For Your Ears Only: NPR's Star Wars

The NPR adaptation of STAR WARS is a bit of a legend among audio theatre buffs, for reasons that aren’t too difficult to guess at; it’s a large-scale, professional adaptation of a beloved story, one that doesn’t seem at first glance to lend itself to an audio-only format, and in most people’s opinion, it worked. But the STAR WARS radio drama is more than just a translation of the story from one medium to another. Three times as long as the movie and then some, the radio mini-series takes time to expand on the characters and universe we all know and love, adding backstories and interstitial scenes that frame the story in an interesting context. It’s better when it’s introducing this new material than when it’s replaying familiar scenes, but the overall effect is pleasurable, like getting to know a friend in greater detail.

You probably know the basic story. Galactic war, rebels vs. empire, a young farmhand buys a couple of robots and meets a Jedi which leads to high adventure and princess-rescuing on an enemy battle station. But it’s actually not until three episodes in that we get to the action that we saw in the first minutes of the film. The first and second episodes are all backstory, the first revolving around Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill again) and his friends on Tattooine, including Biggs Darklighter (Kale Browne), a pilot at the Imperial Academy who’s planning to jump ship for the Rebellion shortly. This is based on material that was actually shot for the movie but left on the cutting room floor, and it’s interesting to hear it play out (without having to search video sites.) The second episode gives us some of Princess Leia’s story, as the young Senator (played by Ann Sachs) witnesses the cruelty of the Empire firsthand and comes into possession of the plans for the dreaded Death Star.

As the familiar story unfolds, we’re treated to scenes like C-3PO (Anthony Daniels again) and R2 hiding from Stormtroopers in Mos Eisley, Han Solo (Perry King) meeting with Jabba the Hutt’s representative Heater (Joel Brooks) in a scene like that which was eventually completed for the Special Edition of the film, and most interestingly a lot more material set on the Death Star, with Grand Moff Tarkin (Keene Curtis) seeing himself as a potential challenger to the Emperor and Darth Vader (Brock Peters) now that he’s in command of the Empire’s main means of keeping order in the universe. It’s a neat bit of pageantry that foreshadows the villainous double-crosses that would drive the action of the next two installments.

I guess what I find most interesting about all this is that the universe of the first STAR WARS is so very simple. The sequels and prequels and various Expanded Universe stories would do a lot to flesh out the details and feel of Star Wars as a franchise, but the spin-offs which were built solely on the first movie seemed to rely more on its purer blend of fairy tale and space opera. The mental images conjured up by the radio play are iconic; the rugged gulches of Beggar’s Canyon where Luke and friends race T-16s, the pastoral peace of Alderaan, the oppressive machinery of the Death Star. It’s all rendered with high spirited performances and appropriately hammy dialogue (and it’s nice to remember a time when bad dialogue in Star Wars was part of the fun rather than something to be ashamed of.)

Things are a bit more scattershot when we’re replaying the action of the film. Given that this was, at the time of broadcast, still the highest grossing movie ever, and with Lucasfilm watching over the whole thing, the adaptation is faithful to a fault. A good example of this is Han Solo’s now infamous confrontation with small time bounty-hunter and eternal mook Greedo; in the play, as in the film, Greedo speaks an alien language, except on radio there are no subtitles, so Han has to give us leading lines like “Yes, Greedo, I was going somewhere...” to make sure we know what’s happening. When he shoots (presumably first, but don’t get me started), he has to exposit that he shot from under the table because that’s how it happened on screen. Some of the action sequences are adapted pretty smoothly, but there are times when the dialogue tries too hard to spell out the action, as when Luke swings with Leia across a chasm on the Death Star.

Now, I need to point out two things; one, the action sequences are never, ever incomprehensible or even terribly hard to follow. This is a big deal, because when you’re dealing only with auditory information it’s possible to lose track of the action more easily than if you’re looking at something. A bit of clumsiness on the dialogue’s part can be forgiven, because writer Daley was nice enough to err on the side of clarity. Just as importantly, the climactic action sequence, the Death Star attack, is executed terrifically, generating the same suspense as its cinematic counterpart. NPR ended up using most of the original film’s signature sound effects and, of course, John Williams’ music, and this helps drive home to fans that it is the same world after all.

With strong voice acting (listen closely for Adam Arkin as one of Luke’s friends), solid production values and unobtrusive narration, STAR WARS is a fun listening experience. It’s not quite as good as the film- it inevitably drags in a couple of places (and the story’s first act was pretty long to start with)- but it’s a great companion piece, letting us spend more time with the characters and learn a little more about everything. If you liked STAR WARS on film, you pretty much can’t go wrong. And anything that gets more people listening to quality audio theater is good by me.

Based on characters and situations by George Lucas
Written for radio by Brian Daley
Directed by John Madden

Grade: A-

In Theaters: Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I didn’t go into THE CLONE WARS with high expectations, and for a while I wasn’t sure whether to see it at all. The reviews have been terrible, of course, but after filtering out the obvious “George Lucas is an Enemy of Fun” nonsense they’re more mediocre than catastrophic. And the fact is I am in the market for this kind of movie; I like STAR WARS, I like space opera in general, and the idea of a Star Wars movie that’s not really part of the saga and more just a simple adventure is appealing in its way. Essentially the first few episodes of a new Cartoon Network series blown up on the big screen, THE CLONE WARS isn’t really a good movie, but as a pilot it has some promise.

After an uncharacteristic opening lacking the traditional scrolling text, we are taken into the midst of the titular Clone Wars, the struggle between the Galactic Republic and a group of Separatists trying to secede. In the midst of the chaos, kidnappers have made off with the son of infamous crime lord Jabba the Hutt (yes, he has a kid, which raises more questions than it answers.) The Republic would like the cooperation of the Hutt gangsters in getting access to their space lanes, so they send a few Jedi to recover the child. Chosen for the task are, coincidentally enough, Anakin Skywalker (now voiced by Matt Lanter instead of that Christensen fellow) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Tanner). Also, Skywalker has been saddled with an apprentice, a young alien girl named Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) who’s more than eager to prove her worth. But to find the Hutt child, the Jedi and their Clone Trooper allies have to fight their way through the now-familiar hordes of droid armies, and reckon with a double-cross being set up for them by the Separatists.

As some of my readers probably already know, this isn’t the first CLONE WARS cartoon; a 2-D series supervised by SAMURAI JACK creator Genndy Tartakovsky debuted between Episodes II and III of the theatrical saga to bridge the gap between them. For whatever reason he’s not on board this time, and the animation is now full 3-D and computer generated. It’s highly stylized and quite jarring at first, especially on the characters who all have very squarish features, but I got used to it. The backgrounds are sort of staticy, and it doesn’t have the kind of detail that the live action films did, but the colors and textures are enhanced by lovely brushstroke effects. It’s an interesting touch that I hope will survive to the TV series.

