Linklater’s American Graffiti. In my opinion, it’s Lucas’s best directorial work (that’s right, I like it MORE than Star Wars, as good as those movies are)
“Tonight we are focusing on films that aren’t necessarily blockbusters”..............so George Lucas and Christopher Nolan sound like a good place to start then!!
Without wishing to seem melodramatic, it’s fair to say George Lucas influenced a huge part of my childhood, and thus my entire life. He changed cinema, he changed toys and he changed the world as my generation knows it.
That’s not melodramatic at all. I’m a university student at SCAD currently pursuing a career in writing/directing, and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was the movie that made me want to be a filmmaker to begin with. So just for that alone, he was a big part of my childhood too. Plus I just fucking LOVE Star Wars
@@ManCave1972 _Raiders_ was a fantastic action-adventure, but I can't un-see Amy's analysis on _The Big Bang Theory_ which said Indy had no influence on the outcome of the movie. Also, George told a fib to Steven saying he had 3 movies all planned out, but when they went to start on the sequel, _Temple of Doom,_ Steven said George had nothing and they had to start from scratch.
I find nothing more inspiring as a creative than listening to how things were made. Everything always looks super smooth and glamorous, and it's really reassuring to know that it's basically impossible for everyone lol.
Alan Ladd, Jr., man. Thanks to his backing as a reasonable Suit, we got Young Frankenstein, Alien, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Blade Runner, and a buncha other famous and culturally impactful movies.
There's a whole exponential and ongoing chain reaction. If you think about it, George Lucas actually had a huge impact on the MCU. Because Lucas hired Joe Johnston, the success of the original trilogy paved the way for Johnston to embark on a directing career, which would eventually lead to Captain America: The First Avenger and casting of Chris Evans.
@@ironcladnomad5639 yeah I didn’t really think about it like that. That’s very cool. The First Avenger is one of Johnston’s better movies, imo, with his best work being October Sky
When you realized that with the stubbornness and dedication of this one man, cinema has been changed forever. What a powerful impact this film had on my life in general, still to this day. Thank you Mr. Lucas.
Thanks a lot for this! I've been watching the Star Wars films for the first time and this is such a tremendously honest insight into the making of it and the problems he faced.
To me, being an aspiring and fairly insecure artist George’s Story is immensely inspiring. It shows me that standing by your own vision and creativity with perseverance will eventually pay off, even if at first everyone turns you down.
This is seriously the most random crossover I've ever seen pop up, yet I've never been this excited to click on a video!! Well done youtube algorithm! Well done indeed
I've seen a lot of interviews with George Lucas over the years (though somehow I missed this one) and I gotta say - this is probably the most comprehensive and insightful one about the making of the original Star Wars I've ever seen. He could have talked for another 5 hours and not got to everything of course, but so much of the history of that film is covered by George in one of his most candid interviews yet. Granted, as usual, he's spinning the standard self-made myth that he had the whole 6-movie saga all figured out before he even shot the first film (Vader wasn't even Luke's father until he wrote Empire for goodness sake!), and one glaring omission from the history of the filmmaking is his ex-wife Marcia's contributions to the script and editing, but still, it's a brilliant overview. Props to Nolan for asking the right questions and mostly just letting George wax lyrical!
He has probably told the story so many times, the truth is even a little lost for him. He would have re-written the script for all three films countless times, so I understand the exact timeline may be a bit blurry for him. I do agree it’s a little glaring though how obviously he omits any anecdotes involving Marcia, but more curiously Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck’s contributions to the script are almost never mentioned.
Agreed, the best interview I've seen with him in a long time, if not ever. I noticed Lucas paused a bit when Nolan asked what kind of research or influences he went back to when writing the movie. Lucas took an awkward pause there and then mentioned Kurosawa films. I think we know there are many other things he looked at and borrowed from, but he wasn't about to be honest and say I took this idea from that and that idea from this all in a row. If I understand correctly, Lucas tried to option the rights to Flash Gordon before writing Star Wars but he didn't mention that here. Any possible comic book influences are rarely if ever mentioned by Lucas. But we know Lucas was a comic geek enough to know about Howard the Duck when the character's series debuted and became a cult hit with older fans. We know the "rolling boulder" scene in Raiders was shown in Donald Duck comics earlier. We know Vader has some similarity to Dr. Doom that even Stan Lee commented on. We know Jack Kirby's space opera Fourth World had many elements similar to Star Wars. Just in general, the idea of sci-fi mixed with fantasy, adventure and visual spectacle was little seen in movies up to that point but was what Marvel and DC were publishing every week. It was perhaps no accident that the Star Wars comic adaptation became one of Marvel's bestselling titles because the material was going for the exact same audience that Marvel's regular titles were.
He's told the lie so many times about how he had the whole story of the saga figured out, I guess it's impossible to back out now and change his story. Too bad not even the official making of books support his story, where all the original versions of the scripts are discussed in detail. Although he tried to muddy the waters by slipping in a line about midichlorians into his original concept of the Force, but the writer of the making of book revealed Lucas edited the original document.
It felt to me like he was going to get to that part with Marcia, but sadly he only got as far into the story as the first rough cut before they changed the subject.
George is such a calm and relaxed guy but also so damn hilarious yet extremely insightful and educated. I mean just thinking about the main ideas of Star Wars shows just how much this guy knows about world history and politics but more importantly the nature and philosophy of human kind with the whole idea of the force. The light and the dark. Good vs evil.
George Lucas doesn't say it here, but I read somewhere that he was blown away when John williams came with the soundtrack. Once the image was put together with the music, magic happened. Suddenly, everything made sense.
I would totally watch a movie about Disney firing Kennedy, decanonizing the sequel trilogy and George finishing his Wills trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan!
Hell yes. I had hoped that was going to happen to begin with. When I first heard that there were going to be sequels to ROTJ, I thought, this is awesome! George Lucas's continuation story. We should have had HIS sequel scripts directed by Christopher Nolan.
