George Lucas' film Star Wars

George Lucas' film Star Wars

There are many different theories to Star Wars, which attracted

millions of viewers. These theories made Star Wars what it was, and to

some people still is. Made in1977, it was the first of it's kind by

being new, using aliens and special effects, Star Wars created a large

audience. Then it was re-released twenty years later, after

improvement in special effects and another character was added.

I will be considering that Star Wars appeals to many different people,

proof of this is that it was released again in 1997 and still was

groundbreaking to the millions of older viewers, also capturing the

imagination of the younger generation. Sci-fi films are known to have

both aliens and special effects, this is what the audience expects of

a typical sci-fi film.

I will be studying many different suggestions as to why the film has

been so successful. It was ambitious, winning six Oscars, mainly for

its use of special effects.

The first idea I will be looking at is that Star Wars is a type of

fairy tale. This film contains many different examples to show that it

has a link with fairy tales. The first is that the beginning sentence

on the screen is 'In a galaxy far far away.' This shows a fairy tale

beginning. There is both a villain who is Darth Vader with his Empire,

and a hero who is Luke Skywalker, along with Hans Solo and Obi Wan

Kenobi. There is usually a damsel in distress, who in this is case

Princess Leia; she has been adapted as a modern princess, by being

independent. The journey to a strange or magical place is Tattooi, and

there is a mission to be completed, which in Star Wars is to save

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... the battles at both beginning and end of the film, where the

last was bigger and better then the first.

We know that George Lucas and the audience considered the use of

special effects in the film Star Wars to be important and memorable.

George Lucas spoke in one of his interviews about remaking the film

and spending more money- but it was worth it!

Having studied a range of theories, I now think that Star Wars was so

successful because of a combination of all four of these theories.

Without one of them, I don't think that it would have been as ground

breaking to its viewers. Although there is a strong fairytale

storyline and many special effects and aliens without the religious

aspect of the 'Force' Star Wars wouldn't be as appealing. This proves

just how popular the film was both in the seventies up until today.