Avian Gamers Network

Q: Why did you change your mind and decide to put the original three movies out on DVD now?

GEORGE LUCAS: A lot of people are getting very worried about piracy. That has really eaten dramatically into the sales. It really just came down to, there may not be a market when I wanted to bring it out, which was like, three years from now. So rather than just sit by and watch the whole thing fall apart, better to bring it out early and get it over with.

Q: Why did you rework the original trilogy into the special-edition versions in the late 1990s?

LUCAS: To me, the special edition ones are the films I wanted to make. Anybody that makes films knows the film is never finished. It's abandoned or it's ripped out of your hands, and it's thrown into the marketplace, never finished. It's a very rare experience where you find a filmmaker who says, "That's exactly what I wanted. I got everything I needed. I made it just perfect. I'm going to put it out there." And even most artists, most painters, even composers would want to come back and redo their work now. They've got a new perspective on it, they've got more resources, they have better technology, and they can fix or finish the things that were never done. ...

I wanted to actually finish the film the way it was meant to be when I was originally doing it. At the beginning, people went, "Don't you like it?" I said, "Well, the film only came out to be 25 or 30 percent of what I wanted it to be." They said, "What are you talking about?" So finally, I stopped saying that, but if you read any interviews for about an eight- or nine-year period there, it was all about how disappointed I was and how unhappy I was and what a dismal experience it was. You know, it's too bad you need to get kind of half a job done and never get to finish it. So this was my chance to finish it.

Q: Why not release both the originals and special editions on DVD?

LUCAS: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ...

I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be.

Q: Do you pay much attention to fan reactions to your choices?

LUCAS: Not really. The movies are what the movies are. ... The thing about science-fiction fans and "Star Wars" fans is they're very independent-thinking people. They all think outside the box, but they all have very strong ideas about what should happen, and they think it should be their way. Which is fine, except I'm making the movies, so I should have it my way.

"I do remember permanently the hologram speech, because we had to reshoot it," Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, wearily told fans at the recent Comic-Con festival in San Diego.

"Whenever I get lost on the way to someone's house, or I just forget your name, it's because I remember the speech. ... 'General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars ..."' she said. "I'm a thousand years old and I still remember that thing. It's very disturbing. I have to take medication, and yet it still won't go away."

MARK HAMILL: Well, it's hard for me because I am a purist. I say I want to see not the colorized version of "King Kong," I want to see the black-and-white one as it was released in the theaters.

But knowing George, though, in "American Graffiti" his character was played by Charlie Martin Smith, who was a mechanic, who loved machines, who loved taking apart engines and cleaning them and putting them back together and souping 'em up and adding exhaust pipes or whatever. That's in his DNA. So it reminds me of someone who owns an elaborate train set and you only see them every six months but everytime you do his train set's slightly changed, there's a new bridge, new tunnels, new billboards and trees. That's just George. ... He will always, I think, want to play with it and make it better.

Its a wonder that "Star Wars" even happened. That someone that was so independent minded...
BAH!
I do not like him Sam I Am!

Do you really like George Lucas?

Do you mean in a Sexual way?

I mean, he was kind of cute in the old days, but he's a porker now.

Not that I would, like, check him out or anything.

LOL! It's good to have you back, Gui.

Do you mean in a Sexual way?

I mean, he was kind of cute in the old days, but he's a porker now.

Not that I would, like, check him out or anything.

Do you mean in a Sexual way?

I mean, he was kind of cute in the old days, but he's a porker now.

Not that I would, like, check him out or anything.