mmallon4 In this day and age when people use pop culture as an extension of themselves, it surprises me there haven't been more documentaries like this (how about a documentary about the decline of The Simpsons?). I hate what has happened to the Star Wars franchise beginning with the special editions in 1997 as much as the next fan, and The People Vs. George Lucas helps ventilate the anger but it is so much more than that. It isn't just mindless Lucas bashing but does give the man a fair shake.The documentary raises many thought provoking points of speculation about the man. Does he believe that what he's doing to Star Wars is the right thing? Is he getting revenge on a franchise which turned him into the thing he hated and promised himself he would never become, a corporate entity. It goes to show you how the man is a much of an enigma as the characters in his films, as pointed out in the documentary, the rise and fall of George Lucas parallels Anakin Skywalker's decent to the dark side. By the end of the documentary, I felt as one of the fans interviewed puts it, "I love/hate George Lucas". The other major debate raised in the documentary is that of who owns art, the artist or the public and does the public have the right to the material of its own culture?You don't have to start a Star Wars related conversation before people start talking about their disdain for the prequels or the changes to the special editions, yet no official Star Wars documentary is certainly going to address this, nor do I doubt this documentary would be shown at the annual Star Wars convention Celebration.The People Vs. George Lucas showcases a large range of fans from the mature to the more childish, to those defending Lucas. The documentary both celebrates fan culture as well as makes fun of it, weather intentional or not (I wonder if the guy who compares Lucas to a Holocaust denier regrets it?). My favourite part of the documentary is the section which perfectly captures the anticipation and undaunted optimism towards the release of The Phantom Menace and the following disappointment and disenchantment.Inter cut between the interviews are an astounding showcase of fan films (recreating scenes from the movies, telling their own Star Wars stories and those ridiculing George Lucas). This along with the perfect balance between the more serious debates related to artistic ethics all the way to the more trivial, such as whether or not George Lucas raped people's childhoods, makes The People Vs. George Lucas immensely entertaining to watch, as I've now done so several times, making this my personal favourite documentary.

mjk280 As a big Star Wars fan I had heard only a brief mention of this movie some months ago, so I was happy to stumble upon it in Netflix's instant library.What I liked about the film was that they got some hardcore (sometimes scary) fanboys but also some really reputable creative people to discuss the films. Mostly Star Wars fans but also some film industry types. I also enjoyed how they wove so many fan films into it. It will never cease to amaze me how much Star Wars content is out there, and as big a fan as I am I never knew so many people had taken time out to create such things. It's astounding, and again sometimes a little scary haha.I also enjoyed the opinions that were given. Mind you I am one of those people that has been very frustrated by Lucas in the last 15 years so take it for what it's worth, but I thought they were fair and that the filmmakers made sure to give some grounded perspective on the issues people take with the new films and the re-imagining of the old ones. Questions like "Can a film be altered years after it's been established?" and "Does a creator have the right to change his work after it's been installed as a cornerstone of so many people's lives?" are addressed as I was hoping they would be.A couple of complaints would be that though they did offer some counter-arguments to us whining fanboys, there could've been more or at least an expansion of those that were there. Also, I really go into it when they broke down the re-creation of the Jabba scene from A New Hope and was hoping they would break down each subsequent change from the original trilogy, however they did not. I suppose that would've been a bit too uniform an approach but I would've liked it and I still think there would've been time to work in all the rest that was presented. I also think that they could've gotten one or two more big names to contribute their opinions. Neil Gaiman and David Brin were by far the biggest but they are not shown often and only in short spurts. Either one alone could've pretty much anchored this entire documentary, so I would've liked to see more of them or one or two more personalities like them.As far as the ending, at the risk of sounding holier than thou, I think non-Star Wars fans just don't really understand what they were trying to get across. The fact is that though so many of us love/hate Lucas, half of that is still love. No matter what he's done and will do since Return of the Jedi was finalized he has still given us something that has greatly impacted our lives and has brought us countless hours of enjoyment. The bottom line is that we complain because we care, and Lucas is the one who made us care so much. That's what the end of the film was saying.

John Gafsi I really like this documentary...because I am a Star Wars fan. If you aren't one, DO NOT watch this movie because you won't be able to connect with it. This movie's audience is for Star Wars fans only...period. And since I am a die hard fan of SW, this movie appealed to me personally. It also made me tear up a bit (not because of the movie but because of the strong connection I have with the films).Yeah, I know, nerdy stuff, but it is worth it. If you simply do not want to spend the money on watching this movie, email me at: [email protected] And I can help you watch this movie for free.I watched the movie for free and after I finished watching it, I simply do not think it is worth the money, even though this movie can be bought pretty cheap or rented on Youtube for 4 bucks.But really, I liked this documentary. If you like Star Wars or facsinated by the antics of George Lucas, check it out.

Mr-Fusion "The People vs. George Lucas" is a film that sets out to examine the animosity shared by a great number of Star Wars fans over the changes made to the Original Trilogy (among other grievances). Included here are interviewers with every known type of Star Wars fan: the casual goer, the passionate geek, and the bitter extremist who took his/her passion too far. The film does raise some interesting questions at the heart of the matter:1. What, exactly, does Lucas owe his fans? 2. Are the more bitter of the fanbase blinded by passion (and therefore cannot evaluate the new movies on their own merits)? 3. Perhaps most importantly, *Who Owns Star Wars?*With a title like "The People vs. George Lucas", it's expected to see the man put on trial, so to speak. And to an extent, that's what we get here. But objectivity suffers when the film is anchored by fan interviews, and the only soundbites we get from Lucas himself are taken from talk show interviews and documentaries done years ago. And it's the preoccupation with the angry hordes that tends to bog down the film; a 90-minute movie tends to run long when things devolve into a fun and playful look at just how far these people take these movies. So nothing is really answered here, aside from the obvious "Wow, these people are crazy!" sentiment, which we already knew before going in. It's no different than watching "Trekkies" just to laugh at the nerds. You end up asking yourself, "What's the point?"5/10