I would like to see George Lucas' actual sequels so we have the creator's saga. E.g. Episode VII Shadow of the Force Episode VIII Knight of the Whills Episode IX Rise of the New Order This type of casting: ORGINAL HEROES (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, the droids) - original cast FORCE GHOSTS (Yoda, Obi Wan, Anakin, Qui Gon and other prequel Jedi like Windu and Aayla) - original cast. For Obi Wan, do CGI of Alec Guiness voiced by Ewan Mcgregor THE NEXT GENERATION: Kira Skywalker (Luke's daughter) - Naomi Scott Jaina Solo - Olympia Valance Bail Solo (who turns dark) - Ben Barnes Mara Jade Skywalker - Gal Gadot Jedi students - Anna Akana, William Mosley, Emma Watson, Katie Leung, Dylan O'brien, Kee Hong Lee, Veronica Ngo Kyle Katarn - Robert Downey Junior Jan Ors - Kelly Hu THE WHILLS - Judi Dench, Denzel Washington, Kevin Costner, Jackie Chan QUI GON - Liam Neeson THE VILLAINS: Plageuis the Wise - Anthony Hopkins Red Twilek Jedi Hunter - Chloe Bennet Mandolarian Deputy - Colin Salmon GALACTIC FACTIONS: Naboo Queen (Leia's cousin) - Catherine Zeta Jones Pandoran King - Antonio Banderas Black Sun - Constance Wu, Jessica Alba, Zac Efron, The Rock Vigilantes - Jim Caviezel, Sarah Shahi, Russel Crowe, Georgina Campbell, BILLIONAIRE ALLIANCE ALLIES: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Kristen Kreuk IMPERIAL REMNANT: Imperial Vizier - Jeff Goldblum Marisiah Fel - Sybilla Deen Thrawn - Tom Cruise Jedi ghosts from prequels and Padme (original prequel cast) Irritating brat who gets humiliated by a Gungan - Daisy Ridley. Thoughts?
That’s how it is on the official DGA website, which I assume is where the uploaded got this from and uploaded it here. Surprised that the DGA weren’t able to get fantastic mics or at least be able to have some sound guys come in and help make the audio as clear as possible when editing the video together.
This is like the best interview George Lucas has ever done about the making of Star Wars... Major thanks for posting this... I think anyone who is a fan of movie making or wants to be a movie director should definitely see this interview... awesome major thanks again
Star Wars was a lightning in a bottle. It had the right people working behind it, the right actor, the right producers, the right friends, and it's all because of this mad man name George Lucas.
George is the perfect example of betting on yourself and never letting someone or thing with extreme amount of money and power to sway you away from your vision and passion. The man created what is quite possibly the most significant and influential IP in Star Wars without any of the setbacks other creators deal with in studio meddling and what not. George had his own ideas and stuck to them not allowing anyone dictate or change it and it ended up being the most amazing show of self belief and sticking to your guns
Amazing interview. I don't know what the x-factor is but I'm generation x and a big Star Wars fan and I've watched a lot of Lucas' interviews but I've never seen him even remotely close to this level of relaxation, humourousness and lucidity. Really enjoyed listening to him.
www.patreon.com/nismadidier
The DGA should have let George speak for another 1 hour and 45 minutes instead of ending early to screen them A New Hope.
shameless
how can you ask for money if you did not even take the 10 seconds to put a filter on the annoying noise in the video?
no thank you
George Lucas inspired a whole generation of new filmmakers, one of them was Christopher Nolan, and Nolan is inspiring a whole generation of new filmmakers right now.
And those generation of filmmakers are Villenueve, Eggers and Zhao. Lest be us not forget PIXAR as well.
ILM? THX?
Lucas made the modern cinema! ♥️
@@thataustriantrain7466Pixar is a company
Are you telling me what comes around goes around?
This comment
where THE HELL HAS THIS RECOMMENDATION BEEN
You know...
a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
@@willedwards5196 Same
Absolutely my same reaction.
Yep, it's almost like it was suppressed.
George is honestly such a humble guy. He’s never attacked fans for disliking his films, or even called fans dumb for not understanding his work or anything, he’s only ever expressed disappointment at the hate fans have thrown his way. He barely even acknowledges how much of a visionary he is as much as just complaining that nobody ever did what he did, which to me speaks more of a frustration with having to BE the visionary and face those challenges rather than conceited that he IS the visionary.
Well said! I still say Episode 3 was close to a masterpiece. But since 1 & 2 were definitely not it gets lumped in with “the prequels “. But he doesn’t complain, he doesn’t rage, he simply accepts he has no control over it and moves on.
He said "This is a kids film" in 1999
He does troll the fans a bit, I love when he says "laser swords", or something among those lines.
@@michaelsnydermusic thats the episode that the producers finally stepped in and asked him to tone it down
Litshttam plus he used that term to originally describe the things and did so throughout production of the OG trilogy.
Nolan: I’m here to ask great questions.
Lucas: I’m here to tell great stories.
I wish Nolan had the opportunity to ask all the questions that he wanted, but at the same time I found Lucas’ comprehensive answers super fascinating. This segment should’ve been at least an hour longer >.
If I'd been there I would have said I can watch Star Wars anytime, but you guys talking is an one-off so keep going.
Yeeessss!! Several hours at least. Absolutely worth it.
An hour long Question/Answer session should be put to Jbrams and Rian Johnson and give them a chance to explain how exactly they monumentally fucked up the Sequel Trilogy; just to give us all a understanding what exactly went through their heads. WHY Rian made the decisions he made to basically go and deconstruct the Star Wars mythos with his TLJ, and add nothing at all new.
And why Jbrams just basically cut-paste and rehashed practically everything that had came before, and why he became so obsessed with all his empty "Mystery Boxes" which amounted to zip.
You can see they rationale through snippets from several interviews.
Abrams has a poor understanding of Star Wars and thinks everyone loves mystery boxes. Star Wars is just mystery boxes. Who is Vader? Luke’s father. Mystery box. He literally thinks this way (I think a search of Abrams and mystery boxes will bring it up).
I don’t know about RJ but he seems to want to make a twist, kind of like M. night. There is the famous exchange where Mark Hamill says RJ needs to think about the fans and he basically says no. Ironically, this “think about the fans” is something Mark learned from Lucas. Mark suggested the end of RotJ be Luke wearing Vader’s helmet and going to the dark side, giving a dark ending like ESB. Lucas said no, we need to think of the fans and give a payoff with a happy ending. Also why I think Kiera’s proposed ending would have missed the mark. Star Wars is a fairy tale and fairy tales tend to end happily either through spiritual redemption or just a traditional happy ending.
An hour?i could do for a weekly podcast of these two just talking about film lmao
I’d pay $100 to see a Star Wars movie written and directed by Nolan.
I think that would be awesome if it was based on the early Star Wars draft. So it would be totally separate from the other films.
If you're willing to pay that much money for a movie, then I'd recommend to my Congressman that taxes need to be raised to begin paying down the national debt. I mean, I'd recommend that anyway. And especially on all entertainment, all television consumption, television advertising, carbon consumption, movies of any type or in any format, cruise ships, amusement parks, luxury items and services, and on the income of the top 1%. Read The Age Of Eisenhower by William Hitchcock.
