Tag: George Lucas

Taking the higher ground: ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’ turns 20

In 2005, we watched the last Star Wars movie.

Or at least, that was the idea at the time. After expanding the Star Wars universe with The Phantom Menace and continuing it through Attack of the Clones three years later, George Lucas brought the twin sunsets down on his saga for good. On the occasion of the film’s 20th anniversary, we know that didn’t quite pan out.

Say what you want about the prequels — and I do, when asked and sometimes when not — but Revenge of the Sith delivers on much of the promise of that elongated setup. As Star Wars fans, we’d been tested over the previous decade, first asked to accept new digital additions to the original films, then to engage with a trilogy that felt stylistically very different.

The first 25 minutes of this chapter contain some of the most exciting and well-executed spectacles of sound and vision in the entire series. Lucas takes the frenetic energy of the Return of the Jedi space battle and infuses it with all the modern technology and “laser sword fights” (as he insists on calling them) he can muster. It’s a masterclass in digital effects and action storytelling.

And even with its longer running time (on release, the third-longest in the saga), Lucas gets the pacing just about right. There’s a lot of ground to cover — the downfall of Anakin and democracy, the end of the Jedi Order, the rise of the Empire, the birth of Luke and Leia — so the extra elements involving Dooku and Grievous might seem grievously superfluous. Yet somehow, even with that excess, they mostly work in Lucas’ grand visual storytelling.

In 2025, those political undercurrents feel even more pointed. The film’s depiction of a republic eroded from within — where emergency powers are granted in the name of security, dissent becomes treason, and troops are literally deployed to silence the opposition — resonates more sharply than it did two decades ago. It reflects the shift from Lucas’ optimism in the late 1970s to the more cynical political outlook of 2005, as the second term of George W. Bush began against the backdrop of the Patriot Act and the forever wars in the Persian Gulf.

There are moments here where you can almost pinpoint where Lucas went wrong with the trilogy. Take the heat-filled finale, for example. The visual spectacle of these titans of the Force clashing above an unrelenting magma flow should be enough. Yet Lucas fills the frame with constant motion — little robots collecting debris, background chaos — unable to leave the image well enough alone. We saw the same instinct in the Special Editions of the original trilogy. Contrast this with the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, arguably a direct sequel to this film, which features the most stripped-back lightsaber battle in the franchise.

Revenge of the Sith is still plagued by some of the same issues as Attack of the Clones: the unearned love story between Padmé and Anakin, the occasional cringe-worthy line, and that one very big “Nooooo!” at the end. Lucas stops short of delivering something for everyone, but perhaps that was never the point. He was making these films for himself.

And somehow, in doing so, he delivered the darkest chapter in the saga, with the horror of Order 66, the Jedi Temple massacre of the Younglings, the brutal birth of Darth Vader, the death of Padmé, and the shattering of the last remnants of the Republic. At least until the Disney+ era, it comes closest to being the Star Wars I loved as a kid, even if it took me a little longer to appreciate it.

The Sith Awakens

For Lucas, Revenge of the Sith brought his saga full circle in more ways than one. It not only incorporated ideas he’d been playing with since before 1977, but revived a title originally planned for what was once marketed as Revenge of the Jedi.

Here in 2025, Star Wars is something very different from the world Lucas left behind. As the last Star Wars film distributed by 20th Century Fox, it marked the end of an era. On October 30, 2012 — seven years after the release of Revenge of the Sith — Disney acquired Lucasfilm for over $4 billion. Since then, with a new trilogy beginning with The Force Awakens, Star Wars has become less an event and more a regular fixture, across both film and high-budget television.

Today, Revenge of the Sith is remembered not just on its own merits, but for what it came to represent. Just as the original trilogy defined fandom from 1977 to 1999, for a whole generation, the prequels were their Star Wars. As the galaxy expanded through The Clone Wars TV series, and as those fans and creators went on to shape new stories under Disney, Revenge of the Sith now stands as either the last gasp of the old guard, or the dawn of something new.

Be sure to check out more of our film retrospectives, brought to you at a completely random pace!

May 15, 2025
Be brave, don’t look back: 20 years of ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’

Has it really been 20 years since STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE debuted in cinemas? The year was 1999. After our minds got blow by the bullet time of The Matrix, but before we learned the secrets of The Sixth Sense, lapsed filmmaker George Lucas got back behind the camera to shatter box office records. Decades later, the jury is still out on it.

Every saga has a beginning

Back in 1998, there was barely an Internet to break. Here in Australia, only 41% of adults said they went online, and most of us were using dial-up. Despite using at work and uni, even a geek like me was only taking his first steps into home dial-up around then.

The original Phantom Menace video pages

StarWars.com had launched in November 1996, and like most websites at the time it was a novelty. There to promote the Special Editions of the original films, things really started picking up when production began on a new series of films. Pre-empting the YouTube generation of behind the scenes oversharing, Lynne’s Diaries – hosted by LucasFilm director of publicity Lynne Hale – a series of downloadable ‘making of’ videos teased us with the process that went into making the sausage.

