[HoneyBadger]

The problem with Star Wars 1, 2, 3 is that Lucas thought he could direct people, and he can't, atleast as well as others. He's very good at what he does, but when he made the original Star Wars movies, he had partners who knew how to get good, strong (if a bit hammy) performances out of the actors, and who could write decent script. It also doesn't help the rest of us that he basically made the prequils for his children, not for the viewing public. Lucas always wanted to be an 'artsy' film director-Star Wars took him by surprise as much as the rest of the world, and it's not what he wanted to do with his life. He kindof in a way IS Darth Vader if you think about it, with Lucas Arts and their lawyers the evil empire. I'm sure there's a dark, shadowy Emperor Palpatine in there somewhere that's directing all the evilness, but I don't see George Lucas as master manipulator here. I'm sure he clings to Star Wars a bit as his own intellectual property, but he's not the devil incarnate, just maybe can be viewed as the devil's figurehead in some ways, occasionally, but then power and money can be expected to corrupt us fragile humans.