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В недавнем интервью Deadline ПиДжей рассказал о своём отношении к "Звёздным войнам".

I first saw Star Wars at the Cinerama Theatre in Courtney Place, Wellington. It was summer 1977, and I was 16 years old — possibly the perfect age. The theatre was packed and bubbling with anticipation. I have a vivid memory that at the moment the Death Star blew up, the entire audience leapt to their feet cheering, including me. That type of emotive behaviour never happens with NZ audiences — it was my first (and last) experience of mass hysteria in a cinema.

Being a fanatical film fan, I would buy every monthly movie magazine I could lay my hands on back then. This was a time when Logan’s Run was the current state-of-the-art sci-fi hit, and I can’t actually remember reading anything about Star Wars while it was in production. But that all changed in May 1977 — suddenly every magazine had Star Wars covers and saturation coverage, and it went on for many months.

My only problem was that a “summer release” in New Zealand meant December. In that bygone era, most movies had a six- or seven-month delay between the U.S. release, and when we finally got to see them in NZ.

Those months from May ‘til December 1977, were probably the longest of my life. When I did finally see Star Wars, I’d been blitzed with spoilers for seven months — even without the Internet (and the word “spoiler”). I’d studied hundreds, if not thousands of Star Wars photos, read every article and interview, and listened to the soundtrack album over and over. I can claim to having seen Star Wars when it was first released in 1977 — and while there weren’t a lot of surprises, that sheer visceral excitement remains etched into my consciousness.

It was the same situation for Empire and Jedi. I saw them both on their NZ opening day in December, and for me neither of those films matched that first experience of seeing Star Wars. In fact I have to own up to not being a massive “Star Wars guy.”

As a filmmaker however, my gratitude and respect for George Lucas is without limit. In the decades following Star Wars, George has used his own resources to develop digital VFX, digital editing, digital sound and digital cinematography. He opened the door for me to make the films that I have, in a way I could have barely dreamt of doing before Star Wars. It’s only these technology advances driven by George that allow me to transfer images directly from my imagination onto the screen.

The same would be true of most filmmakers working today — but I can’t help feeling that George Lucas has never been fully appreciated by the industry for his remarkable innovations. He is the Thomas Edison of the modern film industry.

‘Star Wars’: Five Iconic Directors On Influence Of Original 1977 Movie | Deadline

Честно, ожидал чего-то большего от такого интервью, чем простое перечисление того, что сделал ПиДжей когда вышли ЗВ, и того, что сделал Лукас для кинематографа. Мне интересно было бы узнать насчёт его (ПиДжея) мыслей непосредственно о сюжете, о героях Саги, о приквелах, о 7 эпизоде. А так это интервью как будто не недельной давности, а взято после премьеры ВК.