In 1977, a major cinematic occurrence took place with the release of the first live-action Star Wars movie at the hands of George Lucas. The plot marked how Luke Skywalker joined the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Republic, in a bid to overthrow the evil Empire. Soon enough, the film became synonymous with pop culture and over the years, has expanded into a multi-billion dollar franchise. Yet, none of it was easy.
Kick-starting the franchise was a big enough feat in itself. However, the tougher part came with a slew of criticism and judgment that, at times, felt unwarranted, at least to Lucas. Moreover, his brainchild and a crucial piece of the Skywalker saga, the prequel series, landed in hot soup upon its release, with several of the original fans voicing strongly against it.
In a tale of perseverance and hope, the creator of the franchise moved ahead unfazed and now explains how he got over some of the most negative responses to his moves.
The one George Lucas decision for Star Wars that fans called “terrible”
In stark contrast to the prequel installments, the original Star Wars movie aka Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, was more or less a unanimous success. The flick made the audiences fall in love with the franchise in the first place and hence commands special acclaim. Surprisingly, even it was not safe from negativity, with the wrath of criticism pouring soon after the release of the original film on LaserDisc.
Years after the movie’s 1977 release and with the advent of technology, George Lucas decided to revisit the film and touch it up exactly as he had envisioned it. However, the reactions told a different story, with Lucas stating to The Hollywood Reporter,
We did release the original one on laserdisc and everybody got really mad, they said, ‘It looks terrible.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I know it did,’ That is what it looked like.
On his part, the visionary opined that every creator, writer, or director should hold the right to bring their vision to their reality. In this case, regardless of a sea of opinions, Lucasfilm went ahead and released a definitive collection containing the original trilogy enhanced digitally as per the creator’s vision in 1993, which soon became a hallowed collector’s item.
Disney got the franchise wrong, admits creator
In a mega exchange of intellectual properties, Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 for more than $4 billion and with it the right to make new Star Wars productions. The entertainment juggernaut soon rolled out its trilogy of films, known as the sequel trilogy, starring Daisy Ridley with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.
However, it went on to become one of the most divisive trio of outings from the franchise, and even George Lucas believes that Disney got it wrong.
In the same round of talks, he opened up that,
I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was … who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force.
He also added that,
When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.
The original creator’s comments touched upon many critical opinions disagreeing with Disney’s use of force and inability to execute lightsaber fights to perfection. Moreover, the franchise has still not found its balance yet, with the latest Disney+ show, Star Wars: The Acolyte opening as a disaster with a shockingly low audience score of 14%, highlighting the need for imminent change.
Star Wars is available to stream on Disney+.
