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George Lucas said last year "I don't even like science fiction". Which is probably just as well, given that he really isn't good at it.
George Lucas is an "idea guy". He's creative and inventive, but he really needs someone to tell him when he's going off the rails. When he was writing the story that would eventually become Star Wars (Episode IV, A New Hope) he had friends like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese read and critique it, and he listened to their suggestions to simplify the story because he trusted them. And when he was developing The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, his then-wife Marcia, Gary Kurtz, and Lawrence Kasdan filled that role (though Marcia Lucas and Gary Kurtz would leave Lucasfilm before Return of the Jedi began filming). After that, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he really didn't have anyone near him who would or could stand up to him and tell him not to do something, and when he doesn't have someone to rein him in the results speak for themselves.Thx was grand, but the more tripe Lucas writes and directs, the more it looks like anything passable was an accident.
As for his directing "skills", a number of actors who have worked for/with him have said he really isn't an "actor's director"; he wants them to hit their marks and say their lines, but doesn't really seem to understand acting is much more than that. I think that's why he is so fond of CGI--he can control computer generated characters, vehicles, and environments, and make them do exactly what he wants, which is something he can't do with live actors.