The Destruction of a Saga - George Lucas' Greatest Mistake

By James Colvin 

Many films have huge cult followings, but none so more than the Star Wars Saga. The first movie, 'A New Hope', brought in around $400 million in the United States alone, with the entire saga making around $4.5 billion in its box office run (not to mention the $15 billion or so it has made from toys over the years).

But for the purposes of this article, return yourself to 1997, 14 years after the last film, 'Return of the Jedi'. Fans everywhere reel to the news that a new trilogy will be released, showing the fall of the great Jedi, Anakin Skywalker. The first film, 'The Phantom Menace' brings in $924 million worldwide, a huge amount, which is a sign that the film is a hit. The next two come out, and bring in similar amounts.

However, while this is what George Lucas, director of the Saga aimed to achieve, it was not what the saga deserved. The films were to show the fall of Anakin Skywalker, a fabled Jedi Master. What the films failed to show was Anakin as anything more than an arrogant, whiny brat, a character comparable to Top Gun's Maverick in terms of the one-dimension shown.

Throughout the original films, Luke travels from his home, leaving behind all he knows to help this old Jedi, Ben Kenobi, eventually pushing through the struggles of fighting the near invincible foe of the Galactic Empire, and becoming a Jedi Knight in his own right. The story shows the growth of the boy into man, and sets up an unforgettable universe in which many characters develop, fighting for a greater cause. Even more incredible were the sets, created by Lucas and his team, creating a realism never before seen in movies. With ground breaking special effects, the movies achieved their well-deserved cult following from the hard work put into it by both the creative teams and the innovative directing.

However, when it came to the prequels, Lucas took the films in a new direction. He had decided that special effects were the best way to tell the story, and while the effects used were, in most cases, stunning, they were relied upon too heavily. Near all backgrounds were shot in front of a blue screen, creating an environment difficult for actors to react to, as well as looking noticeably unbelievable, retracting from the universe, a fate the originals did not suffer from. Furthermore, most alien characters were achieved through CGI effects, leading to another case where it was difficult for characters to interact with, again pulling the audience away from the realism of the film.

Another interesting point was the story. In the original films, a clear cut universe was set up, with innovative ideas and an immersive universe, giving enough information to fans to understand what was going on, but leaving much about the universe mysterious enough that imagination and thought was needed to delve deeper into it. What the prequels did was break down this illusion of the films, leading to the destruction of the childhood fantasy that was put around the original films by the majority of the audience. For example, in Episode I, Qui-Gon-Jin explains to a young Anakin that a person’s control over the Force is due to tiny creatures found in all of life called 'midi-chlorians', and that a person with a higher midi-chlorian count has a greater control of the Force. This breaks down the mystery surrounding the Force set up by the original films - Luke had to work hard for his control of the Force, and had to bind himself to the energies of life, fighting and learning his control of the mystical power. Compare this to Anakin, who in the prequel trilogy, gets all his training off-screen, and seems to be born with the gift. Which character do we sympathise with more? The character we have seen train and work for his talents, or the one who just seems to have it? The development of Luke in the originals is a far more interesting tale than that of Anakin, purely because his story is better executed and more intricately written, leaving Anakin's tale drawn out and far weaker in comparison. Lastly on this point, a good example to use is to try to describe each character in terms of their traits. Comparatively, there is far more you can say about Han Solo, or even more minor characters like Lando Calrissian, than you can about Qui-Gon-Jin or Padmé Amidala.

Interestingly enough, with the prequel's being Lucas' later films, his camera work becomes increasingly simple, and, ironically, uninteresting. For example, the scene in 'A New Hope' where Han Solo is introduced to us - in a crowded cantina in Mos Eisley, a fairly standard back and forth conversation occurs, with some interesting variations thrown in, in which Kenobi and Skywalker haggle with Solo for a journey to the Alderaan system. With some shots focusing on the faces and reactions of the characters, and movement from Solo as he leans forward in his chair to make a point, we instantly get the impression of Han Solo's cockiness and arrogance. However, compare that to a scene of Padmé and Anakin from 'Revenge of the Sith, (and later compare it to every other scene with the same characters, and you may notice it follows the same formula) and all you get is back and forth, and around a couple of minutes in, to mix it up, one of the two stands up and looks out of a window. The acting is stationary and wooden, leaving us with no lasting impression on any of the characters, except for the unemotional feelings that we only learn through their dialogue - Anakin loves Padmé, despite never actually showing any emotion towards her.

Overall, the prequel's break down the universe set up by the originals, and failed on their promise to show the fall of the great Anakin Skywalker, and only served to destroy whatever childlike wonder that the originals created by focusing on special effects and leaving the story until 'A New Hope'. It really shows that the decision to make a prequel trilogy to an already satisfying saga, was only an attempt to make money, and possibly, George Lucas' greatest mistake.