10 Dumb Mistakes That Ruined Once Great Franchises

Saying Star Wars is the brainchild of George Lucas is both incredibly true and vehemently false; he did come up with the original idea and shepherd it through to cinemas on a production that almost killed him, but he was enabled by a massive team who helped develop the look, story and structure of his Flash Gordon pastiche-cum-global phenomenon.

However, as time went by he began to become more singularly in control - Oscar-winning editor/wife Marcia Lucas was wiped for Star Wars history after the pair's divorce and producer Gary Kurtz quit during Return Of The Jedi due thanks to key production decisions - leading us to the point that he was the untouchable god when the prequels came round.

Now I don't think Episodes I-III deserve their bum rap and believe that many of the intrinsic ideas - the flaws of the Jedi, the Emperor tearing the Republic apart from the inside - are powerful concepts, but there's no avoiding their execution leaves something to be desired. The movies are dominated by a strange lack of focus (especially Attack Of The Clones), and while it's easy to just point at an obsession with toys, it comes more from George's lack of creative logic and a complete army of yes men surrounding him. Probably for the best Disney took over.