A fantasy well realized....

Rating: 7/10 (19 August 2005)

A few years ago, the New Yorker magazine wrote a fascinating article on Star Wars. It explained the whole phenomenon of Star Wars and how it happened. I was like other 5 year old "Star Wars" fanatics in 1977 and when I saw the Millennium Falcon zap into hyper-drive, it was an overwhelming stimulation of the imagination. Suddenly every 4 and 5 year old child was teleported into a future that existed long ago and in a galaxy far away. "Star Wars' gave reason to why we see movies in a big and darkened theater. Yes, Star Wars was a phenomenon but it was not THE film changed the movie industry. That was Jaws.
Star Wars's greatest achievement is that the film was such a grand and ambitious project and yet, writer, director George Lucas was able to realize it. No other science fiction film has had so many creatures, planets and special effects as Star Wars. It is a universe in and of itself. Looking back on "Star Wars" many year later, I can see problems that seemed to permeate in the other films from the saga. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars is a masterpiece, that is up until the story leads Luke and the others into the Death Star. By that point, the film turns into an exaggerated cartoon. When Han Solo is chasing after an army of stormtroopers, we get the idea that he's really not that scared. Okay, he's scared but not to the point where his life is at risk. We see this type of problem in all the Star Wars films (with the exception of "The Empire Strikes Back"). Characters are running around shooting each other like a bunch of kids playing tag. Where's the suspense and drama that leads us to believe that this is supposed to be real? It worked for the first half of Star Wars.
The first hour of Star Wars is beautifully written. One of my favorite scenes is when Luke and Obi-Wan are sitting at Obi Wan's home. Obi wan is talking about the past and also talking about Luke's father and the "force" which is an "energy field created by all living things." This conversation is one of the moments of the film that always enhanced my imagination for the film. I not only believed in the film, but I also believed that there was all of this history and supernatural elements that existed prior to this film. Too bad, the history was later realized into another series of cartoonishly dull adventures in the Episode I, II, and III. Oh well. It is after all the imagination come to life that makes all of these films important. That's what counts. The rest is mediocre.