STAR WARS TRILOGY

DIRECTOR: George Lucas, Irven Kershner and Richard Marquend (but lets face it, Lucas had the final word on everything)

STARRING: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker…

Wooden acting, bad dialogue and films least original plot: of course, it could only be the ‘Star Wars’ trilogy. But Star Wars is so much more.

The original ‘Star Wars’ (1977) was a breath of fresh air, not only in sci-fi , but in film in general. With a budget of 9.5 Million, George Lucas took out dated Vista Vision technology, and used it to create special effects that are passable even today.

Unlike the science fiction of the 60’s and 70’s (such as ‘2001: a Space Odyssey’, ‘Soylent Green’) ‘Star Wars’ didn’t take it self to seriously, harking back to the days of 50’s B-movies, pre-war serials (‘Flash Gordon’) and even westerns (remember the Cantina scene?). The plot was ludicrously simple: young boy trained by ageing mentor to be a warrior, jets off to save a kidnapped Princess.

However Lucas (who was not to direct again for 20 years) took these elements and combined them with a cocky Harrison Ford, a bitchy Carrie Fisher, a menacing masked villain (talking in the deep tones of James Earl Jones) and just the right touch or arch-campness to create something fresh and new.

In 1980 came ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, this time with Irvin Kershner (with Lucas looking over his shoulder) at the helm. With twice the budget of the original, this could easily have been a carbon copy of ‘Star Wars’, however it wasn’t, and remains the strongest of the Star Wars films.

Beautifully shot, ‘Empire’ shelves the campness of its predecessor, replacing it with a darker, fairy tale feel; as Hamill continues his training in the force, and love reluctantly grows between Fisher and Ford. Also, Frank Oz’s Yoda is incredibly believable, his mismatched language breathing life into the otherwise dull Jedi training scenes.

‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983) remains the weak point of the trilogy. Charged with the task of tying up all lose ends, and creating a satisfying film in itself, director Richard Marquend struggles to keep the film together. A reluctant performance from Harrison Ford doesn’t help either (his ‘hey buddy’ scenes with Lando are truly cringeworthy’).

This doesn’t mean to say ‘Jedi’ isn’t a great film: it’s, just not up to the standards of the other 2. This is the film that gives the series it’s epic feel, greatly played upon in the recent prequel. The last half hour is edge-of-the-seat stuff, with Mark Hamill putting in a fantastic performance he has never repeated. Not to mention, two fabulously evil new villains: Jabba the Hut, and (especially) the Emperor, who has Darth Vadar grovelling at his feet.

The entire Trilogy is classic, helped enormously by John William’s stirring score. So the acting is wooden, so the dialogue is shoddy, so the plot is just ‘Lord of the Rings’ in space: it doesn’t matter. ‘Star Wars’ is one of the most memorable cinematic experiences of the century, mythical, refreshing, comforting. ‘Star Wars’ is, quite simply, the best time you will ever have watching movies.

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