When a teaser trailer for THE PHANTOM MENACE was released online on 13 November 1998, it was a red-letter day for Internet fandom. In the first 24 hours alone, the trailer was downloaded 1 million times. In the first five days, it was downloaded 3.5 million times, soaring to 6.4 million within three weeks. It looked different: newer, fresher, and cleaner than the lived-in world we were used to. Yet it was the first new Star Wars footage in fifteen years (the Ewok films notwithstanding), complete with John Williams score, lightsabers, and digital effects that were cutting edge. It was a win for the internet, a win for Apple’s compact Quicktime format, and a massive coup for Star Wars.

A second trailer was even bigger, perhaps even a cinematic event in its own right. Released into cinemas on 12 March 1999, people were buying full-priced cinema tickets to see the trailer in front of otherwise forgettable films. In the US, punters turned up to see Wing Commander and left after the trailer was screened. I have memories of sitting in a session of John Carpenter’s Vampire‘s at Hoyts Eastgardens here in Sydney watching at least one Star Wars trailer. I stuck around for the feature: it wasn’t that bad!

Shops, and our houses, were filled with merchandise. The teaser poster imagery of a young Anakin – with literal foreshadowing of Darth Vader – hung on many a wall. It was, and still remains, as cool as hell. The soundtrack, complete with spoiler tracks, hit the stores a few weeks before release telling us of “Qui-Gon’s Noble End.” Which was fine: I’d already read the hardcover novelisation that came out in late April. Toy shops were on alert. From the complete set of collectible Pepsi cans to Jar Jar tongue lollipops, this was our chance to get in on the ground floor of the biggest cinematic event of our time. Hands up how many of your bought Jar Jar toys prior to the film’s release? I thought so.

I have a bad feeling about this…

When the film came out in May 1999 (and June in Australia), it arrived with all the hype of a royal visitation. I had barely started writing about movies in those days, so I lined up with the rest of the Sydney punters on opening day.

The energy was crackling in beautiful art deco cinema The Randwick Ritz as the lights faded. The familiar 20th Century Fox logo got a massive cheer and as ‘A long time ago…‘ appeared on screen, the room was set to explode. The John Williams score announced the familiar opening scrawl. We were home. Then something happened.

The text was filled with exposition about a trade blockade. We were a long way from a “period of civil war.” During the introduction of a young Obi-Wan, the Jedi padawan remarks: “I have a bad feeling about this.” It was a quote straight out of the original series, but Obi-Wan spoke for us all. A flash of lightsabers and some droid battles later, we were feeling okay about this. At least until we landed on Naboo and heard the first full conversation with the all-CG Jar Jar Binks.

Scores of reviews have been written as to where THE PHANTOM MENACE went wrong. Jar Jar cops a lot of the blame, but he is really just an avatar for Lucas’s attitude towards the film. (“Jar Jar’s the key to all of this,” remarked Lucas in a making of video). In making it for a childhood audience, he seemed to be wilfully ignoring the adults who had grown up with the original saga. Then again, it’s not as though Lucas hadn’t warned us about his feelings towards tradition with the Special Editions.

Fear is the path to the Dark Side..

Racist stereotypes, an over-reliance on CG, actors who aren’t sure where to look, cheesy dialogue, and a puppet Yoda that is the stuff of nightmares. These are just some of the things that plague Lucas’s film, but it wasn’t all bad. To this day, the Podrace sequence is one of the most thrilling chase sequences of the era. The Duel of the Fate lightsaber fight – a three-way battle between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan – was the first time we’d seen Jedi at their full strength. The landscaping on Naboo’s surface was magnificent. On a technical level, the special effects are groundbreaking.

While The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were collaborations with other writers and directors, Lucas took full control of THE PHANTOM MENACE. There’s a making of video (The Beginning) that shows Lucas quickly assessing a wall full of concept art, surrounded by yes men, and seemingly picking random designs and moving on. It was the mark of someone who was still unquestionably a creative force to be reckoned with, but more concerned with aesthetics than substance. Perhaps Lucas wasn’t heeding Master Yoda’s 1980 warning: “If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will…” Then again, Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wrote that.

The anniversary of THE PHANTOM MENACE also marks another weird date for me. Just after the screening, I had a chicken burger at a major chain. To this date, it was the last time I would ever eat meat of any kind. Is there a connection between the two? I’ve never worked it out. Perhaps they were both signs of a turning point where the things I loved as a child would no longer be part of my life. Or maybe that’s just more random stuff that gets wrapped up in the pop cultural references that make up a geek mind. Yet twenty years on, and another half dozen Star Wars films later, I never went back to meat, but I saw the film another three or four times at the cinema. I guess all I’m trying to say is, mesa hatin’ crunchin’. Dat’s the last thing mesa want.

