May the Force be with us

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH US

A LOOK BACK AT THE STAR WARS PHENOMENON

A long time ago… well back in 1977 something happened that would change my life, I fell in love with movies. I know it sounds like a bit of a cliché but previous to the release of this film, the cinema was filled with more adult themed, critically acclaimed movies such as The Godfather Parts I & II, Mean Streets, Jaws and The Exorcist but, been only four years old, it would be a while before I would appreciate these great movies. Going to the movies in those days meant watching the year's big animated Disney release. Sci-Fi had died a death after the B-Movie explosion during the Space Race in the late 1950s and 60s but something was about to be released that would re-ignite the interest and turn it into a raging inferno, that movie was Star Wars.

Never had a movie captured a generation as much as Star Wars did. Ask anyone in their late 20s, early 30s which is the first movie they remember and it would be Star Wars, even if they didn't like it. A movie had never embedded itself into the public arena as much as Star Wars. It was everywhere. On cereal packets, pencil cases, school bags, posters, the list was endless. Every child I knew owned at least one Star Wars action figure.

The movie made Sci-Fi box-office gold again and led to a glut of big screen space adventures. Without Star Wars another great Sci-Fi institution, Star Trek, wouldn't have returned. Creator Gene Roddenberry was quoted in saying that without Star Wars, Sci-Fi and Star Trek would have still been a forgotten genre. Star Wars was a phenomenon and the original trilogy, as it would become known, would go down in history as the most loved movies to ever be released.

To celebrate the release of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, I take a look back at the other four movies in the saga and how each one affected the fans imaginations…

STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE

The introduction to the Star Wars Universe started with a bang and probably one the most famous opening shots in movie history. As the giant Imperial Star Destroyer filled the entire screen, people's jaws instantly hit the ground and from then on in it was one technological marvel after another. The first movie raised the bar where special effects were concerned but it was all about how the movie looked it was the basic story of good vs. evil that captured the public's imagination. On one hand you had the naïve but brave young hero in Luke Skywalker, played by relative newcomer Mark Hamill, and the menacing and evil villain in the shape of Darth Vader, the audience instantly knew who to cheer for and who to boo. Director George Lucas had captured the essence of the old movie serials like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, but gave them a scope. The film went on to become the highest grossing movie of all time, a record it would hold for five years until the release of E.T. in 1982. Culminating in the classic attack on the Death Star, the movie finished on a high and left fans gasping for more.

STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

After the huge success of the first movie, a sequel was inevitable. In 1980 The Empire Strikes Back. A much darker movie than the first and considered by the fans as the best of the Star Wars movies, Empire was another phenomenal hit for George Lucas. As well as the returning original cast the second movie introduced Jedi Master Yoda, Bounty Hunter Boba Fett and former scoundrel Lando Calrissian. The tone of the movie was completely different to first one with the heroes now shown to be in hiding with the Empire and Darth Vader using all their might to hunt them down. Battles, awakenings, love, betrayal and revelations were the themes central to the film's success and one of the greatest plot twists in movie history revealed in the film's final act. Backed by another cavalcade of merchandising and promotion the movie went on to make over $300 million worldwide and after the very downbeat and open-ended finale another sequel was a forgone conclusion.

STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI

After the cliffhanger ending of the second episode, Star Wars was back in 1983 with the final chapter, Return of the Jedi. Recapturing the original tone of the first movie and moving away from the darker elements of the second sequel, the film dealt with friendship, companionship, love, and triumph over insurmountable odds but the central theme was redemption. Introducing Jabba the Hutt, the Ewoks and finally bringing a character to the forefront we had only ever seen briefly, The Emperor, the returning cast members would have their work cut out to make it through this one. Another welcome returnee wasn't even a character, The Death Star was back and it would take the entire Rebel fleet to defeat it this time, which means only one thing, one hell of a mammoth space battle in the final act. While the movie was a great success, it never made as much money as the previous two films. Fans didn't really take to the Ewoks, they thought they where just another marketing tool but the film did end dramatically, tying up the Luke Skywalker/Darth Vader story completely.

With the original movie been classed as episode IV, fans where expecting the three prequels to come along not long after the original trilogy. Little did they know that after watching Return of the Jedi in 1983, it would be another sixteen years before Star Wars would return to the silver screen.

STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE

After re-releasing Special Edition versions of the Original Trilogy in 1997 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first movie, the fans knew that George Lucas was working on the first of the new Prequel Trilogy. Starting production in 1995, the film quickly became the most talked about event on the movie calendar. All the fans knew is that the three movies would deal with Anakin Skywalker. Covering his journey from childhood to Jedi and then his fall into the darkside of the force, expectation for the new movie was beyond belief. The casting was good, a mix of seasoned character actors in Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson and Ian McDiarmid with upcoming talent in Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman. The teaser and full trailers grabbed everyone's attention and the merchandising was everywhere, it was like 1977 all over again. The movie opened huge with a $64.8 million first weekend take in the US alone and everyone expected it to be the biggest grossing film of all time. That was until they saw it.

Even though the underlying story of the Emperor's move into power, the Phantom Menace of the title, was fascinating, the rest of the movie was a disappointment to many fans. What they didn't remember was the original trilogy were kids movies and the fans expected something darker and more meaningful aimed more at them than a new young audience. They were greeted with a collection of set sequences to showboat the advances George Lucas's SFX firm ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) had made in the last sixteen years and a character, in the shape of Jar Jar Binks, that critics and die-hard fans would both despise. It did capture the essence of the first movie however. The characters had decent introductions and action sequences, especially the brilliant pod race built up the excitement for the finale. The movie's main achievement was it had one hell of a Jedi battle. The previous three movies had never really shown the Jedi at the height of their powers and the battle between Qui-Gon Jin, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the new villain Darth Maul was, for most of the fans, the highlight of the film.

While still entertaining, the Phantom Menace was not the reintroduction into the Star Wars Universe the fans had always dreamed about. On May 16th 2002, the next chapter in the prequel trilogy maybe what we have been waiting for…

May the force be with us.

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