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George Lucasis one of the most important filmmakers of all time , but like any writer - film director , his picture parade a compass of caliber and are therefore deserving ranking from sorry to best . From initiate the modern megahit withStar Warsto founding animation titan Pixar and optical essence trailblazer Industrial Light & Magic ( ILM ) , Lucas ’s influence on the full medium of filmmaking reverberates to this day . His work as a director , however , is often overlooked , in favour of the projects he pen and bring out , such as theIndiana Jonesfranchise and theStar Warssequels .
There ’s no denying George Lucas ’s directorial output is noteworthy . He introduce fresh way to make movies that changed Hollywood everlastingly . Lucas pioneered digital image seizure and computing gadget - beget set extensions on theStar Warsprequels , two proficiency that are essential to modern mainstream smash hit filmmaking . However , his obsession with CGI has not gone without controversy : notoriously , his hatedStar Warsspecial editionshave been criticized for the changes made to the original trilogy with updated yet mostly trouble computer - generate visual effects .
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George Lucas begin his career as a manager while at USC , where his final year thesis moving picture , Electronic Labyrinth : THX 1138 4EB , advance a loot at the National Student Film Festival . That brought him to the attention of a young Steven Spielberg , who would go on to get together with Lucas on theIndiana Jonesmovies . As a director in the 1970s , Lucas would steer two feature flick before commence production on his most illustrious picture show , Star Wars . Although he continue to work in the industry , largely as a writer and a producer , throughout the eighties and 1990s , he would not in reality take another movie until he begin employment onthe first of theStar Warsprequelsmore than 20 years afterwards . Here is a inclination of every film George Lucas has directed , ranked from bad to best .
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Star state of war : Episode II - Attack of the Clonesis not only George Lucas ’s weakest directorial effort but also the worst entrance in theStar Warsuniverse . The elementary issue withAttack of the Clonesis its script , write by Lucas and Jonathan Hales . The first half of the moviemostly consists of expositive scenes set up the political situation in the Galactic Senate and explaining what has happened sinceStar Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace . When the negotiation is n’t strictly expositive , it come across as completely abnormal , especially in Anakin and Padmé ’s fall - in - sexual love subplot . There ’s a reason thatAnakin ’s infamous " guts " quoteis endlessly reposted onStar Warssubreddits and YouTube comment discussion section : it ’s so cringey . The stiff dialogue also means a wad of the actor ' performances come across as awkward . The sorry to be affected by this is Hayden Christensen in his enactment of Anakin .
From a technical point of view , Attack of the Clonesis a digital filmmaking trailblazer . It was one of the first major Hollywood moving picture to be captured altogether on HD digital video , as fight down to forcible film . George Lucas , once again at the forefront of ocular effects , also made use of digital actors inAttack of the Clones . VFX artists created a newfangled , all - digital version of Yoda , compared to thepuppet used inThe Phantom Menace ’s theatrical editionand the original trilogy . They also superimposed Christopher Lee ’s face onto a stunt dual for his climatic fight against Anakin and Obi - Wan . Still , while this engineering is impressive and groundbreaking , it does not rise above the rest ofAttack of the Clones’failings .
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
WhenStar warfare : Episode I - The Phantom Menacewas released in 1999 , it had been 16 years since the lastStar Warsmovie , and 23 days since George Lucas had organise a pic . An astronomical amount of hoopla built up after he announce production on a newStar Warsmovie , and unfortunately , The Phantom Menacecould not live up to its high arithmetic mean .
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The first prequel ’s most obvious dashing hopes is the initiation ofJar - Jar Binks , Star Wars ’s most hated character . Although he is a minor figure in terms ofThe Phantom Menace ’s story , Jar - Jar is present throughout much of the runtime after he is economise from an US Army of droids by Qui - Gon and Obi - Wan near the startle of the moving picture . His severely unfunny comedic prank , including stepping in shite , can be irritating , and while he was intend to appeal to new viewers and mix kids into theStar Warsfandom , he ’s a huge turnoff for older viewers , including long - established fan .
Despite the issues with Jar - Jar Binks and the movie ’s tempo in the second act , The Phantom Menacedoes contain some fantastic moments that truly defineStar warfare . The " Duel of the Fates " sequence with Qui - Gon and Obi - Wan versus Darth Maul at the climax ofThe Phantom Menaceis one of the slap-up lightsaber engagement in the history of theStar Warsfranchise . John Williams also allow for some of his better piece of work with the iconic score that accompanies the three - way duel . It is a brilliant ending to a flawed film .
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Star Wars : Episode III - Revenge of the Sithis the skillful of theStar Warsprequels , and to this day , it persist the last movie George Lucas has directed . The firstStar Warsprequel to truly go up to the name , Revenge of the Sithopens with an incredible aerial action sequence between Anakin and Obi - Wan and a droid armada , leave by General Grievous . The moving picture seldom lets up , have some of the best sequences in not only the prequels butall ofStar Wars .
The movie ’s independent weakness , alongside some continued unenviable dialogue , is the hurrying at which Anakin Skywalker twist to the dark side . He flips from a noted Jedi Knight to a depone Sith Lord in the space of a single tantrum . However , this is a modest flaw compared to those of the former prequels . Hayden Christensen ’s operation as Anakin also blanch in comparison to his threatening presence as Darth Vader . Once he becomes the iconic Sith Lord , Christensen really comes animated as an actor . He is effortlessly credible as the vicious Darth Vader , even when he ruthlessly massacre a mathematical group of younglings off - screen .