This is obviously much more for the kids than any previous STAR WARS adventure; the stakes are lower, the violence muted, and there’s a lot more comedy. Some of this involves my old favorites, the battle droids, acting as doomed and twitchy as they ever were, and you’ve got a cute but also goofy Hutt baby whom Ahsoka and Anakin quickly dub “Stinky.” Some of this works, and there’s even some nice banter and a few small jokes on the sides (most notably a World War II style pinup on the side of one of the Clone Trooper attack transports.)

What really hurts this film is the structure. It’s all too obvious that these are individual episodes of a television series stitched together (so far only FUTURAMA has managed to pull that off.) Even at their slowest, the STAR WARS movies have had a nice momentum; they’re always moving forward at some speed or another. Here, however, we spend the entire first quarter of the film on a big battle that isn’t even related to the main plotline, but just serves to establish the Clone Wars and the main characters. Fine for a pilot episode, not so much for a feature. Even after the mission gets underway, it moves in fits and starts, and the required battle sequences actually serve to slow the story down. The film doesn’t have the kind of freewheeling dexterity that STAR WARS does so well; there should be more planet hopping, more sudden detours, more reversals and serial chapter craziness.

Finally, the introductory plot is pretty slight and inconsequential, which much of the time is okay, but it results in a weak climax. There isn’t the kind of buildup to a big showdown that the live action films always had, so instead the plot just reaches its natural endpoint and the credits roll. Again, fine for television, but a feature film needs a good showstopper at the end.

I will give one more positive point; the character of Ahsoka is a welcome addition. She’s brash and energetic without being too petulant, and since her favorite pasttime is backtalking Anakin Skywaker (who, as much as I enjoyed the prequel trilogy, has had it coming), she can’t help but be likable. And it’s nice to have a female Jedi play a prominent role in this series.

On the downside, I actually think it may have been a mistake to involve Anakin and Obi-Wan in this series to start with. As characters, their trajectory is already set, and nothing too important can happen to them in the course of this film or, likely, the show. The most successful STAR WARS spinoffs (like the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC games and comics) have had enough distance from the principal characters of the films to forge their own stories, to recreate that epic feel without stepping on any toes. This is a less comfortable fit, and though the main characters aren’t exactly unwelcome, there isn’t too much to be done with them.

As space opera goes, THE CLONE WARS is strictly average. Fortunately for me, I like space opera, so I enjoyed myself. I can’t give it a good grade as a movie, but it might have promise as a cartoon series, and I’ll keep an eye out for that. You probably won’t want to spend movie theatre prices to see this, but it’s by no means bad, just okay. Your kids might like it.

Based on characters, etc. created by George Lucas
Written by Henry Gilroy, Stephen Melching, and Scott Murphy
Directed by Dave Filoni

Grade: C+

The Empire Strikes Back Fallacy: An Introduction

A recent announcement by Warner Bros. and DC got me thinking. Based on the success of THE DARK KNIGHT and the underperformance of SUPERMAN RETURNS, they’re going to try and apply the dark tones of the former to a kind of revamp of the Superman franchise. (They never actually said the word “reboot”, and there’s no word on whether or not Bryan Singer will still be involved.) I’m saddened by this in a way, as I think SUPERMAN RETURNS was utterly magnificent, but that’s on the record already. Instead I’d like to point out a concept I’ve been developing over time, looking at genre fiction, fandom, and media in general.


I call it The Empire Strikes Back Fallacy. Let’s break it down logically:

1. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is the best/most well regarded of the STAR WARS films.

Granted, this is partly a matter of opinion, but the general consensus holds it up as the highest. It’s got the best RottenTomatoes score, the highest IMDB rating, and fans always think of it as the best.

2. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is the darkest of the STAR WARS films.

In regards to the original trilogy, this is close to objective fact, and though maybe REVENGE OF THE SITH is a little darker, it’s dark in a different way (and, in any case, the best/most well regarded of the prequel trilogy.)

3. Therefore, the darker a work is (or from the creator’s perspective, the darker we can make it), the better.

You see this put into play in most serial fiction, usually movie series but also in television and comics. Writers and directors love to talk about how this newest installment of the series is “the darkest yet” and how they’re ratcheting up the peril and the danger. Part of this seems to be for show- you always want to tell your audience that our heroes are in more danger now than they’ve ever been- but a lot of times they seem to believe it.

And the thing about it is, it almost seems true. A darker story is one with higher stakes, one where you can kill characters and hand the bad guys victories and genuinely make the audience uncertain how things will turn out. That’s got to be better than watching invincible protagonists inevitably triumph over their foes, right? You’re writing drama, why not make the drama as dramatic as possible?

Indeed, I would add a supporting argument to this fallacy, known as the STAR TREK: VOYAGER element. This spinoff of the popular franchise was particularly poorly regarded, because it had a fairly dramatic premise (a spaceship marooned far from home) but was plagued by cozy familiarity and lack of actual suspense. Just about everything got solved by the end of an episode, the main characters had script immunity up the wazoo, and things like food supply or keeping the ship working or everyone not going crazy seemed never to crop up. Nobody fought, even though a portion of the crew were actually members of a rebel faction in conflict with the Federation. They just forgot about it. It was a bit weak.

So why is this a fallacy? The first answer is that it doesn’t always work. SPIDER-MAN 3 attempted to take the series in a particularly grim direction, and though I enjoyed the film quite a bit (not sure about the grade I gave it, but I’ll have to see it again), generally people thought it had gone too far with the so-called “emo” material. (And I’ll take them at their word that it was emo, since I have a hard time recognizing it.) The attempts at bleakening things in the PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN sequels never felt quite right either, though obviously they did boffo business.



Most famously, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had a really controversial sixth season in which just about everything bad happened to every character you could name. Buffy, back from the dead, suffered a near-suicidal ennui leading to a profoundly dysfunctional relationship with not-really-reformed vampire Spike, culminating in his attempting to rape her. Xander, fearful of his future, left Anya at the altar. Dawn struggled with kleptomania for some reason. Willow struggled with a perhaps-overly-literal addiction to magic, and went over to the dark side completely when her girlfriend Tara was murdered. A lot of fans were turned off by the sheer grimness and high melodrama, and much of the publicity for season seven emphasized that they were lightening up and going back to basics. I enjoyed season six, but they definitely went overboard. When you pile too much angst and horror on viewers, you risk making them feel detached- they don’t trust the storyteller anymore and they don’t want to risk being jerked around further.


There are also counterexamples. The TV series THE AVENGERS actually started in a dark place, with Dr. David Keel seeking vengeance for the death of his fiancee at the hands of drug runners, and working with a shadowy operative named John Steed to accomplish it. In following seasons, Steed, now the star, had a prickly relationship with partner Cathy Gale, and there was a lot of intrigue and distrust. However, what everyone remembers are the episodes in which Steed and the unflappable Emma Peel battle diabolical masterminds with bizarre schemes for money, power, and sometimes world domination. The main characters never seem like they’re in any true danger, and there’s so much humor and innuendo it makes James Bond look like one of Smiley’s people. Much of it is incredibly inconsequential in dramatic terms, but it’s undeniably fine television. More recently, and again on British TV, the reborn DOCTOR WHO is an upbeat, energetic, and joyful sci-fi adventure series which, though not averse to doing dark episodes, is never really bleak. Tragic things happen, but in carefully measured intervals.

