"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created
by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the
galaxy together. "
There
is too much for me to say about this movie. I could write pages,
perhaps a short book, but I'll limit myself to but a longer than average
review. This series is why I like science fiction. Why I like fantasy (because it is fantasy).
This series is why I grew to love the great tragedies and dramatic
ironies of Shakespeare and the ancient Greeks. This is what started me
thinking about works of fiction that followed many independent, often
clashing, characters. This series taught me that not every ending has to
be happy and that, really, I would always prefer broken villains to perfect
heroes. I know that it is not all these things to everyone, and that it
is far from being as original as I am making it out to be, but it was to
me. Small Clyde hadn't seen much of the things that larger Clyde has, so more was new to him.
In
a somewhat unstable world, with oft-changing homes, parents splitting up and moving
about, a nonsensical (to my mind then - and now) school
(christian), and the general confusion of early adolescence, 'Star
Wars' provided an ever expanding and stable universe that one could get
one's head around, and that grew to feel safe. It wasn't just another
story with a beginning and an end. It was far older than me, but it
continued to grow as I did, so for my whole life it has evoked strong
feelings of both nostalgia and interest.
'Star
Wars' is an ever expanding universe. It is far from perfect, but the
various tentacles of it's theme have been my introductions to many forms
of art. The first FPS I ever played was 'Star Wars: Battlefront', some
of the first 'Lego' sets I played with were 'Star Wars' themed. Since
then I've played a wide variety of 'Star Wars' games, and have created
several 3D models of vehicles from the movies for fun.
I apologise in advance for the length this one looks to be growing to (this is meant to just be the introduction) and for the amount of sentimentality that is going into this. The film itself, when I view it as impartially as possible, is not the best film in the world. I've done my best to take this into consideration, but for me there is an unavoidable element of maudlinness when it comes to this franchise. The series as a whole would get a 100 from me, but each movie individually will score lower than that.
This movie, and the franchise as a whole, really hits the nail on the head when it comes to appealing to smallish people, and - importantly - sticking in those smallish people's heads until they become larger. It achieves this in a number of ways.
Firstly, the effects were spectacular for the time, and still pretty great now (suspiciously great if you're watching a special edition without getting what it is). The effects were easily the biggest leap forward since '2001', and really help to convince dubious cinema goes that this sci-fi is (kinda) serious. Before this almost all sci-fi movies were heavy on the chrome, knobbly foreheads, lazer pistols and green women. 'Star Wars' changed all that forever. Lucas does an excellent job in creating really memorable, timeless scenes. At the same time, there is a serious tension throughout, undercut by a raunchy western flavor, and, perhaps, somewhat self deprecating humour. This is the same feeling as in 'Flash Gordon', only in smaller doses, and backed up by a serious plot line and beefy special effects.
It doesn't try to describe the human condition, and while it's central characters are thoughtfully created and equipped with fair reasons to be doing whatever it is they are doing, the series rarely delves into their humanity (humanity being used for any self-aware beings, here). That's not what the target audience wants, though. In a few years they'll enjoy deeper more thoughtful stuff, but right now a characters background is just that - background. It's all effectively the pieces that make up the larger puzzle of the character, and because the character is so cool (no one in particular, this applies to most main characters) it's a delight to see him/her interact with other great characters. It would feel bland and pointlessly flashy if none of the characters had any depth, and a big robot guy was fighting an old ninja guy just because, so that's what their backstories provide, without going over the top and making everything about feelings.
That isn't to say that there is no human element, exactly. It has to be searched for a little, but comes primarily in the neat little package that is Han Solo. The morally grey smuggler provides both comic relief and romance, and while Luke was always too goody for me, Han is cool. I love the image below, it sums up both Han and Leia's characters and their relationship.
Han is the most human character here, and is one of the few main ones that isn't eventually personally effected by the force (unless Vader chokes him at some point that I forget - oh wait, he pulled his blaster out of his hand on Cloud City, right? What I meant was that he's not a force sensitive, anyway). He doesn't even believe in it, to begin with.
And then there's Darth Vader, often summed up as "that big robot guy" or "the emotionless baddy" by those who aren't fans of the franchise. It's so depressing watching Vader being openly mocked by imperial officers, as it really seems he is one of the last of his kind, and being one of the primary causes of the massacre of Order 66 must hurt. At this point the vast majority of force-sensitives have been culled by Imperial forces, and since the Clone Wars (when the Jedi really last made an impression on the general populace (General Populace) of the Core Systems) the very idea of the force has fallen into obscurity. Many treat it (and it's apparent users) with contempt, and many more (represented here by Han) do not believe it has ever existed. Vader is a very nicely constructed character, lashing out violently and spending human life pointlessly because of his own feelings of worthlessness. He is powerful and useless at the same time, trapped inside a clunky life support suit (if my head looked that flaky I'd be dying to scratch the crap out of it).
Many scoff at Vader as a villain because he is such a blank slate, but one of the best things about the prequels is they really help fill in the void behind that slate, and once that happens every gesture is magnified, every expression of emotion more pronounced. He was once the most promising up and coming Jedi in the galaxy, but has since been horribly disfigured. The rate of this disfigurement follows that of his descent into the dark side, until by the time of the events of this film he is famously "more machine than man". He is both immensely powerful and tragically weak. Later we see how much of a disappointment he is to the Emperor, as he is cast aside so easily when the prospect of Luke is presented. Vader no longer has anyone, he is exceedingly tragic. Until he discovers that his children still live he really has no drive at all.
The design of every set is brilliantly imagined, and each location ranges wildly in style. From the desert planet Tatooine to the immaculate interiors of the Death Star to the shabby sofas in the Millennium Falcon. This movie is pre-'Blade Runner', yet it does the rusty future punk thing well (especially in several interiors on Tatooine).
