Why I laugh at people who say George Lucas ruined childhoods

[SolitaryPoet]

George Lucas couldn't touch my childhood with a ten foot pole, Steven Spielberg, Randal Kleiser, Don Bluth, Robert Zemeckis, Joe Johnston, Richard Donner, Simon Wincer, Rob Reiner, and Joe Dante made sure of that. They built an impenetrable wall made out of the greatest era of family films in cinematic history. Every time I went to the theater when I was a kid, I was guaranteed to see something unique and original. I can't even list all of the fantastic family films of my childhood that are NOT Star Wars. The 80s even saw the very first and only R rated family film in history with "Stand By Me."

Let me try to name just half of the movies I grew up on. Short Circuit, Milo & Otis, Batteries Not Included, The Freshman, Explorers, The Three Fugitives, Flight of The Navigator, The Princess Bride, D.A.R.Y.L., Close Encounters of The Third Kind, The Goonies, Mom and Dad Saved The World, E.T. The Extraterrestrial, An American Tail (and Fievel Goes West), Poltergeist, Stand By Me, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, Groundhog Day, TRON, What About Bob?, The Last Starfighter, Throw Mamma From The Train, The Rocketeer, Oscar, Back to The Future, Crocodile Dundee, Space Camp, War Games, The Burbs, Turner And Hooch, The Rescuers Down Under...you get the point.

It's sad to see that modern kids are so sheltered, and ADD, that they don't identify with these movies and find them boring.

[1upmushroom]

Well that and the fact that at the end of the day, the star wars prequels are just movies. They're undeniably bad, and they don't come close to even half way holding a candle to the original trilogy, but to say that they physically ruined childhoods is a bit...dumb.

[Serum]

I don't think Lucas ruined anybody's childhood, nobody can really take that away from someone in the sense that internet people say.

That said, I do think Lucas is a talentless one trick pony who failed upwards by ruining the classic 70s dystopian sci-fi film and replacing it with disgustingly mild mannered candy flavored crap (Star Wars) and made studio execs everywhere forever afraid of taking risks.

Also, he likes to rewrite history by going back endlessly adding terrible digital effects to movies that have been finished for decades and that he's worse than Mao te-Sung etc...

[1upmushroom]

Also, he likes to rewrite history by going back endlessly adding terrible digital effects to movies that have been finished for decades and that he's worse than Mao te-Sung etc...

Yeah, how dare he add stuff into his films! It's not like the original film are actually available on dvd...oh wait

[ultimateemail5000]

I wouldn't say Lucas ruined childhoods, it's the fans that let him ruin their childhood for them. If they didn't like the prequels or the remasters, special editions, ultra editions, whatever, then stick with a VHS copy of what you have, or stick with the bummed out not even trying DVD's that came with the first set.

The real question, has anyone even watched the original trilogy lately? I did about a month ago and felt embarrassed, ashamed, and even humiliated for even really ever liking Star Wars. The whole thing just reminded me of Kevin Smith or just any meme you can find online. So now I actually have mixed feelings about seeing 7.

Plus at least with Spielberg he actually acknowledged his mistake and re-inserted the guns in E.T.

[SolitaryPoet]

Plus at least with Spielberg he actually acknowledged his mistake and re-inserted the guns in E.T.

Wow, he did? Thanks for the information. The last I had heard on that one they were still flashlights. That's good news.

On a side note, I actually ran into a guy who was unaware if Spielberg's early works. It freaked me out; he actually didn't know about anything from before Jurassic Park.

[ultimateemail5000]

Plus at least with Spielberg he actually acknowledged his mistake and re-inserted the guns in E.T.

Wow, he did? Thanks for the information. The last I had heard on that one they were still flashlights. That's good news.

On a side note, I actually ran into a guy who was unaware if Spielberg's early works. It freaked me out; he actually didn't know about anything from before Jurassic Park.

I'm honestly not sure. I think I read or watched an interview with tbe creators of South Park and they mentioned that the walkie talkies were removed and replaced with guns again. I never cared for ET honestly. Or Spielberg at that.

[SolitaryPoet]

I never cared for ET honestly. Or Spielberg at that.

I understand why people might not care for him. I love Steven Spielberg because I grew up on him. When I was a kid, Steven Spielberg was the King of 80's family films. If he wasn't directing it, he was usually writing and/or producing. Some films were even secretly directed by Spielberg due to contract issues. Half of the directors I listed worked for, or directly under Spielberg at Amblin. Every time I went to the theater when I was a kid, I was guaranteed to see something unique and original and Steven Spielberg usually had something to do with it. Have you ever watched something like The Goonies and noticed those words: "Presented by Steven Spielberg, Story by Steven Spielberg, Executive Producer Steven Spielberg" go by all in a row on the same movie? He also secretly directed the original Poltergeist. Interviews with the cast and crew of Poltergeist consistently confirm that he was the actual director. Spielberg himself claims that he was on set for all but three days of shooting.

[ultimateemail5000]

Have you ever watched something like The Goonies and noticed those words: "Presented by Steven Spielberg, Story by Steven Spielberg, Executive Producer Steven Spielberg" go by all in a row on the same movie? He also secretly directed the original Poltergeist. Interviews with the cast and crew of Poltergeist consistently confirm that he was the actual director. Spielberg himself claims that he was on set for all but three days of shooting.

Yeah I have. I pay attention to credits, I get sucked into IMDB and read look at history and trivia every now and then. Goonies is good, it has everything 80's about it. That's fun. But IMO Poltergeist is terrible.

[SolitaryPoet]

But IMO Poltergeist is terrible.

Sam Rockwell is filming the remake, and I love almost everything he's been in, so maybe this one will be better. Also, The first two "Insidious" were nothing more than stylized remakes of the first two Poltergeist films, and I actually quite enjoyed them, but not for the reasons most people did. I saw "Insidious" with my aunt and cousin, and we were rolling with laughter because we thought it was a dark comedy. We only found out later that it wasn't intended to be a comedy. It was still one of the funniest things I had seen in a long time.