That "screening room" at the beginning looks a lot like straight up acting. The laser pointing shit. When it's clearly a finished project already. like. what is he even saying? "put that over there" "put this here, right over there" LMAO CYBER CHARACTERS!?
TPM shows why Anakin is so important, his strong attachment to his mom, why Obi-Wan wasn't right teacher to him, why he hates Tatooine, Jedi rules, Palpatine becoming chancellor, world building, etc...And of course, podracing and Darth Maul. AOTC actually tells a story (Palpatine's rise to power by manipulation Republic and Separatists, Anakin's progression of falling to the Dark Side, start of the Clone Wars), develops characters, shows us real war, new planets, species, ships, droids, world, and has connection with 1 and 3. What ROTS show us? The largest battle in the Clone Wars, deaths of Dooku and Grievous, Kashyyk battle, Anakin's conflict with Jedi and himself, his weakness (save who he loves), which perfectly works with saving Luke, Palpatine's manipulation and rise to power, Order 66, 2 amasing final battles and the creation of Darth Vader and Empire, birth of Luke and Leia, new hope. It is meaning for the whole Galaxy and is the most emotional.
I remember seeing this on TV back in the day before the film came out. I believe it was the first time I saw examples of how CGI was done behind the scenes for films like this, and it introduced me to a whole new world of creativity. Maybe some of the CGI hasn't aged well nowadays, but it really started something. Just like in the 70s and 80s, George Lucas really was a juggernaut for innovation in both film-making and story-telling!
I know Im the only person that not only enjoys the phantom menace, but I put it up as my favorite star wars movie. Its everything star wars was meant to be. A lighthearted updated look of the classic serials, and its the tone that best sums up the idea of star wars. I understand its not for everybody, but you cant deny the scale and magnitude of it all. The effects are mindblowing even by todays standards.
It's the Star Wars movie I love most as well. I'm glad I'm not the only one. My rankings are: The Phantom Menace Return of the Jedi Revenge of the Sith A New Hope Attack of the Clones The Empire Strikes Back What are yours?
@@zoetropeguardian 1. Phantom Menace 2. Empire strikes back 3. Revenge of the sith 4. Attack of the clones 5. A new hope 6. Return of the jedi It's kind of an unpopular list, but it's just what I prefer.
@zoetropeguardian you jave empire last? I liked it the best. I'll go: Empire strikes back New hope Return of the jedi Phantom menace Revenge of the sith Attack of the clones We don't talk about disney....
It is truly insane to me how the masses give The Lord of The Rings Trilogy credit for the innovations from the Prequel Trilogy. While I understand that Trilogy is near-perfect cinema, give credit where credit is due!
Yeah. Obviously the lord of the rings trilogy is superior, but a lot of those effects were directly influenced from what George was doing with effects. Nobody wants to give credit though.
@@bilbobaggins9451Well hold on. What WETA did on LOTR had its own breakthroughs that had nothing to do with ILM. LOTR had the breakthrough “MASSIVE” crowd simulation program that enabled the whole thing to come to life
Episode I still looks gorgeous. I think even Wattp and Jar Jar hold up for a 25 year old film. It was Episode II and IiI (particularly inside the Jedi temple) where the cgi sometimes looks dated, but even then all of these still look pretty great imo.
@@fgdj2000 That's because of the animation, bigatures, and motion capture. While the textures are outdated, everything moves like it's alive. Which is why the prequel CGI hasn't really aged all that much. Especially if you compare it to the average CGI of the time (1999 - 2005).
60 minutes definitely had good timing when they were filming the John Williams segment, catching Duel of the Fates. I remember how amazing it was to see that Lucas was filming most of this movie against blue screens, and also how much criticism he got that this made the film fake or unrelatable. And yet, today, this is the absolute standard practice by which all special effects movies are made. Nothing looks amazing about these clips anymore. This is now typical filmmaking.
His recent most statement suggests that he views Disney as an exception to this rule, which is why he sold SW to them in the first place. The Disney bookends on his desk in this very video also suggest that.
I DISTINCTLY remember watching this when it aired. It was the first time I realized there would be a full on racing sequence. As a racing fan, this got me SO pumped!
Ben Burt WOW such an UNsung hero of Star Wars, his incredible soundscapes are just as memorable as any of the film's visuals. FUN fact: Ben wanted to work on the Star Wars sequel trilogy and they showed him the door. They did not want him. How STUPID was that?
