A Long, Long Wait For A Movie Far, Far Away

Rating: 10/10 (9 May 2008)

This is not a review of the first ( and best ) 'Star Wars' movie. I take it, fellow I.M.D.B. users, that you are already familiar with the plot, characters and production history, and how its success changed the face of cinema overnight. So rather than rehash all the known facts, I want instead to recount a personal memory.
I first learnt of 'Star Wars' thanks to Granada's 'The Krypton Factor', a long-running game show designed to test contestants' intelligence, physical fitness, powers of observation and so on. I liked the latter round as it often gave one a chance to catch a sneak preview of a new movie. One week, they ran a clip of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, R2D2 and C2PO escaping The Death Star in The Millennium Falcon, and being shot at by pursuing T.I.E. fighters. I fell off my chair. What was this? 1970's sci-fi movies were mostly depressing affairs, predicting gloomy futures for Mankind, now here was something fast, colourful, and lively, with lasers zapping about outer space and explosions. Right up my street.
I had to see it. But the film was not yet on release here. There was no Internet then so I got my movie information from the local paper. I kept checking for news of an impending screening at my local cinema, but no - there was nothing. I began to wonder if the movie actually existed or not. Had Granada pulled off the greatest hoax of all time? I read the Sphere book voraciously until I knew the story backwards. I played the Meco disco single at every opportunity. When Marvel's comic adaptation went on sale, I was almost thrown out of the newsagent for jumping up and down for sheer joy.
At my school, 'Star Wars' was a dirty word to sci-fi fans, mainly because it was not 'Close Encounters'. The Spielberg picture was regarded as 'adult' and 'intelligent', while the Lucas movie was deemed 'kiddie stuff' starring weirdos in fancy dress running around with a bloke dressed as a big teddy bear.
The wait dragged on and on. In an episode of 'Coronation Street', Gail ( Helen Worth ) asked her then-boyfriend, Steve Fisher: "When's 'Star Wars' coming round here?" to which he replied: "It'll be some time I expect.". His words encapsulated the sheer frustration and impatience felt by all us U.K. fans. The highest grossing film of all time and we can't see it? What is the hold up? Are they redoing bits for the benefit of British audiences? Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness are in it so this cannot be right.
In desperation, I told a blatant lie to my best friend. "I have seen 'Star Wars'", I proclaimed. He looked about as shocked as if I'd said I'd spent the night with Carrie Fisher. I claimed that my uncle Eric worked for Twentieth Century-Fox ( another lie. He drove taxi cabs for a living ) as an assistant editor and George Lucas had been so impressed with his work on the film, he had generously given him a print. To back up my claim, I reeled off a long list of plot details and scene descriptions. I got a few things wrong, such as Jabba The Hut and Biggs Darklighter, both of whom were excised from the final cut. But by the time my friend saw the film he had forgotten these. He did beg me to ask my uncle to run the film specially for him on Sunday afternoon, but I deflected this by stating that Uncle Eric's projector had broken down. He never asked again.
Being about fifteen, I was too old for the toys, hence on Christmas Day 1977 I was denied the pleasure of reenacting the assault on The Death Star in my garden shed, with the aid of elastic bands, old Subbuteo figures and the John Williams soundtrack thumping out of my Hitachi tape recorder.
After what felt like an eternity, the movie finally opened here and suddenly it became fashionable to denounce it as 'overrated'. 'It was childish when they were playing trumpets in the Cantina' was my best friend's verdict. That was all he had to say on the subject ( he would have made a great film critic! ). Many people felt that the film had not been worth the six month wait. I was one of the few to speak in its defence. I was glad that sci-fi movies were fun again. Nobody left the theatre with a spring in their step after seeing Milo The Baby Chimp's parents brutally murdered by the U.S. Government at the end of 'Escape From The Planet Of The Apes'.
'Star Wars' spawned two sequels, neither as good, and inspired the likes of 'Alien', 'The Black Hole', 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' and countless others. Without Lucas, these would simply not have been made.
I am not a big fan of the prequels, but then I'm not young anymore, so can't enjoy that kind of movie in the same way. 'Star Wars' brought 'A New Hope' to those of us wanting old fashioned escapism on the Silver Screen again. I envy kids today for not having to wait until winter for the latest summer blockbuster.