Lucas: Under 25 love ep I-II, over 25 don't
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Lucas: Under 25 love ep I-II, over 25 don't
CANNES, France (Reuters) -- "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..."
It was 28 years ago that the famous words first scrolled up movie screens. On Sunday, the world's most successful film series drew to a close with the official launch of the sixth and final "Star Wars" movie.
In one of the most eagerly awaited and widely hyped film releases in years, George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" had a glittering red carpet premiere in Cannes, complete with Darth Vader and stormtrooper look-alikes.
Director George Lucas was accompanied by his cast of stars, having received an award from the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the day on board the luxury liner Queen Mary 2, which docked off the Riviera resort especially for the occasion.
It was 28 years ago that the famous words first scrolled up movie screens. On Sunday, the world's most successful film series drew to a close with the official launch of the sixth and final "Star Wars" movie.
In one of the most eagerly awaited and widely hyped film releases in years, George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" had a glittering red carpet premiere in Cannes, complete with Darth Vader and stormtrooper look-alikes.
Director George Lucas was accompanied by his cast of stars, having received an award from the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the day on board the luxury liner Queen Mary 2, which docked off the Riviera resort especially for the occasion.
Lucas told reporters he was not too concerned by the negative reaction to Episodes I and II of the prequel trilogy.
"We've discovered in the last few years ... that we have two fan bases," he said. "One is over 25 and one is under 25.
"The films that those people (over-25s) don't like, which is the first two, actually are very fanatically adored by the under-25-year-olds."
"Sith" explains how Jedi Knight Skywalker is tempted over to the dark side. In one of the film's most powerful scenes, Skywalker is rebuilt from a limbless, burning man barely alive to the towering, black-caped Vader.
"We've discovered in the last few years ... that we have two fan bases," he said. "One is over 25 and one is under 25.
"The films that those people (over-25s) don't like, which is the first two, actually are very fanatically adored by the under-25-year-olds."
"Sith" explains how Jedi Knight Skywalker is tempted over to the dark side. In one of the film's most powerful scenes, Skywalker is rebuilt from a limbless, burning man barely alive to the towering, black-caped Vader.
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Yes, they didn't meet my expectations. Therefore, he must die. Oh, wait, got caught up in the hyperbole. Just give him a really bad hangnail or ingrown hair.
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Originally Posted by Josh Hinkle
Not going that far, but to put an age limit on who likes them and who doesn't is completely asinine.
THIS, I agree with - BUT...
I've been a manager at a different movie theatre for each of the prequels and I watch audience reaction very closely. I can tell you from experience that the "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" appealed very widely to kids and teens, and the ones who looked distraught and disappointed as they left the films were those people my age who'd grown up with the Original Three.
To put an age limit on it is silly, but there's something substantial about what George Lucas has said... THIS GUY DOES'NT NEED TO MAKE EXCUSES.
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I'd love to hear from 25 and under if this is true..
'Star Wars' Tidbits From Cannes Festival
By DAVID GERMAIN
.c The Associated Press
CANNES, France (AP) - "Star Wars'' fans have divided loyalties, says George Lucas, with older audiences preferring the original trilogy and younger ones loving the current films.
At the Cannes Film Festival for a screening Sunday of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' his last chapter in the saga, Lucas said he pays no heed to the bad reviews that greeted the current trilogy's two predecessors, "The Phantom Menace'' and "Attack of the Clones.''
"We have two fan bases. One is over 25 and one is under 25,'' Lucas said. "The over-25 fan base is loyal to the first three films. They actually are in their 30s and 40s now, so they're in control of the media, they're in control of the Web, they're in control of everything, basically. So mostly, what you're hearing from are people over 25 years old.
"But the films those people don't like, which is the first two, actually are very fanatically adored by the under-25-year-olds, and as you get up on the Web and you listen to these conversations, they are always at each other's throats, and the devotion for each group is pretty equal.''
Lucas compared the debate to older rock fans talking up the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, while younger fans worship hip-hop.
