The success of Graffiti convinced Lucas that Americans in the mid-1970’s were ready for a new kind of film (Pollock 138).  While Watergate, Vietnam, and social unrest had caused a growing cynicism in general society, recent movies seemed to be suffused with sex and violence.  The science-fiction genre especially saw a flood of apocalyptic and dystopian futures with chaos and destruction as the central themes (Brosnan 154).  Lucas decided to work against the trend, for as he says, “You can learn from cynicism, but you can’t build on it” (Salewicz 40).  For a long time Lucas had been thinking about doing a space opera, something that would combine his childhood love of TV serials like Flash Gordon and Adventure Theater with his studies in sociology and anthropology.  Inspired by the work of mythology scholar Joseph Campbell, Lucas also wanted to create a modern fairy tale, a timeless fable that young viewers could understand (Pollock 139).  There was one major problem: he despised writing.  When asked about the abstract nature of his earliest films, Lucas replied, “I did terrible in script writing classes, because I hated script writing.  I hated stories, and I hated plot, and I wanted to make visual films that had nothing to do with telling a story” (O’Quinn 9).  Though by 1973 he had changed his mind on the latter, he still tried to get around actually writing the script by hiring others to write it for him.  However, in his typical perfectionist fashion, he despaired that no one could accurately reproduce his ideas and eventually gave himself up to the daunting task (O’Quinn 10).  Two-and-a-half years later, even as filming began, he was still making minor alterations on what was to ironically become one of the best-loved stories of all time.

    Star Wars: Episode I - A New Hope is an epic tale of good vs. evil, the heroic journey of Luke Skywalker who leaves his desert home, rescues the rebel princess from the evil Empire, and destroys the Empire’s ultimate weapon with the help of his friends and a mystical energy field called the Force.  Building on the themes of THX and ancient mythology, Star Wars makes no apologies for borrowing styles and subject matter from various sources.  For example, while early drafts of the script bear a striking resemblance to the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress³ by Akira Kurosawa, a director Lucas greatly admired, other influences from the works of Isaac Asimov (a galactic empire) to The Wizard of Oz (an orphan on an isolated farm swept up in an off-world adventure) are often noted (Helander 2).  One author even compares Lucas’ “postmodern zest for appropriation” to the “famous Watts Towers in Los Angeles, cathedral spires of whatever – hubcaps, freeway guardrails, balcony railings, all kinds of recognizable modern stuff welded together by a single driven man and raised in Gothic tribute to the sky” (Paul).

    As a movie, however, Star Wars was unique for its time.  Most obviously, the dazzling special effects that bring Lucas’ universe to life were of a quality never seen before, much of the technology having been developed on the set by the fledgling Industrial Light and Magic group.  Similarly, Lucas insisted that the props, sets, characters, and sounds have an “organic,” natural look and feel (Pollock 160).  He also had a purpose in selecting a virtually unknown cast and beginning his tale with Episode IV.  By scuffing the droids and scouring the ships, using actors whose screen personas would not obscure the personality of their characters, and giving the narrative an unrevealed back story, Lucas immersed the audience in his imaginary world.  Whereas science fiction films of the past were set in obviously distant and nonexistent lands, the suspension of disbelief in Star Wars is almost immediate.  With an amount of success made all the more astonishing by the movie’s miniscule budget, Lucas gave his imaginary universe a sense of reality and vitality that was unprecedented.  As Roger Ebert explained in his 1977 review, “the events in the movie seem real, and I seem to be a part of them…. 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.  The movie's happening, and it's happening to me.”  At the same time, Lucas’ unique brand of editing, as previously praised by Spielberg, gives the film a feeling of motion and speed that is gripping in its intensity.  His love of car racing and comic books never far from his mind, Lucas brings that excitement to the screen.  Even those who do not like Star Wars as a movie are hard pressed to deny that, when all is said and done, it is a thrilling ride.

    That is not to say that Star Wars is without flaws.  In fact, all evidence points to the fact that Lucas is not really an exemplary director, and that some of the film’s aspects most praised by fans – the epic story, the exciting fast pace, the admirable characters, the technical wizardry – are also the qualities most derided by critics.  Pauline Kael is not alone when she asserts, in a bracing contradiction to Ebert’s review, that “The loudness, the smash-and-grab editing, the relentless pacing drive every idea from your head” and that the movie “has no emotional grip.”  John Baxter’s opinion was even more succinct: “God, it was so mindless” (Brosnan 175).  Though voiced perhaps a little strongly, this is in fact Lucas’ greatest criticism as a filmmaker, that he sacrifices thematic and character development in favor of action.  In the words of Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, “He’s afraid of going to slow” (Pollock 212).  Consequently, while disparaging comments have been made about the acting in the film, it is not so much a remark on the actors’ talent, but on the fact that Lucas does not exactly provide them with award-winning roles.

    As for Lucas’ direction, most of the cast expressed dissatisfaction with his communication skills, one crew member going so far as to say that Lucas knew what he wanted, “the problem was that none of us knew what that was” (Jenkins 102).  This is not surprising considering that, as a shy man, Lucas has acknowledged that directing is alien to his personality (O’Quinn 9).  As a result, though he was concerned with even the most intimate details of his movie, Lucas came across as aloof and disinterested when it came to directing his actors.  Mark Hamill once said, “I have a sneaking suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George would do it” (Pollock 163), an allegation Lucas denies adamantly, but which is an interesting observation nonetheless.⁴  Of course, the wooden dialogue did not help matters.  In spite of Lucas’ thirty months of devotion on the script, the actors were often presented with unwieldy lines like Carrie Fisher’s “I thought I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.”⁵   Harrison Ford, having worked with Lucas before in American Graffiti, was the only one willing to tell Lucas what the rest of the cast was feeling: “You can type this shit, George, but you sure can’t say it” (Jenkins 112).  That, at least, earned him a smile.

    Despite these setbacks, Lucas was pleased with the performances of his actors and credits them with much of the film’s success.  His own dissatisfaction lay in the movie’s inability to live up to his dream, resulting from a lack of sufficient technology as well as numerous malfunctions and natural disasters during filming.  Technically, he was only about 50 percent happy with the way Star Wars turned out until fixing it up twenty years later with the Special Edition (Turan 19).  So if the writing was poor, the characters shallow, the pace too fast, the direction weak and the effects incomplete, what made the movie appealing to such a wide audience?  By these standards Star Wars was certainly lacking, and not even John Williams’ stunning score can take all the credit for the stirring impact of the movie.  One surmises that either such critiques are not entirely accurate, seeing as they are a matter of opinion, or there is something within the movie that elevates it beyond such technicalities.  Actually, it is a little bit of both.
 

  ³ The similarity between The Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress is evident if one compares Lucas’s outline with a plot summary from Donald Richie’s 1965 biography The Films of Akira Kurosawa:

    The Star Wars:
 “It is the thirty-third century, a period of civil wars in the galaxy. A rebel princess, with her family, her retainers, and the clan treasure, is being pursued. If they can cross territory controlled by the Empire and reach a friendly planet, they will be saved. The Sovereign knows this, and posts a reward for the capture of the princess.”  Lucas, George (1973), The Star Wars story synopsis.
    The Hidden Fortress:
 “It is the sixteenth century, a period of civil wars. A princess, with her family, her retainers, and the clan treasure is being pursued. If they can cross enemy territory and reach a friendly province they will be saved. The enemy knows this and posts a reward for the capture of the princess.” Richie, Donald (1965), The Films of Akira Kurosawa, p. 134.  (Helander 5-6)