Star Wars: THE original epic

What makes Star Wars tick? There are so many movies and movie series, then what is in the george lucas' epic saga of the galaxy far far away that makes it different from all others and makes it what the others aren't. Afterall, there are series which have (arguably) made more money, have had better technology/special effects, had better story, had better characterization, had better performances, better heroes, better villains. If you are a performance oriented movies lover then Godfather scores. If you are the techie then LOTR and the Matrix. If you are the adventure kinds then the bonds and the bournes are there. If you are the fighter then the rambos and rockys are always there. Then What makes Star Wars so special?

Well, my take is that simply because it had All of the above and much more. The foremost thiing that i can think of is the story. Every movie (in its basic form) has this Good vs Evil story to begin with and then it moves further. Star Wars was no different. But to me, the humanness of the story is the biggest reason. More than anything else. The viewer just immerses in the story as if he is actually a part of the same. When in Empire Strikes back, Darth tells Luke, I am your father. You suddenly forget its a story and your heart just goes Ohhhh.. Now what!!! What would happen now. What would Luke do. Even in Return of the Jedi, when Luke confronts Darth Vader in the end, although you know that in the end Darth would turn good in the end, you still have your heart in your mouth, when those lightsabers collide. It is THEN, the movie stops being a technological show and you feel that a story is being told and the galaxy, the warships, the special effects or anything else is just ancillary to the basic plot of good vs evil and the human relationships in between.

The way Star Wars (although being a techie/special effects movie as far as the setting is concerned) deals with human relationships at the very basic level is portrayed in the most beautiful way possible. The Conflict between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker as father-son is just the best portrayal that you could imagine. The father who once was a good man but now iis the warlord who is trying to kill the son and his friends (etc etc), but the son still feels that he has some good left in him.

On the relationships front only, there are these different friendships which bind the whole cast together. Starting from the phantom menace(i will go in the chronolical order of the story and not the release), we see that between obi wan and qui gon. Qui Gon and (young) Skywalker also have a similar friendship/chemistry despite their age gap. Even if you move further the friendship remains the essence of the series. Then between grown up Anakin and Obi Wan in the attack of the clones and Revenge of the Sith. Although Qui-Gon & Obi wan as well as Anakin and Obi Wan have this master disciple relationship, their friendship is still the more basic feeling that they feel for each other. Or for that matter, take Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, Han and Chewbaca or even (rather especially) R2D2 and C3PO. Despite them being robots, you can still feel that trust, care and friendship between the two. As if they are infact more human than the rest of the cast.

On the technology front also, i hear that LOTR was better or Matrix etc. But one thing we fail to realize is that when the first star wars was released. The wachowsky brotherw were yet to enter their teens. There was no internet. There were no movies(that i can remember) which had any special effects to talk about. First, the conceiving a story which was based on something hardly ever heard of and then thinking of ways to portray that onto the big screen was something. That too when most of us(who think that we have the authority to write anything on cinema :P ) were not even born. That was a feat in itself.

I dont quite know how much more i can go on and on and on, on each aspect of the movie. Infact i could just go on writing a note on each of the characters. On (arguably) the greatest movie villain of all times. On the adventure. On the Excitement. On the Chemistry. And a thousand other things. May be i am just an awestruck fan who thinks that the movie deals what cinema is supposed to do. Take you out of your daily miseries and tell you a story. A Story that will bind you down. A Story that stays with you even after you walk out of the cinema. A Story you would like to hear again and again no matter how many times you have heard it already. A Story that will take you to a wonderland where you have never been earlier. A story that lets you experience something you have never experienced earlier. Thats what Star Wars was. A Story that did all that. More than 3 Decades ago, still has the same effect even now and hopefully, will have the same effect on the generations to come. May the Force be with you. :)