Big Classic

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2002)

Grade: *** (out of *****)

The year: 1977. 20th century Fox, a very popular studio nowadays, was about to go downhill with some other productions that didn't make `enough' money on the USA box-offices. The instrument of salvation: the very own `Star Wars', that actually saved Fox. The director: George Lucas, who hadn't had much experience with movies, except for another science fiction, `THX 1138'. The budget: only 11 million dolars! However, as soon as it hit the movies, it was critically acclaimed and a big success. The question: was this success really deserved? The answer: yes and no. The truth is: it's an ok movie, with poor actings and bad script but what made Star Wars really Star Wars it's its magic, the thought of actually being in `a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..' while watching it.
Its advanced (for the time) special effects also made Star Wars more believable, as well as the absolutely stunning soundtrack, by the powerful John Willians (who also made some other famous theme songs, such as ET, Jaws, Indiana Jones, etc.). Of course, who can't remember that famous song who became a big classic? Also, the characters are really well developed, such as Yoda, the Jedis, Han Solo (played by Harrisson Ford), Luke Skywalker (played by the silly Mark Hammil), Princess Leia, etc. In fact, they're so nice that the Jedi fights really seem real. Now that all the positive aspects of the movie have been shown, you'll see why this isn't a 5 stars movie. It's because beneath the magic and the jedis, it just ain't a cult, intelligent movie: it's just a regular story about the good guys and the bad guys, about love on its silliest shape, etc.
Star Wars was also one of the first roles of the famous (today) Harrisson Ford , who later on made characters on movies just like Han Solo: good guys who'll many times (?) save the world, who'll fall in love in the middle of the movie for an adorable rich `princess' and will rescue her in the end, from the hands of the bad guys. However, people in general really seem to like characters like this. After all, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and its follow-ups were really big hits, weren't they? Episode IV storyline is about a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy. It looks like it's smart, doesn't it? Well, but it is not! To sum up, when watching `Star Wars', just realise that the magic is not enough without its fantasy, that tries to hide the stupid plot: you'll travel, but once you think well about the movie, you'll land again...