"I'm curious to see what happens in about 10 years when that other group starts to get their voice. How they'll remember it. I hope they remember it as one movie,'' he said.
A few hours before "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, director George Lucas made a quick trip to another glitzy locale: the Queen Mary II.
Lucas received an achievement award Sunday from the festival aboard the world's largest ocean liner, docked nearby in the Mediterranean.
The director recalled coming to Cannes in 1971 to show "THX 1138,'' his first feature-length movie.
"Cannes is always a very special place for me,'' he said. "So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this award.''
Others who have received the "Trophy of the Festival'' award include American actor Gregory Peck, French actress Jeanne Moreau and British director Ken Loach.
Bearing Jedi-powered twins Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia gave Natalie Portman a few sympathy pains for her expectant "Star Wars'' character.
In the final film of the adventure, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' Portman's Padme Amidala is pregnant with hubby and future dark lord Anakin Skywalker's kids Luke and Leia, who grow up to be heroes of the original "Star Wars'' trilogy.
"It was funny, because having the pregnancy hat on, it does make you go home, you get a little back pain in the evening, you get hungry for three,'' Portman said at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film screened Sunday.
An offhand comment during a TV interview put Samuel L. Jackson on the path of the Jedi.
In the 1990s, asked if there was a director he really wanted to work with and aware that a "Star Wars'' prequel trilogy was in the works, Jackson said, "Yes, George Lucas. I'd love to be in `Star Wars,''' the actor said Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' was screening.
Word trickled back to Lucas, who brought Jackson in for a chat.
"I remember saying to you in that first meeting, `I would really like to be a storm trooper,''' Jackson said at a news conference alongside Lucas and other "Star Wars'' collaborators. "`Anything. Nobody needs to know I'm in the movie but me. I'll just run across the screen, and I'll be happy.'''
Jackson ended up getting the plum role of Mace Windu, the Jedi master who fights a losing battle against the evil ruler destined to become the tyrannical emperor of the original trilogy.
Since the original three movies spelled out that the emperor and his henchman Darth Vader destroyed the Jedi order, Jackson went in knowing Mace's days were numbered in "Revenge of the Sith.'' But Jackson likes the way Mace exits the story.
"I was pleased with my death. I asked him not to kill me in my sleep,'' Jackson said.
Two of the men who played "Star Wars'' characters behind masks said it gives them the pleasure of being involved with the franchise while maintaining relative anonymity.
Anthony Daniels has played robot C-3PO in all six "Star Wars'' movies, while Ian McDiarmid was the evil emperor in "Return of the Jedi'' and politician Palpatine, who morphs into the emperor, in the current prequel trilogy.
"There are moments when it's very nice to be recognized. A lot of moments when it's very nice not to be,'' Daniels said Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' screened.
Daniels said some hardcore fans know what he looks like, and sometimes a slip of the tongue has allowed people to peg him as the man behind the robot.
"On occasions, if we've been filming a lot and I've been doing C-3PO's voice, it can come out somewhat inappropriately in the middle of a Safeway store. `I say, might I have this, please?''' Daniels said, slipping into the robot's obsequious voice. "And they go, `Wait a minute, you're C-3PO.'''
McDiarmid was hidden behind the emperor's gnarly, hooded visage in "Return of the Jedi'' but presented his own face in the first two prequels and much of "Revenge of the Sith.'' Enjoying his privacy, he said he has largely escaped recognition.
"In this movie, I develop into a full-scale monster,'' McDiarmid said. "I hope it's the mask they remember and not my face."
By DAVID GERMAIN
.c The Associated Press
CANNES, France (AP) - "Star Wars'' fans have divided loyalties, says George Lucas, with older audiences preferring the original trilogy and younger ones loving the current films.
At the Cannes Film Festival for a screening Sunday of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' his last chapter in the saga, Lucas said he pays no heed to the bad reviews that greeted the current trilogy's two predecessors, "The Phantom Menace'' and "Attack of the Clones.''
"We have two fan bases. One is over 25 and one is under 25,'' Lucas said. "The over-25 fan base is loyal to the first three films. They actually are in their 30s and 40s now, so they're in control of the media, they're in control of the Web, they're in control of everything, basically. So mostly, what you're hearing from are people over 25 years old.
"But the films those people don't like, which is the first two, actually are very fanatically adored by the under-25-year-olds, and as you get up on the Web and you listen to these conversations, they are always at each other's throats, and the devotion for each group is pretty equal.''
Lucas compared the debate to older rock fans talking up the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, while younger fans worship hip-hop.
"I'm curious to see what happens in about 10 years when that other group starts to get their voice. How they'll remember it. I hope they remember it as one movie,'' he said.
A few hours before "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, director George Lucas made a quick trip to another glitzy locale: the Queen Mary II.
Lucas received an achievement award Sunday from the festival aboard the world's largest ocean liner, docked nearby in the Mediterranean.
The director recalled coming to Cannes in 1971 to show "THX 1138,'' his first feature-length movie.
"Cannes is always a very special place for me,'' he said. "So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this award.''
Others who have received the "Trophy of the Festival'' award include American actor Gregory Peck, French actress Jeanne Moreau and British director Ken Loach.
Bearing Jedi-powered twins Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia gave Natalie Portman a few sympathy pains for her expectant "Star Wars'' character.
In the final film of the adventure, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith,'' Portman's Padme Amidala is pregnant with hubby and future dark lord Anakin Skywalker's kids Luke and Leia, who grow up to be heroes of the original "Star Wars'' trilogy.
"It was funny, because having the pregnancy hat on, it does make you go home, you get a little back pain in the evening, you get hungry for three,'' Portman said at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film screened Sunday.
An offhand comment during a TV interview put Samuel L. Jackson on the path of the Jedi.
In the 1990s, asked if there was a director he really wanted to work with and aware that a "Star Wars'' prequel trilogy was in the works, Jackson said, "Yes, George Lucas. I'd love to be in `Star Wars,''' the actor said Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' was screening.
Word trickled back to Lucas, who brought Jackson in for a chat.
"I remember saying to you in that first meeting, `I would really like to be a storm trooper,''' Jackson said at a news conference alongside Lucas and other "Star Wars'' collaborators. "`Anything. Nobody needs to know I'm in the movie but me. I'll just run across the screen, and I'll be happy.'''
Jackson ended up getting the plum role of Mace Windu, the Jedi master who fights a losing battle against the evil ruler destined to become the tyrannical emperor of the original trilogy.
Since the original three movies spelled out that the emperor and his henchman Darth Vader destroyed the Jedi order, Jackson went in knowing Mace's days were numbered in "Revenge of the Sith.'' But Jackson likes the way Mace exits the story.
"I was pleased with my death. I asked him not to kill me in my sleep,'' Jackson said.
Two of the men who played "Star Wars'' characters behind masks said it gives them the pleasure of being involved with the franchise while maintaining relative anonymity.
Anthony Daniels has played robot C-3PO in all six "Star Wars'' movies, while Ian McDiarmid was the evil emperor in "Return of the Jedi'' and politician Palpatine, who morphs into the emperor, in the current prequel trilogy.
"There are moments when it's very nice to be recognized. A lot of moments when it's very nice not to be,'' Daniels said Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival, where "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' screened.
Daniels said some hardcore fans know what he looks like, and sometimes a slip of the tongue has allowed people to peg him as the man behind the robot.
"On occasions, if we've been filming a lot and I've been doing C-3PO's voice, it can come out somewhat inappropriately in the middle of a Safeway store. `I say, might I have this, please?''' Daniels said, slipping into the robot's obsequious voice. "And they go, `Wait a minute, you're C-3PO.'''
McDiarmid was hidden behind the emperor's gnarly, hooded visage in "Return of the Jedi'' but presented his own face in the first two prequels and much of "Revenge of the Sith.'' Enjoying his privacy, he said he has largely escaped recognition.