Sci-fi up until now had all been very black and white. The future was always either gleaming and chrome or a post-apocalyptic nightmare. George was one of the pioneers of the used future look, where while, sure, it's all space ships and light speed, there are signs of realistic wear and tear on things. The extent to which this is true also goes some way towards giving an impression of how powerful and well off the empire is (with it's sleek interiors and massive weapons) compared with the poor moisture farmers living in the back of beyond out on Tatooine (who live in what look like mud igloos, though even out here they have a range of second-hand looking tech at their disposal, and I bet even their WiFi is better than mine).
I apologise in advance for the length this one looks to be growing to (this is meant to just be the introduction) and for the amount of sentimentality that is going into this. The film itself, when I view it as impartially as possible, is not the best film in the world. I've done my best to take this into consideration, but for me there is an unavoidable element of maudlinness when it comes to this franchise. The series as a whole would get a 100 from me, but each movie individually will score lower than that.
This movie, and the franchise as a whole, really hits the nail on the head when it comes to appealing to smallish people, and - importantly - sticking in those smallish people's heads until they become larger. It achieves this in a number of ways.
Firstly, the effects were spectacular for the time, and still pretty great now (suspiciously great if you're watching a special edition without getting what it is). The effects were easily the biggest leap forward since '2001', and really help to convince dubious cinema goes that this sci-fi is (kinda) serious. Before this almost all sci-fi movies were heavy on the chrome, knobbly foreheads, lazer pistols and green women. 'Star Wars' changed all that forever. Lucas does an excellent job in creating really memorable, timeless scenes. At the same time, there is a serious tension throughout, undercut by a raunchy western flavor, and, perhaps, somewhat self deprecating humour. This is the same feeling as in 'Flash Gordon', only in smaller doses, and backed up by a serious plot line and beefy special effects.
It doesn't try to describe the human condition, and while it's central characters are thoughtfully created and equipped with fair reasons to be doing whatever it is they are doing, the series rarely delves into their humanity (humanity being used for any self-aware beings, here). That's not what the target audience wants, though. In a few years they'll enjoy deeper more thoughtful stuff, but right now a characters background is just that - background. It's all effectively the pieces that make up the larger puzzle of the character, and because the character is so cool (no one in particular, this applies to most main characters) it's a delight to see him/her interact with other great characters. It would feel bland and pointlessly flashy if none of the characters had any depth, and a big robot guy was fighting an old ninja guy just because, so that's what their backstories provide, without going over the top and making everything about feelings.
That isn't to say that there is no human element, exactly. It has to be searched for a little, but comes primarily in the neat little package that is Han Solo. The morally grey smuggler provides both comic relief and romance, and while Luke was always too goody for me, Han is cool. I love the image below, it sums up both Han and Leia's characters and their relationship.
Han is the most human character here, and is one of the few main ones that isn't eventually personally effected by the force (unless Vader chokes him at some point that I forget - oh wait, he pulled his blaster out of his hand on Cloud City, right? What I meant was that he's not a force sensitive, anyway). He doesn't even believe in it, to begin with.
And then there's Darth Vader, often summed up as "that big robot guy" or "the emotionless baddy" by those who aren't fans of the franchise. It's so depressing watching Vader being openly mocked by imperial officers, as it really seems he is one of the last of his kind, and being one of the primary causes of the massacre of Order 66 must hurt. At this point the vast majority of force-sensitives have been culled by Imperial forces, and since the Clone Wars (when the Jedi really last made an impression on the general populace (General Populace) of the Core Systems) the very idea of the force has fallen into obscurity. Many treat it (and it's apparent users) with contempt, and many more (represented here by Han) do not believe it has ever existed. Vader is a very nicely constructed character, lashing out violently and spending human life pointlessly because of his own feelings of worthlessness. He is powerful and useless at the same time, trapped inside a clunky life support suit (if my head looked that flaky I'd be dying to scratch the crap out of it).
Many scoff at Vader as a villain because he is such a blank slate, but one of the best things about the prequels is they really help fill in the void behind that slate, and once that happens every gesture is magnified, every expression of emotion more pronounced. He was once the most promising up and coming Jedi in the galaxy, but has since been horribly disfigured. The rate of this disfigurement follows that of his descent into the dark side, until by the time of the events of this film he is famously "more machine than man". He is both immensely powerful and tragically weak. Later we see how much of a disappointment he is to the Emperor, as he is cast aside so easily when the prospect of Luke is presented. Vader no longer has anyone, he is exceedingly tragic. Until he discovers that his children still live he really has no drive at all.
The design of every set is brilliantly imagined, and each location ranges wildly in style. From the desert planet Tatooine to the immaculate interiors of the Death Star to the shabby sofas in the Millennium Falcon. This movie is pre-'Blade Runner', yet it does the rusty future punk thing well (especially in several interiors on Tatooine).
Sci-fi up until now had all been very black and white. The future was always either gleaming and chrome or a post-apocalyptic nightmare. George was one of the pioneers of the used future look, where while, sure, it's all space ships and light speed, there are signs of realistic wear and tear on things. The extent to which this is true also goes some way towards giving an impression of how powerful and well off the empire is (with it's sleek interiors and massive weapons) compared with the poor moisture farmers living in the back of beyond out on Tatooine (who live in what look like mud igloos, though even out here they have a range of second-hand looking tech at their disposal, and I bet even their WiFi is better than mine).
"Look, Sir! Droids!"
There is a lot more I could talk about, but I'll try to wrap this up
now. This is not my favourite movie of all time, but it is my favorite
series, and if you haven't seen it before I hope my little reviews of
them will encourage you to give them a try.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: 91.8