Star Wars. One movie, with a two-word title
that was directed by a young director who wanted to do Flash Gordon but
couldn’t get the rights. Decades later and that one movie is now retitled A
New Hope, is the first chapter in a trilogy, the fourth episode in a saga,
and the seed of what is essentially a genre within cinema. For better or for
worse, this movie was the equivalent of an Earth-shattering earthquake in Hollywood
history. Before 1977 George Lucas was just an up-and-coming director whose
career could have ended had this been a failure. Instead, the movie and its
sequels made him one of the most known filmmakers in the world, and a whole
generation became familiar with words like “lightsaber”, “X-Wing”, and “Wookie”.
For some truly hardcore fans, these movies are the equivalent of a gospel, so
much so that they will write “Jedi” as their religion of choice.
My first dive into the Star Wars universe was as a
child, watching the movies on VHS in the 1990s after my parents had recorded them
on TV. This was the original Star Wars, with no episode title, no new
digital effects, and years away from the prequels. The original gospel, one
might say. From the giant opening titles in space to the triumphant ending, I
was hooked. The towering figure of Darth Vader was scary, the music by John
Williams put me right in the action, and I was really hoping R2-D2 wouldn’t get
hurt as he wandered alone in the desert. My brother and I loved the experience
so much we would rewatch that VHS tape frequently, recreate scenes from the
movie with our toys, and of course play the Super Nintendo games.
Now a grown man in my thirties, I still very much like
the movie but I would not describe myself as a hardcore Star Wars super fan. I
believe that way lies madness. Passion is a good thing, but too much of it can
lead you to believe George Lucas ruined your children because he wrote Jar Jar
Binks in the prequels. Even worse, you could be so passionate that you bully
actor Achmed Best just because he played the character. At the end of the day,
these are just movies after all. I see the Star Wars universe as a huge buffet
table made up of the original movies, the prequels, sequels, TV shows, video
games, novels, board games, action figures, etc. Like a buffet table, some
things are delicious, and some things are better left on the table. If you don’t
like it, just don’t eat it.
Going back to the original movie, it is quite
fascinating how this story managed to be the launchpad for an entire universe. The
building blocks are laid out quickly, with the iconic lines “A long time ago,
in a galaxy far, far away”, which may as well be “Once upon a time.” In any
other story we would start right off with the hero or the princess. Instead,
the first characters are supporting characters who are not even human. C3-PO (Anthony
Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) are two androids who are pretty ordinary
except for the fact they always find themselves in the middle of the pivotal
moments in the galaxy. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) gives R2 the plans to the
Death Star superweapon to hide them from the evil Darth Vader (iconically
voiced by James Earl Jones) and bring them to the rebel alliance. C3-PO would
much rather walk away from the laser guns, but R2 has a mission and he will
carry it out.
By what now seems like an extraordinary coincidence,
they land on the exact right planet, in the exact right stretch of the desert,
where they eventually find retired hero Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guiness) and
young would-be pilot Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Once Luke is introduced, he takes
center stage as a man eager to leave his simple farm life and maybe join the
fight against the evil empire that has enslaved the galaxy. His aunt and uncle
however fear he might be too much like his father (much more on that in later
movies). First however, Luke and Obi-Wan must find a way off the planet, which
is where the roguish hero Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is introduced.
People are often split between who is better, Luke or
Han. Luke is the hero who immediately wants to go rescue the princess and save
the day, whereas Han is initially more of a lone-gunslinger type who would
rather shoot first, get paid, and run away from danger. I used to have a Han
Solo blaster that doubled as a water pistol, so I guess that tells you where I
stand. It is one of the roles that would define Harrison Ford’s career, something
that he sometimes seems to regret. Yet it is difficult to imagine anyone else
in the role as he brags about doing the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. He
might have found the dialogue ridiculous, yet Ford managed to deliver it with
confidence.
Between the dialogue, the odd story structure, and the
fantasy terms that are heaped upon the audience over the movie, it is quite
amazing how Star Wars managed to be the success that it became. There
are plenty of things that could have gone wrong, from the performances to the
special effects. However, every single piece of the puzzle managed to fit in
the right place. John Williams wrote a score that is now about as iconic as the
Happy Birthday song, the special effects effectively conjured the image of a planet
exploding, and the story convinced viewers to come back to the theaters over
and over again. It could have all ended on a cliffhanger, with the heroes
triumphant and the villain planning his next move. Instead, we got to see over
the decades a cinematic universe continue expanding as though a Big Bang had
just occurred. Thankfully, that universe also led Mel Brooks to make Spaceballs.
Comments
Post a Comment