Responses to this message:
...and the movies will never be the same. Okay, since the days of hand-cranked cameras people have wanted more and better special effects. Finally, with Star Wars, the great movie experiment takes place: all special effects, almost no story, and will they stay away in droves? Nope, the public was willing to sit still for a cheesy old plot dressed up in (at the time) state of the art effects. The movie was pretty cheaply produced even by 1976 standards, and the principal stars were a great deal less well known then than Peter Cushing and whoever that guy was who played the old Obi-Wan Kenobi (my extreme apologies here to the estate of Alec Guinness, my little joke had no class).
None of it mattered, it was a huge success, and the empty- headed space opera genre was born. (I don't blame the late Peter Cushing nor the late Alec Guinness for being in Star Wars, it's well known that British actors will step in front of any camera that's running, it's also known as Michael Caine Syndrome.)
Everything about Star Wars talks down to the audience, so how could it miss? From the sound effects in empty space, where no one can hear you scream but they sure can hear you blow up, to the triumph in the final desperate battle of "feelings" over technology.
I give George Lucas good credit for paying great attention to detail in his special effects, and he was rewarded for just that by the Academy, so they shrewdly judged his effort for what it was, a Republic serial that took longer than four days to film.
Was it good SF? Attention to detail does count for something when universe-building, but the peasant boy defeating the evil giant/wizard/king etc. to win the hand of the princess is pure fairy tale, with light-sabers instead of magic swords. Pointing out the easy interchangeability of fairy tale themes into space opera is not necessarily good SF, or revealing anything fantasy/SF fans haven't already known for a long time.
Responses to this message:
Post a response to this discussion thread