For all of the indie films that have been produced since the release of the debacle we know as The Phantom Menace, poking fun at dotty old George and the mess he’s made of his Empire, “Fall of a Saga” strikes the hardest, not because it’s the most venom filled “f**k you” aimed at Lucas Ranch, but because it presents a filmmaker’s rabid curiosity for just what the hell happened. It presents ideas and it asks the question – how could a father do something so terrible to his child?
We open on George Lucas holed up in his bedroom, struggling with the script that is supposed to become “Episode 1.” Suddenly, he gets a surprise visitor, someone who has helped him out in the past, and they want to offer their helping hand once again. Actually, they demand that they not only lend a hand, but that they cast a major influence over the entire production…all in the name of Lucas. So begins the flushing of the Star Wars name straight down the toilet as Lucas is forced to tear his own creation apart.
Newton has obvious respect for Lucas and an undying love for “Episodes IV-VI” in his “Star Wars” series. “Fall of a Saga” is not mean-spirited in any way. It offers a very “Twilight Zone” solution to the “Phantom Menace” disaster. But at the same time, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It just wants some goddamn answers and Newton has concocted his own.
For “Star Wars” fans who feel betrayed, “Fall of a Saga” offers a New Hope.
