RETROSPECTIVE The Star Wars Movies Starring: Alec Guinness, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing Directed by: George Lucas, Robert Marquand, Irvin Kershner Produced by: George Lucas, Gary Kurtz, Rick McCallum, Howard G Kazanjian Written by: George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan Distributed By: Twentieth Century Fox, Lucasfilm

“Luke, I am your father.” –Darth Vader

     Who doesn’t know that line? I mean, in the whole world? Even people who live in the middle of nowhere, even those with no homes, even those who have never seen a movie in their entire life are familiar with it. I’m sure some dolphins, even sea-sponges, are fully aware of the Star Wars movies’ story-lines. That’s why I won’t even get into them in this retrospective. Why bother if I don’t need to? The bottom line: if you haven’t seen every picture in this landmark series, you must do two things. (1) Make sure you don’t suffer from any type of memory loss. (2) Go out and rent them, no, better yet, buy them, right now. I don’t care if you’re injured. I don’t care if you’re dying. I don’t care if you can’t drive. If you don’t gain access to them at some time or another (read: now), you’ll regret missing out on a crucial part of life.

     In 1977, the world was blown away by an amazing motion picture, called A New Hope, the first entry into the Star Wars franchise. It was a pioneer in both the stories of science fiction films and special effects, incorporating unthinkable technology into the imaginative genre. The moment everyone first laid eyes on Luke, Princess Leia, and crew, they fell in love. So deeply so, the film spawned two sequels: 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi.

     But, of course, people were naturally sad to see them go, after Jedi ran its final show in theatres. So, being the creative and successful guy he was, creator George Lucas decided to re-release the originals into multiplexes, and sign on for three prequels to the films, in the nineties, to satisfy his fan-base. Episode I: the Phantom Menace was released in 1999 and Episode II: Attack of the Clones just under two years ago. And Episode III, you ask? Summer of 2005—remember that. While most will be awaiting it, I suggest buying a super advance calendar, if needed.

     As the series evolved, and more movies were released, Lucas went for the “style over substance” attitude, and the most recent entries have little-to-no story. However, since we’ve received the proper setup in the first three, this really doesn’t matter. His ingenuity is most evident in the prequels, even though it’s definitely a prominent feature in all the films. The most admirable aspect of both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back is that they didn’t rely on special effects to make them successful, even though that’s truly what they were about. It’s completely refreshing to see a sci-fi flick with a solid story. That makes watching all the fancy graphics so much easier than it would be, if visuals made for the entire experience.

     In these movies, there are incredible senses of hope, fear, and war, which had not been matched, until The Lord of the Rings trilogy began two years ago. If you really were to think about it, the two series are unmistakably alike. A man setting out to destroy a dark force, insane battles, and passionate heroes—just to name a few things they have in common. While Middle-Earth may not be in a galaxy far, far away, there’s true greatness there, too.

     We must not forget that both franchises share a pungent history of marketability, also. Whether it be with action figures, plastic weapons, or the new high-tech best-seller, video games, LOTR and Star Wars have generated a whole lot of cash, and that’s what, thankfully, kept the sequels coming.

     We can only hope that Episode III will be as good as the rest, and won’t use the “all show and no story” technique in its execution. Oh, and what’s that you ask? My favorite film in the series? While most people would pick The Empire Strikes Back, I have to hand that title to A New Hope. In my mind, Return of the Jedi has always been the weakest entry, but it’s still pretty damn amazing. And if that alone doesn’t make the Star Wars movies great, I don’t know what does.

-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews