Watch The People vs. George Lucas For Free

Too much of everything

How sad is this?

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

In this day and age when people use pop culture as an extension of themselves, it surprises me there haven't been more documentaries like this (how about a documentary about the decline of The Simpsons?). I hate what has happened to the Star Wars franchise beginning with the special editions in 1997 as much as the next fan, and The People Vs. George Lucas helps ventilate the anger but it is so much more than that. It isn't just mindless Lucas bashing but does give the man a fair shake.The documentary raises many thought provoking points of speculation about the man. Does he believe that what he's doing to Star Wars is the right thing? Is he getting revenge on a franchise which turned him into the thing he hated and promised himself he would never become, a corporate entity. It goes to show you how the man is a much of an enigma as the characters in his films, as pointed out in the documentary, the rise and fall of George Lucas parallels Anakin Skywalker's decent to the dark side. By the end of the documentary, I felt as one of the fans interviewed puts it, "I love/hate George Lucas". The other major debate raised in the documentary is that of who owns art, the artist or the public and does the public have the right to the material of its own culture?You don't have to start a Star Wars related conversation before people start talking about their disdain for the prequels or the changes to the special editions, yet no official Star Wars documentary is certainly going to address this, nor do I doubt this documentary would be shown at the annual Star Wars convention Celebration.The People Vs. George Lucas showcases a large range of fans from the mature to the more childish, to those defending Lucas. The documentary both celebrates fan culture as well as makes fun of it, weather intentional or not (I wonder if the guy who compares Lucas to a Holocaust denier regrets it?). My favourite part of the documentary is the section which perfectly captures the anticipation and undaunted optimism towards the release of The Phantom Menace and the following disappointment and disenchantment.Inter cut between the interviews are an astounding showcase of fan films (recreating scenes from the movies, telling their own Star Wars stories and those ridiculing George Lucas). This along with the perfect balance between the more serious debates related to artistic ethics all the way to the more trivial, such as whether or not George Lucas raped people's childhoods, makes The People Vs. George Lucas immensely entertaining to watch, as I've now done so several times, making this my personal favourite documentary.

We all love George Lucas. And we all hate George Lucas. We love the way, with "Star Wars" (1977) he awakened the collective child within the human race, giving us a visually brilliant fantasy that could be appreciated by 9-year-old kids and 59-year-old astrophysicists alike.And then we hate him for being so arrogant as to deny us access to the original 1977 movie, instead forcing us to replace our nostalgic memories with his 1990s re-design. He is even quoted saying something about how his new re-designs will be remembered while the original, the 30 million VHS tapes, cannot possibly last more than 40 years. Can Lucas rewrite history? I don't think so, although it's his right to try. Illegal copies of the originals will continue to float around the internet as long as the internet exists. So I believe Lucas's last stand will eventually prove fruitless, even if it takes 100 years. It just sucks for those of us who don't know how to get our hands on those illegal copies. And in all honesty, *that's* why I hate George Lucas."The People vs. George Lucas" focuses mostly on the hate aspect, and it doesn't pull any punches. Drawing from archival interviews of Lucas as well as official statements released by Lucasfilm in response to fans requesting the original film versions, we are shown a George Lucas who is an artistic tyrant, a corporate player, the quintessential artist who is corrupted by success. Interspersed with humorous bits by comedians and ex-fanboys alike, most of this movie is like a celebrity roast with Georgie on the spit. And my guess is, if you're interested in a movie called "The People vs. George Lucas", this is what you came for.In that regard, it does not disappoint. It gives you everything you need to indulge your acidic, bloodthirsty resentment ...and then some (did you know that Lucas himself appeared before congress in 1988 to denounce Ted Turner for colorizing black & white films, calling it a crime to our national heritage... just years before he obliterated the original "Star Wars" with modern visuals?).But then, as if fearing that it had gone too far, the documentary pulls a 180 in the last 10 minutes with a sudden, inexplicable change of heart. Sappy music swells while we are shown appreciative fans and children (oh not the children! Way to make me feel like a louse) praising Lucas as the guiding light of their dreams. It would have been interesting if the sudden change of heart were explained, but no, it's more like a sarcastic attack punctuated with a very contrived "No offense! We still love you!" I also took off points for the first 20 minutes which feature a bunch of grainy & unappealing fan videos designed to convince us of what an impact Star Wars had on us. Not necessary. We were there, we don't need anyone telling us how important Star Wars was.So, like my title says, lop off the first 20 minutes and the last 10, and you've got yourself a bold, unapologetic, hard-hitting documentary that explains exactly why so many fans are angry with Lucas. And that's the important part, isn't it? The rest--the stuff about how big a cultural impact Star Wars made--is nothing new.Final note: the documentary has a significant spoiler for the 3rd Star Wars prequel--the shocking conclusion of all the prequel movies, in fact. After Phantom Menace (prequel #1) I never saw the others although I planned to one day. If you're like me, beware because in the 2nd half of the documentary they spill the beans. So if you ever intend to see them, be sure to watch the prequel movies first, then watch this documentary.

I had put off watching this movie for a while. I assumed it was going to be an hour and a half of George Lucas bashing. Was I wrong? Not entirely... but I wasn't right either.I will never deny that I am a fan of all 6 of the Star Wars movies. I never understood the hatred towards the prequels. In fact, people who had turned on Lucas and his recent work, REALLY bothered me. I was tired of fans flipping Lucas the bird and all that he created.In "The People vs. George Lucas" you certainly hear from many disgruntled fans, but at the same time you feel their love for Star Wars. You can see how they are frustrated, but at the same time respect the man who shaped their childhoods. It is an entertaining and well put together film featuring hilarious Star Wars fan film clips and energy-charged interview clips. It is a ball of hatred and sweet at the same time. By the end you remember why you love Star Wars, even if there are things that bother you about them... you still love them and you have to give Mr. Lucas respect for creating it all.

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.