FUCK YES THATS ALL I WANT
you are an idiot
I'd love to see another George Lucas Star Wars film, for all his faults the biggest movie franchise in history is all down to him.
George:
"I started out as..."
*names every profession known to man*
... & HOW He is still SO bitter about it taking him a whole 3 films to become a huge success?!
@@billepperson2662how is he bitter? He was successful right after the first movie
@@billepperson2662 He became a millionaire before he even made Star Wars.
Would totally watch a movie about George Lucas directing the first Star wars.
Empire of Dreams
Best title. (The documentary of Star Wars has that title.)
@@michaelkays9801 I meant more like the equivalent of "The disaster Artist" for " The Room" or "The Social Network" for Facebook.
But that'll work for now :)
That would a great movie, but who would play George ?
@@charleyboy74 Anyone with a beard and glasses.
imagine if Nolan was in charge of a standalone Star wars film or even a trilogy
I really like Nolan's stuff - but in a certain way, his films are cold and distanced; very technical. But, yeah, better Nolan than most other directors.
He was considered to be the director of Star Wars 7
Rated R
It would be a mind boggling action orgasm.
Or Tarantino. That would be the bloodiest Star Wars ever seen.
I could easily sit and listen to uncle George's stories for another hour.
I came to say exactly this
At 14:16 you can see Nolan had more to his question... but once Lucas started answering, he let him speak. Class.
Unfortunately George doesn't tell us where it had been done before.
@@davidjames579 ? He literally says Gone With the Wind within two seconds of watching.
I was super impressed with Nolan's interview skills. He never missed a beat, and the fact that he names department heads like John Barry and John Mollo tells me he is already well read on the behind the scenes. There are too many videos of George giving the same answers over and over again, but this is only because he keeps getting the same questions, and Nolan rose to the occasion with adequate research.
@@dougchampion8084 Is that Lucas adding that part in for his Special Edition of the interview as it wasn't in the original?
@@davidjames579 ??? wtf are you talking about
"I gave them the script, they said 'I don't understand this... but you're a really talented guy, go ahead and make it"
I imagine that's what happened when Nolan handed Warner Bros the Tenet script too.
Yeah, Robert Pattinson openly said he did not know what was going on when he read the script.
star wars reproduced some very basic binaries, whereas tenet has something of the esoteric about it. arguably both are needed to reproduce certain social universalities and commonalities. i imagine this is an important part of how a "industry" operates. maybe
And Kenneth Branagh has just recently said that he's finally starting to understand his character lol
Exactly the same thing happened with Inception inc the cast not understanding it either.
A dream within a dream 🤔
George Lucas IS and will ALWAYS be a movie genius. His contribution to the movie industry is absolutely amazing. From Star Wars to LucasFilm to ILM to THX. He's a visionary and a pioneer.
I agree. Warts and all, his movies have forever impacted the mainstream Hollywood filmmaking industry. Not just directors, but people interested in sound designing/mixing/editing, visual effects, etc. And for that I respect him deeply
Star wars is so important and so big on its own, that it is super easy to forget, that lucas has another equally important movie serie in his resume - Indiana jones
@@coolnamebro cool, go make ur own movie and show this overrated director how its done!
@@coolnamebro George wrote Indiana Jones (along with two others) and it wouldn't exist if he hadn't pushed it. His talent was taking two ideas from movie serials and translating them to major modern movie franchises. It's too bad he didn't keep going with that, by say a superhero movie (like Shazam!) or if they had war serials, something like the team in _Saving Private Ryan._
@@coolnamebrohe basically created modern special effects, the modern blockbuster, and did some really good design work. It was super special for a while. Compare Star wars to action before that. Or star trek which was a contemporary. Everything looked crappy compared to star wars
But at some point, everybody else learned it too and it's not special anymore.
Basically, the thing that made him stand out, we got used to. But doesn't change how important it was
I really enjoy hearing George Lucas speak. He's insightful, intelligent, bare-knucked honest, and really devoted to the story he is trying to tell.
His speaking style is a lot like his style of directing and editing: he covers a lot, but he feels the need to say it all. I for one, love the stories he tells, and I really unabashedly love the prequels.
Love the prequels too. Great space operas!
A whole heap of seemingly random stuff that magically all comes together and on point at the end? Yeah I agree. Disney forgot the magic at the end though... That casino side story added nothing.
@@alj6194 I'm gonna utter some heresy here. I liked the prequels MORE than the original trilogy. I know, I know, I'm going to hell.
@@Soulslayer612 The prequels are awesome dude, you're going straight to heaven.
Prequels are so more important than most Star Wars fans realize like the end of first episode with duel of fates playing really shows how much Qui gon is underrated he was only thing stopping anakin from his ultimate fate of being vader
You can see in the eyes and expressions of Nolan that he wants to learn from George. Such a great interview
Honestly, you'd think George would be wanting to learn from Nolan
Sam J. They are both geniuses in their own right and both learn from each other
@@cecilabbott6092 With all due respect to George, Nolan is definitely the one with more credit to his name, and has shown amazing skill in storytelling and direction in practically every film he's produced.
George created an amazing story, but he needed a ton of help from others to tell it, and it was pure luck that those others were the right people to elevate his silly space opera into something spectacular.
@@SamTheMan0425 You're being mightily unfair here. They are both giants in their respective fields, Nolan in 'serious' movie-making, and Lucas in franchises. Star Wars and Indiana Jones aside, I would agree that Nolan is by far the superior director, but Star Wars and Indiana Jones exist and have influenced countless movies since then. I mean, the original SW and Indiana Jones movies are still revered 40 years on, only time will tell what people will be saying about Nolan in 2040. You'd have to be an absolute spastic to not take movie-making advice from Lucas tbh.
@@johnbull1568 Did I say that George Lucas wasn't an important figure? I'm just saying there's no doubt that Nolan is the much better filmmaker.
7:05-7:15
13:30 buy-renting
21:15 "didnt knoww what to do"
22:40 cost-aware writing
26:45 desing dep. "on my side" 27:40
29:36(30:55) molding plastic (costumes), vacuum-forming (sets)
-32:15-
34:45 (36:10) watching a strange (not-known to you) culture (Kurosawa influence #2)
38:00 Star Wars - solely made on sound-stages
39:50 "I go to cheapest place to film"
41:00 proving self to english crews
45:45(46:40) four 2nd units, to shave last weeks
George will forever be a hero of mine. And Nolan is by far and away today's master filmmaker. Great interview! Thanks for sharing!
There's a quote in Nolan's The Dark Knight about living long enough to see yourself become the villain. I think that since 1997 it can be said Lucas has become a villain. Reediting the original Star Wars movies, Jar Jar Binks, and the Crystal Skull in 2008. 2008, the year of Nolan's The Dark Knight. So it's interesting to see Nolan have an interview with Lucas.
PTA >>>>>>>> Nolan and Lucas combined
@@lickenhuntsman5338 have lucus write story just not dialogue. Nolan direct.
Rigel Bellatrix yea.. I agree some of his choices weren’t spot on.. but tbh he created only the greatest franchise ever. (I hate the new Disney films) Indiana Jones, Pixar, ILM and the list goes on .. all that far exceeds any missteps. So He’s no villain. You and I will have to agree to disagree on that my friend. He’s a stalwart creative force. A maverick amongst his so called Hollywood peers. We might not agree all the time with his choices but they’re his. And I still respect him more than pretty much any filmmaker out there. The only others I would include are Spielberg, Nolan, Scorsese, Mann.. they’re all in good company.
Agree, this is awesome!
This is a filmmaker's dream come true watching these 2 great directors come together
did u watched prequels ? how is he “great” director ?
Amarson 232 one of the best in the business, and he knows how to create fantastic stories, unlike J.J. Abrams, or Rian Johnson
@@amarson2322 I am not referring to Lucas, but being a great director doesn't mean that you don't have mediocre or bad movies in your resume.
Amarson 232 yeah the prequels are great
@amarson 232 He did two masterpieces of cinema American graffiti and Star Wars (1977)
What an interview. If only we had Christopher Nolan directing George Lucas' actual sequels. Oh what could have been. These two are legends.
Thanks for uploading this. Two masters of their generations. Nolan was influenced heavily by ‘Star Wars’ so nice to see this.
@ Arguable - people attribute far more to Lucas than he actually contributed to it.
Those poor bastards that slaved to create ESB and ROTJ get no credit as a result of this ridiculous mindset.
Lucas was not the writer or director of those films for very good reasons - those reasons are made apparent in the CG/VFX heavy, plot/script lax mess that is the prequel trilogy.
That's not to say he did not contribute significantly to ESB and ROTJ as a producer, but to call him the "visionary genius" in play for them is a massive discredit to the writers, directors, cinematographers and all the other crew involved in those films.
Brother
I wouldn't call him a visionary. The only talent George has is world building. He made a galaxy that people loved and was very relatable, but when it came down to the actual plot/story, Star Wars isn't that great. The only reason Star Wars was successful is because George had a crowd of people around him who weren't afraid to tell him something was bad if it was. There's a reason he didn't direct ESB or ROTJ.
You guys are hilarious in this thread. Your mighty OT is HIS story. Him directing ESB and ROTJ or not, he's still responsible for them and what happens in them.
The guy did so fucking much for this industry ( because yes he did not only create Star Wars ) and there's still people out there that will refuse to give him all the credits he deserves and recognize him as the amazing visionary that he is and how ahead of his time he was.
" bUt hE MaDE tHE prEquELs "
@@JM-ub9cl Right on the money.
Let's not forget he created ILM ! The company that is responsible for all the special effects in the industry of cinema.
Best Lucas interview I've seen. I loved how he was so open about all the disasters that took place making the movie. I had read about these things before but hearing it straight from the man himself was very entertaining.
Check out the book "Making of Star Wars" by JW Rinzler! It's an incredibly thorough beginning to end, fairly unbiased look of the entire process of the film. There are books for each movie, but the first was the most interesting, just because of all the details of getting the film off the ground and the production that Lucas touches on in this video. Also, it includes some looks at early story treatments which is super fascinating to see how different the story was at first.
Have you seen "An Empire Of Dreams"? For me, that's the best documentary of the whole making of process and it shows how often George was about to get a heart attack.
As others have said, Lucas is a genius, not just for Star Wars, but what he did for the industry - SPFX, Surround Sound, presentation quality etc. He changed it for the better and we owe him everything for that.
I feel like Disney specifically wanted to buy Lucas film not just for the brand, but because of ILM. which they now use ILM for all their big films
Greenkidd ILM did work on Dead Mans Chest which came out in 2006
@@Rounderyathecruel I mean, ILM is still the best of the best of visual effects. If you can afford it, there's no reason not to go to them.
Also merchandising he was ahead of that with all the toys realized
Lucasfilm also had "Skywalker Sound" as I saw in the credits for _Haunted Manion_ yesterday.
I could hear George go on for another few hours, he's a great speaker and the stories he has to tell about the making of a legend are fascinating.
I would love for George Lucas, Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Christopher Nolan work on the next Star Wars movies
fuck Filoni
dimitreze why
dimitreze fuck filoni? The only dude besides favreau that is actually putting passion into the franchise? Nah
Not really a fan of Favereau but the rest of them could make some great stuff together.
Zbuckner did you not like the mandalorian and iron man?
Yes, we've heard Lucas tell this story a thousand times, but notice how Nolan doesn't interrupt Lucas, in case there's one more thing he can learn. So much respect.
People do not give this man enough credit.
I do - loved Jar Jar.
Fans gave George a lot of difficulty with the prequels.
I don't think he had the stomach to make any more films after that.
I do think his films could have benefitted with a script writer at times.
I assume you mean George, but it really does apply to both of them :) George more so though, half the films we have today wouldn't exist without him
@@broken1394 Attack of the Clones was written by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales, so he had a co-writer on that one.
Not enough? Nolan is considered one of the best. If u mean the other guy, he didn't direct a watchable movie for 43 years
Oh, we do!!!
The studios underestimated him, and we made him a billionaire - and rightfully so!
George Lucas is an absolute genius.
Not absolute.
He never could admit, that the classic trilogy became so great, because he didn't work alone. There were people and limitations, that held most of his bad ideas back, mostly only allowing the good ones to shine through.
@@Angyali he said many many times in the interview how the other people helped him. did you even watch the damn thing?
@@SceneComparisons Admiting help and stating flat-out that without them he would've messed up even more little details - conceptionally and directingly -, are two separate things.
@@Angyali Yup. Gary Kurtz, Katie Lucas and Irvin Kershner were first that come to mind.
@@larryb4598 "For you."
This was in 2011.
Before the dark times.
Before Disney...
There is only a 10 year divide from the last george lucas to disney. If it was 20 years or more, then I think the degree of separation would have been great enough for them to do something different.