May 12, 2019
Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Arrives on Blu-ray September 18

The man with the hat is back, in high-definition! The Spring of Spielberg (that’s The Autumn/Fall of Steven for those of you in the relevant time zones) gets even bigger as Paramount confirms the release of Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Blu-ray for 18 September 2012.

The set will contain Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, all of which have been remastered. Raiders of the Los Ark has been given a full 4K restoration. There’s also the promise of new supplements, including “documentaries, interviews, featurettes and new bonus features”.

This joins the already epic releases of Jaws in August, and the 30th Anniversary reissue of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial in October.

Here’s the press release (via Coming Soon)

In June of 1981 director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas introduced the world to Indiana Jones when the unforgettable Raiders of the Lost Ark debuted in theaters. Exploding to instant acclaim, the film has now been carefully restored, alongside remastered versions of the archaeologist’s other thrilling adventures—Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Prepare for excitement, adventure and snakes—why did it have to be snakes?—all with pristine picture and sound when Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures debuts on Blu-ray September 18, 2012 from Lucasfilm Ltd. and Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Supervised by director Steven Spielberg and renowned sound designer Ben Burtt, Raiders of the Lost Ark has been meticulously restored with careful attention to preserving the original look, sound and feel of the iconic film. The original negative was first scanned at 4K and then examined frame-by-frame so that any damage could be repaired.

The sound design was similarly preserved using Burtt’s original master mix, which had been archived and unused since 1981. New stereo surrounds were created using the original music tracks and original effects recorded in stereo but used previously only in mono. In addition, the sub bass was redone entirely up to modern specifications and care was taken to improve dialogue and correct small technical flaws to create the most complete and highest quality version of the sound possible while retaining the director’s vision. The result is an impeccable digital restoration that celebrates the film and its place in cinematic history.

The installments in the franchise have won a combined seven Academy Awards®. Relive every heart-pounding thrill like never before as all four films arrive together, for the first time presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio accompanied by a collection of documentaries, interviews, featurettes and new bonus features.

Here’s the trailer we posted back in March:

[jwplayer config=”Custom Player” mediaid=”46826″]

June 27, 2012
SFF 2012 Review: Side By Side

An insightful and candid investigation into the film versus digital debate, one with no clear winners but a lots of strong opinions from industry heavyweights.

[stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Side By Side (2012)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

Director: Chris Kenneally

Writer(s): Chris Kenneally

Runtime: 99 minutes

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, George Lucas, David Lynch, Donald McAlpine, Christopher Nolan, Wally Pfister, Robert Rodriguez, Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Lars Von Trier

Festival: Sydney Film Festival 2012

Distributor: TBA

Country: US

Rating (?): Highly Recommended (★★★★)

More info

[/stextbox]

By the 1990s, the consumerisation and improved workflows associated with digital video heralded it as something of a democratic liberation for emerging filmmakers. While earlier debates on the format could easily be solved by its visible inferiority to film, developments in digital cinema have polarised the industry. The question is increasingly not one of whether filmmakers should convert to digital, but when they should. Spinning out of this is the broader idea of whether something should be done just because it can, and what impact does digitisation have for the longevity of the medium. Under the guidance of documentarian Chris Kenneally, actor and producer Keanu Reeves talks to some of the biggest names in film to find out what the current state of play is.

Side By Side demonstrates that the argument is at its height, and despite technical arguments for digital’s superiority, many of the players react on gut instinct. One of film’s biggest proponents in the film camp is blockbuster director Christopher Nolan, who together with regular cinematographer Wally Pfister, make a strong case for the “feel” of film and why they see it as the superior format. Big players George Lucas and James Cameron naturally declare film “dead”, with film no longer able to keep up with the vision of their productions.

By taking these arguments and placing them side by side, it’s evident that not everybody is excited by the switch to digital, even though it represents a new way of telling stories for people. David Lynch, in some of the more unintentionally hilarious moments in the film, tells Keanu not to quote him, but he’s probably through with film due to the immediacy of digital. For Robert Rodriguez, it’s about creating worlds he could never achieve on film, such as with Sin City. Lena Dunham, indie filmmaker and star of TV’s Girls, argues that she never would have attempted to make Tiny Furniture if she hadn’t had access to rough and ready technology like the Canon 5D consumer level cameras.

The strengths of the documentary lie in its impartiality (to a point), allowing an impressive ensemble of filmmakers to discuss their choices. Steven Soderbergh, actress Greta Gerwig, Richard Linklater, Andy and Lana Wachowski, Australian cinematographer Donald McAlpine, Vilmos Zsigmond and Lars Von Trier are just some of the names that Kenneally has assembled, and for the most part they are allowed to be frank and passionately honest about their thoughts on the digital revolution. Coupled with some hand info-graphics and set visits to explain how this will change the way films are made, Reeves’ access to this level of talent, and his own involvement in the interviews, makes for far more provocative discussions than one would expect.

