You may love Star Wars, or just like it, not care about it, or even hate it… but this can not be denied, it has been an important part of our culture for some 3 decades.
I hesitate putting pen to paper with this topic. Zack knows miles too much and it’s a bit intimidating. I suppose I could have researched stuff to improve on my accuracy. But I am not going to paint with too fine a brush… I prefer the impressionism of feeling and memory (detailed as that might be), it just might not square with the facts.
Anyway… this isn’t really meant to be a critical appraisal of George Lucas’ “magnum opus”… of the finer points I am hardly qualified to provide judgement. But having seen the final installment of the Star Wars Series I just wanted to check-in with a few observations.
1. John Williams’ score and theme. Wonderful. It’s the musical equivalent of “Pavlov’s Dog”… you hear it and your heart begins to race, your spirit is lifted.
2. Alec Guiness… look at his acting resume. Is there anything that even remotely suggests that he would have played Obi-Wan Kenobe? And yet, to that role he rendered a dignity and strength of character that is a monument to virtue.
3. Names… how did Lucas come up with the variety of planet names, other world inhabitants and language forms? S.J. Pearlman was a master of funky names, as was Woody Allen after him; but Lucas sends them both to grade school.
4. Yoda… love his inverted syntax; but really loved that technology finally allowed us to witness this diminutive Jedi Knight’s athletic skill and awesome light sabre technique.
5. The “non-human” element. I grew up on Star Trek (still a big fan of Mr. Spock); but that is kid’s play compared to the variety of “other worldlies” that Lucas treated us to. Maybe it’s the bartender in me; but I still adore the saloon scene in the first Star Wars with the extraterrestrial rock band & “sci-fi” patrons. Also, hard not to love a Wookie, and hard not to hate, and yet admire, Jabba the Hut.
6. Ordinance… not weapons per se; but the various space or land based vehicles and contraptions used in exterminating the enemy. I don’t have a particular favorite. I am just in awe and wished I was young enough to play with toys again.
7. It’s fun to project the various heroes and villains as Democrats and Republicans.
8. Breathtaking scenes… it matters not, the scope is unreal. The locations are stunning… snow planets that make you shiver or places that are hot & desolate and make you crazed with thirst. Time after time, Lucas is simply a master at creating locations where size and scale dwarf the human form and endeavor.
9. The Evil Emperor in the first episode, made to look “old and demonic” then, reprised the role in the final episode some 28 years later… no longer needing, I suppose, as much make-up to look “old and demonic”. And if he was my father, I think I would slit my wrists.
10. The single best moment… in the final episode… the charred heap of Annakin Skywalker is rescued by the Evil Emperor and taken for medical repairs. He is restored, artificial body parts added, a black suit donned… then the black mask to cover his disfigured face and helmut are put into place… voila Darth Vader springs to being… but not quite yet. We hear his voice! Now he’s complete. Yes, yes!! Thru the mechanical breathing we are chilled to the deep resonant voice! James Earl Jones!! He’s back! Thank you for living this long! Vader has arisen.
I am sure that others will supply 11, 12, 13 and so on ad infinitum. And not one entry would be wrong or badly misplaced. We are only limited by our imagination, and, more than anything, what George Lucas has demonstrated is how spectacular an imagination can be.