#5. Star Wars: George Lucas
Here's the general pop culture consensus on George Lucas: He sucks now, but he once wrote and directed the first Star Wars trilogy, which makes him another innovative, rebellious filmmaker whose creative fire has tragically guttered out.
But here's the truth: Lucas couldn't lose it because he never had it.
Who Actually Deserves the Credit:
First things first: Lucas absolutely was the brilliant mastermind behind the Star Wars movie ... prequels. I through III? That was all Lucas. But IV through VI? The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were directed by Irv Kershner and Richard Marquand, respectively, and both screenplays were written by Lawrence Kasdan. But that still leaves Lucas as the writer/director of Episode IV, right? That's the big one: The Star Wars that put the "Star Wars" in Star Wars.
But A New Hope wasn't entirely Lucas, either: A fellow USC film grad, Gary Kurtz, who first collaborated with Lucas on his breakthrough film, American Graffiti, was producer for both Star Wars and Empire. Kurtz did more than an ordinary producer, however: Beyond running the day-to-day operations of the films, Kurtz also ended up coaching the actors (which is, technically speaking, the director's job).
Even minor characters like C-3PO weren't the juice of Lucas' mindgrapes. Lucas originally wanted 3PO to be an "oily, car salesman type" rather than our lovably gay robot butler friend. If that character archetype sounds familiar, that's because Lucas would later get his sleazy salesman in The Phantom Menace, in the shape of the flying anti-Semitic stereotype, Watto. The actually likeable, not-racist version of C-3PO that we know today was largely thanks to Anthony Daniels. Daniels was originally hired as just a mime inside the gold suit, with someone else providing the voice-over. But actor Stan Freberg convinced Lucas to not use a different voice and stick with Daniels -- which is particularly remarkable since Freberg was one of the actors considered to replace Daniels' voice. That's right: A struggling actor actually had to step up and sacrifice his own livelihood just to kill one of Lucas' terrible ideas.
The man is like the original sin of filmmakers.
I'm not a George Lucas defender, but part of that is way off.
For starters, Lucas did most of the Empire script, which Larry Kasdan polishing it off (probably his biggest contribution was dialogue). A third person, Leigh Brackett, was given credit mainly because she died, but most of her ideas were never used. He talks about Marquand directing Jedi, but fails to mention that Lucas directed the best scenes in the film (the throne room scenes). Not saying Lucas is a good director, but that article likes to leave stuff out.
Then there's Kurtz. An old Star Wars urban legend. The article embelishes the IGN interview about Kurtz giving encouragement to the actors, saying he was coaching them. Kurtz did not direct anything. His biggest claim to fame with the original trilogy, and were Rick McCallum failed, was that he knew when to tell Lucas no, and he was better at quality control. Other than his colaberations with Lucas, Kurtz hasn't done anything notable in his career. So that being said, he and Lucas may be the perfect combo. He was made for Lucas. If he had been producer on the prequels, I have no doubt they would've come out much better.
The article also fails to give credit to Lucas for Indiana Jones. If Indiana Jones were up to Spielberg, it would've admittedly been more like James Bond. Again, its a situation where Lucas does he best work with others. Spielberg doing the directing, Lucas coming up with the story and ideas, Kasdan again doing the script.
And that's what George Lucas is, and what he does best. An idea man. I don't think that has changed much. Its the execution (directing, dialogue) that's his problem. And there's nobody around to tell him no anymore.
He's guilty of other things too along the way. Once he had kids, he started wanting to cater to children (see ewoks, Greedo shoots first, and a plethora of other offenses). And somewhere along the line he has become greedy (which I don't understand; he has all the money he could ever hope for, to do whatever he wants).
But for that article to say he gets too much credit is dumb. I think most people now see him for what he is: a visionary (and even creative genius to an extent) who can't direct or write dialogue, and needs to have his ideas kept in check.
Edit: hell, the article fails to mention one of the biggest reasons for Lucas' success: John Williams.
