Star Wars- 1977- Directed by George Lucas

Star Wars- 1977- Directed by George Lucas

            As someone who was born into a post Star Wars world, it only seemed natural to encounter and even wear Star Wars shirts, hats, action figures, models, costumes and accessories. This saga was infamous way before my awareness of it actually being a movie; it took years before I realized the true impact this one movie and its sequels had on the pop culture that I was exposed to as a kid and on through my teenage years.

First off we all know the plot of Star Wars so I will spare you the plot summary, I would like to focus on the creative impact Star Wars has had on pop culture since its inception. The use of special effects in this movie was undoubtedly ahead of its time, even though it seems simple now, Star Wars raised the bar for other blockbuster fantasy/ sci-fi movies, it often seemed as though it was the new standard to live up to in terms of special effects. I think of movies like Blade Runner and Dune that were nothing like Star Wars but attempted to live up to the visual quality of Star Wars by pushing the new technological side of movie making. Now Dune and Blade Runner were big hits but still didn’t reach the masses quite like Star Wars. The Star Wars empire is almost like the Beatles of modern cinema, everyone seems to know about it and the cultural impact is unlike anything we have ever seen before or since. Another really cool aspect of Star Wars is the soundtrack, the orchestra compositions in contrast to the plot and visual components of the movie blend so well that they get stuck in your head just like any good pop song. You may even hear the “Imperial March” composition in your head right now, I know I do. The last topic I would like to touch on is the iconic cast of characters, names like Princess Leia, Hans Solo, C3P0 and R2D2 have become legendary characters that have been imitated and replicated in film and television. One might think of Space Balls or even the new Family Guy remakes, both of which take on cartoon or satirized versions of these characters. It seems that every year there are always people still dressing up like Star Wars characters, it simply does not get old. Older generations pass it on to the newer generations and it seems to just have a perpetual motion that can’t be stopped, well at least until Disney got its hands on the rights, who knows what will happen now. However, the original Star Wars seems as though it will never get old, the classic format of good versus evil makes the plot relatable, the characters are awesome, the sets are still pretty cool after all these years and the special effects still seem to hold their own too. Simply put, the legacy of Star Wars continues on and on, it is nothing short of iconic some 30 plus years later.