Side By Side doesn’t come to any startling conclusions, but it offers up a series of arguments. While Steven Soderbergh suggests that he wants to call up film and tell it that he’s met someone else, Martin Scorsese, the person to refer to for all things, is more pragmatic: “The issue is it’s different. How is it different, and how do you use it to tell a story? It’s up to the filmmaker”.

Side By Side played at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2012.

June 20, 2012
Star Wars Concept Artist Ralph McQuarrie Dies at 82

A sad bit of news has come in over the wires today, as legendary Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie dies at the age of 82.

It is arguable that no single man, outside of George Lucas, has had more of an impact on the look and feel of the Star Wars universe than Ralph McQuarrie. He served as the original concept artist on the first film, and returned for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. He also had the uncredited role of General McQuarrie in The Empire Strikes Back.

In addition to his Star Wars work, McQuarrie designed the alien ships for Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and was the conceptual artist on the 1985 film Cocoon, for which he won the Academy Award for Visual Effects.

We couldn’t think of a better way to pay tribute than to pull out some of our favourite examples of his work from the Star Wars trilogy. His legacy will live as long as we have the original Star Wars films available.

You can find a full list of his work over on RalphMcQuarrie.com.

Click images to enlarge

March 4, 2012
Exclusive Interview: Alexandre Philippe on The People VS George Lucas

The original Star Wars films are undoubtedly some of the most famous pieces of cinemas on the planet, but thanks to a myriad of changes by creator George Lucas, they remain some of the only films of their kind where the original theatrical version is not available commercially in a restored digital format. This, along with lacklustre sequels and a seeming ignorance of fan pleas, has made Lucas one of the most loved and simultaneously reviled filmmakers of the last thirty years.

Yet the love/hate relationship the same fans have with the creator is a unique one, and a phenomenon that documentarian and unabashed Star Wars fan Alexandre Philippe found impossible to ignore. In The People VS George Lucas, Philippe uses a courtroom motif to offer up fan “evidence” of this duel of the fates, ultimately showing that for every criticism, there are a hundred fan films, books, artworks and tributes waiting to happen.

We were lucky to speak with Alexandre on the Australian DVD release of his film, where he spoke about his motivations, the contradiction that is George Lucas and Paul the Psychic Octopus.

We need to thank Hopscotch Entertainment for the change to talk to Alexandre, and of course, Mr. Philippe for his generous time and answers.

The People VS George Lucas is available on DVD in Australia from 23 February 2012 from Hopscotch Entertainment.

Fantastic film, Alexandre. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you.

Please keep in mind that anything I say about Star Wars fans, I am sitting underneath a giant Star Wars poster and drinking from a Star Wars cup.

Excellent.

I should ask you straight up then. You’ve probably been asked this before, but what was your motivation in making this film?

Well, you know, there’s kind of a few sides to me. Obviously, I’m a Star Wars fan, I was raised on Star Wars. Clearly, I think it’s obvious in the film that it had a huge impact on me when I was a child. Also, I’m a documentary filmmaker with a particular interest in pop culture, and I’m always in tune with what’s happening in pop culture. Certainly the love/hate relationship that fans have had with George is something that’s been going on for a long time, and something that has really fascinated me for a long time. It became obvious to me [Laughs] very quickly, well several years ago now, that something needed to be done, that a film needed to be done about this. It was really important to look at this pop culture phenomenon for what it is and it’s truly unique. There’s really no dynamic, I think, in pop culture between a creator and his fans similarly to the one that exists between George and his fans. So it was really that curiosity that pushed me to make this film.

And you chose to do that from the perspective of the fans, did you approach LucasFilm representatives to start with?

Oh, absolutely. The thing you have to understand is, when you make film with the title The People Vs George Lucas… [laughs]. On the one hand, it was the best thing for us because it created instant awareness and publicity, and we’ve had really constant coverage on the film since 2007, so it’s been really great on that level. On the other hand, there was a lot of fear about it, especially coming from the industry and especially the LucasFilm camp. Obviously they don’t know us, and you may tell people you are making an objective documentary, but there is still the fear that the film is going to be Lucas bashing, that it’s going to be against George. So in fact LucasFilm were the very first people that we contacted. When we launched our website, my first email was to them. I just told them we were making this film, I told them it was a documentary, I said look, it’s not an attack on George. I really want to look at this cultural phenomenon and invited them to participate. They respectfully declined [Laughs]. There are a lot of people who declined as a result, but getting [American Graffiti, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back producer] Gary Kurtz was a big catch for us, very important to us because it opened the door to a number of other ones as well.

You’re obviously a fan, so did your view of George Lucas change over the course of the film?

