Originally posted by schutd
I guess. And obviously so by the list generated by users of IMDB, but from a purely filmic sense, Star Wars doesnt hold a candle to the classics.
It was grounbreaking in effects and such, but whatever. You need good adcting, and an intelligent screenplay as well as effects to be considered in my book. But then, thats why its MY book, and not EVERYBODY'S book.
True...but "Star Wars" is the classic example of "Space Opera".
Heck, "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "the Day The Earth Stood Still" are the best examples of what Science-Fiction should be, an example of the future of technology and how it effects the "Human-Condition". Both are also much finer films (in a critic's sense) than the enitre "Star Wars" franchise.
But "Star Wars" was a film that came in at just the right time. The tale of Luke Skywalker fits right into Joseph Campbell's (author of "The Power of Myth" and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces") mythos of heros. "Star Wars" captured the imagination of most to such a point that it was a spirtual allegory to those who saw it.
Ironic that later, well after the successes of the original "Star Wars" triology and "Indiana Jones" series, George Lucas says that was his
intent with both film series. He says that he wanted to re-introduce the "Hero Myth" back into American culture.
That is a tough pill to swallow...I believe it was just a shamless attempt to put some substance into his super-successful, yet lacking in content, film-franchises.
