Thirty-nine years ago I stood in line all day with a couple of friends at one of the few theaters in Chicago where Star Wars opened for its very first showing. There were no numbers or “A New Hope” or any of that jazz. Just Star Wars
The book (which was ghastly) and the previews had given us a pretty fair notion of what it was going to be like. I thought it was a good movie despite the execrable acting and, more significantly, I recognized that it was an important movie.
I find all of the hooplah over the chapter in the franchise that opens this Christmas amusing. I have every confidence that J. J. Abrams will work his magic and breathe new life into a franchise that George Lucas has done his level best to kill dead. It might even end up being better than the original. It isn’t that high a hurdle.
And that’s my point. It was good but it just wasn’t that great a movie.
The last person I know that talked like that was haunted by three spirits: The ghost of Star Wars Prequels, the ghost of Star Wars the Original Trilogy, and the ghost of all of the Star Wars yet to come.
You need to look at the first words in the post again.
The last person I know that talked like that was haunted by three spirits
It was a Festivus Miracle!
Thanks. Yeah. Bad math.
Thirty-nine years ago….
Yeah, I can’t believe it either….
We’re going to see a showing at the IMAX in St. Louis tomorrow. I generally don’t see movies, but I think a sense of nostalgia made me want to take my kids to see this one. I still remember my dad taking us to see it and had no idea what to expect. My wife also remembers her dad taking them to this move, particularly because he never took them to see movies.
I am pretty sure it won’t be the same experience. They’d have to have their expectations set by Close Encounters of a Third Kind.
They’d have to have their expectations set by Close Encounters of a Third Kind.
????
Star Wars was so unlike any other movie, at least SciFi movie, of the time that was not really anything to compare it with. Close Encounters was a blockbuster movie from the same year without a lot of kid appeal. I think I may have seen West World at the drive-in. Escape to Witch mountain.
I had forgotten Close Encounters was the same year. It seems like Star Wars occurred at the very beginning of a flood of good sic fi. We have 2001 and Solaris a few years before, but then had the big flood right after Star Wars. Not sure why other than film technology improving.
Steve
Star Wars was a box office success with what was at the time a below-average budget. It brought out the imitators, many of whom didn’t have the talent and their productions looked low-budget at twice or more the cost.
The two most notable Star Wars imitators were probably The Black Hole from Disney and Star Trek: the Motion Picture. Both fit into the classification of “fairly expensive flops” but Star Trek: the Motion Picture created the headroom for a franchise which is still running and making money.
It would be interesting to check into which franchise has made more money. It’s not immediately obvious to me–there are a lot more Star Trek movies.
I have never seen a Star Wars movie. I don’t think I’m going to start…….
Not much point in starting now. And if you did start, start with the original trilogy and ignore everything Lucas did after 1983.
But mostly I’m thinking that things like Toy Story 2 probably just confused you at times.
If this site can be trusted (and why can’t we trust everything on the internet?) Star Trek is a good 2.7 BILLION behind the Star Wars movie franchise.
Of course, that’s just the movies, and ignores the TV shows, the merchandising and whatnot, but I expect Star Wars is killing them on merchandise too, especially now that Disney owns Lucasfilms. I was at Disney World last weekend, and about every third person was wearing a SW themed bit of clothing, most notably the Christmas themed Darth Vader and Stormtrooper shirts/sweaters. Really, Lucas was a piker on merchandising, he probably left another ten billion on the table!
Oh, and one has to discount the SW Christmas special, too. That might actually put the Star Trek franchise about ten quadrillion quatloos ahead.
My wife reminded of the site Box Office Mojo, which more or less confirmed the other site. Other monster franchises are the combined Middle Earth movies (over $5.8 billion worldwide) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (over $9 billion worldwide).
I think the only thing Walt would recognize about his company is that it can still print its own money.
For Star Wars imitators, I was thinking of Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and to an extent Moonraker in how the franchise shifted to ride the wave.
I’m not certain that my daughter’s marching band wasn’t subsidized to perform songs at WDW, including a Star Wars medley. She certainly couldn’t have paid out-of-pocket for the cost to do this, and it really cannot be that valuable to encourage parents to come to WDW on Thanksgiving, the parks are already crowded. But you have several marching bands getting ready by playing Star Wars at football games or winter concerts. It’s like a drop of good will with dollop of advertising. Star Wars themes are certainly going to be a huge part of WDW theme parks in four or five years. I wonder if the films can maintain quality and interest.
Lucas was actually angling to make Flash Gordon, but he couldn’t get De Laurentiis to let him have it, so he went with his own idea instead. I think it worked out for George!
And I vehemently disagree with anyone that doesn’t think Flash Gordon is a brilliant movie. The look of the movie is fantastic, and the script, by Lorenzo Semple, Jr. is a thing of wonderment. Semple was the guy behind the ’60s era Batman TV show. He was actually aiming for camp with his script, and he hit a bull’s eye. The movie is extremely quotable, and the actors played their parts perfectly. Even the somewhat wooden performance by Sam Jones and the haminess of Melody Anderson were perfect for the parts. Max von Sydow was awesome, as always, and Brian Blessed chewed the scenery at a level previously reserved for the likes of Zero Mostel.
Unforgettable lines:
“Does anyone ever trust her twice?”
…
“Oh, you damned MONGO person!”
…
“You tortured Princess Aura?”
“Strange girl. I think she enjoyed it.”
…
“Bring me … the bore worms.”
“No! Not the bore worms!”
…
And, of course, the second best line in movie history:
“Flash! I love you! But we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!” [said while Flash is fighting for his life in hand to hand combat on a twisting, tilting platform with spikes randomly protruding from it]
And finally, there is the most memorable movie soundtrack ever. Screw John Williams and his score, walk into a room anywhere on the planet and shout “FLASH!” and you’ll get a smattering of “AH-aaahhhssss! He’ll save every one of us!”
“But mostly I’m thinking that things like Toy Story 2 probably just confused you at times.”
Nah. I got both I and II. It was Happy Gilmour that had me flummoxed…..
Very much enjoyed the movie.