In the wake of the Star Wars blu-ray releases comes the arrival of The People vs. George Lucas, which takes a courtroom video approach of looking at the phenomena of Star Wars and what its cultural impact has and continues to be after the release of the prequels and Special Editions. At the heart of it all lies the bigger question of ultimately what does an artist owe the public who supports them, and does a change of direction signal adherence to one's ideals or a betrayal of them?

The film is broken down into four segments, all comprised of interview snippets and quotes interspersed with a myriad of clips from Star Wars fan films. These clips themselves are often amazing- both for the techniques displayed in creating them and the passion that inspired them. The interviews feature a range of creative and critical personalities: Chris Gore- nerdlebrity; Todd Hanson- editor, The Onion; Joe Nussbaum- director, George Lucas in Love; Doug Jones- associate director, LA Film Festival; MC Frontalot- a performer of Nerdcore hip hop; Glenn Kenny- editor, A Galaxy Not So Far Away; Jonathan London- geekscape.net; Ian Freer- editor, Empire Film Magazine; Kevin Rubio- director, Troops; Clive Young- author, Homemade Hollywood. There are also contributions from such notables as Gary Kurtz, Neil Gaiman, David Brin, Bill Plympton, Boo Friedmann and Ray Harryhausen.

Ep I: Nerfherder from Modesto. Mostly a retrospective on George's life and some of the significant events that shaped it, from a high school car accident to his experiences with corporate indifference to the art of filmmaking. Lots of behind-the-scenes footage and photos from his early days.

Ep II: The Great Tinkerer. Examines the release of the Special Editions and Lucas' reasoning behind making them. One interviewee likened it to discovering a lost chapter of the Bible; others have a more grounded take- that the Spc Eds are like fanfilms with Lucas being a fan of his own works. It's interesting how Gary Kurtz explains that the difficulties that prevented filming the original Jabba scene in Star Wars caused all the pertinent info to end up in Greedo's exposition.

An overview of the changes made is presented ranging from small- slight screen shifts and frame cutting- to 'egregious'- Greedo shooting first, the latter dissected from every possible aesthetic angle. Questions are also raised regarding the existence of the original negatives and prints, which Lucasfilm maintains are destroyed. The most damning argument against this claim is Lucas' own Congressional testimony when Ted Turner began his infamous colorizing of classic black & white movies. Lucas himself argued that these films, which are considered part of our cultural heritage, shouldn't be tampered with. Star Wars occupies this space as much as The Maltese Falcon does, so why would it be alright to alter his films but not others? Or as is pointed out, why not simply preserve the original prints and use copies to make the changes? Regardless of your opinion, stating that the originals were destroyed when they had to be restored in the first place is both insulting and arrogant.

An interesting aside in all this is Francis Ford Coppola's observation that due to the success of Star Wars Lucas has never directed another film outside of the franchise, and Coppola laments what other achievements have been lost as a result.

Ep III: Revenge of The Geeks. The first prequel looms and the world holds its collective nerdy breath. I have to say that after watching some of those fanboy reactions to the Phantom Menace trailer I am officially embarrassed as a human being; those were some truly pitiful displays. Everything is in place- the stage is set, the curtain rises, the opening crawl appears... and it all goes downhill from there. Juxtaposed against the fans' disillusionment with TPM is the argument that artists must be allowed create their vision... and take the audience's money in the process. As to Jar Jar Binks, well- his popularity with children can't be denied or overlooked, which seems to be the entire reason for his existence regardless of his role in Attack of the Clones.

And then there's the one word that defines the prequels more than any other: Midi-chlorians. As a fan I have to agree that this concept destroyed more of the Star Wars mythology than anything ever did or will. Lucas took us from a spiritual analogy of having faith in yourself and mistrusting technology to a primer on eugenics. Your spirituality and ability to lead now comes down to a blood test, not the power of the life and the universe itself. Thanks a bunch.

In the midst of this are interview snippets revealing Lucas' passion for filmmaking and great relief at no longer having to answer to anyone how to make his movies. Not lost in this is his ironic observation that after promising his father he'd never go into business and his own disdain for the corporate machine that he has now, in fact, become the devil himself.

TPM also gave rise to the fan edits: homemade re-imaginings of the franchise. Born out of their passion and anger they're as much an artistic movement as well as direct shots at Lucas. Honorable mention is also made of the Star Wars Holiday Special, which I'm old enough to have seen when it first aired. Not a lot of time is spent on it and the less said, the better.

Ep IV: A New Hope. Will geeks ever burn out on Star Wars? The best quip comes from Todd Hanson who likens disgruntled fans to Sith lords- hating what they once loved and revered. The topic spins towards Indiana Jones and into the South Park episode where Indy gets raped by Lucas and Spielberg- a very disturbing sight, even for a cartoon (taken from The Accused with Jodie Foster). I wasn't previously aware of it and found its inclusion odd and unnecessary until it segued into analysis of that abysmal last Indiana Jones film and over-the-top assertions that Lucas' tampering with Star Wars and Indiana Jones has raped their childhood. I'm not happy about any of it either, but please- get over yourselves already. What I found interesting is that no mention is ever made of the Expanded Universe novels- especially Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy which rejuvenated the franchise- and their role in the scheme of things. Finally, we're treated to a few allusions of George's own life being paralleled in Luke Skywalker's character arc through the trilogy.

This is a fun, informative take on the Star Wars phenomenon, overflowing with geeked-out moments that will make you smile one moment and cringe the next. It's all about the prosecution's case as little evidence is forthcoming from the defense and what's presented here undermines their argument. The verdict? I rule in favor of the plaintiffs- The People. You have failed us for the last time, George Lucas. The sentence? A settlement: release the unaltered original trilogy on dvd/blu-ray, take the truckloads of cash that it brings in and ride off into the sunset, free to pursue other endeavors. Court adjourned, and May The Force Be With You.

Only watch this if you are bored and really, really, really, want to see additional fanboy geeks and the issues they have with Lucas. Otherwise you already know this stuff if you read the internet at all.

This documentary needed to be made. It expresses all of our fan/nerd rage about the changes to the originals. It also brought me back to my childhood.