TheRoidemortetfleur what?
@@WDDudeofallDudes what?
Sequels > Prequels and if you think anything otherwise you’re a delusional cornball
@@royalwarlord2342
Disney's fake "sequels" are abominations.
Simply put - these movies are so bad, that Star Wars would benefit from their non-existence.
Wish Chris Nolan had directed the Sequel Trilogy......
atleast we could have been sure he'd have had a fucking plan for all 3 -__-
I don't think that's his style
No you don't. But he would have done it better than Disnun for sure
@@SuperBajack yes I do
The problem wasn't direction, it was writing.
Best George Lucas interview I've ever seen. Nolan did a great job. Two masters who respect each other and we can sit in and listen to their conversation. Loved "This is going to be the biggest film in the history of movies". Yup, 2020 and we are still talking about it.
I want to see George's sequels! Ideal situation would have been something like this, what do you reckon:
1. Make George Lucas' sequel trilogy. Christopher Nolan directs with Jonathan Nolan, James Luceno and Timothy Zahn as screenwriters to tweak/adapt George's scripts for the big screen.
2. Film said Lucas sequels in one go and release them in 1 year bursts after they are all made with George Lucas as the final arbiter/consultant for the story and any lore:
Episode VI - SHADOW OF THE FORCE
Episode VII - KNIGHTS OF THE WHILLS
Episode IX - RISE OF THE NEW ORDER
3. In the interim, make and release "Labyrinth of Deception" - based on the Luceno novel "Labyrinth of Evil". Suggested director - Deborah Chow. (Morrison and rest of prequel cast to reprise their roles).
4. Make the movie "Knightfall" - based on a blend of the Luceno novel "Rise of Darth Vader" and the comic "Conclave at Kessel". Cast to include Jim Caviezel as Master Shyrne and Anna Akana as Padawan Olee Starstone. Hayden to reprise role as Vader. Suggested director - Patty Jenkins
5. Make "Rogue One" just as it was directed by Gareth Edwards.
6. After all of that, make 3, or 6 movies based on the Old Republic video games.
Suggested cast for George's sequels (I would not use the crap Disney cast):
Original heroes (Leia, Luke, Han, Lando, R2, C3PO, Yoda)
Obi Wan - CGI ghost of Alec Guiness with voice of Ewan McGregor
Anakin - CGI ghost of Hayden
Plageuis/primary villain - Anthony Hopkins
The Whills - Judi Dench, Diane Lane, Denzel Washington, Kevin Costner, Jackie Chan
Mara Jade Skywalker - Gal Gadot
Kira Skywalker - Naomi Scott
Sam Solo - William Mosley
Solo child who turns dark - Ben Barnes
Jaina Solo - Olympia Valance
Red Twilek Jedi Hunter seductress - Chloe Bennet
Other Jedi students - Kristen Kreuk, Veronica Ngo, Ki Hong Lee, Dylan O'Brien, Thomas Brodie
Dark Jedi students/Jedi Hunters - Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Colin Salmon, Emma Watson
Mace Windu/Jedi vigilante - Samuel L. Jackson
Imperium Vizier - Jeff Goldblum
Imperial Empress Marisiah Fel - Jessica Alba
Leia's cousin, Queen of Naboo - Catherine Zeta Jones
Pandoran King - Antonio Banderas
Galactic warlords - The Rock, Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Clint Eastwood, Zac Efron
Jan Ors - Kelly Hu
Kyle Katarn - Robert Downey Junior
Layla Katarn (daughter) - Sybilla Deen
Aayla Secura Force ghost - original actress
Just a suggestion. But I reckon infinitely better than what we got
@@darkjediknight2923 I think it would be cool if Christopher Nolan moved away from the Skywalker sage and told a new story- but I would love it to be a story that focused all on the Jedi and the Sith- because Jedi lore is my favorite part of Star Wars!
@@littlestsoul4099 Yes of course. What I mean is, that if there was ever going to be "sequels" beyond ROTJ, then I would 100% want to see ONLY George Lucas' sequel story. Someone like Nolan could showcase it on screen superbly I am sure. So first and foremost, I'd like to see THAT to have a proper saga. Then of course, I would also love to see an Old Republic era story about the Jedi and Sith. Maybe even Jedi vigilantes like the Star Wars version of Batman. Nolan would be great at that also!
@@littlestsoul4099 the times of the old republic that era
@@darkjediknight2923 Full truth. I might not want to see any main line SW movies after ROTJ. Spin-offs with the OG cast, sure, but the saga is best as six episodes
This man gambled on himself and his vision and WON!
It’s all about sticking with your vision, even in the face of so many trials. There Will always be many trials to get your script made. But it’s your underlying conviction in the material you’ve created, and its potential to be something great, that will drive you to do whatever it takes, despite the odds, to make sure it gets made
Amazing and impressive how George was constantly doubting himself and even expressed the blood and exhaustion that went into making it, yet he still pushed through. The hardest projects seem to unify people and be the ultimate test of how much faith one has even when it’s most hard.
I think that is how most people see his achievement: When he was up against it, he was terrifically creative. When he was comfortable and funded, he became very mediocre.
Doesn't make him a bad guy.
This is one of the most important conversations that any aspiring filmmaker could hope to watch.
George Lucas will forever be underappreciated. You don't have any block buster today without 1977's Star Wars.
