The People vs. George Lucas

2010 "They gave him their love, their money and their online parodies. He gave them... the prequels."
6.6| 1h33m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 14 March 2010 Released
Producted By: Exhibit A Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.peoplevsgeorge.com
Info

The passion the original Star Wars trilogy inspires in its fans is unparalleled; but when it comes to George Lucas himself, many have found their ardor has cooled into a complicated love-hate relationship. This hilarious, heartfelt documentary delves deep into Lucas’s cultural legacy, asking all the tough questions. Has Lucas betrayed his masterwork? Should he just have left the original trilogy alone? Is The Phantom Menace so bad it should carry a health warning? Utilizing interviews taken from over 600 hours of footage, and peppered with extraordinary Star Wars and Indiana Jones recreations lovingly immortalized in song, needlepoint, Lego, claymation, puppets and paper-mâché, above all this film asks the question: who truly owns that galaxy far, far away—the man who created it, or the fans who worship it?

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Director

Alexandre O. Philippe

Production Companies

Exhibit A Pictures

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The People vs. George Lucas Audience Reviews

ChikPapa Very disappointed :(
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
statesofunrest I enjoyed this documentary. My only real complaint is that it felt just a little long, but I mean, I guess there's only so many ways you can say that George Lucas made a mistake in making those Star Wars prequels. This was presented in an interesting way and I was captivated with the content throughout.
zkonedog When it comes to George Lucas, there is a love/hate relationship between him and his fans. This documentary explores that relationship from a number of different angles, including Lucas's constant tinkering with the original films & the prequels that (to many fans) just didn't quite seem right.The strength of this documentary is that the fans "against" Mr. Lucas make some compelling cases as to why the Star Wars creator has come under such scrutiny as of late. For example, they bring up the point that Lucas vehemently opposed the Ted Turner notion of colorizing old black-and-white films, yet then himself will NOT release his original Star Wars movies (IV-VI) in their original theatrical versions on DVD. The fans here bring up some good points that paint Lucas as a sort of "creative obsessive", bent on changing little facets of each of his Star Wars films each time they are re-released (whether for profit or for creative reasons is also a large part of the debate.The only problem with this doc? There is practically no perspective given to the "other side" of the issue, or those who actually enjoyed the prequels and don't mind a bit of tinkering. By viewing this documentary, one would think that there is no "other side" to the issue whatsoever, because the fans doing 99% of the talking are those who viewed the original Star Wars in 1977. Those who took the opposite approach-growing up with the prequels & discovering the older films later--are given no shrift whatsoever in this discussion, a forum in which I believe they should firmly have a place.Either way, "The People vs. George Lucas" is an interesting documentary that will make you think a little bit about Lucas's antics regarding certain aspects of the Star Wars saga both on and off the screen. As long as you can recognize the group of fans for what they are (essentially die- hard "New Hope" loyalists whose seminal moment in life was at the theater in 1977), there is no harm in this fun little romp.
John Gafsi I really like this documentary...because I am a Star Wars fan. If you aren't one, DO NOT watch this movie because you won't be able to connect with it. This movie's audience is for Star Wars fans only...period. And since I am a die hard fan of SW, this movie appealed to me personally. It also made me tear up a bit (not because of the movie but because of the strong connection I have with the films).Yeah, I know, nerdy stuff, but it is worth it. If you simply do not want to spend the money on watching this movie, email me at: xfirerushx@gmail.com And I can help you watch this movie for free.I watched the movie for free and after I finished watching it, I simply do not think it is worth the money, even though this movie can be bought pretty cheap or rented on Youtube for 4 bucks.But really, I liked this documentary. If you like Star Wars or facsinated by the antics of George Lucas, check it out.
tpaladino I just watched PvGL, a film that I had been eagerly anticipating for the last several months. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and like most fans, feel a deep loathing towards the prequels and the changes that Lucas has made to the original trilogy. Now, if you're reading this, chances are you already know the basic premise of this film (detailing the complex and dysfunctional relationship between Lucas and his fans), so I'm not going to reiterate the various intricacies, emotions, and reasoning that go along with that story. Sufficed to say, if you're a fan, you know what I mean. And to that end, the film does a decent enough job painting a picture of who the Star Wars fans are and what the film has meant to western culture as a whole. There are some good insights from a wide range of people, from hardcore Star Wars nerds to film critics to other producers and directors. Most of what they say is easily relatable, as Star Wars really has become a cultural touchstone that almost everyone has some kind of feelings towards. It is cathartic to hear so many other people verbalize the frustrations almost every fan has surely felt towards Lucas, the prequels and the special editions. With that having been said, there are a few flaws. The first being that the film is a bit too long. They could have easily cut about ten minutes out of the first act of the movie, which consisted almost entirely of fan parody and tribute films of varying quality. Yes, Star Wars inspires epic creativity on the part of it's fans, but that is a relatively easy point to make and didn't require quite so much screen time time to illustrate. The other flaw is the end of the film, which completely goes soft on Lucas and abdicates its responsibility to take a firm position on the subject matter that was detailed in the entire rest of the film. After watching a whole documentary which carefully explained all the ways Lucas was ruining his work, thumbing his nose at film history as a cultural artifact (in direct opposition to positions he himself took years earlier) and acting in deliberate contempt of his fans, the conclusion it reached amounted to little more than a shrug and a soft-pedaled declaration of loyalty to Lucas anyway. Disappointing. Any catharsis I felt very quickly melted away and once again turned to frustration. Why did the director feel the need to ultimately kiss up to Lucas? Wasn't that the fatal flaw which led to the prequels in the first place? That nobody challenged him? Let me be clear; I was not looking for a hit-piece here either; two hours of Lucas-bashing wouldn't have made for an interesting or informative film (which PvGL certainly is), but the entire premise of this documentary would have been far more credible had the last few minutes not completely undermined everything that was asserted throughout the entire rest of it.I would still recommend it to fans as there are very interesting points to be heard in this film, but for true geek catharsis (and brilliantly insightful critique), you still can't beat the Red Letter Media long-form reviews of the prequels. People vs. George Lucas is entertaining to be sure, but it still doesn't come close to those reviews.