“Curb it, punks.”
Can one of our commenters suit up as “The Internet” and have a wrastlin’ match with George Lucas already? The Star Wars poobah is back to his “let’s be realistic” and “most of you will probably hate it, but so what?” schtick, but this time he’s voicing his (non)concern about expectations for May’s Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. And he goes on to take a jab at all of the preceding Indiana Jones movies as well. Why not? I mean, the title to the latest sequel shouldn’t conjure any fantastical event film notions in the minds of fans at all, right? Why not call it Jones and a Kingdom, Maybe an Alien, Too? Here’s what he shrugged to USA Today…
“When you do a movie like this, a sequel that’s very, very anticipated, people anticipate ultimately that it’s going to be the Second Coming,” Lucas says. “And it’s not. It’s just a movie. Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up.”
And I have a theory that the U.S. government suped-and-purpled up a new $5 bill because Lucas is just over money. It’s like living in a world with only one stripper, I guess. Purple helps. The co-creator of one of the great American adventure characters insists that, for whatever reason, Indiana Jones can no longer make money him in today’s (i.e. “my”) world.
“We came back to do (Indy) because we wanted to have fun,” he says. “It’s not going to make much money for us in the end. We all have some money. … It would make a lot of money if you weren’t rich. But we’re not doing it for the money.”
So, does Lucas think the new film, which he co-wrote and produced, is just five out of ten cracks of the whip? He leaves fans with this drool-worthy sentence.
“It was really a blast. And it turned out fantastic. … I like to watch it.”
Discuss: The excitement is contagious. Can you feel it? My contribution was admittedly lame, but give your best alternative and completely whatever title to The Crystal Skull.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Turkey neck never let’s up with the laughs.
March 25th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Also, sounds more and more like pre-emtpive “damage control” to me.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Is this the Lucas who said that Empire was the WORST Star Wars film?
March 25th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Indiana Jones and the Discovery That Lucas’ Films are Better When He’s Not Involved
Indiana Jones and the Quest for Affordable Healthcare (OK, stole that one from Mad magazine)
Indiana Jones and the One Reason Harrison Ford Shouldn’t Hang it Up Like Sean Connery Already
Indiana Jones and the Endless Tie-Ins
Indiana Jones and the Colossal Expectations
March 25th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Ummm…
Does it really even matter that much?
I could care less what he says, it’s still directed by Steven Spielberg who has the tendency to make the movie experience much more than the usual.
Definately still looking forward to this than Crank 2.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I’m currently in the process of watching all three Indy flicks again, and so far they DO hold up to my memory of the same films.
Maybe he should call it Indiana Jones and the STFU!
March 25th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
This was obviously directed at the hyper-nostalgic fanboys who thought that Episode One was going to be a perpetual chocolate covered orgasm of a film and were disappointed when it was just another Star Wars movie and, eight years later, continue to bitch and cry non-stop about , not just what a terrible movie it is, but how it is the worst movie ever, and it ruined their childhoods, because it didn’t live up to their unrealistically overblown expectations. So, Lucas is clearly trying to curb the same kind of backlash, by downplaying similar expectations. It will probably be a decent movie, competently done and will likely be just as good as the previous Indiana Jones movies, but it is only a movie deal with it.
March 25th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Tabor,
They didn’t ruin my childhood memories. Since my childhood isn’t tied to cartoons and toys. My childhood is tied to my imagination when going out and playing with my friends until I came back with gashes on my arms and legs and pushing the first girl that kissed me into some bushes.
But I agree, those new Star Wars films sucked. They sucked long, they sucked hard.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Will this movie blow? I have a strong feeling it will.
Will I still catch it opening weekend? Oh hell yeah!
It all depends though if Lucas and gang can get my dollar bill (y’all) for a second go.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
i’m going to throw this out there right now:
George Lucas is a tool.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’m glad someone has finally written an article over Lucas’ constant whining. It’s been nothing but doom and gloom from this guy. I hear nothing but excitement and anticipation for this movie. Maybe Lucas is just burned from all the backlash from his new Star Wars movies. But Indy 4 has one thing that none of those had - STEVEN SPIELBERG. He isn’t going to make “The Phantom Menace”. Lucas needs to cool out. Everyone is excited and looking forward to it.
And yes, George, the other movies hold up just as well as my memory does. Geesh!.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I agree with Barry.
Spielberg has more of a final say in this, no one expects “No Country For Old Men”. Atleats I hope no one does. But something somewhat resembling the old films in terms of action, witty dialogue, and some good retarded fun.
Spielberg should just ban him from saying anything furthur to the public and shove him off to the side to work on his tv crap.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I kinda have to agree with the guy here. People literally do expect the 2nd coming from the 4th Indy movie, and it’s almost a given that they’re going to be disappointed.
It’s been like this with the new Star Wars movie for many people.
I have very low expectancies, so I may be able to enjoy the movie on some level.
Heck, I even enjoy the new Star Wars flicks.
March 25th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
@ Frank
You know what? Michael Jordan played basketball to get rings, and when it comes to event films so should Lucas, or he should get out of the event film game and go make those indie films he talks about.
