Four Reasons Why Star Wars Still Matters




Way back when it first appeared on the pop culture landscape in 1977, Star Wars became my gateway drug for all things sci-fi. I was obsessed with it then, still obsessed with it now, and my brain is still reeling from the many announcements that were made at the recent Star Wars Celebration event a few weeks ago. The year-end release of Episode 7: The Force Awakens, James Earl Jones returning as the voice of Darth Vader for season two of Rebels, the next Star Wars Battlefront's connection to the next trilogy ... I don't think I've ever seen this franchise firing on all cylinders simultaneously before. Star Wars has never lacked for ambition; but with so many resources being devoted to keeping the saga alive and growing, I think that franchise fans are going to be in for plenty of wonderful surprises and thrills leading up to the release of Episode 7.

Star Wars didn't become a fan favorite overnight; it went through many, many growing pains to become the durable saga that it is today. Here are four reasons I've deduced as to why Star Wars is still standing in a media environment that's dominated by a handful of super-sized media conglomerates. Read on for why the Force has stayed with George Lucas and his pulpy rockets-robots-and-rayguns story for so long. Read on ...

4. Star Wars relies on extensive amounts of planning. Fans are still picking apart what might have been with Star Wars (e.g., whether George Lucas always planned for nine episodes, whether co-producer Gary Kurtz was the necessary influence to temper Lucas' eccentricities, whether Luke and Leia where always meant to be siblings, etc.). Yet regardless of how many key decisions were made from the beginning and how many were made on the fly, the saga always put its focal point on the Skywalker family and its relationship to the rise and fall of Darth Sidious' empire. Most of the tie-in comic books, novels, TV shows and video games tie back into this narrative in some way, expanding the cast of characters, creatures and worlds in ways that deepen and enhance--not wander away from--the saga's central story. Compare that to the countless movie franchises that release sequels, spin-offs and reboots with no future plan in mind; entertaining sequels still happen occasionally in spite of this, but so few consistently build upon original narratives in such engrossing ways.


The Star Wars master plan ... so far.


3. Star Wars engages the fans. The Star Wars franchise has frequently reached out to the fans in ways few other franchises do, even from the very beginning. Sure, it cranked out endless amounts of merchandising over the years (e.g., toys, clothing, bed spreads, underwear, wall paper, etc.), but the really significant tie-ins were those that allowed fans to learn how Lucas and his team brought the Star Wars saga to life. Long before special features and commentary tracks became available on many DVDs and Blu-rays of blockbuster movies, numerous books, magazines and documentaries provided in-depth analysis of the Star Wars movie production process, from conceptual art to special effect techniques. Even the Star Wars fan club newsletter, Bantha Tracks, gave fans a virtual backstage pass to understand the movie magic that made the saga possible. I suppose you could say that Star Wars copied the publicity strategy of Forrest "Uncle Forry" Ackerman, publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland; regardless, the strategy of inviting fans to witness the Star Wars saga during its creation worked and it's still paying off today.


A vintage issue of Bantha Tracks.


2. Star Wars invests in itself. Say what you will about the Star Wars movies, but you can't say that any of them look cheap. Compare this to other movie franchises where the production budget of each sequel is usually smaller than the film that came before it. (Case in point: the original Planet of the Apes franchise, which began with a production budget of $5.8 million for the first film and progressively shrank to $1.2 million by the fifth film.) Lucas and company didn't just create the Star Wars universe--they created their own company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), to help create the Star Wars universe and many, many other fictional universes. Depending on how you look at it, Lucas and ILM did more for the Star Trek movies than Paramount itself.




1. Star Wars is a genuinely cinematic experience. Unlike most of the other popular franchises that set box office records these days, Star Wars is one of the very few that didn't originate in some other medium. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games and even the Marvel and DC superhero movies are adaptations of something else (e.g., novels and comic books), which means that fans will always be comparing these films to the original source material to determine how "faithful" they are. In contrast, the Star Wars movies are the Star Wars universe as it was meant to be experienced. No matter how much it expands into other mediums, Star Wars will always have its roots in cinematic spectacle. For a franchise that wants to deliver thrilling and enthralling movie viewing experiences, that's an invaluable asset to have.


A long, long time ago at a Chinese movie theater far, far away ....





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Tron: Uprising (Part 1 of 4): Characters

Image
This month marks the one year anniversary of the cancellation of Tron: Uprising , which aired on Disney XD for 19 episodes. Set between the events of Tron and Tron: Legacy , Uprising chronicled the events shortly after Clu’s rise to power within the stand-alone Grid created by Kevin Flynn. Personally, I think that Tron: Uprising got a raw deal from Disney. It’s a fantastic addition to the Tron saga that went on to win both Emmy and Annie Awards , yet Disney clearly had other priorities and was willing to toss Uprising aside without so much as an official cancellation notice. Even to this day, Uprising has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-ray and I’m wondering if it ever will. In honor of this amazing animated series that was cut down in its prime, I have decided to do something that Disney won’t. Since there will never be an official Tron: Uprising art book, I have searched across the Internet to find a selection of art from Uprising that I can share here on my blog with
Read more

FOUND: Mechanical Shark from Universal Jaws Theme Park Ride

Image
When the Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida shut down its Jaws ride back in January 2012, Jaws fans everywhere were devastated. Yet even though this part of the Jaws franchise is no longer operational, some of its sharks are swimming around out there … including places such as Frederick, Maryland. A few days ago, I was contacted by a fellow Jaws fan named John Ryan, asking me if I knew anything specific regarding the sharks from the Universal Jaws ride. He was asking because he thought he found one and is trying to verify its authenticity. We spoke on the phone and exchanged a few emails, and here’s what he told me about his find: “I've been collecting Jaws memorabilia for decades and when I found this incredibly rare gem sitting in a backyard in Frederick, Maryland, I wondered about its connection to the state. The current homeowners said the shark was already there when they purchased the property. They also told me it had been the subject of neighborhood rumor for y
Read more

Machine Robo's Magnificent Robot Combiners

Image
I don't collect Transformers merchandise, but I see articles and advertisements about it when I browse through Japanese robot toy sites. From what I can gather, one of the latest product lines for Transformers is called "Combiner Wars" , a line that consists of five or six transforming robot toys that combine into one bigger robot. Combiner robot toys have been around for a long time, and Transformers had quite a few of them even back in the '80s. Yet of the many combiner robot toys I've seen over the years, the ones that have consistently impressed me were the ones released by Bandai under the Machine Robo line. Whereas other robot toy lines are stuck in the novelty of combining smaller toys into a bigger toy, Machine Robo has used the concept of combination to promote creative play. Read on for a review of how Machine Robo has built upon its combiner toys throughout the years.
Read more