George Lucas Explains Why STAR WARS Fans Didn't Understand The Prequel Films

George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy was met with a lot of mixed reactions from fans. I have to say, after watching the recent sequel trilogy, I have a newfound respect for what Lucas did with the prequels. At least they told a complete and coherent story that flowed well and was consistent.

In an interview that was shared in The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, via SyFy Wire, Lucas discussed the prequel films and explained that the films in both trilogies were meant to honor the playful tone of 1930s adventure serials. But, he explained that fans and audiences weren't picking up on the intentional melodrama that was incorporated into the story. He says they just don’t understand the style of Star Wars:

“It [the dialogue] is presented very honestly, it isn’t tongue-in-cheek at all, and it’s played to the hilt. But it is consistent, not only with the rest of the movie, but with the overall Star Wars style. Most people don’t understand the style of Star Wars. They don’t get that there’s an underlying motif that is very much like a 1930s Western or Saturday matinee serial. It’s in the more romantic period of making movies and adventure films. And [Star Wars: Attack of the Clones] is even more of a melodrama than the others.”

I can see and understand what Lucas is saying here, but while there are some great story elements, there are fans out there that that still have a hard time with other aspects of the films… like the dialogue that he is trying to explain here. He goes on to detail the process of preparing to shoot Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, saying:

"This one, because there was a lot more complex staging, I would take the week's work and on the previous Saturday, I would spend all day rehearsing with the actors and the cameraman, and we would stage the scene and rehearse it a couple times. So for the rest of the week, we would have a very clear vision of what we were doing, and didn't have to spend time on the set trying to figure things out."

Seems like he wanted the shooting schedule to go as smoothly as possible. What do you think about what Lucas had to say here in regards to the prequel trilogy?