The Crystal Skull is an event film from the two guys who helped make American summers synonymous with event films, so they need to deliver a ridiculously good follow-up to a classic event film franchise. In a case like this, you don’t pester fans for having high expectations, you try your damnedest to live up to em.
Especially after those beyond-shitty Star Wars movies, which gave us one more reason to hate Baby Boomers.
Michael Jordan or Larry Bird never publicly said, “to all the fans, maybe we’ll just barely make the playoffs this year because it’s only basketball and it doesn’t really matter.”
Count our blessings for PTA and QT b/c at least those two go for perfect each time. At least they want to knock flicks out of the park.
Spielberg should issue a press release to counter Lucas’s blahblahblah that simply says “It’s pretty damn great.”
March 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
It really hurts to hear him say these things, it really does. I mean, I want to like the guy… he did create Star Wars for goodness sake. He did have something to do with Indiana Jones, THX, heck, even Pixar. But these lame statements just make it difficult. Although, if you know anything about his history, these aren’t out of left field. When Star Wars was opening he was so afraid of failure that he ran off to Hawaii to hide. I honestly think this is more about his own insecurities than anything else.
Plus, when are we going to see all those “personal” projects he wanted to do when Star Wars was finally over? Oh, I see, let’s spend a few more years doing Star Wars cartoons and live action tv shows first. Sheesh, I was actually looking forward to a non-Star Wars Lucas, just to see what that might look like. Been a long ass time since American Grafitti and THX1138.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
eh he’s just trying to temper the hype… there was so much hype for the new star wars films and lots of people were let down in them because they had such high hopes and the magic was gone… he just doesn’t want that to happen again
March 25th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Dear George,
Just because your sequals/prequals/whatevers didn’t live up to the hype, just because you let down legions of Star Wars fans around the globe (allegedly), just because you think your sh_t doesn’t stink…don’t take it out on other movie makers and their fans.
Sincerely,
The Internet
March 25th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Indiana Jones and the Meh… I Could Take It or Leave It.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
@ The Internet
Alas we meet. You let me down.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
the prequel star wars films did not fail due to high expectations, they failed because Lucas is a shitty director and has lost touch with what made his older films so great. don’t blame your failures on us, George. grow some balls and man up to the fact that you might have ruined this franchise, too.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Han..I mean Harrison Ford are Rich, we get it!! Has there been an interview with GL yet where he hasn’t mentioned how much money he has. And he’s suppose to be humble?
March 26th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Lucas should just shut the fuck up. Sonunds like a tool when he downplays all the awsomeness he has created. Almost sounds like an arrogant prick.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:52 am
He sounded as bitter as Micheal Bay statement to the audience when transformer was released. I hate to see suffering director, perhaps I should just boycott their movies to ease their pain.
March 26th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Here’s the scoop, the Star Wars Prequels are just bad films. That’s all. Without the expectations they are almost unwatchable. They didn’t ruin my childhood, they told my wallet when to stop cashing purchases for Star Wars DVDs.
George Lucas I don’t think has come to terms with the prequels. He, I don’t think, knows that those films do not have the same “magic” or the fun that the other Star Wars films had.
The acting is tasteless, the direction is poor. Everything about it is about the special effects. Lucas handles a lot of symbolism in the films ,but with all great filmmakers, you don’t start with adding extra filler, you have to construct a good story.
I just think he’s implying that, since my Star Wars films got criticized then Indiana Jones 4 will also…I don’t know if that will be the case ,but we’ll see.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Who does he think he’s kidding? Even if anyone had never seen the original Star Wars movies they would think that episodes 1-3 were REALLY CRAP .The old Indy and Star Wars are great.Why would he say something like this? It makes me worried, because maybe in his heart he knows Indy 4 is crap,he can’t make good films anymore, and is preemptively trying to stifle bad reviews.Lucas doesnt give me any faith saying it’s good at the end of the article, he said that for each of the Star Wars prequels.I really hope Indy 4 is good -fingers crossed-.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:56 am
hack.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Everyone calm down….It’s NOT that serious.
You know what I find funny? Is that even though you guys will complain until the end of time. You will still be there on the first night, and the first showing. Yup.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:44 am
My impulse, were I in his position, would be to give the “fans” anything but what they want and are expecting. If I were him, I’d make an Indiana Jones movie with no action whatsoever. There is no creativity involved in simply trying to give people what you think they already want. You may as well just form a committee of fanboys and let them vote on every directorial decision you make.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Actually, I find Lucas’s comments encouraging. I want Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to look and feel like an Indiana Jones movie. I sure as hell don’t want it to be a souped up, modernized, hyper-action flick with no breathers for plot and tons of gravity-defying wire stunts. It would suck if it didn’t resemble the previous Indy movies the way that Live Free or Die Hard doesn’t resemble the rest of the Die Hard movies.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I think george lucas is the Pat Robertson of movies.
April 13th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Yhe mass critical response to the Star Wars prequels is, without a doubt, the biggest cluster fuck in the history of pop culture.
