July 26, 2004

Lucas and Jackson
Eonwe

I just saw the couple George Lucas/Peter Jackson posts from last week. I know the two were being compared as more than just directors - also as screenwriters, producers, etc... But I thought I'd mention something that everyone seems to forget: George Lucas did not direct Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. I can't remember who did. In fact, before the Phantom Menace came out, Lucas had only directed THREE feature films ever and NONE in over 20 years since the original Star Wars!

My general feeling is that Lucas isn't even primarily a director. He's a good (and prolific) writer and producer, a great tech guy, and a superb marketer/entrepreneur. Whe it comes to directing - picking shots, putting a scene together, getting performances out of actors, highlighting the emotion of a scene, etc... - Lucas is so-so and doesn't even try it that often.

Peter Jackson? Now that guy's a director. This naturally takes him into the areas of writing and producing, but he's first and foremost a darn good director.

Eonwe