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TheMustafar - set duel between Anakin and Obi - Wanthat concludes the prequel trilogy is the most intense and thrilling lightsaber engagement of the entireStar Warsfranchise . Part of the reason the scene is so effective , both in terms of its action and its emotional play , is that Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor actually perform their affaire d’honneur together , without stunt double . The two role player rehearsed the scene extensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard for month , while George Lucas work on out how to film the fight using digital pre - visualisation , another filmmaking tool that Lucas open up the use of .
THX 1138 (1971)
THX 1138is not only George Lucas ’s first feature cinema as a film director , but it ’s also the namesake for his sound company , THX , have sex for the noted " recondite preeminence . " Despite its initial commercial-grade failure and subsequent severing of a deal between Warner Bros. and American Zoetrope ( the company offilmmaker Francis Ford Coppola , who produced Lucas ’s movie),THX 1138deserves to be known as one of the best dystopian science fiction films ever made . Influenced by George Lucas ’s other sake in European Abstract cinema , THX 1138is a totally unlike sci - fi animate being thanStar Wars .
ground on his early honor - winning student film , THX 1138feels like it was make by a contemporary of seventies David Cronenberg rather than the military personnel who would go on to createStar Wars , as it is implausibly similar to the clinical dystopias ofStereoandCrimes of the Future . THX 1138 ’s floor , however , is less than original , borrow heavily from the industrial plant of George Orwell and Ray Bradbury in its tale of an illegal dearest history in a futuristic bon ton ( Lucas would later go on torecycleTHX 1138 ’s report forStar Wars ) . Despite this , andTHX 1138being his feature directorial debut , Lucas displays an fabulously strong visual style inTHX 1138with its bleak white backgrounds , sea of shaved heads , and white , metal faces of the robot fuzz .
Similar to the originalStar Warstrilogy , the theatrical cutting ofTHX 1138is worth attempt out , as Lucas released a CGI - plait Director ’s Cut of his first movie in 2004 . The optical effect workplace removes the verisimilitude of the original version as it simply does not count like the effects were created in the 1970s . Despite this , any version ofTHX 1138is worth watching to see George Lucas ’s promise as both a storyteller and a conductor .
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American Graffiti (1973)
American Graffiti , George Lucas ’s 2nd movie , is a authoritative coming - of - years drollery that would go on to bereferenced in many futureStar Warsprojects . inspire by Lucas ’s teen interests in car and racing , American Graffitifocuses on the cruise finish of teenagers in the 1960s . In lineal contrast toTHX 1138,American Graffitiwas a massive box situation hit in 1973 , make $ 140 million off of a less than $ 1 million budget .
In the Disney+ docudrama about ILM , Light & Magic , American Graffiti champion Ron Howard describe George Lucas ’s acting note as " inscrutable . " This hints toward Lucas ’s own admitted lack of pursuit in organize over producing , particularly when it come to directing actors . However , this deficiency of interest gave the young cast a lot of freedom when it came to them crafting their performance , including their leeway to improvise . This helped to supply an atmosphere of realism toAmerican Graffitithat make it resonate to this sidereal day .
Ron Howard , who later made his own movies , includingSolo : A Star Wars Story , also tell inLight & Magicthat " the car were as important " to George Lucas as the player . This is the perfect summation of Lucas ’s directorial expressive style , which focalize on plan , world - construction , and special effects over craft unequaled performances from actors . American Graffitimay be the only non - science fiction movie that George Lucas has directed , but its fantastic lightning - fast car pursuit and light and breezy atmosphere make it put up out in his filmography .
Star Wars (1977)
InLight & Magic , George Lucas states that " moving-picture show are special effects . " pitch ab initio as a dispirited - budget product , the scrappy quad operaStar Warswound up being far more spectacular than that would imply . It may not have been the first blockbuster — Steven Spielberg ’s hugely pop semi - horror movieJawstypically is given that finical eminence — but the originalStar Warsdid codify the blockbuster as a cultural phenomenon that was to shift the direction movies were made and marketed forever . The impact thatStar Warshas had on the moving picture industriousness can not be magnify . With a total note value judge at over $ 70 billion , theStar Warsfranchise is an all - encompass brand today , but it all started with a minuscule science fabrication moving picture way back in 1977 .
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The main reason forStar war ' success is that it is a fantastic movie . The fib is wide-eyed , yet the characters ' goals are clean-cut . The chief form is fun and likable . The uncollectible guys are delightfully evil . The especial effects and action sequences are exciting and memorable . ThefirstStar Wars , later labeledEpisode IVand subtitledA New Hope , work perfectly as escapist amusement . Lucas limit out to make a movie with " dogfights in blank , " and he come through with flying colors , in no large part to the creation of one of the best - ever special effect houses , ILM .
Although many would indicate that the originalStar Warsis overshadowed by its ambitiously dark follow - up , The Empire Strikes Back , that movie and the serial publication as a whole would not exist if that first pic had not succeeded in what it mark out to achieve . Star Wars ' much unadulterated execution of a unsubdivided story , with incredible design , effects , and world - construction , truly make itGeorge Lucas ’s chef-d’oeuvre .
