Star Wars is Back

Rating: 9/10 (18 May 1999)

As a self-proclaimed Star Wars fan, I have anxiously awaited this day for what seemed like forever. I had heard reviews claiming that the film plays young, is corny, has great effects, but stale acting. I approached it with an open mind-- I wanted the experience of a NEW Star Wars to take me away; I was going to enjoy myself. Lucas has said that it's just a movie. . . people have made more of it over the years than he intended. That may be, but there's no denying that the original Trilogy has meant an awful lot to an awful lot of people. We revel in the opportunity to see Lucas' imagination at work in our favorite galaxy, and we understand that it is his galaxy to create. Nevertheless, we can't help ourselves from wanting the new to be as good as the familiar. The Star Wars name carries a heavy burden of responsibility. It is a world free of any other, a story able to exist independently of any particular time and place, transcendent. So we wince a little when Chewie does the Tarzan yell in Return of the Jedi. And in Episode I, we hope that such references are rare. There are some things we want to stay fantastic, not grounded in experience. The magic of the Force is its mystery, a beautiful, intuitive energy beyond the rational and ephemeral. so, there are many little things about The Phantom Menace that disappoint. But Lucas does not. The film, I am glad to report, excites. It is as though we all remember the true Star Wars as the story progresses. The light saber duels, the space fights, the personal over the oppressive machine: all prevail. I was giddy as the blue letters first came on screen, and as the music played. I loved the early minutes, then fell into a passive state of observation. But when the pod race comes, and when Darth Maul attacks, and when the climactic sequences hit, I was thrilled. This is the Star Wars I know; Lucas has kept up his end of a bargain he never agreed to-- it was set upon him. And so go to the movie, and enjoy. Have fun. Be swept away, because It's back.