Nathan, first off, there just might be someone here who can make not these kinds of movies, which are bad, but the good kind. To dismiss that is to delve in the Reichian Little Man mentality that no good thing can come from the people around you.

Second, I’ll say what I can and what I can’t do: I can’t design the Windows XP interface. But I sure can pick Mac OS X one instead. Same with movies.

Lucas isn’t the only one who wasn’t able to give continuity to a great vision. It also happened with the Wachovsky brothers, whose Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions almost dragged the whole franchise to the mud.

I’m also no fan of Darabont. Or Spielberg for that matter. Their art is irregular, forever oscilating between good ideas and cheap emotionalism. I always watch Spielberg tense for the moment he will let me down. I understand the best storytellers are not always that well known, because what appeals for the average masses is not necessarily that which is best.

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He created Star Wars and Indian Jones. It’s his freakin’ creation, if he doesn’t like the script, it means it doesn’t fit into his vision!! If you don’t like it, then that’s YOUR problem. Let the guy tell his stories.

No George Lucas, No Star Wars. No George Lucas, No Indiana Jones.

Be grateful you vultures!

You say you saw The Phantom Menace when you were 16, so who are you to say there was no amazement upon seeing it for 10 year olds? I was 10 when I saw it, so I think I’m a better authority in that area. I greatly enjoyed The Phantom Menace. I enjoyed it at very basic levels. It continued the imaginative process of exploring bright, colorful vivid new worlds while revisiting old ones as well. It deals with characters that display strong emotions but only when those emotions best serve the narrative, and even then, without ever waxing over-sentimentalism. It also introduced more complex story lines yet without ever fraying into the kind of vicariously drawn-out dramatic posturing that is all too familiar with just about every other fantasy adventure film.

There are moments through out all six films where good triumphs over evil in the wackiest of fashions: R2-D2 fixing the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon, C-3PO’s head swap with the battle droid, the Ewok (Paploo) who stole the speeder bike, and even Boba Fett’s hilarious death (which by the way is probably the greatest bitch-death in the history of cinema). Even little Anakin taking out the Droid Control Ship by accident was meant to be seen as destiny gone whimsical rather than anything particularly profound. Lucas never intended that scene to be the show stopper of the movie equal to Luke blowing up the Death Star. That went to the Darth Maul duel (by the way, Obi-Wan taking out Maul was like the biggest sensational payoff of the entire movie). I don’t know… I mean, it’s just one of those things. You’re either on board with it or not. Star Wars has got so many heavy themes going on, with out the lighter stuff it would just be The Matrix. Bleh.

Seriously, the plot is plain ridiculous, while the original Star Wars had Luke destroying the Death Star by using the power of the Force, Anakin destroys the mother ship with what I guess is sheer luck! Qui-gonn should have just said “Anakin, use your lucky charms!”.

For what used to be a fan of Star Wars, that movie was a complete disappointment. There was no amazement upon seeing it not even for 10 year olds, I was only 16 when I saw it and it literally destroyed my love for all things Star Wars and made me despise George Lucas to this day. And no, Phantom Menace will NOT be assessed some years down the road more fairly than it is now, it will always be the epitome of bad sequels, forever!

This whole thing with the Indiana Jones script is really bad news, damn you Lucas!

Darabont replied, “It is very much the movie that hit the screen. I still like it very much. I find the backlash perplexing and a little disheartening. To hear people tell it, it’s like crapping on the Mona Lisa. But this has more to do with people’s expectations, which were so very high, more than it has to do with the quality of the resulting film. No film could possibly have pleased them. It’s hard to have perspective when you’re in the heat of the moment. I think Phantom Menace will be assessed some years down the road more fairly than it is now. I thought it was a very smart film. I thought it worked. And what is this ‘Oh, it’s just for kids’ comment? What is that about? Who the hell do you think any of the Star Wars films were for? They were very much in that milieu of mythology for children. What’s the problem? The problem is that everybody who saw those movies has grown up, and their memory of the impact of those films has been diluted through the years. [The films have] become so iconic that disappointment was inevitable. George Lucas is capable of many, many things. But making you feel like that wonder-struck-eight-year-old again isn’t one of them. It can’t be done. You’re not eight years old; you can’t be wonder struck in the same way. Sorry. In terms of its intelligence and its approach, I’d put Menace up there with Empire Strikes Back, which was the darkest and most adult of the original trilogy… Luckily, I was still young enough to be awe-struck by [Star Wars], at the age of eighteen. I don’t know how I’d feel about it now, at the age of forty. But when you go in expecting the greatest movie ever made, you’re in for a letdown, no matter how good the movie is.”

We’ll never know for sure but I suspect that is perhaps why Lucas passed on Frank Darabont’s script while Steven was in favor of it. For Darabont, in comparison with Spielberg, is also a filmmaker who really likes to bleed as much emotion as possible from anyone scene - to the point where it can potentially get in the way of the movies forward momentum. Especially a movie like Indiana Jones that is, by no means what-so-ever, a contemporary drama. Plus, Darabont’s idea of using neo-Nazis instead of Soviets seems a bit forced, as well as not being something that effectively conveys the zeitgeist of the 1950s Cold War era– so, for what it’s worth, I am finding people less and less upset with Lucas for rejecting that version with every new tidbit they learn about it. Even the addition of Mutt, I think, will largely be seen by fans as a good idea in hindsight, as the dramatic narrative would’ve basically been “Raiders” all over again if it’d only featured Indy and Marion (i.e., with no Mutt, like in Darabont’s screenplay). Mutt’s presence is sure to bring out sides of both characters that we haven’t quite seen before, which can only be a good thing in terms of making this story feel fresh, instead of like a big rehash.

“I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough. You’re soft and smooth.”

Lucas got visited by the muse - once, for the original Star Wars, and that script was remarkable only for its concept and ideas, not its dialogue.