The legendary George Lucas’ media franchise, Star Wars, might be the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, but to reach that level, the franchise had to bear a lot of criticism. Some of this criticism even came from one of the biggest mangakas, Kentaro Miura, who wrote the Berserk manga, which is an epic tale in itself.
Miura was a big fan of Western movies and series. Even his magnum opus shared some similarities to many cult classics of his time, like The Evil Dead. He once revealed his favorite movies, directors, actors, franchises, etc. And while talking about his favorites, he mentioned that he was a big Star Wars fan.
However, there was one Star Wars movie that Miura believed was very weak, and maybe Lucas jumped the shark on it. The movie was the prequel to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which received mixed reviews from critics upon its release.
Kentaro Miura’s Favorite Western Movies and Directors
In 2002, Miura’s video interview was released in the fourth volume of the North American DVD release by Media Blasters. In this interview, Miura was asked about any director or movie that influenced him. Miura revealed that he had a couple of favorite American film directors who had a lot of influence on him.
Miura stated:
I’m a big fan of Sam Raimi’s movies, I like “Dark Man”, too. He got really big after “Spider-Man”, but I still like his movies. And I like Tim Burton, because his movies are always ‘offbeat.’ It’s almost strange that a person can be that offbeat and big at the same time. But that’s why I love his movies.
While talking about James Cameron, Miura pointed out:
James Cameron lost his touch after he got big. Well, I don’t know if he thinks of himself as offbeat. But when I saw “Terminator”, as a sci-fi fan, I was really excited that he was one of those offbeat geniuses, like Tim Burton… but turns out he wasn’t.
According to the manga creator, he loved Sam Raimi, who was the director of one of his favorite film franchises, The Evil Dead. He also pointed out that he liked Tim Burton for his offbeat themes in the movies, and while he initially liked James Cameron, he felt that Cameron lost his touch after he became a big director.
Kentaro Miura’s Honest Opinion About Star Wars
While talking about his favorite movie franchises, Miura revealed that he is a big Star Wars fan and that the franchise is his all-time favorite. He pointed out that he has been watching Star Wars since he was a kid, and since then he has been an admirer of the George Lucas franchise.
Miura stated:
And of course, “Star Wars” is my all-time favorite movie. I saw it when I was little, so I was really shocked, I was a big Star Wars fan ever since. But “Episode 1” was very weak. The script needed some work.
Kentaro Miura also revealed that although he loved all the Star Wars movies, he felt that the first part of the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, was very weak in terms of script.
The film was great overall, but the script was the only thing that needed some work. However, it did not change Miura’s love for the franchise.
You can read the Berserk manga on Dark Horse.
