s_bukley/depositphotos.comAs the visionary creator of the Star Wars universe and founder of effects pioneer Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas changed the film industry forever. With his groundbreaking vision for digital effects, merchandising, and immersive mythology, he created modern blockbuster culture.
Of the original trilogy, George Lucas only directed the very first installment: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977).
The other two were directed by:
The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner (his former teacher at the USC film school).
Return of the Jedi (1983), directed by British director Richard Marquand.
Why didn't he direct them himself?
Filming the very first Star Wars in 1976/1977 (in the sweltering heat of Tunisia, with malfunctioning mechanical robots) was so grueling and stressful that Lucas collapsed on set with heart arrhythmia and extreme exhaustion. He vowed afterward never to direct a film himself again.
For Empire and Jedi he was, of course, still the story creator, executive producer, financier, and creative overseer (often present on set), but he left the actual day-to-day actor and camera direction to Kershner and Marquand.
It wasn't until 22 years later, once his company ILM's digital techniques had advanced far enough, that he returned to the director's chair to fully direct the entire Prequel trilogy himself (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith).
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Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Lucas defied every studio executive's doubts and unleashed the greatest pop-culture phenomenon in film history. The timeless fairy tale of farm boy Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader, and the Death Star won six Oscars and redefined moviegoing for entire generations.
American Graffiti (1973)
Before he traveled to the stars, Lucas made this nostalgic, five-time Oscar-nominated comedy about a group of California teenagers (including Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, and a very young Harrison Ford) cruising the streets in souped-up cars on the summer night of 1962, set to a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. One of the most profitable films ever made.
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THX 1138 (1971)
Lucas' experimental and visually stunning feature debut, produced by Francis Ford Coppola. In a sterile, underground dystopian future where emotions and sexuality are suppressed by mandatory medication and android police officers, factory worker THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) decides to escape. A masterpiece of minimalist sci-fi.
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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The emotional and dark high point of the Prequel trilogy. Viewers watch the noble Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) succumb to the dark side through Palpatine's manipulations in order to save Padmé. The tragic 'Order 66' and the epic lightsaber duel on the lava planet Mustafar between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi are unmatched.
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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
The most hyped film premiere in history marked Lucas' return to the director's chair after 22 years. Though divisive at the time, the iconic Tatooine podrace and especially the spectacular three-way lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul set to John Williams' monumental 'Duel of the Fates' remain pure spectacle.
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Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Lucas made history by shooting the first major Hollywood blockbuster entirely digitally with HD cameras. The film introduces the massive Clone Wars on the arena of Geonosis and shows, for the first time, a fully digitally animated Master Yoda taking on Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) in a lightsaber duel.
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