Star Wars = Lucas' Apocalypse Now

"Originally, George Lucas was going to direct, so it was a project that George and John developed for Zoetrope. That was back in 1969. Then when Warner Bros. cancelled the financing for Zoetrope, the project was abandoned for a while. After the success of American Graffiti in 1973, George wanted to revive it, but it was still too hot a topic, the war was still on, and nobody wanted to finance something like that. So George considered his options: What did he really want to say in Apocalypse Now? The message boiled down to the ability of a small group of people to defeat a gigantic power simply by the force of their convictions. And he decided, All right, if it's politically too hot as a contemporary subject, I'll put the essence of the story in outer space and make it happen in a galaxy long ago, and far away. The rebel group were the North Vietnamese, and the Empire was the United States. And if you have the force, no matter how small you are, you can defeat the overwhelmingly big power. Star Wars is George's transubstantiated version of Apocalypse Now."

Walter Murch from The Conversations

I just watched Episode III again with all the DVD extras, and I'm sorry to say, the movie gets worse on each viewing. No amount of glossy CG and SFX can't mask the rigid acting and clunky narrative arcs. With all the resources and the manpower under Mr. Lucas amassed after the enormous success of the original trilogy, this movie just doesn't cut it. (However, I and my gf loved Clone Wars Volume 1 and anxiously waiting for 2nd Volume. General Grevious & Mace Windu are badassssss!)

Now I can understand why the prequels are lackluster. Although Mr. Lucas may have been alluding the prequel trilogy to current political climate with the Bush administration, I don't think he has the force of conviction to show what it takes to overcome entrenched political dichotomy in the United States. The idealism is dead along with the Communism. It's ironic, or tragic, depending on your POV considering from his humble beginning to one of most influential filmmakers.