Star Wars (1977)

This is the fourth review in a series for the SciFi Drive's Star Wars Blogathon.

As I mentioned in my review for Logan’s Run, intelligently-written science fiction, the kind that makes you think about the human element of the storyline while watching all of the futuristic and/or other-planetary goings-on, seemed to be what science fiction was all about back in the day. After all, writers like Heinlein and Asimov and Clarke forced us to actually use our imaginations and then, when films were made of their works, we - the viewers - had to think even more. You can't really ask more from a movie or its source material than that.

However, I also remember even farther back, when science fiction DIDN'T require a lot of thought. I'm of course talking about the old "Buck Rogers" and "Flash Gordon" serials. Cheesy as they were, they still offered lots of slam-bang action, spaceships zipping around all over the place, explosions and manly heroes flashing their smiles, saving the women and the whole universe with one well-placed punch or one good shot with their ship's lasers.

Little did we all know that shortly after Logan’s release would come a movie that would so reshape science fiction and other-worldly storytelling that it would draw out copycats for generations to come...and all it did was throw back to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

Star Wars was years in the making and once the world saw what George Lucas had envisioned on his big yellow notepad, it would be hard to cite another movie in science fiction that would be so fervently quoted, characters that would take on lives of their own and a mythos so woven into the fabric of fans and novices alike.

As if I needed to tell you this - young Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) dreams of leaving his desolate home planet and fighting in the great Rebellion against the Empire. And when his foster family comes into the possession of two wayward robots named R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), one of whom carries a message for the mysterious hermit Ben “Obi-Wan” Kenobi (Alec Guinness) from the beautiful Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Luke finds himself thrust headlong into an adventure involving rogue smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), evil half-human warlord Darth Vader (David Prowse) and a weapon of the Empire large enough to destroy an entire planet.

Director Lucas uses the camera sparsely: no zoom shots (at least no apparent ones). Just close-ups, long shots and pans. There are moments here that depend mostly on the imagery, like scenes of the vast desert wastelands of Tatooine, the jam-packed cantina in Mos Eisley spaceport and the sterile chrome and metal aboard the Death Star. Lucas knew the story was basic enough to carry you through, along with the special FX (another point to get to in due time). And there are times that feel (to me, anyway) like you’re right in the thick of it, especially when Luke and Han are shooting at the Empire’s Tie Fighters that swarm around Han’s Millenium Falcon.

Lucas got more than a major assist in his story from Akira Kurosawa’s classic action tale The Hidden Fortress. Lucas' Americanization is well-done, even with its sporadic touches of humor (as when Han’s large, hairy co-pilot Chewbacca roars at a small droid, making it speed away) and drama (Luke returns to his uncle’s home right after it is attacked). Many will say that the story itself is a little too simplistic. Maybe it is, but it’s also an example of a solid, stand-alone story that embraces the same type of values that your average Western does (bravery, good versus evil, fighting for what’s right) with heavy doses of Zen philosophy and swashbucking adventure thrown in.

When surrounded by aliens, outer space and metallic bad guys, plausibility is a little difficult to attain. But many of the principals have built careers on their work here (Hamill) and some have been lucky enough to launch into an even larger repertoire, independent of Star Wars (Ford). A year earlier Fisher had a substantial part in the Warren Beatty film Shampoo; would she be where she is now if her role as Princess Leia never came to be? Perhaps, but it probably would have taken longer for her to get to that point.

So many special effect mainstays got their start in this film that it’s like an A-list role call: Dennis Muren, Rick Baker, Ralph McQuarrie, Ben Burtt, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Joe Johnston, Phil Tippett. Everyone was assembled by Lucas, searching for a perfect team to make the perfect effects. He certainly got one: spaceships, swirling stars, monsters, aliens big and small, towering space stations and tiny robots all share screen time very convincingly, and with just a hint of history and wear to make everything look like it had a past outside of this story.

For an $11 million budget, it far surpassed the expectations of even 20th Century Fox’s executives, who at one point planned to cancel production and reuse some scenes for a TV series (!). Now, as a mega-successful franchise of films, books, videos, TV specials (one or two that Lucas has disowned), toys, you name it, Star Wars made an impact on the world rarely seen up to that point in time and certainly one that has yet to be equaled.

Of course, there is a downside to this. Star Wars has been criticized for its lack of imagination in the storytelling department, claiming it was this film that forced new film-makers to cater to the mentality of a new-found era of storytelling; ones where no surprises come about, only a problem and its resolution. With a rousing, upbeat finale, if time allowed. Up to then, they argued, films were allowed to have heroes and villains with shades of gray, no linear storylines and endings that didn’t have good winning the day, etc. I.E. - no more challenge to the viewer, just old-fashioned storytelling.

I have to agree; there is some truth to that. However, there are some people who just want to have a good old-fashioned story told to them. And generation after generation have kept this type of movie-making alive. Is that the fault of our lockstep mentality that doesn’t want to be challenged, or just a desire on our behalves to revert to a simpler time when good triumphed and evil always failed and the damsels were beautiful and the heroes were always brave? Who can tell for sure; everyone has their own interpretation of what a good movie/story is and how much they want to be challenged per movie.

All I can speak for is myself, and as far as Star Wars goes, this was simply the best movie to come out at a particular time in my life, as well as the life of the world in general. Let’s face it: the ‘70s were a very cynical time and everyone wanted to hear about conspiracies, bad karma, hidden meanings, downbeat endings and loss of innocence.

When a movie comes out on a scale such as this and is all about innocence, what do you expect?

So yes, Star Wars was a success in story, look, approach and method. And it continues to be. And it always will be.

May the Force be with you.