My opinion of him? You know, it changes every day. Obviously I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for what he’s done. I think it would be foolish not to, you know. He’s really changed film, he’s really changed the industry, he’s brought a lot of fun to our lives – of course, he’s brought a lot of frustration as well. But I think, the thing is, that has really changed to me, is how much of a mystery he remains. The stuff that he’s done, post release of The People Vs George Lucas is – you just want to scratch your head. Now he’s talking about the fact that he’s retiring from Star Wars because he’s sick and tired of hearing the fans complaining about him, and what he’s done, and just two days ago there’s this article in The Hollywood Reporter…

Yes. I was going to ask you about that…

…yeah, where he claims that Greedo always shot first, right? I mean it’s like you want to say “George, are you serious? Are you kidding me?” What is he playing at? This is what I feel, that the whole thing is just a big joke to him. Where this love/hate relationship has spiralled so out of control that he is just taking it to a level of absurd that you can’t possibly take him seriously anymore. Either that or he’s completely lost his mind. I mean, these are the only two possible ways to look at it. I don’t know, it’s really difficult to understand George. I’ve had a lot of conversations with Dale Pollock, his biographer, who has spend more time interviewing him one-on-one than anybody, and I think he’s also really baffled by him, and I think this notion of control that is really important in my film – and again I’ve had a lot of conversations with Dale about this – is that George is all about control. They all told me that even if your film is a positive account of George, even if it shows him in a good light, he’s not going to like the fact that this film is out of his control. That’s why George tries to stop the publication of Skywalking. I don’t know if you’ve read the book, it’s crazy because it’s such a positive account of his life. So at the end of the day, he just baffles me and I think, it’s cool, you know. It’s something that I spend four years of my life just really studying the guy, you know, and it just shows how complex of a character he is when there’s just so many unanswered questions.

This is the thing. He does seem very confusing. As you said, this week he just came out and made another comment about Greedo shooting first. This seems deliberately antagonistic given he’s already said he doesn’t want anything to do with Star Wars anymore, but also that he’s just re-released the films in 3D.

[Laughs] Yeah, the whole thing is a contradiction and its funny because he’s like well,”I don’t care anymore” but at the same time he likes to just poke the fans. Like I said, I somehow don’t think you can take what he’s saying that seriously anymore, because it seems to be getting more and more outlandish. Even the changes that he made to the Blu-ray version of the Special Edition. It gets more and more nitpicky and plain weird. The stuff like adding rocks in front of R2-D2 in the original Star Wars. I mean, we’re so far removed from that notion of original vision.

Was his original vision to have those rocks there, but he couldn’t achieve that technology in 1977?

[Laughs] Yeah, or he says he couldn’t make the Ewoks blink back in 1982, well of course he could! It seems that he’s just doing that kind of stuff to make the fans talk, and clearly its working because it was the best-selling Blu-ray out there. When you turn it on the fans too, they bitch about it: if you go to Amazon, the Blu-ray box-set has a 2 or 2½ star rating. You’re talking about people who love Star Wars. They give it a 2-star rating, then they put it in their basket.

It comes out in your documentary, and again – bearing in mind that I am a huge fan myself – do you think that fans are their own worst enemy?

Oh, there’s no doubt about it. I think for everything that George has done that may be irritating the fans you…can certainly understand why George would be so frustrated by his fans, because it has become a religion of sorts, and I think that’s why they’re taking them so seriously. On the one hand, Star Wars is just a movie, there’s no doubt about it, and you want to tell the fans get over it. I tell myself all the time ‘Get over it’. On the other hand, it’s so much more than just a movie, and George’s refusal to restore and release the original films that are critically important to the history of cinema is a travesty and it’s a huge issue. If you forget about being a Star Wars fan, if you care about film history, if you care about film preservation, and if you think that film is important to our culture, it’s a huge issue. And George knows it, he knows better than this. That’s the one thing that really irritates me.

You bring it up in the film as well, about Star Wars being added to the National Film Registry, and it seemingly like a complete contradiction on his part, that he’s famously spoken against the tampering with other films but he’s quite happy to do that with his own. I suppose the line he’s drawn in the sand is ‘This is my film, and I can do what I want with it’.

You know, just to say one quick thing about this too. I don’t think that there’s a single fan out there who doesn’t agree with that. Yes, it is his film, yes he can do what he wants. He can make as many versions as he wants, that’s fine. But I think to deliberately make the effort to make those original cuts disappear, that’s the problematic, that’s the issue right there. Let’s not forget that The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were not directed by George Lucas. It’s just a power trip.

There’s little special special effects that people would have worked very hard on in 1977 that would have completely disappeared now.

Oscar-winning special effects. Let’s not forget that!

Absolutely. Obviously you are talking to fans, these are people that are huge fans of the trilogy and two things come out of that: first of all, did you ever consider looking at people who just hated the Star Wars films?