"In this movie, I develop into a full-scale monster,'' McDiarmid said. "I hope it's the mask they remember and not my face."
#12
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Originally Posted by Flynn
THIS, I agree with - BUT...
I've been a manager at a different movie theatre for each of the prequels and I watch audience reaction very closely. I can tell you from experience that the "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" appealed very widely to kids and teens, and the ones who looked distraught and disappointed as they left the films were those people my age who'd grown up with the Original Three.
To put an age limit on it is silly, but there's something substantial about what George Lucas has said... THIS GUY DOES'NT NEED TO MAKE EXCUSES.
I've been a manager at a different movie theatre for each of the prequels and I watch audience reaction very closely. I can tell you from experience that the "Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" appealed very widely to kids and teens, and the ones who looked distraught and disappointed as they left the films were those people my age who'd grown up with the Original Three.
To put an age limit on it is silly, but there's something substantial about what George Lucas has said... THIS GUY DOES'NT NEED TO MAKE EXCUSES.
I'd agree that maybe 15 and under like it more. I was a lot less critcal of films then. But there will still be kids who hate them so it's silly to put an age limit on it.
But I agree, he definitely doesn't need to make excuses. He's said repeatedly he made the films he wanted to make, and didn't care much about reactions. he should stick to his laurels. I mean he says in that article that he pays no heed to negative reviews, but clearly he does or he wouldn't be aware of two audiences etc. etc.
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I was under 25 when I saw both of them, and certainly did not "fanatically adore" them. I'm over 25 now, and still don't, so he got 1/2 of it right I guess!
It's not going to be a universal theory, but I bet it holds some water. Most of those over 25 saw the OT and thought that the new trilogy doesn't stand up.
It's not going to be a universal theory, but I bet it holds some water. Most of those over 25 saw the OT and thought that the new trilogy doesn't stand up.
#15
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Originally Posted by Toad
It's not going to be a universal theory, but I bet it holds some water. Most of those over 25 saw the OT and thought that the new trilogy doesn't stand up.
And the age limit is still silly as the 1997 SE release created a ton of younger fans who loved the OT and like the prequels as well. So it's not love of the OT causing everyone to hate the prequels as some (off all age ranges) love them all.
It all just boils down to personal preference. I know people over 25 that love them, and those that hate them. Same with those under 25. Seems to be a near 50-50 split among those I've talked to.
Last edited by Josh Hinkle; 05-16-05 at 12:33 PM.
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well, I'm 24 and thought that Phantom Menace was just OK, but I did love Attack of the Clones. Sure it wasn't as good as episode 4 or 5, but I thought 2 was on par with 6 and really thought it was awesome. I have higher hopes for ep 3 that I hope will be met... I think Lucas has a point though, those who didn't grow up adoring the original trilogy can enjoy the new one a bit more...but 25 and under is a bit skewed...probably more like 15 and under.
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Over 25 and like Ep 1 and 2. But..I see them through the eyes of my two, under 12 sons. They groan when I put in the original trilogy. "The saber battles are slow, there's only 4 TIE fighters.." etc. (Iknow, I feel like I've failed them as a father.)
But I don't think the first two are as bad as many say, and look forward to Ep III.
But I don't think the first two are as bad as many say, and look forward to Ep III.
#24
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The way Lucas makes it sound, there are two distinct, mutually exclusive groups: Original Trilogy fans & Prequel Trilogy fans.
Whenin reality there are:
* Fans who like the Original Trilogy ONLY
* Fans who like the Original Trilogy the best, but also like the Prequels
* Younger fans (15 and younger) who like the Prequels and are indifferent to the Original Trilogy because they're "old movies"
...and several other combinations.
Whenin reality there are:
* Fans who like the Original Trilogy ONLY
* Fans who like the Original Trilogy the best, but also like the Prequels
* Younger fans (15 and younger) who like the Prequels and are indifferent to the Original Trilogy because they're "old movies"
...and several other combinations.