But specific examples notwithstanding, what makes The Empire Strikes Back Fallacy a fallacy is that it’s too easy. It’s not really a great challenge to make a story darker, just as it’s not much of a challenge to make a story lighter. What is a challenge is finding the right tone for the story you are telling, and every television show, film series, book series, comic book, etc., has its own range. Moreover, you can’t be the darkest you can be all the time for the same reason that a rollercoaster can’t always go downhill; there have to be peaks and valleys, a rhythm that the audience can enter into. The reason that the ultra-dark BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is watchable and not an endless death march is because it has its up moments, as well as developments that aren’t so much “up” or “down” as they are just plain bizarre. Without those breaks in the tension, you wouldn't feel it when they really jam the knife in.

I’m not sure a “darker” Superman can’t work, but when you think about it SUPERMAN RETURNS was already a down movement from previous entries in the series, with a grimmer look, macabre humor, and Superman feeling alienated from the people he has sworn to protect. It’s possible to go darker, but it’s also a risk, and whoever ends up in charge of this is going to have to look closely at the precise tone they want. You can’t make a Superman film that feels like THE DARK KNIGHT and expect much of a positive response, after all.

It’s tempting to try and press as far as you can and spam the tragedy button in the fighting game that is dramatic writing, but eventually the audience will learn how to block. (Witness the backlash against Joss Whedon’s tendency to break up anything that looks like a happy relationship- I love the guy, but honestly, we can see it coming.) You must vary your attacks, and weave your moves together into a compelling and unpredictable pattern. I don’t think I can stretch that metaphor any further, but to conclude: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a great film NOT because it’s dark, but because that darkness helps throw the overall bright adventurous idealism of the STAR WARS series into relief, and ultimately affirm its values even after testing them. The darkness is there to advance the story and not for its own sake, and the true lesson to take is not that darker is better, but that the audience responds best when their guard is down.

Next week, I’ll use differential equations to explain why comparisons to video games do not work as film criticism. Unless I’m distracted by something shiny.

Star Wars Saga Round-Up

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the original STAR WARS, and though I'm definitely the sort of blogger who should do something to mark the occasion, I've already reviewed all of the movies and pretty much said my piece on them. With not much new to comment on, I'll just point you there and hope you enjoy reading. May the Force, etc. Have fun.

Reviews by Episode:

- I - II - III - IV - V - VI -

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Like the last piece of a puzzle, REVENGE OF THE SITH completes the vast picture that is the STAR WARS saga, and as such manages to enhance all the surrounding films to some degree. Putting the "opera" back into space opera, the film is a classical tragedy surrounded by rich, moody visuals, high adventure, and even the occasional bit of humor. It's arguably the second-best film in the entire series, and a fine high note for the saga to go out on.

[I can't NOT spoil this one, folks.]

The Clone Wars are raging, and the film opens in the midst of a gigantic battle over the Republic capital of Coruscant, where the Separatists have managed to capture Chancellor Palpatine. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, now both full Jedi Knights, manage to blast their way into the Separatist flagship in a daring rescue operation. Anakin kills Count Dooku after a long battle, at the encouragement of Palpatine, and the three face off against the droid commander General Grievous (a full CGI creation with the voice of Matthew Wood) before effecting a crash landing on the planet. Grievous escapes, and the war continues, but Anakin is distracted by the news that his secret bride Padme is now pregnant with their child. Soon after hearing the news, Anakin has a vision of Padme dying in childbirth. Because neither of them can reveal their relationship, it's hard for them to get medical advice, and Anakin can't get much help from the Jedi Council, either. However, Palpatine, who has befriended Anakin and pushed to get him admitted to the Council (much to their chagrin), hints that the Sith may have had knowledge on how to stop people from dying, and that he may be able to help rediscover that knowledge. As Obi-Wan is sent off to a distant world to hunt down Grievous once and for all, Anakin puts two and two together and figures out that Palpatine is the Sith Lord that the Jedi have been searching for ever since his apprentice was cut in two on Naboo. Between the danger to Padme and Anakin's growing distrust of the Jedi Council, Skywalker's loyalty to the Republic and to the Order is strained to the breaking point (if that's not mixing a metaphor- and if it is, well, you have to do it sometimes.) When the Council come to arrest Palpatine (and in so doing stage a sort of coup), Anakin steps in on the Sith Lord's side, becoming his apprentice, Darth Vader. And all Hell breaks loose.

This may well be the darkest film in the series, moreso than THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and it goes without saying that the two share a tonal similarity in this regard. But it's a different kind of dark, a broader, more melodramatic sort of tragedy where the face of evil itself is revealed. Palpatine's use of half-truths and deception to tempt Anakin- this time successfully- echoes Vader's revelations to Luke in EMPIRE and Dooku's attempt to sway Obi-Wan in ATTACK OF THE CLONES. It's worth noting that in each case, the Sith lords do not actually lie- rather, they tell what parts of the truth best serve them at the time. Particularly brilliant is a scene where Palpatine tells the legend of an ancient Sith Lord who discovered the secret (of life?) of life (itself?) itself (*applause*) and was killed by his unnamed apprentice; we know he knows more than he lets on, and the juxtaposition of this exposition with a zero-gravity water ballet being performed in front of the characters adds an ominous beauty. A lot of what happens both before and after this episode is brought into further perspective. Yoda confronts the Emperor and fails (in an entertainingly symbolic battle where the two fight inside and largely demolish the Republic Senate, hurling the now-familiar floating platforms at each other with the Force), and gives up being a warrior to live the life of an exile. Obi-Wan faces Anakin in a fierce battle on a volcanic world (a story element that Lucas had in mind for some time before the original trilogy was even finished), and though Obi-Wan prevails and leaves his opponent for dead, his reluctance to finish off an old friend leads to Anakin surviving as the half-robotic Vader, thus explaining his insistence to Luke in JEDI that Anakin is lost to the Dark Side and must be destroyed. Anakin, meanwhile, is ultimately turned to evil because of his connection to Padme, but at the same time because the Jedi have forbidden romantic attachments; if relationships between Jedi and Senators were considered completely acceptable, Anakin could have openly sought out and gotten the best medical care for his wife. There's a lot to chew on here in terms of the morality of the setting and how evil wins this time around. Death itself emerges as a theme; Anakin wants to stop the people he loves from dying, and the Sith offer him a way of defying death, while the Jedi offer ways of coping with it, and in the end, discover a more spiritual means of returning from the dead.

