To badly misquote The Beatles, it was 35 years ago today that George Lucas taught the world to play. Yes, Star Wars came out on May 25, 1977, and now we’ve been living in its shadow for three and a half decades. Though too often anniversaries are mentioned as milestones, it’s worth reflecting on what has changed since the release.
This week brings one of the best films of last year (from the Criterion Collection, no less) some of the bigger disappointments of of 2012 so far, one of the best TV shows going today, and a collection of the Lethal Weapon films. Not a bad week for DVD and Blu-ray. Check it out…
Love him or hate him, director James Cameron has never been one to play it safe. But Cameron just announced that he is not open to developing any projects, original or otherwise, in the near future. Instead he will focus entirely on directing sequels to his groundbreaking 3D epic Avatar. This is cause for concern. In the past, some directors opted to coast off huge successes and ended up irrevocably damaging their reputations. The most notable of these being George Lucas with his Star Wars franchise. Will James Cameron follow in his path?
It’s true that with every new format, there comes a wait for some catalog favorites. Studios like to dish out their crown jewels during high sales periods so people buy them as holiday presents. For those hoping to spend some quality time with Dr. Indiana Jones in 1080p, the wait is almost over. This fall we will get a box set of all four Indiana Jones films. For Steven Spielberg fans this is a banner year for Blu-ray as it will be joining his longed-for Jaws, which also is hitting Blu later this year.
When Star Wars was reissued in 1997, it became one of the top top ten grossing films of that year. That is the lasting cultural impact of the Star Wars franchise, but also paints a picture of how much the world and the Star Wars fan base has changed in fifteen years. On February 10, George Lucas‘s The Phantom Menace will be reissued in 3-D, and the latest marketing suggests they’re not selling it to everyone. Take a look…
Oh, George. In his latest round of interviews for Red Tails, George Lucas told the New York Times that he’s going to retire from the big budget industry and make his art films, except to maybe make Indiana Jones 5. This is a drum Lucas has been beating for a long time, though we’ve seen no fruits of this labor. Perhaps this time he means it – Red Tails was once his passion project, and it gestated for over twenty years.
In one of the strangest movie moments in 2012, it appears that George Lucas may be pulling off something he hasn’t done in at least 20 or so years—releasing a movie that appears to be, well, good. That’s right, Lucas has produced and helped fund Red Tails, the upcoming film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-African American World War II combat pilots, and it actually looks pretty great. Don’t believe Lucas could have a hand in anything awesome? Check out seven minutes of footage from Red Tails below.
Just a week ago, we told you that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were once again collaborating to defile our collective childhood dreams by making yet another Indiana Jones film, after already seriously tarnishing the franchise with Indiana Jones and This One Ridiculous Crystal Skull and Some Aliens. We reported that Spielberg is just waiting for Lucas to come up with a plot to fit around their agreed upon MacGuffin (the item that drives the plot, like the Ark of the Covenent or the Holy Grail in previous films). Well, according to Lucas, Spielberg was wrong and had the news backwards.
Seeing as how Steven Spielberg and George Lucas simply did not learn their lessons with Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull-Thing That Tarnished a Beloved Franchise, Indiana Jones 5 is definitely happening, because they haven’t quite finished ruining the beloved collective dreams of our childhoods.