The reason why you never hear about the dissatisfaction from the VFX team in ILM is because Lucas knows what he’s doing and what goes into the technology to create these shots. Directors/Producers need to learn about this technology so there isn’t such a disconnect between the two.
There's one thing that kind of bothers me whenever they talk about the prequels and all these behind the scenes features like 60 minutes they always seem to forget to talk about all the models miniatures and matte paintings that are made. Naboo was for the most part 90% a miniature model there are parts of the pod race that are models. The arena and episode 2 is a model the Jedi Temple is a model inside the cloning facility when Obi-Wan is walking around with Lama Su the exterior and interior of that hallway is a model
at the point of this interview, ILM is on post-production, and most of those miniature sets and models were all already kept away for storage because shooting was over...
They focus on the CGI because that was a big deal but the way minitures and other elements were seamlessly composited together should get more attention.
@8:27 Well well the irony!!! I give George Lucas credit for personally funding and having the control of his Star Wars creation but I was very disappointed when he sold the full rights to Star Wars to Disney for billions of dollars in 2012. Those Disney executives DON'T have a damn clue to how to develop an awesome Star Wars story and don't care for it. The annoying fanboys and fangirls wish Lucas got the rights back from Disney.
Haha he enjoys the film scoring the most because he doesn't have to do anything lol where he's involved in absolutely every little conceivable aspect of every second of the production process, from filming, dialogue, and foley to the visual and sound effects, and editing, when he finally gets over to check in on what John Williams is doing, he can just sit back and be blown away. Probably leaving each session with NO notes whatsoever for anything he'd want to change or improve upon. That's GOT to be a good feeling, knowing that you can just let someone else take the wheel over one quite significant aspect of the process, and have full confidence that it's going to be as close to perfect as it could be, when it's all said and done. 👍 I imagine that's what every filmmaker experiences working with John Williams. He's quite literally legendary, as much so as any of the "classic," composers from History, and for good reason. He's like a modern day Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, or Ludwig Van Beethoven. It's really extraordinary.
false.... of course george lucas directs john williams over the scenes where the music plays... he tells john williams the feeling or the mood of each scene or act of the film... and then john williams proceeds to making the music... it's not like john williams completely knows what to do every time... john needs to know what each scene means and what it tries to tell an audience.... completely different from the sequels trilogy where most music was just recycled from the OT and reused for different scenes with different meaning/story....
@@greggybada Something that gets ignored in the skills of a director is how well you can work with the score composer. Plenty of time, we have great composers make forgettable scores because they didn't receive good direction
Because he knows Johnny is always going to surprise him. Its the one thing he doesn't have to worry about. Unlike on location where everything that can go wrong goes wrong. And he has to hope ILM pulls through, and everything else has to be fixed in editing.
Say what you will about George's aesthetic choices. I'll readily admit that I don't care for some of them... But he cares about the STORY. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about whatever Lucasfilm or Disney exec was in charge of the sequel trilogy. Whose job was was it to make sure J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson played nice together?? They failed miserably.
Many fans trashed it, and the later two at the time though and it cut him deeply. You could hear it in his voice at Mark Hammill's Walk of Fame ceremony when at the end Mark said perhaps George would come back for another. George then said dead serious and coldly without so much as a snicker, "I won't be coming back." He then immediately left the podium after saying it. Not a smile. Nothing.
It’s strange cause he seems a bit difficult to work with, but then you realize he sunk so much of his own money into it and also the new Disney ones which seem like design by committee don’t really work. I think a single persons vision often works better.
The irony is that the prequels are probably much closer to the vision Lucas had for Star Wars than the original trilogy, and failed miserably. I think the lesson here is that often time/money/creative tensions on set make for a better end result.
And that is why no matter how "bad" the Prequels are, they still have actual heart and love for the craft. Disney has nothing but a brand, there is no substance, only visuals and now even the visuals are lacking (Obi-wan series).
Thing is, for Menace it wasn't about the VFX looking 'better' than practical. It was about having the ability to create ANYTHING he wanted, without worrying about the limitations of having to somehow produce the effects practically.