Yeah, I’ve actually talked to a few. In fact, there is one of them in the film, her name is Wendy Ide, she’s a critic in the UK [at The Times]. I think to me, the whole thing is about the love/hate relationship people have with the film, and those conflicting emotions that people have. If you just plain hate the Star Wars movies, to me it has a completely different resonance. To me the film is about people who love it so much that they hate it. It’s a different kind of people I think.

Another thing I thought was kind of interesting, and I haven’t had a chance to see it as it hasn’t been released in Australia, is Red Tails, which has just come out in the US. Now, have you had a chance to see this film?

I have not. Sadly, I just keep procrastinating. I just don’t really feel like it. The reviews have not been very good, eventually I’ll get around to it, but no.

This is a film he’s obviously not directed but he claims has been a passion project for years. Do you ever wonder if it has been a passion project for so long, why is he still tampering with films he made thirty years.

That’s the thing…There’s been a pile of scripts on his desk for decades now, of projects that are passion projects that he’s wanted to make, and I think that’s kind of a sad thing that you feel in some way that George has collapsed under the weight of Star Wars. How can any of us comprehend what it’s like to have created something like Star Wars. The weight of it and the responsibility that comes with it. I really hope, I really hope, now that George has said I’m going to stop with Star Wars that he’s going to make those experimental films he’s said for decades now that he was going to make. Even if he fails, even if they’re terrible films, even if people hate those films, I think he should go and make the films that he really wants to make and that’s his prerogative.

I really hope he does make those films. There was talk that he was going to give up on the film industry completely, or he’s going to walk away from Star Wars. Do you believe that?

Again, that’s what he says, but can you trust what George is saying anymore? I don’t know. He told us many years ago he was going to make those experimental films, he hasn’t done that. We were told about Episodes VII, VIII and IX and he hasn’t done that. There’s so many things. I can’t imagine that he’s going to completely stop. I hope he doesn’t, but in the grand scheme of things, if he stops now, his legacy is safe. Just for any filmmaker to do, even if he had only made Star Wars, even if he had only made American Graffiti. People don’t understand how difficult it is to make a film in the first place, and to make a film that resonates with so many people is extraordinary. So I think he should be really proud of what he’s accomplished, and yet there’s a bitterness. It’s so sad! Sometimes you just wonder if he realises how great he has been, and how much he has impacted people in a positive way. There’s no reason to be bitter about that.

One final question, and I’m sure you’ve been asked this before: if you could talk to George Lucas, and ask him one question, what would you ask him?

I think, well assuming I could get the truth from him, assuming I could give him a truth serum, the one thing I’m dying to know the truth about is precisely why is he still refusing to this day to restore the original cuts of the original Star Wars Trilogy. Because we’ve been told so many things. The last excuse is that it costs too much money, and you just want to laugh! I mean, look, all it takes – if he’s so concerned about money, which if you’ve got tens of billions of dollars it’s a huge concern for you – if you’re so concerned about money, all it takes is one phone call to the Criterion Collection. ‘Hey guys, I don’t want to restore this film: you take it, you roll with it, we’ll get a royalty’. Can you imagine what a huge release that would be? So clearly it’s not the truth. The truth is he is stubbornly refusing to do that. For what reason, I really don’t know, and I wish he would tell us the truth.

Absolutely. Or he could crowd-source the restoration.

[Laughs] You know the thing is, I’ve heard through the grapevine that there are fans out there who got their hands on a pristine print, and who are going to do it themselves. So that’s the thing about our culture today: if George is not going to do it, the fans are going to make sure it happens.

For you then, what’s your next project?

In fact it’s almost finished now. We’re looking at a May world premiere about Paul the Psychic Octopus. From the Soccer World Cup, do you remember that?

Yes.

So it’s called The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus and we’re putting the finishing touches on it now. A different kind of celebrity.

Perhaps Paul would have known the answer as to whether the original cuts will ever be released.

[Laughs] I should have asked when he was still alive.

Alexandre thank you so much for your time!

February 19, 2012
Podcast: Film Actually News – 12-02-2012

Hosts: David McVay, Josh Philpott & Richard Gray

Welcome to the brand new Film Actually News for February 12th, 2012. This week Harrison Ford not approached to play Deckard again, Jodie Foster is giving her Beaver away, Machete Kills and The Wolverine get start dates and the new trailers for The Bourne Legacy and The Avengers plus much, much more!

What used to be a boring, stuffy film section of the Film Actually podcast has been spun off into it’s own, we hope, more entertaining show. We don’t make the news, we just make fun of it. Film Actually News – Loud, Fast and Under Thirty Minutes… or your money back.

If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review. Your comments help us improve the show.

This show carries an explicit tag due to coarse language.

Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes

In case you want the full stories, your show links follow:

Harrison Ford is NOT in talks to play Deckard again.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/blade-runner-makers-at-alcon-say-harrison-ford-not-in-talks-to-star/

Jodie Foster sending her film The Beaver to all Academy Members
http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/jodie-foster-sending-mel-gibson-film-the-beaver-to-all-academy-members/

McG said Multiple endings for This Means War might have been gimmicky… you think!
http://www.movieline.com/2012/02/03/mcg-considered-clue-style-alternate-endings-for-this-means-war-admits-he-pussed-out-on-terminator-4/

Trailer and poster for The Bourne Legacy Revealed
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/thebournelegacy/

The Super Bowl The Avengers trailer is awesome!!
http://geekactually.com/2012/02/07/super-bowl-trailer-the-avengers/

Machete Kills Eyes April Production Start
http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/robert-rodriguez-wielding-machete-kills/

George Lucas says Greedo always shot first!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/george-lucas-star-wars-interview-288523

The Wolverine Gets a 2013 release date
http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/169509-the-wolverine-gets-a-release-date

File this in the ‘Duh” category, Lionsgate says they will make more Twilight films if Stephenie Meyer writes more books.
http://www.slashfilm.com/lionsgate-twilight-films-stephenie-meyer-write/

The Rest…

Join us on our Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/GeekActually or follow Geek Actually on Twitter @geekactually

Make sure you check out our new range of Geek Actually swag at cafepress.com.au/geekactually

Find out more about Josh’s other stuff by visiting HipHopNetOnline.com or listen to his other show “DLC Live” go to RawDLC.com or follow him on Twitter @DoGM3At

Find more by Richard Gray by visiting theReelBits.com or follow him on Twitter @DVDbits

Shameless Plug Time – Make sure you check out our new comic book podcast “Behind the Panels” hosted by David McVay & Richard Gray. Every week we bring you news from the world of comic books and comic book related movies and TV. We also go into deep analysis on our favourite comic books in our Book Club style Comic Pick of the Week. Find it here on Geek Actually or subscribe for free on iTunes. Also like the Facebook page here.

…and oh yeah, Whitney Houston died today

February 13, 2012
Review: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D

LucasFilm starts the saga all over again with the release of the first film in the prequel trilogy in 3D, providing a whole new generation a chance to catch these films on the big screen.

[stextbox id=”grey” caption=”Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D (1999/2012)” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″]

Director:  George Lucas

Writer(s):  George Lucas

Runtime: 133 minutes

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Jake Lloyd, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker

Distributor: Fox

Country: US

Rating: Worth A Look (?)

More info

[/stextbox]

Has it really been thirteen years since the Internet melted under the strain of dial-up modems accessing the first glimpses of a new Star Wars movie? Back in 1999, the levels of anticipation around the first Star Wars film in sixteen years were the closest thing to a movement for a generation taught to be cynical about such things, but not everybody felt that their patience had paid off. The hollow digital puppetry of these new creations instantly alienated millions of people who had already grown to love their films, and worse yet, Mr. Lucas had long-since begun to forever alter the original trilogy to align with his new vision. Over a decade later, the film returns to take advantage of the latest technological advances in cinemas.

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The Trade Federation has blockaded the sovereign planet of Naboo in response to the taxation on trade routes. Two Jedi,  Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), have been sent to negotiate a settlement. However, no sooner than the Jedi arrive, puppet master Darth Sidious orders their deaths. The duo narrowly escape, and after an escapade on the planet’s surface (and under it), they collect the native Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) and rescue Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) from the clutches of the Federation. Escaping to the desert planet of Tatooine, they encounter a talent young boy named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), unusually strong in the Force. The meeting will change all of their destinies forever.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D has been sent back to theatres for the enjoyment of a younger generation, and this time the old fans are not necessarily the primary audiences. Rehashing the problems of a film now a generation old would simply be tantamount to whispering into the digital wind, as the flaws to this film have not changed one bit. Indeed, with the benefit of time, we have even more cause to wonder what George Lucas was thinking. The basic premise has moved from the radical period of civil war of the 1970s to a tax blockade, full of trade franchises and votes of no confidence in the Galactic Senate. Yeah! Tax! This is perhaps indicative of Lucas getting older, but all the other elements in contention are probably more a sign of the aging audience. Frequent toilet humour and a admittedly cool Podrace sequence may appeal to the smaller ones, but us bigger kids are keeping our eyelids propped open until the magnificent Duel of the Fates three-way lightsaber battle ensues.

Even the podrace seems to take up 80% of the film now, although it probably always did. Perhaps this was a little bit of overcompensation for a exposition that largely involved intergalactic trade. Then there’s the usual gripes: a poor choice of child in Jake Lloyd, struggling with meagre scraps of cringe-worthy dialogue to feed on, frequently racist characters in the Neimoidians, Gungans and most certainly Watto and one of the best villains dispatched before his time. Nothing will ever make Jar Jar okay, and that’s the one thing that has brought this world together in times of crazy strife.

