A long time ago, twenty eight years ago to be exact, in a theatre far, far, away I was literally blown away by what up to that point was the most spectacular movie experience of my life. In fact, I was so awe struck by the first episode of Star Wars I took another date the following week and before Lucas' space opera had departed from the local theatre I had accompanied five different young women to see Star Wars!....and to this day... I cannot, for the life of me, remember even one of the dates I chaperoned to see Lucas masterpiece.
Star Wars wasn't just a movie it was an groundmaking movie experience that marked not only my life but the lives of many of my friends during the late 1970's and early 1980's. We occasionally rendezvoused at local coffeshops on and off for years and all talked, shared, and sometimes even argued, passionately I might add, about Star Wars. Even to this day, I find myself defending the merits of Lucas's lifetime tour de force to close friends who would argue or imply otherwise that this modern day Homeric saga is not a masterpiece nor a significant sociological and psychological happening. Don't mean to sound or imply religious or life changing signifcance or sacred status here but the film was a major pop culture happening for those of us who grew up when George Lucas was granted demigod status by his legion of faithful followers/movie geeks.
In my lifetime there have been three films which stand above all others. Lord of the Rings, Schindler's List, and Star Wars and I guess you could say Star Wars was my "first" love since it was the first mindblowing movie experience of my life. And, like many Star Wars fanatics of my generation I saw the film series multiple times in the theatre and never had any second thoughts or regrets about standing in line for hours in the blistering heat of Bakersflied California to see my beloved favorite characters in the initial Star Wars Triology. My only regret is that I wasn't insightful or fanatical enough at the time to buy and collect the numerous Star Wars toys and collectibles that were originally available for next to nothing. Damn my Puritan sensibilities regarding money and material objects. Damn, damn, damn!.......
May 19th marks the "apparent" end to an incredible run by Lucas and his legion of special effects/digital storm troopers when Revenge of the Sith hits theatres nationwide. According to reports regarding Steven Speilberg's recent viewing of Anakin Skywalker's transformation to the dark side, the brainchild of such fantasy classics as E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark announced it was the best of the recent Geroge Lucas space epics. In a telephone interview Speilberg even confessed he broke down and cried towards the end of the film and predicted other Star Wars fans would share a tear or two as well.... Over the past week I have been reading numerous reviews by the likes of Harry Knowles of Ain't it Cool News and director Kevin Smith of Dogma fame while listening to the new sound track of Episode III. I have now listened to the sountrack more than twice and it is fantastic. It is in the league with Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings, IMHO. The sountrack is very dramatic and provides hints of what is to come along with an emotional outlet for the faithful followers of this modern day Saturday matinee romp through the galaxy. I'll have more to say in the days to come and will provide updates on this or that when they come my way. In the meantime, may the force be with you.......
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