1977: A galaxy much too far away

Rating: 8/10 (10 November 2013)

I saw this marvellously old-fashioned hokum with my girlfriend at the packed out Pics on March 25th 1978. Exhausted at all the screen wipes by the end all we were thinking of was hopefully not waiting too long in the cold for the last bus home; so much for intergalactic travel. Star Wars was a phenomena then, and still is – although I did warn a big fan I knew at the time that it wouldn't take too long for the special effects to go dog-eared with age and even recommended Kurosawa's original to him instead. However, he probably still disdainfully thinks, along with many others that movies, indeed history, began with Star Wars.
Young stereotype joins forces with a disparate group of stereotypes to save the white universe and Princess Stereotype from stereotypical space baddies in a adventurous story bordering on corny with then innovative now dated film technology. Definitely nothing wrong with any of that, just that when stripped down it's not only incredible but incredibly ordinary and merely reflects back to me some lovely sunny days from the mid '70's. Even the sinister ugly aliens had somehow listened to the cleaner music of Frank Zappa. Fancy spending trillions of trillions on an immense battleship complete with a titchy flue with a security implication. I saw Lucas's 90's cgi cartoonery revision at the Pics with my daughter, the spacecraft still wobbled and there were many white borders on display but overall his team had done a good job trying to stem the onslaughts of Time on his cash cow. Many of my favourite films are pure - and poor - old fashioned corn but no one on planet Earth thinks they're life changing works of Art in the same way as they do this monument to Luck.
The film I saw was Part I full stop; if Disney ever gets to Part XXVII what if they want to do a prequel to the prequel and more pathetic re-numbering and retrospective digital title re-jigging ensues, will Lucas let them? I've always favoured the originals of anything generally and also draw the line at altering future history.
I enjoy it immensely whenever it's on UK TV, as I can feel the persuasive Force of not having to think for a couple of hours and to simply enjoy the ride.