George Lucas and the attack of the Yes Men

Between the recent success of "Red Tails" and the impending 3D re-release of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," George Lucas has been in the news quite a bit lately. In recent interviews, the director/producer has claimed that he now wants to focus on smaller, more experimental films -- you know, the kind of movies that would be shown in arthouse theatres. Sadly, after the debacle that were the "Star Wars" prequels, people don't really put much stock into what the filmmaker has to say any more. Sure, George. Experimental movies; whatever you say.

But believe it or not, there was a time when George Lucas was regarded as a true visionary within the film industry, and not the butt of so many jokes that he is today.

Creating smaller and more personal films is a career move that would mirror Lucas' friend and former business partner Francis Ford Coppola ("The Godfather"), who has been making lower-budget films since 2007's "Youth Without Youth." Many would love to see Lucas attempt this kind of filmmaking again, unburdened by green screens and computer-generated characters. For now, though, such a film remains something that Lucas merely talks about doing. Besides, why would he bother with low-budget filmmaking when he holds the keys to one of the most successful film franchises in history? That would be like riding your bike to work when you owned a Ferrarri.

It was about 30 years ago when things started to change for the Flannelled One, around the time that "Return of the Jedi" was going into production. The money that he and his company earned from the first two "Star Wars" films -- and the massive merchandising empire that those films spawned -- meant that Lucas had a lot of freedom from studio interference. Lucas, the director who had so often been confounded by brainless studio executives and hapless producers in the past, now had complete creative control over the films that he was making. No one was ever going to say "No" to George Lucas again; from now on he was going to do things his way.

His first order of business? Furry little aliens called Ewoks.

Cut to 2012 and Lucas is emperor of the empire that "Empire" built. Nearly 35 years of "Star Wars": Six films, $4.5 billion dollars in box office receipts, billions in home video and merchandising revenue, countless spin-offs including cartoons, books, video games, and comics, plus a number of industry leading film technology companies.

This success meant that Lucas was able to produce and direct his three "Star Wars" prequels entirely independently. An impressive feat considering that each film was budgeted at well over $100 million dollars, though a paltry sum compared to the $2.4 billion dollar total box office take of the prequels. Yes, the house that George built did quite well for itself.

Having finished the prequels in 2005, Lucas soon turned his attention to another passion project: "Red Tails," a film about the famed Tuskegee Airmen of the Second World War. Some 23 years in the making, Lucas got off to a few false starts with the picture. It was originally slated for release in 1992, but things fell through. Put back into production in 2007, the effects-heavy film took another five years to make it to theatres.

Directed by Anthony Hemingway ("The Wire") and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, and Bryan Cranston, "Red Tails" became one of the first surprise hits of 2012, with Lucas firmly seated in the producer's chair. Maybe the (relatively) modest $58 million dollar movie (paid for entirely by Lucas) was exactly the kind of "smaller film" he had in mind.

"Red Tails" wasn't the only thing that the filmmaker cum tycoon had up his sleeve for 2012. Lucas has spent the past few years overseeing the painstaking 3D conversion of all six "Star Wars" films, and he will treat (though some might say torture) audiences with the 3D re-release of "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace" later this week. Oh, goody.

The saga will be re-released in chronological order with one film making its way to theatres each year until 2017. Basically, this means that audiences won't be able to see a decent "Star Wars" film on the big screen until the 2015 re-release of "A New Hope."

The 3D re-release of the "Star Wars" saga will mark the first (and hopefully last) big-screen return for the prequel trilogy, and the third wide release for the original trilogy films, such as they are. It's still unclear whether or not Lucas has further altered the original films, but it seems likely, given his penchant for tinkering with the effects and structure of each movie every time they are re-released. This constant modifying costs Lucas millions, but even the most minor changes can justify a new Blu-ray box set or limited theatrical run, which in turn will earn hundreds of millions of dollars for his company.

With all that extra revenue coming in, surely Lucas will be able to find the time and money required to make those experimental films he's always wanted to, right? Well... Maybe not.

At some point between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Phantom Menace," Lucas ceased to be a filmmaker and became a marketer and businessman -- a turn to the dark side, if there ever was one. His status as the Chairman & CEO of Lucasfilm means that his financial obligations to the company may increasingly outweigh his creative ones.

Many look to "Return of the Jedi" as the turning point, with the cuddly and highly marketable Ewoks figuring prominently in the proceedings. However, Lucas' true fall did not occur until 1999, with the highly anticipated release of "Episode I" and the introduction of a little character named Jar Jar Binks.

Oh, Jar Jar. A name that strikes fear into the hearts of fans of the original trilogy. Lucas wanted a character that would appeal to children, so he created Binks to be the comic sidekick for the heroes in the first prequel. Unfortunately for Lucas, the character ended up being anything but comedic and only held appeal for very small children.

Insufferable at best and racially insenstive at worst, Jar Jar Binks was, incredibly, the least of the "The Phantom Menace's" litany of problems. But there was something about the fact that Lucas believed Jar Jar would go over so well with people that illustrated just how insulated the director had become.

There is a scene included in Red Letter Media's 70-minute review of "The Phantom Menace" that painfully drives this point home. Lucas and his crew have just seen the first rough cut screening of the film and everyone sits in stunned silence as the lights come up. No one says a thing until Lucas admits that he "may have gone too far in a few places."

Anyone who has seen the movie can attest to that, but sadly there was no one in Lucas' inner circle willing to tell him that at the time. Nobody wants to tell their boss that he's wrong about something. Whether it's another big-budget "Star Wars" movie or a microbudget art film, until Lucas is able to extricate himself from this circle "Yes Men" and subordinates, he'll quite simply never be able to make another good film.

Great filmmakers thrive in the face of adversity. The George Lucas of today faces no such hardships, and certainly nothing like the adversity that helped make movies like "American Graffiti" and "Star Wars" so special. They were great films because Lucas had to fight for every inch he got.

"No" doesn't have to mean no, George. It can mean "How else can we do this?" or "Maybe this isn't the best idea." The director calls the shots, but at the end of the day, the making of a movie is a collaboration -- it's not nodding one's head and blindly doing whatever the director tells you to do.

Lucas got his way for more than 30 years, and the poor guy (OK, he's not that poor) probably just doesn't know any different. But if he ever wants to make those smaller, artistic films, somebody seriously needs to hire George Lucas some "No Men."

Elsewhere on omg! Canada:
'The Phantom Menace 3D' featurette reminds viewers why they hated the prequels
Does George Lucas really want to retire?
Nooo! George Lucas makes more changes to the original trilogy