Right. It’s ironic how he told Spielberg back in the day, when Jaws was being filmed, “If you get even half of this on film, you’ll revolutionize the way movies are made.” Not that Jaws wasn’t revolutionary in its own way (inspired the term blockbuster, first movie to gross over $100 million, put Spielberg on the map as a director to watch), but Star Wars’ impact on filmmaking/filmmakers/sound/special effects, and the mainstream industry’s focus in what they make, how they market movies, far outweighs Jaws’ impact in my opinion. I mean, by comparison, look at how many big, famous, popular shark movies have been made in the wake of Jaws, versus all the popular, post-Star Wars sci-fi action blockbusters that’ve been made (Guardians of the Galaxy is a series that comes to mind)
@@Overseer2579 Too crude an analysis. Jaws inspired how impending threat is depicted, how horror/thriller can be marketed widely as family entertainment. Star Wars did not kickstart interest in sci-fi, it shifted the marketing of sci-fi to wider audiences through timeless genre-independent themes, and validated the techniques, setting and themes as marketable blockbuster potential
@@TheJthom9 it did kickstart interest in sci-fi, because it wasn’t making big box office money at the time, hence why so many studios passed on the screenplay. In addition, it did also impact all of those other areas you mentioned, like marketing, what studios focused on in terms of the types of films they catered to, using timeless themes and story archetypes to reach wide audiences and make LOTS of money. Jaws did impact what you said about horror and how it’s marketed (I mean heck, Spielberg went on to executive produce stuff like Poltergeist and Gremlins, which I watched growing up). But you are wrong in the assumption that Star Wars did not kickstart interest in sci-fi because it did. It also was revolutionary in its special effects tech at the time, and shifted the studios’ focus to the summer as the prime releasing season for all the big films they were distributing
Not necessarily. If he'd walked off into the desert of Tunisia, never to be seen again, Spielberg still would have made _Close Encounters of the Third Kind,_ released at the end of 1977, but maybe he wouldn't have the head start of using George's special effects crew that would become ILM. Also, _Superman_ was being filmed by Richard Donner that still would have been a huge success in 1978. Maybe we wouldn't have gotten _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ and a lot of space knockoffs in the 1980s? But the blockbuster was here anyway after _Jaws (1975)._
No Star Wars No blockbusters, no Harry Potter, no Lunchboxs and action figures means no MCU. No blockbusters means no pixar. no pixar means no internet. The render farms used for films is what drove much of the technology we use every day. Computers already could handle word processors and payroll stock markers and a lot of work things but without star wars we might not have the internet outside collage and military bases.
No internet no gps no gig economy.
The planet looks completely different without George Lucas and a single space movie, we might not even have found the Franklyn expiation George if we did not have internet by now in human history. Might have even ended the world by now.
(23:57) _The things I wanted to do_ :
- _I wanted it to be shot on location-find an environment that I could make look spacey and unreal. I decided a desert would be a good thing_
- _shoot on location so it looked realistic-it should have a patina of immaculate realism. Which is something I learned from Kurosawa: even though this may be a ridiculous story and isn't based on reality, I wanted to make a world that looked like it had been lived-in. One that had logic on every level. That every cultural artifact, every set piece had a reason for being there_
(35:32)
dragonhold4 Easily the best quote in the interview, I was going to link it in the comments, but you’ve already done it. Excellent! I saw George talk about this idea in one of the docs on the making of Phantom Menace, around designing boy Anakin’s room, the Tatooine street market-and, at large, making planets with cultures that felt like people really lived that way-familiarly relatable yet curiously peculiar.
dragonhold4 & your second link is to my second favorite part: wonderful! Thx
@@TheCapedWanderer
Glad to have helped.
Tolkien described something very similar to what Lucas did in this interview and dubbed the concept 'secondary world'.
I believe there might be a correlation with this to some of the greatest stories that exist.
We connect with places just as much as we do with characters and the new disney sequels fail to create places to connect with imo. They offer great and epic imagery but no places that feel real or get enough screentime for us to build a connection with
so why did he shoot so much on green screen in the prequels?
This interview should be shown to every film student.
this was one of the most beautiful interviews I ever seen, Nolan was so smooth, he left Lucas explain the whole process of making the movie, it's incredible how much effort and problems appeared and Lucas pulled it off, he wrote history with Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
I love this conversation between Lucas and Nolan and I’ve been waiting for the DGA TH-cam channel to upload the full conversation for awhile now, but they haven’t as of me writing this. Thank you for putting this up for all to see. Lucas and Nolan are fantastic filmmakers! Two of my favorites.
I love listening to George talk. He is fascinating. Ive heard the stories many times they never get old.
Made the two best trilogies of all time in Indiana Jones and Star Wars. I can literally watch any of those movies (and yes even the prequels for me) over and again for eternity. The joy I get from his films is difficult to explain. In a way it's like a therapy for anxiety.
My two favorite directors of all time sitting together, hot damn
Steven Spielberg not????
He’s incredible he should be there top
Couldn't agree more. Lucas is my favorite director ever with nolan being the second. They are the best storytellers
Christopher Nolan is definitely in my top 10
I hope Christopher Nolan gets to interview George again soon as George was really relaxed with him and was only just getting warmed up in the last 15 minutes or so and was unbelievably candid with him. Would have been great to delete into the other questions Nolan wanted to ask about sound etc.
I respect how much George Lucas shows appreciation for his inspirations such as Kurosawa, The hidden fortress, Dune
I've read all the books and seen all the documentaries, but there's something else in hearing the creator talk about the making of Star Wars. Thanks for posting 😊
It’s honestly unfathomable how much of modern culture this one mind has helped shape
Optimization is one of the most difficult problems in any area. The fact that he was making his movies with that concept in his mind makes him a very intelligent man in my eyes. He inspires.
It was so sad when they had to go 😞Who made them leave?
OMG YOU’re real!!!!
I remember you.
Tell us a duck storey
All the people who talked smack about the prequels. Funny, those people hate the sequels now even more.
@@aaronratliff338 and claimed “GeOrGe LuCaS rApEd My ChIlDhOoD”! When they’re claiming Disney did so and have made fun of George Lucas for his prequel trilogy. Phantom Menace is decent for me, Attack Of The Clones is bad, and Revenge Of The Sith has always been my favorite of the prequel trilogy.
Star Wars movies are iconic!!!!
1977-2005
Also with the addition of Clone Wars and Mando makes it even better 🔥
This conversation is SO fantastic, it brings tears to my eyes! Thanks so much for posting!!!
I love, love, love these sorts of intellectual, matter-of-fact interviews.
Im such huge fan of both of those outstanding gentlemen, I could listen them talk about films all day. Thanks so much for sharing Nisma Productions.
Boy are we glad he suffered to bring us some of my favorite movies of all time. Count in the video games and music and books and you cannot possibly quantify the distraction, fun and entertainment Star Wars has meant to me throughout my life. Thank you George!
George Lucas is just sitting there like he didn't invent modern cinema.
LOL forget Orson Welles, forget Spielberg, Forget Hitchcock. This arrogant fat man INVENTED MODERN CINEMA. Get some perspective.
@@goronful4969 Just because you named a few guys from the olden days doesn't mean they're the bench mark. No one among the people you mentioned pushed cinema to where it was post star wars as far as the arrogant fat man. And he did it all from scratch. Not even Spielberg did that.
The guy who turned cinema into a whore house cash cow. The guy who ruined cinema and ended the Hollywood new wave.
@@thomaschristopherwhite9043 bahaha a few old guys. Jaws was the genesis of the modern blockbuster, Star Wars wouldn't have had a template to build off of if it wasn't for Spielberg. Let alone the others I mentioned.
@@goronful4969 "If it wasn't for Spielberg" LOOL!
