No film has ever had a greater impact on both the film industry and popular culture

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2011)

Ah, Star Wars. THE epic film among epic films. An entire multi-billion dollar genre was born the day this film was released.
We can debate the story elements, we can debate the script, we can debate the plot, we can debate the set elements, we can debate the casting. It's not a perfect film by any means in the technical or production sense. But those special effects...those characters...the pure magic of it...all in a galaxy far, far away. It can't be explained, only experienced. And for kids and young people in 1977, there was nothing greater. It was a jaw-dropping experience. There had never been anything like it.
It ran in theaters for over a year, uninterrupted. There were lines out the door for six months to see this film. It was perfectly normal to run into people who had the seen the film 20 or 30 times.
So, what we can't debate is the staggering popularity of this film, and it's profound impact on popular culture and, to some extent, modern society. It's not too bold to say that the light speed advances in digital and computer technology that we take for granted today were accelerated by the intense "high tech" optimism and pursuit of advanced technology that this film inspired, both in terms of its technical special effects and its portrayal of advanced tech devices and platforms that seemed perfectly normal to the characters in the film. Young people saw what was possible, they were floored by it, and they were motivated to make it real, and make it better.
This is the most popular film ever made, and that carries enormous weight. More than enough to offset various shortcomings that critics may find. In all honesty, no other film even comes close to the popularity and impact of Star Wars. Not E.T., not Shawshank, not Private Ryan, not Gone With the Wind, not Wizard of Oz.
Consider yourself fortunate if you're part of the Star Wars generation, those kids and teens of the 1970s who experienced this film when it blew the lid off the industry and wowed the world. It was a very special thing indeed.