It's also an astonishingly beautiful film. The visuals are rich, colorful, full of detail and moody as Hell to boot. It helps that the movie, setting up the events of A NEW HOPE, takes on some of the "used", grimy look of the original films, as opposed to the shinier and somewhat more austere appearance of the first two prequels (meant to convey the grandeur of the Old Republic.) It makes it easier for the actors to fit in with CGI backgrounds and characters, and gives a vaguely 70s look to some of the picture as well, to good effect. There's a lot of pure spectacle, as in the opening, a colossal space battle which makes up for the relative lack of space battles in Episodes I and II (the movies are called "Star Wars", after all), in Obi-Wan's extended face-off against General Grievous, which turns into a chase sequence through the caverns of Utapau, and in a battle on the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk. But the visuals, like everything else in this film, are geared towards conveying a sense of darkness and apocalyptic betrayal. Much of the film is rendered in rich, fiery reds and oranges, while the gadgets and ships become more black-and-white, foreshadowing the monochromatic universe of A NEW HOPE. (There's something symbolic about this, as, with the Sith coming out in the open and taking over the Galaxy, the morality of the universe also becomes more black-and-white.) The film basically features the same technical innovations as its previous installments (and maybe a few more on its own), but applies them towards creating a stronger, more primal emotional response. It's a sad film, and during a montage where the forces of the Republic turn on their Jedi commanders across the galaxy, I got a lump in my throat.

To be sure, the Anakin/Padme romance still isn't much fun to watch, though its presence is toned down substantially from the last movie. The dialogue is still corny (despite an uncredited polish by Tom Stoppard.) And Padme doesn't get to do much (scenes involving her helping start the Rebellion were dropped from the film after a rough cut ran over three hours.) But once again, Ewan McGregor is in pure swashbuckling form, channeling both Alec Guinness and Errol Flynn in a performance that reflects the enthusiasm he brought to the prequels, despite Lucas never being an actor's director. Ian McDiarmid delivers a performance that is both over-the-top and completely appropriate for the character, with some well-timed moments of subtlety; when Palpatine tells Anakin "the Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural", you can hear him very carefully selecting each word. When he delivers a speech to the Senate which essentially transforms the Republic into the Empire, he speaks with a Hitlerian intensity that sweeps the body into applause even though they've just surrendered all their power.

I don't feel I can actually do justice to this movie. It's not the best of the series, still lagging behind THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, but I have to side with A. O. Scott who says it's better than the original STAR WARS. It's a wonderfully rich and moving science fiction film in its own right, and it also makes the later films more resonant. In light of the cataclysmic fall of the Jedi and the Republic, the situation at the start of A NEW HOPE seems all the more desperate. Vader becomes a more tragic figure, at first just a scared boy sent into a strange world, then a troubled teenager, and granted power well before he could learn the wisdom to use it. And the end of Luke's heroic journey also becomes the culmination of a prophecy by which Anakin finally does destroy the Sith and restore balance to the Force, resolving an ancient conflict through his own sacrifice. In short, REVENGE OF THE SITH does what the prequels set out to do, and though I hold the first two episodes in higher esteem than most, I admit that this is what we all expected from the start. The new STAR WARS films could never be as innovative and revolutionary as the originals, but they have managed to expand and deepen the universe of the films, as well as some of the philosophy beneath it. Looking back at the STAR WARS films, I'm most impressed by the totality of what Lucas has managed to create: a living, breathing fictional universe as distinctive as Middle-Earth and Narnia, its details filled in by legions of novelists and fanficcers and RPG writers and cartoon makers, rendered for cinema with exquisite craft. All in all, a Hell of a ride.

Grade: A

(And now I can finally get started on NaNoFiMo. To say nothing of my Netflix queue. And comics fans, I haven't forgotten you, I swear.)

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones

And now we come to the most difficult film to review, and as such maybe the most controversial movie in the already-not-well-loved prequel trilogy. Released 25 years after the debut of the original STAR WARS, ATTACK OF THE CLONES takes the franchise back to its pulp sci-fi and B-movie roots, for better and for worse. Sleeker and sharper than Episode I, it also moves more heavily into the melodramatic, and also is the only film in the entire saga whose tone can't be easily classified as "up" or "down." This ambiguity hurts the film in some places, but overall elevates it above the sum of its parts.

[Spoilers Below- couldn't help it this time]

It's ten years after the events of THE PHANTOM MENACE. Led by former Jedi Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), a number of star systems have formed the Separatists, intending to secede from the Republic. With only the relatively few Jedi to maintain order, the Senate is considering creating an Army of the Republic. When former Queen and now Senator Padme Amidala returns to Coruscant to vote on the issue, her ship explodes on the landing platform, and she only escapes because she flew on an escort fighter. Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan learner Anakin Skywalker (now a young adult, played by Hayden Christensen) are assigned to protect her, and when her would-be assassin strikes again, it's decided that Padme should go back to Naboo, under Anakin's protection. This turns out not to be the greatest idea, as Anakin is falling in love with Padme and the Jedi Code forbids forming close personal attachments. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, tracks the trail of the bounty hunter who hired the assassin, and flies to Kamino, where a group of whisper-thin aliens has engineered a clone army at the behest of a Jedi Master who was killed well before he could place the order...

Of the original STAR WARS films, the one this puts me most in mind of is A NEW HOPE. The two share a similarity in visual style, both with a sparer, cleaner look than other entries, and both stay closer to the vintage sci-fi look and feel that inspired the saga. While THE PHANTOM MENACE played more on the mythical elements of the series, ATTACK OF THE CLONES has a less dignified, more dime-store-novel approach. The Jedi here act mostly in the role of galactic policemen, a trope they share with E. E. Doc Smith's Lensmen and the Green Lantern Corps. Obi-Wan's attempts to find out who's gunning for Amidala unfold in a way that amusingly apes the conventions of detective stories, including a scene where he discusses his findings with a crusty alien prospector who now runs a 50s-style-diner. An early chase between flying cars through the 3-D streets of Coruscant has a similar vibe. There's something enjoyably primal and playful about the whole thing; during the chase Anakin and Obi-Wan seem almost to be enjoying themselves, and trade quips as they perform superhuman stunts. It's a good feel for a STAR WARS movie to have.

Unfortunately, the old-fashioned approach extends to a key subplot of the movie, namely Anakin and Padme's romance. There's just too much idyllic beauty and purple prose; the dialogue in these films is rarely good, but here the stiffness really hurts things (strangely enough, Lucas had help writing the screenplay; Jonathan Hales had a hand in several episodes of the late, lamented YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES.) Natalie Portman makes the best of things, and is no less lovely than she was before, but Christensen, though he has the right look, falters in his delivery. On subsequent viewings, there's something vaguely authentic about the adolescent quality Anakin displays, but it's still grating. The same applies to the romance in general, really; I buy it, but it's still not that fun to watch.

Fortunately, Lucas is in a better position to break up the action than before, and the romance scenes are alternated with the far more entertaining adventures of Obi-Wan, Space Detective. (Ewan McGregor also brings a nice sardonic touch to his performance as the older Jedi.) And to be fair, Anakin gets some better material later on when, summoned by a dream, he returns to Tatooine only to find his mother kidnapped and eventually killed by Sand Peoples. Anakin's subsequent grief-induced massacre leads to the most mysteriously affecting scene in the movie, a short cutaway to a half-lit room where Yoda sadly senses the young Jedi's pain from across the universe. It has no impact on the story, and is very simply composed, but it lends an ominous gravity to the proceedings.

The STAR WARS films are known for their black-and-white morality; even THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK doesn't bend this too much. ATTACK OF THE CLONES, on the other hand, seems to introduce more grey into the proceedings than before. Not only does Anakin show signs of the darkness that will eventually overtake him, but the Jedi as a whole become part of Darth Sidious' increasingly apparent plot to take over the galaxy. It's actually kind of clever: by following the clues to Kamino, where a spare clone army happens to be available, and following bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) from there to the Separatists' base on the planet Geonosis, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme (who travel to the planet to rescue Obi-Wan when he is captured), and the rest of the Jedi (also trying to rescue their own) unwittingly trigger the start of the Clone Wars, the conflict spoken of in soft tones in the original STAR WARS. So, while the bad guys are on one level obvious- the Separatists and their armies of droids and flying bugs- at the same time, the putative "good guys" are also working for the future Emperor. This lends a heavy irony to the climactic and increasingly chaotic battle on Geonosis, especially in a moment where the gunships of the Republic appear, with ships and weapons and insignia recalling the Empire of the original trilogy, and with clone troopers wearing distinctly stormtrooper-esque outfits. That single visual has the feeling of authentic history, where sometimes doing what seems like the right thing leads to greater wrongs being done in the future. (That the film came out in the early stages of the run-up to the Iraq War was an amusing accident.) Similarly, in the inconclusive battle between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Count Dooku, we see the Jedi's power starting to wane, but are given an affirmation of the true power of good when Yoda enters to save the day. There's also a theme of duty and how it conflicts with personal attachments, and though Anakin's love for Padme and his mother seem to work against him, it's Luke's devotion to his father and his friends that ultimately saves everyone.

One drawback to all this is you don't get the same emotional highs from the conflict that you do in the other movies. Instead, there's a subtler feeling of discovery and revelation; we see more of how the Empire came to be, how Anakin began to fall, and how the seemingly superhuman Jedi found themselves all too vulnerable. As bumpy a ride as ATTACK OF THE CLONES may be, it has an interesting staying power, and, like all good middle chapters, leaves one eager to see how it all ends. This may be the most obviously imperfect of the STAR WARS movies, but that doesn't mean it's the worst.

Grade: A-

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[Image from ImpAwards.com]

Every saga has a beginning, and for some reason, this one comes in the middle. Fair enough. THE PHANTOM MENACE is arguably the most heavily criticized of the STAR WARS films, and it's easy to see why. One of the most heavily hyped and anticipated movies in the history of the medium, it was almost destined to disappoint at least some of the audience. On top of which, it was clearly aimed at an audience younger than the fans who had grown up with the original trilogy, who were obviously going to be the most vocal in their response. And then there was Jar Jar. But despite its flaws, THE PHANTOM MENACE is a grand spectacle, and may even be a better film than RETURN OF THE JEDI. The canonical beginning of the STAR WARS saga, this "Episode I" tells its own relatively self-contained story while effectively setting the larger myth in motion.

Apparently angered by the Galactic Republic's taxation of their trade routes, the greedy Trade Federation, secretly led by the sinister Lord Sidious (Ian McDiarmid), have decided to make a point by putting up a military blockade around the idyllic world of Naboo. Two Jedi Knights- Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his young apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor)- are sent to negotiate things, only for the Federation to try and kill them while it sends its droid armies to the planet's surface for an all-out invasion. The two Jedi escape to the planet's surface and, after meeting with klutzy Gungan refugee Jar Jar Binks (a CGI creature with voice and movements by Ahmed Best), help Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and her entourage escape from the besieged planet, hoping to go to the galactic capital of Coruscant. Their spaceship takes some damage on the way out (though shipboard droid R2-D2 helps things), and they're forced to hide out on the remote desert world of Tattooine. In order to get the right parts to repair their vessel, the Jedi, accompanied by Jar Jar and the Queen's handmaiden Padme (also Portman- hmm), none of whom have currency that the locals will accept, are forced to ask help from a young slave worker and racer named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd)...

THE PHANTOM MENACE operates on two levels. On the first, we have a single planet in jeopardy, menaced by an evil space-corporation headed by scheming green aliens and their armies of skeletal robots. But from the very first conversation between the two Jedi Knights, we're given hints that something deeper is going on. Though it was never said in RETURN OF THE JEDI, the Emperor's proper name was "Palpatine", and that just happens to be the name of the Senator representing Naboo, who is also played by Ian McDiarmid, who is also Lord Sidious, who looks and talks a lot like the Emperor. And we know that this trilogy is going to show the rise of the Empire, among other things. So, when Palpatine suggests that the Queen, stymied by the gridlock of the Senate, call for a vote of no confidence in the current Chancellor (played briefly but memorably by Terence Stamp), which leads to his nomination for the position, we get a sense of what's really going on. We also have the introduction of a prophecy: Qui-Gon believes that Anakin is the person who will bring Balance to the Force, something as-yet undefined but may become more apparent once you work out what the kid goes on to do in the very end. He wants him trained as a Jedi, the Jedi Council senses something dangerous in that, but fate intervenes.

Doubling is actually a theme and motif that recurs throughout the film. We have two Jedi, two Sith (Sidious and his fearsome apprentice Darth Maul, played by stuntman Ray Park), two races on Naboo, two Trade Federation executives, the Queen and her double, etc. More explicitly, the idea of symbiosis comes up a lot- Obi-Wan tries to persuade the Gungans to help the human inhabitants of Naboo by pointing out that their fates are intertwined, during a high-speed Podrace Anakin fixes his vehicle by transferring power from one engine to the other, and there are the midichlorians- microscopic organisms apparently found in all living cells which make life possible, and also channel "the will of the Force" (hence, when Anakin is revealed to have an extremely high midichlorian count, it's a sign that there may be something more to him than just having good luck.) That last bit was and is particularly controversial with fans, as it appeared/appears to give a scientific explanation to the Force, but I don't think it quite goes that far. It's more of a plot device. There's also a broader theme of faith and risk; Qui-Gon takes a particularly desperate gamble in essentially staking the entire mission on Anakin's ability to win a Podrace when he hasn't even finished in the past, betting the party's ship while calmly recognizing how this could leave them stranded for a very long time, and later he is willing to accept the risk of taking Anakin on as an apprentice when the Council has already decided not to train him (while the Queen decides to travel back to Naboo and risk everything on a final battle with the Federation.) At heart, STAR WARS is about desperate gambits and long odds, but that element is emphasized here.

As mentioned earlier, Jar Jar Binks is probably emblematic of the problems people had with this film and the prequel trilogy in general (though his screentime was increasingly reduced in the next two movies.) With a high-pitched voice, a goofy patois that seems to include the Wayne's World expression "Exsqueeze me", and a cartoonishly exaggerated clumsiness, he's an attempt at a comic relief character that just doesn't work. (There was even some controversy owing to him vaguely resembling black stereotypes of the thirties and forties.) For some, he completely ruins the picture, but I think I'm partly immune to characters like this (i.e., bad comedy sidekicks.) By their nature they don't do much and usually stand off to the side while the protagonists do the actual busy work of the story. I find Jar Jar tolerable because of that. The real weak link is Jake Lloyd as Anakin; apparently cast for his cherubic appearance, Lloyd makes the obvious Child Actor mistake of over-enunciating and emoting his lines, putting way too much emphasis on individual words and generally being rather plastic-y. On the up side, Neeson and McGregor make a very good duo, combining badass swagger (this is the first film where we truly see the Jedi at the height of their power) with Zen-like detachment. Portman is convincingly authoritative as the Queen, and not without her charm, and McDiarmid is wonderfully innocent as Palpatine. (I also have an inexplicable fondness for the battle droids, the most helpless mooks in all of cinema, with twitchy gestures and halting voices that seem to convey a deep sense of being completely screwed.)

Pacing is a bit of a problem here, as it was in JEDI, though it's not quite as bad. The first twenty-five minutes or so are pure cliffhanging, but there's a stretch of about twenty minutes starting when the ship lands on Tattooine and ending with the Podrace getting underway that simply drag a bit, and could easily have been cut down. (This was Lucas' first time in the director's chair since the original STAR WARS, so understandably he was a bit rusty.) Of course, the Podrace itself is a great pick-me-up; expertly cut and matched with some great sound effects, it's a thrilling, hectic and upbeat little mini-movie on its own. A later portion on Coruscant also goes on a bit, but that's okay because the planetary-metropolis offers some jaw-droppingly beautiful visuals. Indeed, one of the unsung virtues of this picture is just how good it looks; the CGI effects are convincing, yes, but there's so much visual detail and harmony of design and composition in some shots that they reveal more little bits on subsequent viewings.

Like RETURN OF THE JEDI (the prequel films each share a tonal similarity with a different entry from the originals, though it doesn't work like you'd think), the film is essentially a big, colorful extravaganza, offering exotic sights and sounds, a fairy-tale story and lots of thrills and spills. On this level it works quite well, and if it's just a bit too bright and sugary for its own good, well, that's about to change anyway.

Grade: B+

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

I got into writing this thing because of holiday nostalgia, and RETURN OF THE JEDI is probably at the epicenter of that wave. I was born in 1981, so it was the only one of the original STAR WARS movies that came out when I was actually alive, and though I don't think I saw it in theaters, I may as well have given how often I saw it on TV during my formative years. Though probably the least effective entry in the series, it's still a lavish and imaginative romp, the ideal space opera for a child of the eighties. It also, especially in light of all six movies, makes a superb finish to the saga, wrapping up its supreme conflict between good and evil in a way that's surprisingly personal and touching.

As the Empire decides to celebrate its rout of the Rebellion by building a second, more powerful Death Star under the personal supervision of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams, returning from EMPIRE), C-3P0, and R2-D2 have all traveled to Tattooine to rescue Han Solo- still frozen in a block of carbonite- from the evil gangster Jabba the Hutt. Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, infiltrates the crime lord's palace and manages to revive Han, and though everyone ends up taken prisoner and offered up to a giant sand monster, Luke, now acting as a full-fledged Jedi Knight, leads a daring escape. Heading back to Dagobah to finish his training, Luke finds a dying Yoda who confirms that Darth Vader is his father Anakin Skywalker, corrupted by the Dark Side. He tells Luke that to truly become a Jedi, he must face Vader again. Obi-Wan drops the other shoe by revealing that Leia is in fact Luke's long-lost twin sister, and warns that Luke may have to kill his father to save the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Rebels have discovered that the new Death Star is under construction, and that the Emperor is aboard, meaning that a successful attack could pretty much bring down the whole Empire. The station is protected by an energy shield projected from the forest moon of Endor (where it's in orbit, natch), and Luke joins Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids in a mission to bring down the Imperial shield generator. After the Rebels meet up with the short, furry Ewok natives, Luke, sensing that Vader is on the Death Star, sets out to try to bring his father back to the side of good. The Emperor, meanwhile, plans to turn Luke to the Dark Side of the Force, and has laid a trap for the attacking Rebels...

The end of a heroic saga is in some ways the culmination of its themes; when good defeats evil, it's usually not through simple chance, but some quality of either or both concepts (at least as seen by the author), most often a fundamental failure of "evil". The One Ring is destroyed because of the very obsession it creates in those who come near it; the White Witch meets her end because she doesn't account for the laws of her world; Agent Smith fails to understand free will and so is destroyed by it. Similarly, the Emperor's own attempt to turn Luke Skywalker seals his fate by ultimately turning Darth Vader against him. He is undone by his self-interest and his certainty- he allows Luke to live because he believes he can be made his servant, and continually exclaims that things are unfolding as he has foreseen up until the moment when Vader picks him up and throws him down a deep shaft. Meanwhile, the various good guys seem to adapt to whatever happens, while making sure to look out for each other as often as possible.

There's also an element of maturation in this, the true culmination of Luke's heroic journey. In THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, he defies the advice of Yoda and Obi-Wan by rushing off to rescue his friends and fight Vader. This appears to have been a mistake, as he is maimed by Vader and Han is still frozen and taken to Tattooine. However, in rushing off, he has learned an important truth that his masters weren't willing to reveal. In this film, they advise him that he will have to face and destroy Vader, and "bury his feelings"- instead, he continues in his attempt to bring his father back to the good side. And, after much suffering and disappointment, it works, and Anakin Skywalker is redeemed. Luke can now exercise his own judgment and do what he feels is right.

For all of this, the film suffers greatly from pacing issues. From some accounts, the late Richard Marquand (who, like EMPIRE's Kershner, had done mostly smaller films), had difficulty with the effects-heavy JEDI, and Lucas had to step in at points, perhaps contributing to an uneven feeling. To start, the film takes a while getting all the heroes together in Jabba's Palace, with three separate "entrance" scenes before the action begins in earnest. It's the longest such opening lull in any of the movies, though the following scenes- a battle with the giant Rancor monster and a chaotic skirmish over the pit of the man-eating Sarlaac- are impressive enough to make up for it. Unfortunately there's a similar lag in the scenes on Endor, coming after a brilliant chase through the trees on flying speeder bikes; there's a lot of business with the Ewoks that could have been, if not cut, certainly trimmed down. Again, it's saved by the action that follows; the climax brilliantly intercuts Luke's confrontation with Vader and the Emperor, the battle between Stormtroopers and Ewoks and Rebels on Endor's surface, and a wonderfully chaotic and grandiose space battle overhead. It's very much a film of ups and downs.

The STAR WARS movies have never been praised for the acting on display, but though most of the performances are simply adequate, much credit must go to Ian McDiarmid's gloriously over-the-top and scummy Emperor. He spends most of the film gloating over his impending triumph, at the same time using this to tempt Luke into unleashing his anger and thus becoming his servant. This could have gone very wrong, but McDiarmid modulates the Emperor's satanic arrogance and rage quite well.

Despite the somber undercurrent of Luke's final confrontation with the Dark Side, the film is quite upbeat and cheery overall, a celebratory progression to the ultimate triumph of the Rebellion. This is matched with a high level of visual playfulness, which is the source of much of the criticism the film has received from science fiction fans. The fandom case against was rather aptly summed up in CLERKS, when a character said "all JEDI had was a bunch of Muppets." And as a matter of fact, the Jim Henson workshop had a substantial hand in creating the many, many alien creatures present in the movie, and there is a vaguely Muppety vibe to many of them. But, of course, to a kid, the strict divisions between space sagas and Muppets and Lucas and Spielberg and so forth don't really exist, and something like THE DARK CRYSTAL (released the year before) just blurs the lines even further. And in the end there's no real reason why the proceedings of the film need to be especially dignified, at least not throughout. There's always been something vaguely fun and silly running through the heart of these movies, which, after all, owe a debt to Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon as well as Akira Kurosawa and Joseph Campbell. In some of its wilder moments, RETURN OF THE JEDI sums up the STAR WARS experience: weird alien monsters, spaceships that go whoosh, and lightsabers, all with a bit of mythmaking in the background. However imperfect the execution, its heart is in the right place.

Grade: B+

(I suppose I should close out the OT reviews with a word on the new DVDs. Though I do think it sucks that the transfers of the theatrical releases aren't widescreen-enhanced, and hence look worse on a widescreen TV, that they're not remastered like the special editions were doesn't bother me too much. It's enough just to have them available on a durable medium for historical purposes- demanding that they meet a certain standard smacks a bit of fan entitlement. And the graininess of the image does give viewing the discs an oddly cinematic quality.)

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

As we know, by 1980 STAR WARS was already a pop culture phenomenon and a merchandising juggernaut. It had even been rereleased once, with the subtitle "Episode IV: A New Hope". George Lucas made enough money to effectively finance the sequels himself (though Fox would end up throwing in completion funds for this entry when it went over budget), and the question became whether the sequel would be anywhere near as impressive. The standard was still for a sequel to be a reprise of the original with just enough variation to qualify as a new movie, and though there were notable exceptions already, it must have seemed just as probable that the next STAR WARS would be closer to JAWS 2 than THE GODFATHER PART II. But the creative team behind THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK- which included Lucas (acting as story writer, executive producer and general showrunner), director Irvin Kershner, and screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett (a notable science fiction author who died shortly after completion of an early draft)- treated the film not as a retread but as the second act in a trilogy, working from ideas Lucas had sketched out years ago to create a challenging, complex film that stands out as the most popular example of a sequel that's better than the original. Bringing nuance and shades of grey to a black-and-white space opera, the film may just be the finest FLASH GORDON chapter ever made.

We open some years after the destruction of the Death Star at the end of A NEW HOPE. Despite their initial victory, the Rebels are on the run from rebounding Imperial forces, and have hidden out on the remote ice world of Hoth. Luke Skywalker, after falling afoul of a hideous ice monster, has a vision of his departed mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells him to go to the Dagobah system and seek instruction from the ancient Jedi Master Yoda. Meanwhile, Darth Vader has been leading the Imperial fleet on a hunt for the Rebels which seems specifically to be a hunt for Skywalker, and they soon discover the hidden base. An Imperial assault headed by giant metallic snow walkers forces the Rebels to evacuate, and Luke heads to Dagobah with R2-D2 while Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3P0 try to flee the system in the Millennium Falcon. Unfortunately, the ship's hyperdrive is on the blink, limiting its ability to go anywhere, and Han and company must dodge asteroids, TIE fighters, space monsters and bounty hunters in their quest for safety. Meanwhile, Luke meets the eccentric alien creature Yoda (a particularly well-articulated puppet voiced by Frank Oz) and begins to learn more about the nature of the Force.

Easily the darkest chapter in the original trilogy (its status as regards the entire series is more debatable), THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK basically takes the "flight to safety" portion of your average serial and makes it almost the entire feature. The action is dominated by Han and his friends trying to escape the Empire's attentions, and as such the group of characters seldom acts because they're too busy being acted upon. Contrasting this is Luke's more proactive attempt to become a Jedi, something he decided upon in the first movie, but even then he finds himself influenced by a larger destiny. Buffeted about by fate, the characters nonetheless find some time for internal growth. Han and Leia begin a classically antagonistic romance, while Han wrestles with the questions of responsibility he again began facing in the last episode (he has decided to leave the Rebels at the start, still having a debt to his boss Jabba the Hutt, but is forced to stay to rescue Luke from freezing to death in the open and later becomes wrapped up in the evacuation effort.) When Luke faces Darth Vader in the depths of Cloud City, the villain acts as a tempter, trying to defeat Luke in combat and/or turn him to the Dark Side, finally letting slip a particularly earth-shattering piece of information as an extra lure. Chances are you know what it is.

What really makes the film work, though, is balance. It's dark, but it's still pulpy and vaguely hopeful, the series of unfortunate events balanced by the quietly astonishing scenes wherein Yoda demonstrates the powers of the Force and its nature as a transcendental connection between all things. If the heroes can't win this round, they can at least endure and resist and, for the most part, escape. The choice of Kershner- who had taught Lucas at film school and had mostly made small, character-driven films- as director helps this fairly delicate mixture of old movie conventions and operatic drama and subtle character development. Kershner proves adept at both the big and small stuff, and this time around both really had to work.

Another neat trick the film accomplishes- and one that was instrumental in the series retaining the fan following it has today- is its expansion of the "universe" of STAR WARS. The first film, trying to get out a self-contained story in about two hours on limited budgetary resources, stuck to the basics. Young farmboy, backwater world, mysterious mentor, beautiful princess, lovable scoundrel, etc. We saw some strange creatures in a cantina, a bit of Jedi swordplay, and references to the Emperor and the Old Republic, but the film was focused on presenting a seemingly complete hero's journey. Now, with more money and an audience already hooked, things could open up. We see entirely new worlds, stranger creatures, the Emperor himself (played in the original version by an old woman, the eyes of a chimpanzee and the voice of Clive Revill, and yeah, in the long run just putting some makeup on Ian McDiarmid was probably the better choice), new ships and gadgets, life in a Rebel base, the altogether more perilous life on board an Imperial Star Destroyer, weird midget-pig men, and in the long run, enough to turn "Star Wars" into its own unique science fiction universe. We sci-fi fans love this stuff. We like good individual stories, but show us a vast and endless starscape and we'll fill in all the blanks. To an extent, the film has its own look; cinematographer Peter Suschitzky (later a regular collaborator with David Cronenberg) emphasizes the grime and the wear and the overall detail of the world we're looking into, giving the film a vaguely realistic look. And again, there's balance. Despite the different look, and all the new stuff, it's all recognizably of a piece with what we saw in the first movie. It's the same universe, just another corner. Another superb John Williams score also helps hold things together while introducing new motifs, particularly the famous "Imperial March."

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK ensured that STAR WARS would end up being a genuine mythic saga, and a cultural touchstone for at least a generation. (It would also start an unfortunate "the darker the better" view of dramatic storytelling among science fiction aficionados, something for which we are still paying. But I didn't blame A NEW HOPE for killing the New Hollywood and I'm not gonna blame this one for anything either.) Moreover, it was and is a genuine masterpiece of science fiction cinema, proving the dramatic potential of one of its least-esteemed subgenres. Had the film somehow flopped, and the franchise ended there, it would still stand as a towering achievement. But it didn't end there, and though we've already covered the best entry, there's still plenty to chew on.

Grade: A+

May the Saga Be With You: Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

Another bit of nostalgia-inspired posting here (hey, I'm on vacation)- from Thanksgiving onwards there's a good portion of the holidays that in my childhood were effectively owned by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. If you've seen the STAR WARS movies and you know what "Spielbergian" means, you'll understand the grip these two had on American kiddom throughout the Eighties. Or maybe it's just that I first saw THE EWOK ADVENTURE around Thanksgiving. Anyway, for this reason, and because I've re-bought the original STAR WARS trilogy on DVD (the newest release containing the original, albeit un-remastered, theatrical versions of the films as well as their most recent revamps), I'm going to review the whole damn saga. Because of how I've been watching, I'll review them in release order, meaning that as someone who liked all six movies I'm going to start in the calm, easily defensible waters of the original trilogy and moving on to the more difficult realm of the prequels. But, of course, it all begins in 1977.

Do I even have to go into the story? Well, it's traditional, so okay. Some time back in a distant galaxy, a group of Rebels are at war with the evil Galactic Empire. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), a diplomat and Rebel sympathizer, is racing to her home planet of Alderaan with information on the Death Star, a giant battle station with the power to destroy planets. Her ship is attacked by an Imperial Star Destroyer, and she is captured by the evil Darth Vader (body by David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones.) Fortunately, she's hidden the Death Star plans in her faithful droid R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and he, along with fellow automaton C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels), hops in an escape pod onto the desert planet of Tatooine. There, the two droids are captured by scavengers and sold to a family of moisture farmers, one of which, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), stumbles upon a recording of Leia while fixing up R2. R2, still on a mission, runs off into the desert, and Luke and C-3P0 pursue him, meeting up with the mysterious Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), who turns out to be one of the fabled Jedi Knights, mystic guardians of peace and justice who were exterminated by the Empire. He works out that the droids must be taken to Alderaan, and the group charter a flight from smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), who needs the money to pay off a debt to his crime boss. From this point, ah, screw it. Just rent the damn thing.

It's hard to imagine any film being as shockingly unheralded as STAR WARS must have been when it was released. The science fiction genre had, after the excitement of 2001 and PLANET OF THE APES, slipped into an unprofitable nihilistic rut, presenting mechanized dystopia after mechanized dystopia (for his part, Lucas contributed with 1971's THX-1138.) It may have been vaguely intellectual but it was getting old (compare SILENT RUNNING to SOYLENT GREEN to ROLLERBALL to LOGAN'S RUN and see for yourself.) The big action spectacles, meanwhile, were known for lavish setpieces and all-star casts and not really very much speed. STAR WARS was, and is, fast, sharp, and chirpy, drawing in equal parts from Akira Kurosawa's HIDDEN FORTRESS and the FLASH GORDON serials with a bit of WIZARD OF OZ on the side. We're at once confronted with a story of fairytale simplicity; there's a young hero, a beautiful princess all in white, a wise mentor, a villain so evil he wears black armor and lives on a station called the Death Star surrounded by stormtroopers whose armor gives them skull-like faces, a criminal who's cool and dangerous but you just know will be a good guy by the end, shiny robots, and a strangely endearing giant ape-creature. All presented with nary a hint of irony, in the middle of a decade choked with the stuff. In the end, it was probably a 50/50 chance that the audience would either burst into hysterical laughter or gasp with delight.

Viewed now, it's not flawless. After a fairly exciting opening there's a long stretch where, between the droids wandering in the desert and Luke wondering if he'll ever get off his miserable backwater planet, not a lot happens. It's necessary for the story and not unentertaining, but, even with the film overall being tightly edited, it lags a bit and is at odds with the sci-fi serial nature of the piece as a whole. Not that things don't pick up; the momentum of the film gradually builds over time, culminating in the brilliantly tense Death Star attack sequence (one of the best action sequences of all time, arguably.) Obviously, the characters are only rendered in the broadest of strokes, and the acting is similarly one-note; even Harrison Ford, praised as he is for bringing a bit of wit to the series, is really just doing a "charming scoundrel" turn better than most. Still, you can't knock what works.

The STAR WARS movies are more visual than most (at times it's been said that Lucas basically makes silent movies), and this is true in two ways. There's the spare, clean look of this particular movie, which favors clean compositions and a sparse color pallette (mostly blacks and whites and greys, with some yellow and other hues for sci-fi flavor.) This accentuates the simple fantasy feel, and coincidentally was probably a good idea given the film's reasonably mid-range budget. But in contrast to this is the cluttered, "lived-in" look of the Star Wars universe, something Lucas specifically asked for to give things a more authentic feel than most glitzy, shiny, and more fake-looking space movies. But there's quite a bit on the aural side, from John William's classical, sophisticated score to a range of unique and originally-produced sound effects which have become signatures for the series. (Everybody knows the lightsaber noise, right?) The special effects, of course, were innovative for their time, which may have contributed to the rebirth of the genre as much as the film's individual success by making specatcular visuals easier to realize on film.

STAR WARS- or rather its unanticipated success- is sometimes blamed for turning Hollywood away from the mature, thoughtful cinema of auteurs like Scorcese, Coppola, and Altman (RIP) and towards the summer blockbuster formula in which special effects prevailed over subtlety. I can't quite agree, because the unheralded freedom of the auteur era of the Seventies was the sort of golden age that was going to end sooner or later, and it was just a matter of the relatively inexperienced studio heads (most of whom came from other businesses) finding something- anything- that looked like a reliable formula. The exact influence of the film is hard to judge, but it was definitely something fresh and new, and the simple impression it made on children and teenagers who would go on to become filmmakers is unmistakable.

Anyway, it's a great movie. Sharp, fun and vaguely mythic, it's a first-rate entertainment, a visual feast, and possibly the best example we have of Joseph Campbell's fabled "monomyth". (That last bit isn't really an aesthetic merit, but it's still neat.) Not that I have to recommend it to anyone. Most of you have seen some incarnation. The newest DVD release has the original theatrical version presented basically as an extra, without anamorphic enhancement and not given the same degree of restoration; it sucks for folks with widescreen TVs, but I did find the grainier image makes for a weirdly "cinematic" experience, and I really just like having it available for historical purposes (not seeing any significant difference in quality between the two versions; they're basically the same film.) And I apologize for the run-on sentence back there. I love semicolons too much.

As the reviews roll out, I'll be looking a bit more at how the overall saga unfolds, but STAR WARS (aka A NEW HOPE) is the film that's the most self-contained. Made without any certainty of sequels or prequels, it's a bit of a microcosm, featuring a desperate struggle against oppression, captures, escapes, the passing of heroes and the redemption of a non-hero. We'll be seeing all this again.

Grade: A