The Genius of George Lucas: Series Overview

George Lucas. The name is polarizing.

Some of you just decided to skip the whole upcoming series because you’re not into nerdy, sci-fi stuff. (Tip: Don’t do that. There will be plenty of stuff that even non-nerds will enjoy. Besides, if you read this blog, then you’re probably nerdier than you think.) But when the rest of you saw the name George Lucas, your ears perked up. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to admit that he’s made quite an impact on culture during the past 5 decades.

And that’s just what I want to look at over the next several weeks: the impact that Lucas has had through his two most famous franchises, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I’ll be looking at the difference between the early sagas and the later ones, asking why the former were so awesome while the latter paled by comparison.

Caveats, etc.

Now, some of you Lucas die-hards may have bristled in outrage at my last statement. “What?? Paled by comparison? Who are you to utter such blasphemy?!” And that’s a fair question. I’m no one, really. Just an average Jane who grew up loving the original trilogies and tolerating their sequels, and that very well may twist your britches in a bunch. There are many, many people who know more about the Lucas universe than I do. To you, I freely admit my lack of prowess and welcome your scathing comments. Hopefully that’s peace offering enough.

That being said, I’m biting off more than I can chew, and I know it. But is that going to stop me from writing this series? Definitely not. At most, it will cause me to warn you that the following posts will be filled with too little research and too much opinion. I’m trying my best to reverse those ratios, but I doubt it will happen well enough to satisfy a real die-hard fan. So please feel free to disagree with me! After all, in terms of Lucas knowledge, I am but a Padawan and will submit to the expertise of a true Jedi master. Or, if you’d rather, I’m just a Marcus Brody who will happily defer to the leading of a genuine Indiana Jones.

The Overview

Today I’m not planning to dive straight in. Instead, I’m giving you the opportunity to brush up on these two fantastic movie series if you’ve gotten a little rusty. Blow the dust off of your old VHS tapes or take the special collectors edition blue ray disks from their shrine—either way, be sure to re-watch these classics so you can read the upcoming posts and agree, disagree, or agree to disagree.

Here’s what you can expect:

George Lucas: A Brief Biography
The Success of Star Wars  4-6
The Shortcomings of Star Wars 1-3
The Divided Opinions about Star Wars 7-8
The Fun of Indiana Jones 1-3
The Flop of Indy 4 and Fear of Indy 5
The Overall Impact of Lucas on Cinema and Culture

You’ve got two weeks before we dig in to the real movie meat, so get crackin’!

Check out the next post here!