Stoner: You're now one of the most powerful men in Hollywood--rich, influential, famous. Yet there was another George Lucas once--the aspiring filmmaker who wanted to do a kind of movie that wasn't popular in the seventies. Can you remember what THAT George Lucas was feeling just BEFORE STAR WARS opened?Lucas: Can I? Like it was yesterday. I was working on the film up until the last minute. That's why I wasn't completely satisfied with it and wanted to do this "fix". I really didn't expect it to have much impact. It was just something that I cared about--something that had become an obsession to get done and get shown. I was tired, stressed, and thinking about nothing but all of the things I HADN'T done and SHOULD have done. On the day of opening, I was having a hamburger across from the Chinese Theatre [where big premieres were often held], and I noticed this huge line that went around the block. I didn't know what it was.
Stoner: Oh, now, come on, George. . . [laughs]
Lucas: No, no, really. I had forgotten it was opening that day. THAT was how out of it I was. So, I see this line and discover it's for my film. That was the first moment that it hit me that something important was happening.
Stoner: And the world changed. How soon did you realize that you had a social phenomenon on your hands?
Lucas: Right away. The reports were the same everywhere. The studio wasn't as surprised as I was, but they were not prepared for the level of the reaction. It was just what you said--a social phenomenon, not just another successful film. We had obviously touched something important in people.
Stoner: What is it that you think touched people so much?
Lucas: We go back to ancient myths and morals in these stories. Our need to be reminded of the best and the worst in all of us is very strong. That had always been my purpose: to get people back in touch with what makes us so valuable as a human race. We seemed to be drifting as a society--losing touch with the basic concepts of right and wrong. This is an adventure, but it's more than that, and I think people not only sensed that, they NEEDED that.
Stoner: But you weren't completely satisfied with it?
Lucas: Well, I wasn't completely satisfied with some of the technical aspects. I was satisfied with the other parts of it. Some of what bothered me was a result of a lack of time and money. Other things simply couldn't be done in a way that was acceptible. That's why the Jabba section couldn't be done RIGHT until now. Our technology has improved by many leaps since then. I wanted to improve the look--get closer to what I imagined--without changing the basic film. I think we did that. People will enjoy seeing the new elements, but nobody will feel that the film they cared about has been altered in any significant way. In fact, I may be the only one who REALLY cares about the changes.
Stoner: The next two in the series--THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI--follow shortly, with the new films--the "prequel" about to go into production just in time to beat the millennium?
Lucas: Yes, I will have finally released my films the way I want them this year, and then it's on to the new creations. This time, I'll be able to do them the way I want right from the beginning.
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