Star Wars (1977)
★★★★★ — Star Wars (1977)
George Lucas had made his name with the low-budget car-culture nostalgia of American Graffiti (1973) before betting everything on a science-fantasy epic that virtually every major studio had already passed on. 20th Century Fox eventually agreed to finance what became Star Wars, at a budget of around eleven million dollars, though production was notoriously troubled, with mechanical failures, difficult location shooting in Tunisia, and a cast and crew who largely doubted the project would amount to anything. Lucas drew on Joseph Campbell's hero mythology, the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, and old Flash Gordon serials to build his universe, working closely with visual effects supervisor John Dykstra on ILM, the effects house Lucas founded specifically for the film. It opened in May 1977, at the height of a post-Watergate, post-Vietnam cultural malaise, and its eventual gross of over 775 million dollars (on a theatrical re-release circuit that ran for years) made it the highest-grossing film in history at the time, displacing Jaws and reorienting Hollywood permanently toward the blockbuster model.
Before Disney plunged the galaxy into darkness... It’s probably one of the most important films of all time, not just for what it did at the box office, but for the universe it created. The sheer scale of its world-building, the iconic characters, and the deep, sprawling lore that would go on to define generations. This film isn’t just cinema - it’s mythology. I mean think about it... My Father was a child when this released and I got to watch this with my firstborn recently. It's literally generational. And at the heart of it all? Luke Skywalker. My favourite character in any media. Ever. (if we ignore the Sequel trilogy, which I do) His arc, his journey, that raw sense of wonder and destiny - it's perfect. And when the Binary Sunset theme swells, with Luke staring at those twin suns, dreaming of something bigger? That is probably the most iconic scene in all of cinema. An absolute masterpiece, and the beginning of something far, far greater.
Rating: ★★★★★ | Year: 1977 | Watched: 1999-03-03
Where to watch (UK)
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from George Lucas: American Graffiti (1973) · Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) · Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) · Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
More with Mark Hamill: The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) · Batman: The Killing Joke (2016) · Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) · Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
More from the 1970s: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Here and Elsewhere (1976) · Italianamerican (1974) · Punishment Park (1971)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
