George Lucas is one of the best-known names in American filmmaking. His two trilogies of films, the "Star Wars" and the "Indiana Jones" epics, revolutionized the making of movies in America during the 1970s and 1980s. They are among the highest-grossing films of all time. They also introduced a new generation of American children to unadulterated excitement, adventure, and optimism. Lucas's films typically mix archetypal figures, familiar (but universal) themes, and the eternal conflict between good heroes and evil villains. In films such as The Empire Strikes Back and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lucas evokes mythic qualities in his characters. "I want 'Star Wars' to give people a faraway, exotic environment for their imagination to run free," Lucas tells Jean Vallely in a Rolling Stone interview. "I want them to get beyond their basic stupidities of the moment and think about colonizing Venus and Mars. And...