This week, George Lucas said that he is done with blockbusters. In an interview given to The new York Times, he stated that he is retiring from commercial cinema business. Even though some sources are sceptical about it.
I would like to believe that Lucas has a hidden card and he will mesmerize us any of this days with a new blockbuster though. It could be that, due to the criticism that accompanied the prequel trilogy films, that were directed by Lucas himself from 1999 to 2005, and the hate that some people have shown for the constant tweaking of the original trilogy throughout the various home video releases, Lucas decided to set aside from commercial cinema and focus on arthouse cinema works.
Meanwhile, 2012 marks the 35th anniversary of the original Star Wars film and during all these years, Star Wars has become the biggest film franchise ever created. A world renown cultural phenomenon, that to this day, captures the imagination of young audiences and continues alive in the hearts of the not so young ones. I wonder if in the next 35 years after Episode I, children that have grown up with the prequel trilogy will be loving this films as much as the people who grew up with the original trilogy in the seventies and eighties. Or, if the "Force" will be forgotten and lost among all the media noise in which we are living these days. Only the pass of time will tell.
I would like to believe that Lucas has a hidden card and he will mesmerize us any of this days with a new blockbuster though. It could be that, due to the criticism that accompanied the prequel trilogy films, that were directed by Lucas himself from 1999 to 2005, and the hate that some people have shown for the constant tweaking of the original trilogy throughout the various home video releases, Lucas decided to set aside from commercial cinema and focus on arthouse cinema works.
Meanwhile, 2012 marks the 35th anniversary of the original Star Wars film and during all these years, Star Wars has become the biggest film franchise ever created. A world renown cultural phenomenon, that to this day, captures the imagination of young audiences and continues alive in the hearts of the not so young ones. I wonder if in the next 35 years after Episode I, children that have grown up with the prequel trilogy will be loving this films as much as the people who grew up with the original trilogy in the seventies and eighties. Or, if the "Force" will be forgotten and lost among all the media noise in which we are living these days. Only the pass of time will tell.
I started to get interested on Star Wars thanks to the release of Episode I, back in 1999. That is with the prequel trilogy. I was 15 years old then and it was an inflection point in my life. The new film and the old trilogy that I borrowed from a friend on VHS, together with all the making of featurettes and all the media and books that came with it, awoke on me the interest in cinema that still lives with me today. So, I can only thank all those guys that worked so hard on creating this movies. I like the old ones, the new ones, the revisions, the tweaks and whatever they come up with. Keep on the good work!... Well... I like them all, but to be honest, some I like them more than others....so, Keep on the risky work!
The Star Wars saga is being re-released in 3D, starting with Episode I next February and a fifth chapter in the Indiana Jones saga is on the making. But the most exciting is the latest film Lucas has produced and financed: Red Tails, to be released in just a couple of days. The first high-budget all-black cast film ever done. Here a making of featurette:
