The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

IN CONTEXT

GENRE

Science fiction, adventure

DIRECTOR

George Lucas

WRITER

George Lucas

STARS

Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness

BEFORE

1971 George Lucas’s first movie, THX 1138, is a science-fiction fable set in a dystopian future policed by androids.

AFTER

1980 Lucas vacates the director’s chair for The Empire Strikes Back, the first follow-up to Star Wars, which formed “Episode V” of a narrative arc.

1983 The initial Star Wars trilogy concludes with Return of the Jedi. It is followed in 1999 by The Phantom Menace, the first of three prequels.

Just as fairy tales begin with “Once upon a time… ,” Star Wars opens with a title card that reads “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” With these words, the audience is transported to a storybook universe of heroic farm boys, dueling knights, comical servants, dark lords, oppressed rebels, and princesses locked in deep, dark dungeons. George Lucas combines these elements to relate a defiantly American tale. Obi-Wan Kenobi, the grand old Jedi master (played by Alec Guinness), is a fusion of warrior-wizard and self-help guru, while “the Force” is a magical expression of the American Dream, stressing the power of the individual.

Mixing genres

For any fan of the movies, the joy of Lucas’s blockbuster is its magpie approach to genre. Star Wars is a science-fiction adventure, a fairy tale, a Western, a war movie, a samurai epic, a slapstick comedy, and even a Shakespearean tragedy—and all of these blended into a single movie that’s accessible to anyone from the age of five up. In short, it is a great introduction to the endless possibilities of the moving image.

Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) joins Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to do battle with the evil Empire. They become close, but have a big surprise in store for them.

What else to watch: Flash Gordon (1936) ✵ The Hidden Fortress (1958) ✵ Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ✵ The Empire Strikes Back (1980)