This is a review of the original 1977 release, not the special edition or the DVD.

A cultural phenomenon. A modern mythology. A timeless classic. All of these phrases seem to pop up again and again in summaries of George Lucas' 1977 sci-fi epic Star Wars. Indeed, it's hard to talk about this movie without dipping into such cliches. Every one of them is true in its own right - what other single movie by a virtually unknown director and cast has inspired so much buzz in its initial release? The marketing alone has become one of the twentieth century's biggest success stories.

And that's just the cultural phenomenon part. As a modern mythology, Star Wars has everything. An underdog rising up to defeat evil. An uncertain hero. A cynical pirate. A wise old wizard. A damsel in distress. A foreboding fortress. And a memorable villain. Put all of this together and you get the timeless classic.

Star Wars is the story of a simple farm boy who dreams of an exciting life away from his humble home, only to find himself suddenly and unexpectedly mixed up in events that will shape the future of the entire galaxy. When his uncle buys two new droids to help on the farm, Luke Skywalker discovers that they are actually the property of a beautiful princess who is being held captive by Darth Vader, right hand man to the evil Emperor whose tyranny rules the galaxy. Together with Ben Kenobi, an old hermit who proves to be much more than he seems, Luke and the droids hire a pair of cocky smugglers to take them to the princess's home world of Alderaan. But Vader and the Empire have destroyed the planet, and Luke and his friends end up instead inside the Empire's new battle station, the Death Star. They must rescue the princess, escape the Death Star, and deliver her and the droids safely to the Rebel Alliance, a resistance army determined to bring down the Empire once and for all.

While the plot could easily have been lifted from any Arthurian legend or Tolkien-esque fantasy, Lucas puts his own brilliant imagination to work and makes it much more fresh and different than it could otherwise have been. So many of his creations have become instantly recognizable pieces of American culture. From the shabby but imaginative looking spaceships, to the seven-foot hairy Wookiee known as Chewbacca, to the mismatched pair of droids and their distinct personalities, to the menacing helmet and armor worn by Darth Vader, Star Wars is as well-known as Mickey Mouse. So well known, in fact, that this review is pretty much pointless, were it not for the fact that fans like myself jump at any chance to recall what they first loved about the movie.

But I am by no means above poking fun at this and all of Lucas' Star Wars ventures. There are flaws galore, such as the numerous examples of poor dialogue sprinkled liberally across all six movies. Such gems as this appear in the original film:

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy. Without precise calculations, we'd fly right through a star, or bounce to close to a supernova, and that would end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

But most of the flaws in Star Wars are relatively minor and forgivable, even in cases where they begin to intrude on logic. There are so many good things about this movie that it's hard not to look past its problems. If you want to accuse Mark Hamil of overacting, for example, you still can't help but love his character when he sees Princess Leia for the first time.

Lucas' choice to use relatively unknown actors like Hamil in most of the major roles is a huge advantage to Star Wars. Especially as a child, I believed that Harrison Ford was Han Solo without thinking of him as Harrison Ford, a problem that too many movies with big names tend to have. Watch any Will Smith or Arnold Schwarzenegger movie and try, even for a minute, to forget that you're looking at Will Smith or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Star Wars makes it easy to do just that, or at least it did when it was new. Even the bigger names are ones that kids in the 70's wouldn't have recognized, like Peter Cushing in an excellent performance as Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star, or Alec Guiness, whose portrayal of Kenobi is one of the movie's best points.

I mention kids because, ultimately, it was they who propelled Star Wars to the top. While the whole world was captivated, it was the innocent and open minds of the young that truly believed in the Force and demanded to see it again and again.

And while just about every "family" movie out these days makes a poor and inept attempt to appeal to parents as well, Star Wars succeeds with honors. Perhaps it's the movie's refusal to patronize or talk down to its audience, a flaw all too common in "family films". Or maybe it goes back to the whole mythology thing - Star Wars is the kind of story that has been told for generations, akin to westerns, medieval fantasy, or even ancient tales of battle and heroism.

Of course this is on purpose. Parallels between Star Wars and the classics are easy to spot because Lucas intentionally put them there, just as he intentionally mixed the most basic ideas of all the world's major religions to develop the Force. It's easy to say, "hey, this guy may be on to something," something uttered by comic-book dorks for nearly thirty years now, because he's made sure to make the idea appeal to everyone.

Which is exactly what he's done with the entire picture. While he has been known, especially in recent years, to purposefully sneak a liberal message into much of what he does, Lucas in 1977 simply wanted to make a movie that everyone could love, regardless of who they were. And rarely has anyone succeeded in doing so quite as well.

The past ten years have seen a great divide form among fans of the franchise, first with the release of Lucas' updated Star Wars Special Edition, and more recently with the Prequel Trilogy that many still insist should never have been made. But ask any of them what they initially loved about Star Wars, and they will begin to gush like a teenager in love for the first time. Not only did Star Wars grab the public its initial run, but it never got old. And that is the mark of a truly great movie.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS