Welp. Had to get here eventually. I'm not entirely sure there's a "Bigger" film on the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition). Scratch that. There is no bigger film on the list than this one.
Might as well try and sum this up, somehow.
Film 93
93. "Star Wars" (AFI Rank #13)
I was nine, it was a Saturday afternoon in May, and my friend, John Hallgren, who has since passed away, had invited me to go see a movie with him at Yorktown. Something called "Star Wars." It sounded fun enough, and I hadn't heard of it, so what the hell? Yes, you guessed it. That was the opening Saturday of a cultural event unequaled in film history. I sat, slack-jawed, in my seat and watched a thrilling spectacle unfold before me, full of everything a nine year old boy needs. Shootouts, swordfights, alienation, bad guys, spaceships, good guys, and monsters, oh so many monsters. I remember going home and drawing from memory the TIE Fighters, and the X-Wing fighters, and Darth Vader, and well...you name it. I had been taken in, and I was all in on this one. It's been nearly 40 years since that day, and I can say, in no uncertain terms, that "Star Wars" remains a part of the fabric of my life to this very day.
Last year, when I attempted this little quest, I wrote my review of "Star Wars" this way: "It's fucking 'Star Wars.'" And that's all I wrote. I kinda want(ed) to do that this time, but I think I owe myself, and this blog, better than that. I'm going to attempt to write this as a review of a film that I just watched, and it's going to be impossible. I'll be getting sentimental a bunch. I'm also going to be long-winded. I guarantee that. So, settle back.
I own the DVD version of the film. What that means is that I own the original theatrical releases of the films. In non-digitally remastered, non-audio corrected, non-widescreen glory. So, I watched the newest version of the film. The one where Greedo shoots first, and Jabba gets his tail stepped on by Han Solo. I'm not here to discuss the changes that George Lucas, the creator of this universe made to his already fairly perfect film. I'm going to be discussing my viewing of this film, this time.
The other weird part about this film, and something that I'm going to be dealing with a little bit in a future review, is that this film is not the end of the story that we all now know. There have been 6 live action sequels or prequels to this film, and one animated film. The story of Luke Skywalker, and most importantly (according to what happened in the balance of the films), the story of his father, are familiar to most Americans, and certainly to the vast majority of the Americans in my generation. I'm betting you've watched this film, and I'm betting you've watched more than one of these films in the series. Anyway, I'm going to speak about this film, and my reactions watching it this time.
Know what my reactions are? This film is still awesome. It's still filled with spaceships, and battles, and swordfights, and all kinds of monsters. And they still fascinate me. It's also filled with sometimes cheesy dialogue. But mostly what it's filled with is amazing story telling wrapped up in even more amazing visual and auditory filmmaking. It is important to mention sound for this film. Beyond the amazing score, the sound of a lightsaber, the laser blasts from an assortment of guns, the sound of Luke's landspeeder, hell, even the Jawas all are part of the rich tapestry that this film weaves.
As I said, I'm going to assume you've seen this film. Let's start with the most glaringly obvious thing this film does phenomenally. I, of course, am referring to the visual effects, which start right at the opening credits, and the ensuing space battle between a Rebellion blockade runner and an Imperial Star Destroyer. Shot with practical effects before the advent of CGI, the miniature work on this film is nothing short of amazing. Spaceships look like they are really flying. Planets look like they really exist. Yes, the new DVD version includes a bunch of CGI work, and for those of us geeky enough to know the original, it's fairly easy to pick out those shots. So, yeah, I saw a bunch of that stuff. But, the practical effects, which are still the bulk majority of the effects, are still stunning. I mentioned this I think when talking about a previous film. I can't remember which one it was, wait. It was "Citizen Kane." I talked about how today scenes would be rendered, and that there is something missing in these modern shots (permission to completely contradict this while talking about "Fellowship of the Ring") that we can only get with practical shots, on location. Picture a CGI "Lawrence of Arabia," or "...Kane," or..."Star Wars." Wait. You can picture that. It's readily available in Episodes I-III, and the latest, Episode VII. I am trying to limit my discussion to this film, but tell me that the Death Star set, with real humans walking on it, doesn't feel far more visceral than the Nazi/First Order scene from Episode VII. The latter was done with a computer, the former with real people in real costumes. There's a depth that CGI still cannot capture, and no matter how beautiful it gets, I still want to see a real guy in the suits. I guess that makes me old fashioned. So be it.
