Unassailable

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2004)

When I was 13 I heard tell of a movie that had my childish heart leaping with joy. A sci-fi adventure that, from the trailers, was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Until then, the best that sci-fi had shown me was Star Trek.
I counted down the days until it came out and then, one fateful day in the summer, I went to see it. In the queue, I met up with a friend who'd also gone to see the movie alone. So we got tickets and sat together someplace in the middle of the rows. Whilst we waited for the movie to start we, like everyone else there, discussed what we knew of the film, what trailers we'd seen etc..
Then the lights dimmed and as the curtains (they had real fancy ones in those days!) drew back from the screen, the 20th Century Fox logo appeared and the signature tune burst into life with deafening loudness.
From that moment on I sat open-mouthed, like everyone else, as the film unfolded before us. There were no mobile phones in those days to annoy you, no sniggering teens in the back rows. There were teens, of course, but they were as raptly enthralled as everyone else. In the rare quiet moments of the film, the silence in the auditorium spoke volumes as to what we were bearing witness to - to what we were becoming a part of. The friend whom I was sitting with faded into the darkness - we never exchanged one word during the whole film. Afterwards, as we left, both of us were strangely subdued. The film had stunned us so much that mere words could not begin to explain how we felt. It was almost as if we wanted to savour the moment, as if we knew that such a perfect afternoon's entertainment would never come again. And we'd be right.
To say that Star Wars changed my life may seem a conceit. The movie offered nothing more than (for a 13 year old) a fantastic couple of hours entertainment that you wished could go on forever. But it's true nonetheless. For Star Wars, unlike the dry and dreary sci-fi flicks of the time such as Silent Running and Zardoz, offered one thing that no film until then had managed.
It opened doors to the imagination. From that point on no movie need be limited by the constraints of the movie-making process. Anything was possible. Of course, it wouldn't be until the advent of CGI that this promise could truly be fulfilled, but after Star Wars, nothing was the same again.
My only complaint against Star Wars is that it is no longer available in the original theatre release version. Mr Lucas' Special Edition of the film, though adding much to the movie, also (in my humble opinion) took just as much away. The Special Edition looks slicker, nicer, more complete. But my memories won't let go of the original version, which had such a profound effect upon me. The Special Edition version, whilst fantastic, just doesn't look right to me. To me it's as if the original has been supplanted by some Doppleganger. It may look the same on the surface but......it isn't same.
This is perhaps the only time I've ever thought a special version of the film was worse than the original. So here's my hope - that the original version will be released on DVD too. I can't be the only one who would want that, can I? In the rest of my life to date only a few films have ever come close to matching that sense of awe and excitement - Jurassic Park, Aliens and The Fellowship of the Ring. And even they, whilst great films in their own right, do not come that close.
But don't take my word for it, go and watch it yourself. Today, of course, it shows its age, and everyone is used to films with huge scope and effects. For those who saw it originally as I did - as a kid at the dawn of FX cinema - I probably don't need to go on. For those who have not seen it - why not? In my other reviews I sometimes pour scorn on movies, scripts, SFX, acting - you name it. Sometimes even I think I can be a little harsh at times. But if I am it's because bad movies shouldn't be made anymore. If they could get it right in 1977, shouldn't they all be great films now? My benchmark for judging other films are the memories of a 13 year old kid. Is it any wonder nothing can live up to them? The only parting comment I'll make about Star Wars is to recommend you see it on a big screen if at all possible. Nothing like that should ever be show on a 14" portable with mono sound. Some films demand a cinema, or at the very least a hefty plasma TV with surround sound. Nothing else will ever do it justice.
Enjoy!