Never has such a wider demographic of movie-goers (fans, critics and even fellow filmmakers alike) completely and utterly drop the ball by grossly misunderstanding and/or misinterpreting not just Episodes I, II and III - but the entire Star Wars saga altogether. For the reasons fans hated the prequels are the very same reasons they praise the original trilogy; in the sense that none of it particularly has anything to do with the movies themselves, rather instead, it is all merely a product of the cultural experience coupled with the circumstances of ones own maturity. It was a no-win situation.
People just wanted to be rekindled with an earlier or different period of their lives - Everyone wanted to be Elliot from E.T. again. And for the same reasons why unicorns aren’t real, George Lucas was unable to make this happen. But the real problem is that no one recognized this for what it was. And when called on it, most dismiss the notion with the wave of a hand in favor of a series of lame arguments that only further revealed their inadequate understanding of what actually constitutes a Star Wars movie to begin with.
Which brings us to Indiana Jones, and the fact that history is about to repeat itself.
It is the only other franchise legacy that has been marked by such a highly anticipated comeback. And for so many, the first three installments have become nothing less than a thing scripture. Again, there is nowhere to go but down. No filmmaker, no matter how skilled or inspired, can compete with something that is beyond film, which is where the Indy franchise has gone. As with the prequels, Crystal Skull will be like Christmas morning…for a 30 year old; same premise - different experience. It will be like the new guy your mom is dating (figure that one out!) and the critical response will be one-in-the-same. People will look for every other outlet to blame and point fingers at.
A lot of people have already passed their own special little verdict announcing this film as an automatic failure before the fact. Apparently this is because the material is no longer pliable in comparison to the more recent action/adventure fanfare. The standards have changed and the idea is no longer fresh therefore it is a wasted effort from the start. This is the kind of logic dictating that movies are simply a product of fashion, which again brings us back to culture and how its influence on people is greater than anything involving the art of cinematic storytelling. In fact, I don’t even refer to them as people, I refer to them as the mob. And the mob is stupid.
The sad but simple truth is this: The mob has no real understanding of film, in all of its varying theories and interpretations. And why should they? Film is both a complex art and a complex science. Most have no real understanding of psychology either, though that doesn’t stop them from thinking that they do. Hell! For that matter, the mob can’t even read comments made by a filmmaker (Lucas) without resulting in a totally botched interpretation. What hope is there for anything more? Make no mistake, arm-chair critics are real, as real as it gets. They see only what is conventional and nothing of what is original, inventive or inspired. You go one way - they go the other. And they do it not just out of spite, but subconscious spite. And there is no reasoning with such a beast. So fuck’em! That’s what I say.
Yes I do realize how much of an elitist this makes me sound but if that’s the way it is… so be it.
What is my personal view on this upcoming installment of Indiana Jones? IT IS JUST A MOVIE.
I really don’t give a shit what other kinds of movies have already tapped the genre since the Last Crusade. Nor do I care how many years it’s been since we’ve even had an Indy adventure. This is film not reality - Time is irrelevant. What do I expect from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Simple, I expect it to be…fun.
Why this has turned out to be such a difficult concept for so many ass holes out there is beyond my fathom.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
And another thing, to all you “George Lucas should just admit that the prequels were bad” people out there:
George Lucas didn’t just make the prequels by accident “Oops! Well that was clumsy of me” - The guy put three years of his life into each film. He had all the time in the world and an unlimited amount of movie making resources to look over everything he rendered with as much scrutiny as possible; which, I’m sure, is exactly what he did.
Whatever elements in the prequels that he didn’t like were either altered or omitted before the end, or were completely avoided altogether. The bottom line is that, visual effects notwithstanding, the Star Wars prequel trilogy that was shown in theaters, in terms of story and character, was the vision that George Lucas intended. But now he is supposed to admit that his vision was a failure because… why?
You people… you just don’t get it. It does not matter whether or not his vision matches yours. Nor does it matter how many of “you” there are in relation to how many people who actually liked those films. So popular culture as deemed the prequel trilogy a failure? Wow, that’s fascinating. Like I give a rat’s ass. Since when are the true merits of any one work of art or creativity determined by the masses?
To one degree or another, every single human being across the planet who was even remotely partial to the Star Wars franchise spent 16 years steadily extrapolating every single conceivable idea, variable or interpretation - all from the same base material that was the original trilogy. Be rational for a moment, is there any real mystery as to why one filmmakers unique version of the prequels did not automatically work as a perfect Lego-fit to every other individual expectation across the endless sea of movie goers?
Again, it’s not a question of who’s is right and who’s is wrong. THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG. This whole business is entirely subjective. And there’s no reason why Lucas should have to admit or accept or seek atonement for the films he made, simply because those films were not well received. Sorry, kids, but life just doesn’t work that way. And yeah sure, George Lucas has, on many different occasions, shared his views on why some fans didn’t warm up to his prequel trilogy (which I’m inclined to agree with) but he’s never once demanded any kind of accountability on they’re part.
It all comes down to individual preferences.
And as for Indiana Jones? Well, Indiana Jones would not be Indiana Jones without George Lucas. The guy’s a goddamn hero factory as far as I’m concerned.