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Far below, on the planet Tatooine, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is busy helping Uncle Owen Lars (Phil Brown) and Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) on their desert farm. Ever since his father was killed in the Clone Wars, they've been his protectors and his family. It's true that he's desperate to join the space corps (like his friends) but Uncle Owen always asks for just one more summer. Still, if they get some extra robot help then maybe Luke will escape yet. Coincidentally, an escape pod containing R2D2 and See Threepio (Anthony Daniels) crash-lands in the nearby desert. The former has a message for one Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) rattling around in his tin skull and C3P0 isn't going to hold him back. Who'd have guessed that a bunch of rubbish collectors would lead to the young Luke hitching up with interstellar smugglers Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), then leaving on the adventure of a lifetime?
By far the most significant aspect of Star Wars is that it creates a wholly believable alien universe where everything is familiar, yet subtly different. An understandable layer of dirt coats a landscape where tiny creatures scuttle in the background, thousands of languages meld to form the local argot and life goes on as the forces of good and evil do battle. It's both a triumph of George Lucas' imagination and a tribute to the skills of the special effects crew that just the right tone is evoked. A mish-mash combination of religion, bedtime stories, Flash Gordon and Westerns, Star Wars somehow puts it all together and comes up with the right answer. In any other film the idea of a "Force" permeating everything and bestowing incredible abilities on the chosen few would seem absurd, yet here that just isn't the case.
Unfortunately the movie doesn't back up this incredible vision with solid, complex characters. Instead Star Wars settles for lightly-shaded figures that embody the dominant features of their position without projecting a sense of their background or past. It's perhaps reasonable for Hamill to be a little awkward, given the callowness of Luke, but both Fisher and Ford play characters who should have quicksilver tongues yet stumble through their dialogue. A diversion from this noticeably stiff acting is provided by Guinness, who brings a sense of gravitas to Obi-Wan, and to a lesser extent by Cushing. The fact is that these experienced actors provide a stark contrast to the rest of the cast, indicating what is possible with such slender material. On the dark side, Vader is suitably impressive (as voiced by James Earl Jones) but he doesn't have nearly enough screen time to make a lasting impression. Even worse, he's swept away in a flash, almost an afterthought, when he should be the chief counterweight to the forces of good.
The key to Star Wars is, however, still its impressive special effects. By throwing everything possible onto the screen, in an often explosive display of pyrotechnics, and rushing the story along at break-neck pace, the plot and character limitations are pushed firmly into the background. Instead the thunderous and sweeping score (courtesy of John Williams), together with flashing laser skirmishes, diverts and holds the attention. However, while it's impossible not to be caught up in the action while watching Star Wars, odd points come to mind on further reflection. One of these concerns CP30 and whether he ever does anything useful, as opposed to providing comic relief. If not, why wasn't he dumped on Tatooine where he wouldn't draw attention to the rest of the gang? On another level, are the rebel force so certain of defeating the Death Star that they can't even be bothered to begin an evacuation? They sure put a lot of faith into a handful of ships and the "Force"! It's true that these points don't detract from the experience that is Star Wars, but they do serve to illustrate weaknesses in the script.
As a celebration of innocence and the dawning of a new era in cinema, Star Wars is second to none. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies where the reality fails to live up to the anticipation and reputation. The legend of Star Wars has permeated the popular culture to such an extent that the film is almost fully obscured, flaws and all, under the hype and commercialism which surrounds it. Hence an objective assessment of the legend is nigh on impossible. Instead, sit back and let yourself by wowed by the majesty of it all.
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