An overlooked, but to me, anyway, important part of the visual presentation of this film is the fades between scenes. Especially on Tatooine, at the beginning of the film, but often when major shifts in mood/location occur, we get a wipe style transition between scenes. This, to me, feels like homage to the serial films of the earlier part of the 20th Century, and to their ability to quickly establish stories that we'd care about in a very brief amount of time. Even though a serial may tell a story over a series of films, it had to grab attention, and each chapter of the serial had to make sense, and somewhat "close." Watching "Star Wars" this time I was flabbergasted by the pauses and...well...closure to a lot of scenes. It felt like reading a chapter book, and I gotta say, kudos to George Lucas on that. The story makes sense, and before we move on, we wrap business where we are. Hell, even the scene with Greedo in the cantina, while somewhat superfluous, tells us a great deal about Han Solo. Yeah, Han is in debt to a bad guy, that we learn. But, the idea of him shooting Greedo before the bounty hunter gets a chance to fire, is HUGE for character exposition. No, that doesn't happen in the current iteration of the film. That doesn't mean Lucas didn't completely screw the pooch by changing it. We need that fact about Han for the balance of this film. Make him lovable in sequels. Wait. I'm getting ahead of myself.
Joseph Campbell and others have commented on the standard myths involved with this film. And, friends, this is where I'm going to ask something of you. I have spent a great deal of time watching and writing about these films, and the one thing that I'm taking out of all of it is that there can always be more there than what you think you see. Look for archetypes. Look for commonality with legends. Look for possible metaphor. Look for themes. This film is stuffed with them. We've got Luke and abandonment, we've got Han and crime, we've got Princess Leia and rebellion, we've got Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and the entire empire and authoritarianism, we've got the mystical/religious with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and we've got a couple of droids and a giant Wookie for comedy/camaraderie. These are hardly new ideas/themes, yet here they are...IN SPACE! So, next time you're watching a film that actually has some depth to it, look for the deeper stuff. "The Avengers?" Simple mythology about Gods and Goddesses. Even in the supposed "pap," there can be found deeper, more universal themes. Seek them out. "Star Wars" has them. They're fairly dripping from the screen.
George Lucas has been talked about a bit. Let me just say this. I think George Lucas is conceivably one of the greatest inventors that cinema has ever known. I'm not sure he's that great a director, nor a great writer, as he's directed exactly 6 films in his lifetime, 3 of which are the not-up-to-snuff prequels to this film; and his dialogue often sucks. Hard. However, the film techniques that he and his team used on this film, along with the sound advances, along with, hell, a whole UNIVERSE that he basically invented out of whole cloth, is breathtaking. Think about it. Skywalker Sound is practically the only go-to sound laboratory, Industrial Light and Magic basically has invented or actually produced most visual effects for the last 40 years. Beyond that, if I mention Obi-Wan Kenobi, or C3PO, or R2D2, or Luke, or any other character in this film or its follow-ups, you know exactly what I'm describing. So, we've got an entire wing of modern cinema production teamed up with household names for characters. I really, really find it hard to say that there is a bigger film in the entire history of films. There's no PIXAR without Lucas. There's no CGI without the monies available from the sheer runaway cash cow this film was. There's no Marvel films, no sequels to other films, no Tolkein films, none of it - without this film. "Jaws 2" came out in 1978. Know what was already being crushed upon 20th Century Fox by then? "The Empire Strikes Back." Then we got Rocky sequels, etc. Why? Because studios, even though "Planet of the Apes" had been a moderate success in series format, were now able to see that sometimes people just wanted more of what they'd already seen. "Star Wars," with the exception of Darth Vader flying away at the end, left no strings untied, yet there was so much more to come...I'm rambling.
Beyond all that gushing, there's more gushing. I love that Lucas chose to make space dirty, as in actually dirty. Suits are filthy, helmets are scratched up, droids are filthy, the Millennium Falcon looks gross. Everything looks used, and space films, up until then, had always looked absolutely pristine. Check out the capsule of the ship in "Planet of the Apes." We're supposed to believe that these 4 people had occupied this space for years, yet there's not a speck of dust in it. Lucas led the way towards grittier, more realistic conditions in completely unrealistic environments. Again, inspired.
Last couple things. Music. This score is one of the iconic inventions of Hollywood. One moment in particular I want to mention, and that's the french horn (I think) solo as Luke looks over the setting suns of Tatooine. It's a part of the opening photo I used. I'm not sure that many other films that I've seen (there are some) have made better use of music to convey story like this one does. The opening horns blasting at us during the opening crawl, the Empire's theme song, hell, even the cantina band all makes us feel something, and as I've said on many occasions, that's something only film can accomplish.
Acting is just OK. Hamill is whiny, Fisher is dull, Ford is OK, but his voice gets swallowed up, Peter Cushing is good as Tarkin, but he's mostly just menacing. Alec Guinness does what he can, but he was right about one thing, his dialogue is nonsense. You're not watching this film for the truthful acting. If you are, you're going to hate this film.
I'm not sure I discussed my view of watching this this time.
So.
Look.
It's fucking "Star Wars."
I can't say more.
Wait. One other thing. Here's a fun thing to try. Watch the films in order from I-VI. That tells Darth Vader's story. NOW. Watch them like I did, as a kid. IV-VI, then I-III. That makes the films Luke's story. Try it sometime. You'll see the difference, I think.
Ebert wrote a column on this film. It's dated Jan. 1, 1977, but that's not correct. It's written after the film broke box-office records. It's here, and he touches on some of the things I did. Because of course he/I did.
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