Star Wars (1977) *****

Star Wars changed everything. That could be the review of the film. Nothing else needs to be said, but I will. It changed how movies were made, merchandise, released, controlled. Everything. Film was going into a transition period that saw the collapse of the huge studio systems into small, independent, personal films. A summer blockbuster was a foreign animal. The 1970’s were a decade of sadness and disgust in far more than Hollywood films. Society dictated what film presented on the screen in 1977. Star Wars changed that. It was ok to escape. It is a watershed moment in film history, commercial history, and holds a place in billions of lives across the globe. Billions. Those are religion numbers and people actively practice it.

The scaled down plot of the film is simple. A princess in danger. A young farm boy with no sights of a future is wrapped up in an adventure with an old wizard, a scoundrel, and sidekicks to stop the evil that has engulfed the galaxy. It’s all there and it was so different in 1977. In a decade that gave us Straw Dogs, Taxi Driver, Dog Day Afternoon, and all of those disaster films Star Wars was a breath of fresh air. It was a turning point for the dark view of American society in the 1970’s. It harkens back to yesterday when heroes were heroes and villains were villains. A simpler time. Lines were not blended at that time.

The acting and the dialogue aren’t the greatest with Harrison Ford delivering the best performance, but director George Lucas creates a world out of nothing but ancient religious beliefs. It carries on more than it’s movie serial tradition, but an ideal of being one with the world. It wasn’t just the marketing that pushed this film from beyond the silver screen, but those universal ideas of accepting what is good and shunning the evil that we encounter in our lives. I’m getting really deep on this so bare with me.

Overall, Star Wars is a magnificent film that captures not just one spirit, but multiple ideals from throughout history. There’s thousands of years of beliefs rolled up into 125 minutes of intergalactic adventure. Of course Star Wars is a phenomenon, but when you get back to the basics of the film itself it stands on its own and has become a high standard that other filmmakers try to achieve