Why didn't Lucas direct Empire Strikes back and Return of the Jedi?

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lau_timmy
Why didn't George Lucas direct The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

tlbauerle
Who knows...but its a pretty good question. I know for JEDI he practically did direct it. Since they are his films he is everywhere and always has an opinion so he figures he might as well do it all.

Ushgarak
He thought it was too much work, is the reason he normally gives; that he did a lot of work anyway is why he went back to doing it for the new films.

Mind you, that's a shame because it was always nice to have some other creative input.

jedi2187
He darned near had a heart attack from working on ANH, hence the reason why he had Kirshner and Marquand direct the last two. If you watch the bonus DVD, Lucas started to have chest pains 3/4 of the way through making ANH. He was diagnosed with exhaustion and hypertension, not to mention all the problems with ILM and the British crew. Once he got out of the director's chair, things were a little bit easier to control... until ROTJ. Marquand is a good character director, but is horrible with special effects, which is when GL stepped in again.
And the sad part during the making of ROTJ, he and his wife were divorcing.

DarkAge
I've heard that as a director Lucas has trouble working with actors.

yerssot
considering the crew gave him a hard time, being his first job AND the actors not believing in the movie, I can find myself in him having troubles with them yes wink

lau_timmy
I heard that he suffered from hyper-tension and exhaustion on the previous Star Wars film. So he wasn't too keen. Also he was finacing the film with his own money, and trying to set up a bigger scale production company, he couldn't do that plus be directing on the set everyday.

From what I've read he did a fair bit of directing on Return of the Jedi. Some people say Richard Marquand was fired and George took over. Other things I've read say he had to be on the set to help because Marquand didn't know anything about special effects. I've also heard he directed all the scenes between Luke, Vader, and the Emporer.

I think it's good that he did hire other directors and screenwriters. Lord of the Rings had the same writers and director, and it got rather dull and repetitive in a lot of places. By getting other people Lucas ensured that every film in the trilogy was different in pace and tone and would be a unique cinematic experience.

tpaquin
Originally posted by yerssot
considering the crew gave him a hard time, being his first job AND the actors not believing in the movie, I can find myself in him having troubles with them yes wink

His first directorial job was THX-1138, then he (poorly) directed American Graffitti. Star Wars was his third professional film.

The big problem was that he didn't actually speak, and that he passed all his opinions on to the producers.

"George says after and more intense, guys..."

Darth_Glentract
he had a heart attack

Jerico
He was probably perplexed that his actors coulden't sprout rockets and fly around a factory that was making robots to fight clones

Red Superfly
Originally posted by lau_timmy
Why didn't George Lucas direct The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi?

Because he's fat.

Sorry, all other avenues were explored except this one.

yerssot
Originally posted by Red Superfly
Because he's fat.
his necks make a cameo in Dexx wink

Otaku_Sith
You know if it wasn't for Akira Kurosawa StarWars didn't even excist.

yerssot
so? everyone gets his/her influences from some place

without Kurosawa wouldn't have started filming etc.

WindDancer
Kurosawa was a major influence for Lucas no doubt. But the real credit belongs to Herbert's novel Dune and Joseph Campbell books on mythology.

umraan
he didnt becuase he is a fat ass and thought it was too hard.

DeVi| D0do
dude, didn't he have a heart attack or something from the stress of directing ANH?

yerssot
yup, he had to take it easy from the doctor

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