For those of us who grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy and are anxiously awaiting the release of the last episode, Revenge of the Sith (which is actually #3 out of the 6 episodes timeline-wise), CBS 60 Minutes just did a feature segement about George Lucas. In it, George talked about his work, his plans for the future, some techniques they used in making the movie, among other things:

Most critics hated the first two episodes. But Lucas isn’t worried about their reaction. “They haven’t liked any of them, really, and they especially haven’t liked the last two,” says Lucas. “It’s like, hey, you know, it can’t get any worse.” But doesn’t it hurt? “Oh, it always hurts. It hurts a great deal. But part of making movies is you get attacked, and sometimes in very personal ways,” says Lucas. . .

But there will be other films. He’s producing another Indiana Jones movie, with Steven Spielberg directing. Then, he says he’ll return to directing films -- but different kinds of films. “They’re going to be small movies. I’ve earned enough. I’ve worked enough to be able to fail the rest of my life. And that’s what I’m going to do,” says Lucas.

It’s true that Episodes 1 and 2 (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) were not big hits with the critics, but in the whole scheme of things, I really have to take my hat off to George and his team. They’ve created a multimedia icon that has definitely left its mark on American culture and the memories of millions (probably billions) of fans for the rest of their lives.

Thanks for everything George, and bring on the Sith!