George Lucas got way to much hate, i believe thats part of the reason he didn't care to make more snd eventually wanted to sell it all to Disney. People just constantly criticized everything he did and never gave him credit for the things he accomplished. The sequel and prequel trilogy were revolutionary im many ways and paved the way for others, sure dialogue was a bit plain and many effects didnt hold up, but ge actually used more practical effects in the new ones than in the old, its just that people focus on the aged cgi instead of the amazing practical effects he created even down to the outfits and props. He needs to always be remembered as one of the greatest filmakers, i know ill love his films forever and continue to rewatch them, cant say the same for most the new disney Lucasfilms. His movies will remain iconic for generations and have burned themselves into pop culture forever.
I miss the era of early CGI effects where filmmakers had less to work with so they had to make what little they had, work better. These days, the more technology filmmakers have at their disposal, the worse the CGI seems to look. It’s almost like they became lazy and it shows in the final product. The overall image quality and resolution of CGI has obviously increased but the love of the craft just seems lacking.
@@hgahsiea *But* you didn’t read all of my comment. Read this part again: *_”The overall image quality and resolution of CGI has obviously increased_*_ but the love of the craft just seems lacking.”_
@@greatdelusion7654 I dunno. There is a lot of love for cg particularly for the novice trying to get into the industry, but as far as passion for CG and what it can do, that's really about delivering something convincing for the budget. And companies now know it has to be a mix of photography and CGI. The prequels Lucas was trying to pioneer cg vfx when he should've focused on delivering the best possible effects. They did show up in revenge of the sith though.
@@hgahsiea I personally like the CG effects of the prequels. I think they suit the overall look and mood of the films and capture the era very well. The CG effects were made around the movies, _not_ the movies made around the CG (like most of today’s movies). This is the crucial point I am making.
While very well done the CGI characters still looked CGI here. Eventually they will look as real as can be but not then and still not in 2024 but its closer.
It's great all this new tech they invented but saying Roger Rabbit didn't look real by comparisson to Jar Jar?? No no no, I believed in Roger being there no doubt!
Спилберг это псевдо режиссёр в Голливуде, который не умеет снимать фильмы, он не делает свое кино, а нанимает профессиональных режиссеров и операторов для съёмки фильма, потом не платит им ничего и убивает.
Sorry fanboys, the prequel trilogy sucks as bad the sequel one. Theyre not mutually exclusive and just because you have nostalgia warm and fuzzy memberberries doesnt make something better.
The technical wizardry in The Phantom Menace is incredible. It's still a terrible movie though. Lucas gets far too much credit for Star Wars, but it was a lot talented people that made the original work, namely the SFX, the editing, and the music. When he was given full reign with new technology, we get the prequels. He's a creative guy, but a terrible director and writer.
I like the plinkett reviews, they are funny and make plenty of valid and interesting criticism, but there are definitely some appealing aspects of the prequels that I can still appreciate too... especially nowadays, they are practically masterpieces in comparison to the dog water disney is releasing now.
@@winstonsmith8482 I think, while you didn’t necessarily say anything wrong, it exposes why people like them. They find them funny. The criticisms feel good despite them not being good
From people who know nothing about how to make a movie, that tell George Lucas who makes movies how to make a movie. When you could just actually listen to George about the type of movie he wanted to make , and what he was trying to achieve. He never wanted to make a second OT, that was Disney. Everything on screen is a deliberate choice like it or don't, you are free to do so. I understand why gen X fans felt betrayed i was one of them. I also think those reviews are idiotic.
All of his aliens are tied to racial stereotypes. He doesn't know how to make an alien race. The movie does nothing to build tension. There is a Jar-Jar joke every minute. Why does this movie need so many jokes? You have a scene that starts to build, then Jar-jar has to joke, so it's all just a goof. The reason the original movies were good is because Lucas had less to do with them. Episode I, he had everything to do with, complete failure.
Lucas had control over all the Star Wars films You know nothing If you cant handle a couple of blink and you miss it Jar Jar jokes in a kids movie that says more about you
What's the "real star wars trilogy"? It's 6 films. And just to sling more mud in y0ur face, it's 9 movies. I personally don't like the sequels, but I'm glad they exist because you types deserved them.
*The effects 'sleight of hand' coursing through this stuff doesn't distract me from knowing the fact that it's extremely pointless, heartless and sterile. I couldn't care less if Lucas thinks it's great. He's utterly biased. And that Jar Jar Binks ridiculousness proved he wouldn't know humour if he watched an outrageous comedy*
