Steven Spielberg Praised A Maligned George Lucas Star Wars Movie

Steven Spielberg is not just one of the best directors of all time, but he’s also an avid cinephile. It’s all the more curious, then, that he has a rather peculiar opinion about the “Star Wars” franchise.

Back in 2002, Spielberg told Cinescape that, out of all the “Star Wars” movies made up to that point, “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones” was “my second favorite just behind [‘The Empire Strikes Back’],” as the filmmaker put it. “It was great. The action scenes looked like George [Lucas] had been inspired by James Cameron because they were as good as any of the action scenes in [‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’], and I think George did his best directing with this one too.”

Now, who am I to argue with Spielberg about his personal opinion? Still, it’s funny that he heaped praise on “Attack of the Clones,” itself perhaps the maligned out of the prequel trilogy. Still, he does have a point. For all of its many flaws, “Attack of the Clones” was ahead of its time when it opened in theaters in 2002. If nothing else, you have to admire how George Lucas managed to make a mainstream blockbuster movie for kids that’s all about a democracy crumbling and a war being staged as a mere distraction so a scheming politician can amass power.

In an interview with Roger Ebert, Spielberg continued to herald his old buddy Lucas, referring to “Attack of the Clones” as his “most accomplished” film as a director. “I thought [the movie] was operatic — George’s most accomplished movie. But I don’t think I’ll ever go to computer-generated sets like he does,” Spielberg explained at the time. “I think when you build a set in the 3-D world and actors walk onto that set, they get stimulated. They get ideas […] I’m sad for the day when sets will exist in cyberspace and not in real life.”

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas’ friendship is one that goes back many decades and is well-documented. There is, of course, their little rivalry at the box office, with Lucas and Spielberg betting 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 E.T. in “E.T.” and “The Phantom Menace, and how, while Spielberg was out making “Schindler’s List,” it was Lucas who helped finish “Jurassic Park” in post-production. Of course, there’s also the fact that they collaborated in creating the “Indiana Jones” franchise.

When it comes to “Star Wars” specifically, Lucas surprisingly refused Steven Spielberg’s offer to direct a movie in the original trilogy, but later changed his mind and asked both Spielberg and Ron Howard if one of them would helm “The Phantom Menace.” That time it was Lucas’ friends who agreed that he should continue directing his films because it was too daunting for them to follow the original trilogy. Still, given how skilled Spielberg is in getting good performances out of kids, he would have been an interesting choice for a movie featuring a nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker.

Still, just because he hasn’t done any directing on it doesn’t mean Spielberg hasn’t been creatively involved with “Star Wars.” After all, it was Spielberg who introduced Lucas to John Williams so the latter could score “A New Hope.” Then, during pre-production on “Revenge of the Sith,” Spielberg helped with the design on animatics for a few sequences, 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 partly obstruct the deaths of various Jedi members during Order 66, like when Ayla Secura’s demise is covered by a large plant. More recently, stunt coordinator Nick Gillard credited Spielberg for contributing to the Mustafar lightsaber duel, even saying he came up with the “high ground” moment.

As for Spielberg’s comments about Lucas’ use of CG sets and his own hesitation and disdain toward them, it seems the director changed his mind over the years, culminating in Spielberg using CGI-heavy settings for “Ready Player One” and “The BFG.”