Steven Spielberg praised George Lucas’ defamatory Star Wars film.

Steven Spielberg is not only one of the best directors of all time, but also an avid moviegoer. It is all the more interesting that he has a rather peculiar opinion about the Star Wars franchise.

Back in 2002, Spielberg told Cinema landscape that of all the Star Wars films made up to that point, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones” was “my second favorite after (The Empire Strikes Back”), as the director put it. “It was wonderful. The action scenes looked like George (Lucas) was inspired by James Cameron because they were as good as any action scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day and I think George did the best directing with that. too.”

Now who am I to argue with Spielberg about his personal opinion? Still, it’s funny that he praised Attack of the Clones, arguably the most slanderous of the prequel trilogy. However, he is right. For all its many faults, Attack of the Clones was ahead of its time when it was released in theaters in 2002. If nothing else, you have to admire how George Lucas managed to make a mainstream children’s blockbuster about the destruction of democracy and a war that is orchestrated simply as a distraction so that a scheming politician can amass power.

In an interview with Roger EbertSpielberg went on to herald his old pal Lucas, calling Attack of the Clones his “most accomplished” film as a director. “I thought (the film) was operatic — George’s greatest film. But I don’t think I’ll ever go for computer scenery like he did,” Spielberg explained at the time. “I think when you create a set in a three-dimensional world and the actors walk onto it, they get a boost. They get ideas (…) I miss the day when scenery will exist in cyberspace and not in reality. life”.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ friendship goes back decades and is well documented. Of course, there’s their little rivalry at the box office, with Lucas and Spielberg betting on a percentage of the box office success of the first Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Then there are the nods to Yoda and aliens in Alien and The Phantom Menace and how, while Spielberg was filming Schindler’s List, it was Lucas who helped finish post-production on Jurassic Park. Of course, there’s also the fact that they collaborated on the Indiana Jones franchise.

When it comes to Star Wars in particular, Lucas surprisingly turned down Steven Spielberg’s offer to direct the film in the original trilogy, but later changed his mind and asked Spielberg and Ron Howard if one of them directed The Phantom Menace. At the time, Lucas’ friends agreed that he should continue making his films because it was too difficult for them to stick with the original trilogy. Still, given how adept Spielberg is at getting good performances from kids, he’d be an interesting choice for a movie starring a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

However, just because he didn’t direct doesn’t mean Spielberg didn’t have a creative hand in Star Wars. After all, it was Spielberg who introduced Lucas to John Williams so that the latter could write A New Hope. Then, during pre-production on Revenge of the Sith, Spielberg helped with animation for several episodes, offering his take on Order 66, the duel on Mustafar, and Yoda’s fight with Darth Sidious. Apparently it was even Spielberg’s idea to partially prevent the deaths of various Jedi members during Order 66, such as when Ayla Securi’s death is covered up by a large plant. Most recently stunt coordinator Nick Gillard is counted Spielberg for having Mustafar’s lightsaber duel, even saying he came up with the “height” moment.

As for Spielberg’s comments about Lucas’ use of CG sets and his own hesitation and disdain for them, it seems the director has changed his mind over the years, leading Spielberg to use heavy CGI setups for “Ready Player One” and “The BFG . “