STAR WARS

 
* * * *

STARRING: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels

1977, 121 Minutes, Directed by: George Lucas

 
Nothing can explain the excitement of an impressionable ten-year-old (probably the best age to have seen it for the first time!) sitting in a darkened and hushed movie theatre watching a giant star ship slide through a starry expanse at the start of this movie. What 2001 was to a previous generation, this movie was to a newer one. It was the realisation of a dream come true. For this generation, too young to remember 2001 on the big screen, this was the epiphany, the moment of realisation. Star Wars was unlike anything we have ever seen before.

Thereafter nothing would be the same . . .

Sure, the special effects wizardry seen in Star Wars is put in aid of a pure 1930s space opera pulp story, and not in metaphysical speculation like 2001. But try explaining that to that 10-year-old kid . . .

Followed by Empire Strikes Back (in 1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).
 

• Hugo Award Winner (1978)
• Tagline (teaser poster): "Coming to your galaxy this summer."
• Read the script.
• Read our review of the Star Wars Trilogy on VCD.
• Read our review of Star Wars on bootleg DVD.
• Read a book review of George Lucas: A Biography by John Baxter.
• Fact # 1: According to Mark Hamill, studio executives were unhappy that Chewbacca has no clothes and attempted to have the costume redesigned with shorts.
• Fact # 2: The "TIE" in TIE Fighter is an acronym. It stands for "Twin Ion Engines".
• Fact # 3: When 20th Century Fox attempted to distribute the film in the U.S., fewer than 40 theatres agreed to show it. As a solution, Fox threatened that any cinema that refused to show Star Wars would not be given the rights to screen the potential blockbuster The Other Side of Midnight (1977) (which ended up grossing less than 10% of what Star Wars did).
• Fact # 4: When Darth Vader crushes the neck of one of his officers, the actual sound you hear is of walnut shells being crushed.
• Watch the trailer.
   

Voted
# 3
of the
Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies
of all time
by: