Posted Jun 27, 2003 - The mother of all sci fi movies. Really is about World War 2. The Empire / Rebel conflict parallels the Axis / Allies. The Millenium Falcon is just a B52, and Han a bomber pilot. Notice how the locales translate to the arenas the war was fought: the deserts of Africa, the forests of the Ardennes and Europe, and the tundra of Russia. We get tanks, squadron fighters, the bushido code of the Japanese, the polished techno-evil of the Nazis, the terrorizing, hypnotic power of Adolf Hitler (very similar-sounding to Darth Vader), and throughout, the mysticism of Judeo-Christianity, i.e. the plight of the chosen ones. Luke and Leia are Biblical / Semitic names. Of course, when I was 8, all I saw at the time was the greatest spectacle I ever experienced in a movie theater. It completely changed my life, and I understood what movies are supposed to be about. Lucas really did something special with this film. But the underlying text would make an interesting thesis though. Amazing how many people don't like my comments - what is it u don't like - my thesis? My love for the movie? I'm not saying the plot is about WW2 - just that great movies have many resonant layers underneath their plots, and Star Wars reminds me of WW2 images. Lucas himself admits to this. I really wanted to be Luke as a kid - had a big crusj on Leia and the headbuns! I loved her feistiness. One of the few movies I attended in a theater where the Dolby wowed me w/out scaring the crap outta me and where u felt a connection w/ the other people in the audience. Nothing like the 1st time. I actually was the only kid on my block in love w/ Star Wars - everyone else was into sports - SW ushered in the whole love of video games we currently enjoy. What a magical time to be a kid. I hate to disagree w/ anything lukskywlkr said because he's very much correct, but SW was not the 1st blockbuster - I think Jaws qualified 1st for that. Seemed like Lucas & Spielberg had a competition going at the time. Lucas was more my fave, but Spielberg was great too, until ET (sorry - I'm not feeling that movie). I don't know why people of all ages love this movie except that Lucas just knew what was up. I remember thinking LIKE a director after I was it too - I'd simulate space battle scenes in bed ( and tick off my sister & parents) and we'd play-act the movie too. The pacing of that movie is near-perfect. Can almost mouth the script back scene by scene, word for word. Loved Lucas' gimmickry, his technical skill - all very masculine stuff, yet he got lots of women on the same page - very, very cool. Maybe not the MOST important film, but definitely one of the top 10 most important films of all time. Modern sci-fi popularity owes much to SW. Love the Buck Rogers narration too - I'm getting goosebumps just reliving it.
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Star Wars is the pioneer of the special effects mo ...
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