Then-
Romero made Night of the Living Dead, which started the zombie genre. However, it truthfully wasn't a great film. He went on to make turd after turd after turd. (I submit that Dawn of the Dead was overrated, and only has the rep that it has because it was set in a mall.) His zombie movies have become the butt of jokes instead of the "new vision" they once were.
Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, which was a cool concept and had a few good episodes in three seasons before the show was unjustly canceled thanks to some TV exec's wife. However, most of the episodes were "eh" to bad. Gene leaned on the time travel or "this planet is just like Earth in year X" gimmick WAY too much. Gene went on to make the first Star Trek film, which is the worst of the franchise by far.
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Bob Kane, and all the other folks I don't want to look up at the moment created Captain America, Spider-Man, Superman, the X-Men, Batman, Hulk, etc., etc., etc. In the beginning they were just comic book characters. All very goodie goodie, not ridiculously well selling, and stories had very little continuity. Stan Lee, my best example since he's still active today, is a HUGE name, yet has had very little success in creating anything new in 50 years.
George Lucas created Star Wars, perfected Empire, wrapped up the trilogy well in Return, (not to mention helping out with Indy) and then the wheels fell off. The latest Indy was an embarrassment that even the stars shit on, the new trilogy showcased Lucas' inability to write intelligent dialogue, and Lucas has done everything possible to destroy all good will between him and the fans who made him.
Now-
Romero...
Zombies have been given new life thanks to new filmmakers and new writers. Even dreck like the "28 ____" series is better than anything Romero makes anymore. Max Brooks and Robert Kirkman get special mentions for elevating the zombie genre to new levels.
Gene Roddenberry...
Star Trek really took off once he turned over the creative helm to new minds. ST:TNG ran for 9 years and was only stopped thanks again to moronic TV execs who thought they could squeeze more money from films. It was the #1 rated syndicated show at the time. Now the franchise has been brilliantly rebooted by J.J. Abrams. I expect somewhere behind the scenes someone has to be thinking ST:TNG reboot in this new universe...
Comics creators...
Look around. 50% or more of the summer movies you see or have seen over the past 15 years are comics. Not all are action either. Remember that movie that won all those awards that stared Paul Giamatti (sp?) and was set in wine country or something? Yeah, that was a comic. Comics were massive in the 90s selling millions per issue. Those numbers are back to Earth now, but the writing and art are better than ever, and the characters are more popular than ever. The Avengers movie franchise could pass Harry Potter's franchise in dollars next summer. In the 50s or 60s, nobody knew Iron Man, now everyone knows him.
George Lucas...
Timothy Zahn produced three exceptional books that occur after the original trilogy. Hints of Star Wars' coolness show up from time to time in its numerous licensed video games. Lucas actually inspired this mini-rant today (I'm burning DVDs in the background for my Wellness Committee, which allowed me the time to type this...), and something I've been thinking about for a few days. I don't think his ego or his strangehold on the property will allow him to relinquish control to new minds, but he won't hold that control forever, and I'm just wondering if that license will be taken to new heights when someone else finally gets control.
Quick Thought
Spielberg regrets ET edit.
Let's hope George Lucas hears about his friend's change of heart and has a change of heart himself.
The least he could do is release an "unaltered" version of Star Wars on Blu-Ray for folks who don't like his changes. He could do it in two years, and rake in even more cash. It's win-win for everyone.
Edited By Leisher on 1316182721
"For myself, I tried [changing a film] once and lived to regret it. Not because of fan outrage, but because I was disappointed in myself. I got overly sensitive to [some of the reaction] to E.T., and I thought if technology evolved, …it was OK for a while, but I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T. [...] If I put just one cut of E.T. on Blu-ray and it was the 1982, would anyone object to that? [The crowd yells "NO!" in unison.] OK, so be it."
Let's hope George Lucas hears about his friend's change of heart and has a change of heart himself.
The least he could do is release an "unaltered" version of Star Wars on Blu-Ray for folks who don't like his changes. He could do it in two years, and rake in even more cash. It's win-win for everyone.
Edited By Leisher on 1316182721
“Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” - Dr Thomas Sowell