35 Years of Star Wars and You

Fox Home Entertainment and George Lucas are finally bringing all six films of the Star Wars Saga to Blu-ray for the first time ever on September 16th, and they contacted Killer Film for an opportunity to talk about its timeless appeal. For this writer, mauling over any and all possible ideas, the one that hit me the most is personal, and that’s why Star Wars has lasted through two generations, if not more, because everyone has a personal connection to the Saga.

Released in 1977, success was not predestined for George Lucas’ loving ode to space operas, and one cannot under-appreciate his creative marketing campaign that surely secured its status as a “hit movie.” But one hit movie can be forgotten. How has Star Wars lasted all this time? Initial quick responses should include the cool factor of the films, the timeless appeal of good vs. evil, the action, the music, memorable quotes, but ultimately, the longevity of Star Wars is personal attachment to the films. Star Wars has lasted because you, myself, and every other fan has grown-up with it because it affected us somehow, and we don’t want to let it go.

I was born in 1981, after Empire Strikes Back but it wasn’t too long before I was old enough for my uncle to show me A New Hope on VHS. I was glued to the tube TV. The beeps, the sounds, the creatures, the heroism, Vader. It all tickled an overly imaginative young boy. After years of repeated views on the films, I grew older obviously, but Star Wars never became that nerdy franchise some associate it with. I still recall those 1997 Special Edition at the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, NE. The theater was noted for using the Cinerama screen, a process which works by simultaneously projecting images from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply-curved screen, subtending 146° of arc.

High school was a little hard for me, namely because gangs, drugs, and after school activities weren’t something I was eager to jump on the band wagon for, not when I could take a pencil and paper and create my own world and creatures, something no drug, no high ever could do. In art class, maybe by accident or not, I befriended some Star Wars fans, one who was my teacher, but after being known for my talents in the classroom, my friend – who made masks and make-up for local haunted houses – came to an agreement with me. We were to unite and graduate in time to work on the VFX for the upcoming Star Wars prequels. We determined our first gig for LucasArts and ILM was going to be the then untitled Episode II, since this was 1996/7 and Episode I was filming.

Naive, yet in hindsight who cared, because it got us through the turbulent time of our freshman and sophomore years. My high school became dubiously noted across the nation ever since 20/20 and CNN caught wind of two punks who thought it would be cool to film themselves beating up a helpless kid at lunchtime. You have to remember, this was pre-Colombine, so it was incredibly shocking. Nonetheless, we wanted to be the ones who birthed Lord Vader!

1999 was approaching, and while that was the year I would graduate high school, Star Wars was back in vogue amongst fans in the form of an all-new Star Wars movie: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. I recall the hype leading up to its May 19th, 1999 release. The teaser trailer of Vader breathing as a young Anakin walking away from his Tattooine hut gave us goosebumps. It was the 18th of May, and back then I wasn’t a midnight movie goer, so my uncle told me to wait a few weeks for all of those fans to see it, and then we wouldn’t have to fight the crowds as much. The notion was just, well maybe for my uncle, a man who waited in line patiently for Empire Strikes Back with his grandpa in 1980, only to have two overly eager fans walk out of a screening, shocked and excited. They walked passed him and exclaimed: “I can’t believe Vader is Luke’s father!” Worst spoiler ever? Yeah.

So I had to wait, but the fan boy in me was emerging and my friend and I were to take these girls to a movie for a date. My suggestion? The Phantom Menace! The movie we saw? Never Been Kissed. I was a bear that night. I don’t recall her name now 12 years later, but she leaned to me, and said: “What’s wrong?” She placed her hand on my knee. “I think this is a cute movie.” Yeah, I guess it was. My problem as I told her, was that our theater was next to the theater they were playing Episode I in! I heard every deep bass, every lightsaber swing, every awesome moment still unseen by me. It was torturous.

Of course, in the following weeks I did finally see Episode I and of course, my friend and I never got to work on the VFX for the following films. So I now write about Star Wars. I rushed to the local Circuit City to buy Episode I on VHS. I waited outside for its first-ever DVD release – in the rain. I waited for hours to get into Best Buy to buy the Original Trilogy on DVD, and I’m pressuring my wife to rally up the $90 to get them on Blu-ray. Why? Well, if you’re still asking that after this article, then sadly, dear reader, you just don’t know what it means to be a Star Wars fan.

I also named my Lemon Beagle Chewbacca.

Despite the growing and continuous controversy over Lucas’ tinkering with the films, adding new stuff, taking stuff out, fans get mad, fans get glad, it’s how the Saga has lasted and will continue to last. No amount of digital manipulation will ever change the fact of the very basic concept that tickled one little boy in the early ’80s or even a child like my nephew for seeing Star Wars for the first time soon in 2011, it’s that Star Wars is us. It’s personal. My story differs from yours, yet we can come together for 2 hours every now and then for something Lucas cannot change and that’s to be taken to a galaxy far, far away…

What’s your story?