George Lucas being who he is, couldn’t help but tinker with the film some more, and there are a few additions to the movie. While we can’t verify an exhaustive list on a single viewing, there have certainly been some additions to the podrace sequence, with more debris to take advantage of the 3D effects. One of our younger, eagle-eyed Bothans also tells us that they noticed some additional changes to the podrace. Even scrubbed up for the Blu-ray release last year, the effects are looking dated, which is always the danger with any film that relies so heavily on technology-based enhancements.

Yet the draw-card for this reissue is meant to the be 3D, and it is disappointing that LucasFilm, who pride themselves on state-of-the-art technology, have released such a disappointing conversion. Never intended for the third dimension, much of the film is shrouded in a murkiness that actually improves with the removal of 3D glasses. There are undoubtedly moments of great visual depth, but the majority feels as though the only people who will benefit from the 3D are theatre owners able to charge 3D prices for a 13 year-old film. Yet at the end of the day this is Star Wars on the big screen, and it is great to actually have them back in theatres for a whole new crowd to enjoy. Let’s hope this leads to more releases in the near future.

[stextbox id=”custom”]Existing fans will know exactly what they are getting into, and the addition of 3D only provides an excuse to watch this on the big screen again. For others, they will have the joys of being introduced to a well-loved universe for the first time.[/stextbox]

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D is released in Australia on 9 February 2012 from Fox.

February 7, 2012
Podcast: Film Actually News – 22-01-2012

Hosts: David McVay, Josh Philpott & Richard Gray

Welcome to the brand new Film Actually News for January 22nd, 2012. What used to be a boring, stuffy film section of the Film Actually podcast has been spun off into it’s own, we hope, more entertaining show. We don’t make the news, we just make fun of it. Film Actually New – Loud, Fast and Under Thirty Minutes…*

*…or your money back.

If you are an iTunes user, please leave a review. Your comments help us improve the show.

This show carries an explicit tag due to coarse language.

Listen or download it here or subscribe to it on iTunes

In case you want the full stories, your show links follow:

George Lucas to retire from blockbuster filmmaking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/george-lucas-red-tails.html

“The Artist” provokes walkouts as fans don’t realise it’s a silent movie.
http://www.metro.co.uk/film/887730-the-artist-provokes-walkouts-as-film-fans-dont-realise-its-a-silent-movie

Another new ‘Dark Shadows’ image shows Johnny Depp’s softer side.
http://www.slashfilm.com/dark-shadows-image-johnny-depp-boyish/

Awards, Awards, Awards – Globes etc
Globes: https://www.thereelbits.com/2012/01/16/golden-globes-2012-winners-list/
London Critics Circle: https://www.thereelbits.com/2012/01/20/32nd-london-critics-circle-film-awards-2012-winners-announced/
BAFTA Noms: https://www.thereelbits.com/2012/01/17/british-academy-announce-2012-bafta-nominations/

First Look: Vin Diesel in New ‘Riddick’ Sequel.
http://www.slashfilm.com/vin-diesel-riddick/

Cormac McCarthy sells first spec script.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/pulitzer-prize-winning-author-cormac-mccarthy-sells-his-first-spec-script/

‘Expendables 2? Neutered By PG-13 Rating.
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/expendables-2-neutered-by-pg-13-rating.php

The Rest…

Join us on our Facebook Fan Page: facebook.com/GeekActually or follow Geek Actually on Twitter @geekactually

Make sure you check out our new range of Geek Actually swag at cafepress.com.au/geekactually

Find out more about Josh’s other stuff by visiting HipHopNetOnline.com or listen to his other show “DLC Live” go to RawDLC.com or follow him on Twitter @DoGM3At

Find more by Richard Gray by visiting theReelBits.com or follow him on Twitter @DVDbits

Shameless Plug Time – Make sure you check out our new comic book podcast “Behind the Panels” hosted by David McVay & Richard Gray. Every week we bring you news from the world of comic books and comic book related movies and TV. We also go into deep analysis on our favourite comic books in our Book Club style Comic Pick of the Week. Find it here on Geek Actually or subscribe for free on iTunes. Also like the Facebook page here.

January 26, 2012
International TV spot for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D

Fox has released an international TV spot Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D, to be re-released to cinemas next month. Once again, it wisely choose to avoid all reference to the nefarious Jar Jar Binks.

Generally speaking, the film is about two Jedi knights who uncover a wider conflict when they are sent as emissaries to the blockaded planet Naboo. In fact, when distilled down into a 30-second teaser spot, this film actually looks pretty good. We know better though. Still it would be nice to see this succeed, simply because we really want to see Cloud City in 3D. Bring on Empire Strikes Back in 3D next. Please? We’ll even let you add in a digital Jawa if it makes you feel better, Mr. Lucas.

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D is released on 9 February 2012 in Australia from Fox.

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January 18, 2012