Where do you think Spielberg's greatest hits would be without ILM? Huh? Yeah.. EXACTLY!
American Graffiti doesn't get a lot of mention, but really it became the template for coming-of-age teen summer nostalgia movies.
It kinda makes me feel like it was the prelude to Dazed and Confused, which was pretty much Richard Linklater’s American Graffiti. In my opinion, it’s Lucas’s best directorial work (that’s right, I like it MORE than Star Wars, as good as those movies are)
George wasn't the greatest dialogue writer, but he had one of the greatest movie ideas and many, many knowledge how to make an epic picture.
it was written for 12 year olds, he has said that many times, he didnt expect grown ass people to like it as much as they do,lol
45:13
“And we did get in reasonably illeg- easily...”
Nice catch dude
Weird
“Tonight we are focusing on films that aren’t necessarily blockbusters”..............so George Lucas and Christopher Nolan sound like a good place to start then!!
Without wishing to seem melodramatic, it’s fair to say George Lucas influenced a huge part of my childhood, and thus my entire life. He changed cinema, he changed toys and he changed the world as my generation knows it.
That’s not melodramatic at all. I’m a university student at SCAD currently pursuing a career in writing/directing, and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) was the movie that made me want to be a filmmaker to begin with. So just for that alone, he was a big part of my childhood too. Plus I just fucking LOVE Star Wars
@@Overseer2579 Raiders is a case study in film making- what a movie.
@@ManCave1972 _Raiders_ was a fantastic action-adventure, but I can't un-see Amy's analysis on _The Big Bang Theory_ which said Indy had no influence on the outcome of the movie. Also, George told a fib to Steven saying he had 3 movies all planned out, but when they went to start on the sequel, _Temple of Doom,_ Steven said George had nothing and they had to start from scratch.
@@sandal_thong8631 Ha ha yes I’d forgotten about the Big Bang Theory- and it totally stacks up😂😂👏👏
Two absolute legends talking for an hour, thank you
This was great. BTW, George Lucas is such an introvert he started undoing his mic the second it was over.
I find nothing more inspiring as a creative than listening to how things were made. Everything always looks super smooth and glamorous, and it's really reassuring to know that it's basically impossible for everyone lol.
Alan Ladd, Jr., man. Thanks to his backing as a reasonable Suit, we got Young Frankenstein, Alien, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Blade Runner, and a buncha other famous and culturally impactful movies.
There's a whole exponential and ongoing chain reaction. If you think about it, George Lucas actually had a huge impact on the MCU. Because Lucas hired Joe Johnston, the success of the original trilogy paved the way for Johnston to embark on a directing career, which would eventually lead to Captain America: The First Avenger and casting of Chris Evans.
He's one of the few movie studio execs that will be remembered I think, at least fondly!
@@ironcladnomad5639 yeah I didn’t really think about it like that. That’s very cool. The First Avenger is one of Johnston’s better movies, imo, with his best work being October Sky
He also let Mel Gibson direct Braveheart (which probably would not have happened under other studio heads.)
Two of my favorite directors sitting in the same room talking with each other.
When you realized that with the stubbornness and dedication of this one man, cinema has been changed forever. What a powerful impact this film had on my life in general, still to this day. Thank you Mr. Lucas.
I wish this was 4 hours longer.
I wish the sequels were 4 hours shorter
I said the same thing about ep3
#Releasethelucascut
This was a fantastic interview. Loved it and the hour went by in 10 minutes
Love this story every time he tells it, and the subtle little chuckles between the two talking about the studios, is just amazing.
George Lucas is one of the greatest minds in history of mankind. I'm in tears hearing him speak. God bless George.
So this entire interview makes me want a Christopher Nolan Star Wars trilogy so bad.
You know that would happen only if WB buy the franchise right? Haha
It makes me wish for another George Lucas trilogy. It would be a dream come true, bad sadly it's not gonna happen.
Omg that’d be amazing
This video made my day. We need at least 10 more hours of them chatting.
At least!
Thanks a lot for this! I've been watching the Star Wars films for the first time and this is such a tremendously honest insight into the making of it and the problems he faced.
To me, being an aspiring and fairly insecure artist George’s Story is immensely inspiring. It shows me that standing by your own vision and creativity with perseverance will eventually pay off, even if at first everyone turns you down.
Best discussion with Lucas I've ever heard.
The only one I heard. Did he say drills where used as laser prop guns?
Movie nuts and bolts discussion is fantastic.
It was a joy to watch. Biggest take away: although the whole process was a catastrophy, the final product was exceptional.
I love how Nolan just listens to Lucas in awe, knowing his place.
This is seriously the most random crossover I've ever seen pop up, yet I've never been this excited to click on a video!! Well done youtube algorithm! Well done indeed
Two legends in their own right sitting together. Damn.
I adored this video. Christopher looked at George Lucas like a kid watching his crazy genius father❤️
George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick defined science fiction cinema in hollywood. Huge respect for the legends.
I would say Ridley Scott also, with Alien and Blade Runner, which took it a step further.
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the real ones...
Spielberg too.
Ffc = Untalented prick
I've seen a lot of interviews with George Lucas over the years (though somehow I missed this one) and I gotta say - this is probably the most comprehensive and insightful one about the making of the original Star Wars I've ever seen. He could have talked for another 5 hours and not got to everything of course, but so much of the history of that film is covered by George in one of his most candid interviews yet.
Granted, as usual, he's spinning the standard self-made myth that he had the whole 6-movie saga all figured out before he even shot the first film (Vader wasn't even Luke's father until he wrote Empire for goodness sake!), and one glaring omission from the history of the filmmaking is his ex-wife Marcia's contributions to the script and editing, but still, it's a brilliant overview. Props to Nolan for asking the right questions and mostly just letting George wax lyrical!
He has probably told the story so many times, the truth is even a little lost for him.
He would have re-written the script for all three films countless times, so I understand the exact timeline may be a bit blurry for him.
I do agree it’s a little glaring though how obviously he omits any anecdotes involving Marcia, but more curiously Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck’s contributions to the script are almost never mentioned.
