comment #1

The Movie Man says ...

This man can't as clueless as some of these stories make him appear to be, unless he just happens to be the luckiest asshole in the history of the medium.

I don't wish to start a fanboy my lightsaber is bigger than yours routine, but EMPIRE is easily the most accomplished, human entry in the series. I don't really like Star Wars, never really truly gotten it, but Empire is a wonderful movie.

comment #2

thevisceral says ...

I don't think any brains were left over after that car wreck.

comment #3

MathewM says ...

From what I understand Lucas had the least creative control over Empire. Considering Lucas is a control freak probably has fuzzied his judgement of the film.

comment #4

thevisceral says ...

I've seen interviews where both Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford said they liked Empire best. So I guess that publicist fooled them as well as all the critics and fans.

comment #5

Chris Willman says ...

The Hollywood Reporter story said Lucas was "joshing." I know it's hard to believe Lucas has a sense of humor, or reality, but in this case he seems to have.

comment #6

Chris Willman says ...

Also, the trades ran a different version of the quote that sounds much more "written," as in setup... punchline. The Hot Blog paraphrase (?) of the quote is clunky enough that I can see why people might think it's not a joke.

comment #7

Dan Revill says ...

Joshing, or not, I'm sure he'll hear about it from the fanboys attending the Celebration in May...

comment #8

LYTrules says ...

I know it's hard to believe Lucas has a sense of humor

Did you see him on the Colbert Report? He clearly demonstrated one there.

comment #9

erniesouchak says ...

Hello, Lucas was MAKING A JOKE. He was attributing Empire's success to his publicist's sleight-of-hand. Granted, he could've had smoother delivery, but that's clearly what he meant.

comment #10

wayne76 says ...

He's joking, he's not joking. What's the difference? He's still an assbag that can't write or direct his way into a paper bag. INTO a paper bag.

comment #11

Larry says ...

Empire isn't as good as A New Hope, which created the entire galaxy, and it's so tiresome to hear it is.

(By the way, it's long since gone down the memory hole, but many Star Wars fans were disappointed by episode 2.)

comment #12

Reedyb says ...

So now we know who coaches John Kerry on his joke delivery.

By the way, American Graffiti is very funny, so there must have been humor at some point in his life (and don't forget Howard the (rhymes with Fuck).

comment #13

Mgmax, le Corbeau says ...

There's no movie called "A New Hope," Larry. Remember that.

comment #14

christian says ...

i just read "droidmakers" an intricate history of lucas from film geek to technocrat but it actually is pretty amazing in terms of what lucas was trying to do. he comes across as wry as he keeps as many suits away from his world as possible. check it out.

comment #15

GML says ...

I'm sure Lucas is well versed on all the inside jokes and criticisms made about him and I've heard him make jokes by referring to them on awards shows. I'm sure he was joking and showing he is quite capable of laughing at himself a bit. That's not to say that his joshing doesn't fall flat on occasion and it might make it hard to tell whether he is joking or not.

comment #16

OddDuck says ...

I agree that Lucas is probably a very smart man with enough awareness to know the public consensus on Empire. Still, the movies taken as a whole provide ample evidence that Empire is Lucas's red-headed stepchild. It truly doesn't fit in with the others in terms of mood and seriousness (the closest movie to it is Revenge of the Sith, and the preordained storyline of that film requires some amount of darkness). So yeah, it seems credible to me that deep down inside, the mind that thought Jar Jar Binks and the ewoks were a good idea would also tend to think that Empire was the worst film.

comment #17

CambridgeCat says ...

EMPIRE is by far the best of those movies, and it's not even close. In fact, take EMPIRE out of the equation and the whole Star Wars legend isn't quite as big, IMO. It gave the story it's teeth, it's the only "real" movie of the lot (ANH? Please, most 70's TV shows had more plot), and it had the earth shattering Darth Vader is Luke's father ending, which for me was right up there with the Green Goblin killing Gwen Stacey in terms of being a kid and thinking "Hmmm, the world is a hrd place."

comment #18

Rich S. says ...

You can argue the merits of Star Wars v. Empire as movies all you want, but without Empire, there is no Star Wars phenomenon. Empire gives the series its epic depth and makes you feel that these stories are happening within a much larger historical framework. If you don't have Empire, you end up with Jaws II and the whole thing peters out with the third movie.

Unfortunately, I believe Empire happened in spite of Lucas, rather than because of him. Remember the story about how adamant Lucas was that Solo's final line in Empire NOT be "I know." It's possible the story is apocryphal, but it sure is lent extra credence by the subsequent "Greedo shoots first" debacle, which was pure Lucas revisionism.

Empire expanded the universe. Lucas then spent the next thirty years and four movies trying to contract it. Boba Fett's father is the source for the Stormtrooper clones. Anakin Skywalker is found on the same planet as Luke, and is a slave of Jabba the Hutt. Anakin built C3PO. Yoda fought with Chewbacca in the Clone Wars. And so on.

Lucas has spawned several generations of filmmakers that understand and respect his creation better than he does. Witness Cartoon Network's Clone Wars cartoons. Lucas would be better served by stepping aside and letting the kids play in his sandbox. It can only enhance his legacy. It will never happen, though. The fan fiction and video games are as far as he'll let it go.

comment #19

atticusrex says ...

Wow this thread has really stirred up something. In my take on things... Joke or no Joke aside: The first Star Wars movie was fun and exciting in it's day. It established a sense of fun and a new way to look at stories from a perspective of other galaxies. It does seem dated now... somehow quaint. Empire was the Dark episode.
It had the most Mythic moments. It brought real death and danger to our heroes. It was dramatic yet had it's funny moments. Jedi could have been good and the fanboys at that time loved Fisher in her skimpy outfit. But the Ewoks and other cute items derailed and softened up the series.
I could go on about the three new Star Wars flicks but enough has been said about them. I felt bored by all of them. I also was struck amazed by the fact that a little known (At the time) $60 million Futuristic action movie called Fifth Element had better, more believable CGI scenes then Star Wars: A Phantom Menace. The SW movie felt sterile whilst FE felt lived in and real. If Luc Besson had trimmed up the scenes with Chris Tucker his Sci-Fi flick would have been near perfect. But at least we have his The Professional to have that distinction.

With perhaps exceptions to American Graffiti which had Coppola on board holding Lucas's hand, he really is a bad Director. And isn't to grand in the dialog writing department as well. But all that said he did create a Space Fantasy that has become for some a way of life, i.e. "May the Force be with You".