![]() #Original unedited star wars 1977 full movie movie#"Star Wars" had placed me in the presence of really magical movie invention: Here, all mixed together, were whimsy and fantasy, simple wonderment and quietly sophisticated storytelling. As that incredible collection of extraterrestrial alcoholics and bug-eyed martini drinkers lined up at the bar, and as Lucas so slyly let them exhibit characteristics that were universally human, I found myself feeling a combination of admiration and delight. The most fascinating single scene, for me, was the one set in the bizarre saloon on the planet Tatooine. As he sends his heroes off to cross the universe and do battle with the Forces of Darth Vader, the evil Empire, and the awesome Death Star, he gives us lots of special effects, yes - ships passing into hyperspace, alien planets, an infinity of stars - but we also get a wealth of strange living creatures, and Lucas correctly guesses that they'll be more interesting for us than all the intergalactic hardware. And then Lucas does an interesting thing. We get involved quickly, because the characters in "Star Wars" are so strongly and simply drawn and have so many small foibles and large, futile hopes for us to identify with. Not on Earth, anyway, but anything is possible in space, and Lucas goes right ahead and shows us very nearly everything. In "Star Wars," George Lucas takes this simple and powerful framework into outer space, and that is an inspired thing to do, because we no longer have maps on Earth that warn, "Here there be dragons." We can't fall off the edge of the map, as Columbus could, and we can't hope to find new continents of prehistoric monsters or lost tribes ruled by immortal goddesses. All of the best tales we remember from our childhoods had to do with heroes setting out to travel down roads filled with danger, and hoping to find treasure or heroism at the journey's end. The movie relies on the strength of pure narrative, in the most basic storytelling form known to man, the Journey. ![]() No, I think the key to "Star Wars" is more basic than that. The effects are good, yes, but great effects have been used in such movies as " Silent Running" and " Logan's Run" without setting all-time box-office records. The movie works so well for several reasons, and they don't all have to do with the spectacular special effects. "Star Wars" taps the pulp fantasies buried in our memories, and because it's done so brilliantly, it reactivates old thrills, fears, and exhilarations we thought we'd abandoned when we read our last copy of Amazing Stories. The hardware is from " Flash Gordon" out of " 2001: A Space Odyssey," the chivalry is from Robin Hood, the heroes are from Westerns and the villains are a cross between Nazis and sorcerers. The golden robot, lion-faced space pilot, and insecure little computer on wheels must have been suggested by the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow in " The Wizard of Oz." The journey from one end of the galaxy to another is out of countless thousands of space operas. "Star Wars" is a fairy tale, a fantasy, a legend, finding its roots in some of our most popular fictions. Instead, there's entertainment so direct and simple that all of the complications of the modern movie seem to vaporize. But there's hardly any violence at all in "Star Wars" (and even then it's presented as essentially bloodless swashbuckling). Maybe movies that scare us find the most direct route to our imaginations. It's usually violence that draws me so deeply into a movie - violence ranging from the psychological torment of a Bergman character to the mindless crunch of a shark's jaws. What makes the "Star Wars" experience unique, though, is that it happens on such an innocent and often funny level. The movie's happening, and it's happening to me. My list of other out-of-the-body films is a short and odd one, ranging from the artistry of " Bonnie and Clyde" or " Cries and Whispers" to the slick commercialism of " Jaws" and the brutal strength of " Taxi Driver." On whatever level (sometimes I'm not at all sure) they engage me so immediately and powerfully that I lose my detachment, my analytical reserve.
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