Agreed, the best interview I've seen with him in a long time, if not ever. I noticed Lucas paused a bit when Nolan asked what kind of research or influences he went back to when writing the movie. Lucas took an awkward pause there and then mentioned Kurosawa films. I think we know there are many other things he looked at and borrowed from, but he wasn't about to be honest and say I took this idea from that and that idea from this all in a row. If I understand correctly, Lucas tried to option the rights to Flash Gordon before writing Star Wars but he didn't mention that here. Any possible comic book influences are rarely if ever mentioned by Lucas. But we know Lucas was a comic geek enough to know about Howard the Duck when the character's series debuted and became a cult hit with older fans. We know the "rolling boulder" scene in Raiders was shown in Donald Duck comics earlier. We know Vader has some similarity to Dr. Doom that even Stan Lee commented on. We know Jack Kirby's space opera Fourth World had many elements similar to Star Wars. Just in general, the idea of sci-fi mixed with fantasy, adventure and visual spectacle was little seen in movies up to that point but was what Marvel and DC were publishing every week. It was perhaps no accident that the Star Wars comic adaptation became one of Marvel's bestselling titles because the material was going for the exact same audience that Marvel's regular titles were.
He's told the lie so many times about how he had the whole story of the saga figured out, I guess it's impossible to back out now and change his story. Too bad not even the official making of books support his story, where all the original versions of the scripts are discussed in detail. Although he tried to muddy the waters by slipping in a line about midichlorians into his original concept of the Force, but the writer of the making of book revealed Lucas edited the original document.
It felt to me like he was going to get to that part with Marcia, but sadly he only got as far into the story as the first rough cut before they changed the subject.
To the script? And editing? That myth is untrue and overblown
I feel Nolan should interview a lot more directors . Loved this and his interview with Tarantino
9:10 The original film was subtitled The Tragedy of Darth Vader.
Anakin Skywalker was always the key focus of the series.
George is such a calm and relaxed guy but also so damn hilarious yet extremely insightful and educated. I mean just thinking about the main ideas of Star Wars shows just how much this guy knows about world history and politics but more importantly the nature and philosophy of human kind with the whole idea of the force. The light and the dark. Good vs evil.
On TH-cam's algorithm: lets recommend this soon. But lets wait for them upload it 9 years later.
George Lucas doesn't say it here, but I read somewhere that he was blown away when John williams came with the soundtrack. Once the image was put together with the music, magic happened. Suddenly, everything made sense.
I would totally watch a movie about Disney firing Kennedy, decanonizing the sequel trilogy and George finishing his Wills trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan!
Hell yes. I had hoped that was going to happen to begin with. When I first heard that there were going to be sequels to ROTJ, I thought, this is awesome! George Lucas's continuation story. We should have had HIS sequel scripts directed by Christopher Nolan.
I really wish kathleen were killed and tortured by the fans because what she had done to Star Wars. Also Rian, and Jar Jar Abrams dead
Sad Track ok, down boy. Torture, no. Fired, yes
I would like to see George Lucas' actual sequels so we have the creator's saga. E.g.
Episode VII Shadow of the Force
Episode VIII Knight of the Whills
Episode IX Rise of the New Order
This type of casting:
ORGINAL HEROES (Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, the droids) - original cast
FORCE GHOSTS (Yoda, Obi Wan, Anakin, Qui Gon and other prequel Jedi like Windu and Aayla) - original cast. For Obi Wan, do CGI of Alec Guiness voiced by Ewan Mcgregor
THE NEXT GENERATION:
Kira Skywalker (Luke's daughter) - Naomi Scott
Jaina Solo - Olympia Valance
Bail Solo (who turns dark) - Ben Barnes
Mara Jade Skywalker - Gal Gadot
Jedi students - Anna Akana, William Mosley, Emma Watson, Katie Leung, Dylan O'brien, Kee Hong Lee, Veronica Ngo
Kyle Katarn - Robert Downey Junior
Jan Ors - Kelly Hu
THE WHILLS - Judi Dench, Denzel Washington, Kevin Costner, Jackie Chan
QUI GON - Liam Neeson
THE VILLAINS:
Plageuis the Wise - Anthony Hopkins
Red Twilek Jedi Hunter - Chloe Bennet
Mandolarian Deputy - Colin Salmon
GALACTIC FACTIONS:
Naboo Queen (Leia's cousin) - Catherine Zeta Jones
Pandoran King - Antonio Banderas
Black Sun - Constance Wu, Jessica Alba, Zac Efron, The Rock
Vigilantes - Jim Caviezel, Sarah Shahi, Russel Crowe, Georgina Campbell,
BILLIONAIRE ALLIANCE ALLIES: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Kristen Kreuk
IMPERIAL REMNANT:
Imperial Vizier - Jeff Goldblum
Marisiah Fel - Sybilla Deen
Thrawn - Tom Cruise
Jedi ghosts from prequels and Padme (original prequel cast)
Irritating brat who gets humiliated by a Gungan - Daisy Ridley.
Thoughts?
A shame that the cast will never be reunited.
One of the most brilliant , imaginative and beloved storytellers in Film History talking to George Lucas.
I knew TH-cam had a couple of diamonds somewhere. Lit!
every single interview I ever see from George is like music to listen, also it's like poetry, it rhymes :D
It's like listening to your really cool uncle tell all the stories you wanted to hear and more :D this made my day, thank you! And thank you George :)
The gain noise in this audio is killing me...
Sounds like it's raining indoors.
Thanks! Now I hear it... 😂
Thanks for making me notice it :D seriously, it is pretty loud tho
I heard it too 😑
That’s how it is on the official DGA website, which I assume is where the uploaded got this from and uploaded it here. Surprised that the DGA weren’t able to get fantastic mics or at least be able to have some sound guys come in and help make the audio as clear as possible when editing the video together.
This is like the best interview George Lucas has ever done about the making of Star Wars... Major thanks for posting this... I think anyone who is a fan of movie making or wants to be a movie director should definitely see this interview... awesome major thanks again
Amazing! Without Star Wars there never would have been Nolan !
thanks for posting this!
Star Wars was a lightning in a bottle. It had the right people working behind it, the right actor, the right producers, the right friends, and it's all because of this mad man name George Lucas.
Fastest hour of my life, I could watch this conversation just go on forever. I'd be fine with just only watching these two talk. Forever.
George is the perfect example of betting on yourself and never letting someone or thing with extreme amount of money and power to sway you away from your vision and passion. The man created what is quite possibly the most significant and influential IP in Star Wars without any of the setbacks other creators deal with in studio meddling and what not. George had his own ideas and stuck to them not allowing anyone dictate or change it and it ended up being the most amazing show of self belief and sticking to your guns
Man, this interview is amazing! Thanks a lot!
Amazing interview. I don't know what the x-factor is but I'm generation x and a big Star Wars fan and I've watched a lot of Lucas' interviews but I've never seen him even remotely close to this level of relaxation, humourousness and lucidity. Really enjoyed listening to him.