Retrospective: Star Wars (1977)
Chris McGeachy
On Tuesday, September 21, 2004 George Lucas will finally release to the
masses the much anticipated Star Wars trilogy on DVD. It's been a
painstakingly long wait for Star Wars fans that have been denied this
trilogy on DVD until now, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief when it
finally hits shelves - despite some controversial changes to the film and
its dialogue. But I can honestly say in all fairness, when you're actually
holding this classic trilogy in your hands, all these altered nuances
dissipate from a headache into a mere stomach cramp. It's ready, it's here
and we can shed some thanks to Lucas, Lucasfilm, ILM and the rest of the THX
crew for doing such a fantastic job of breathing new life into these films.
Right from the opening crawl we observe signs of cinematic genius when the
camera pans down from the text into the space chase. In 1977, scenes of star
fields were costly and tricky to do - most of them never even moved for that
matter - but that pan down from the crawl to the chase has become one of
many classic pieces of sci-fi storytelling mimicked from Star Wars a hundred
times in other films. The film opens with a breathtaking battle aboard a
Rebel Blockade runner, having been chased down by a mammoth Star Destroyer,
and George Lucas once again proved his genius by going with an
unconventionally robust and exciting opening sequence between a group of
Rebel soldiers and Imperial Stormtroopers aboard the captured vessel.
Secret plans, a dark lord, and the headstrong boy looking towards the sky
all come together in this story as it goes on. I'm not going to bother and
rehash any more of it, because if you're here you're likely already familiar
with it. This is truly one of the greatest and most significant films to hit
theaters since Citizen Kane, and I think that people don't realize what kind
of impact it actually had on audiences and filmmaking. Since 1977, films
have been trying to recreate the success of Star Wars, with big-blockbuster
type production values, vivid and beautiful landscape settings, versatile
character archetypes and interweaving storylines. A glance at our rogue
group of heroes - the adventurous boy, the space pirate, the over-cautious
protocol droid, the beautiful princess, the headstrong little R2 unit, and
the burly Wookee - yields at least one person we can relate to.
A New Hope really raised the bar for filmmaking - when it opened in 1977
audiences were overwhelmed with the technology presented before them. How
times have changed, and the technologies which we now consider very dated
(models and stop-motion) are now being forgotten in favor of newer computer
enhanced trickery (which I find audiences pick apart at more than ever). The
Death Star for instance was comprised of hundreds of scale model kits glued
together, and to create the entire battle scene cameras mounted on trucks
went swooping past the model, throwing firecrackers at its surface. a
process that would be compiled and textured by artists behind a desk
nowadays.
The look of A New Hope is one that is very genuine. These sets of cardboard
and Christmas tree lights convince the audience that they're looking into
another world, and Lucas picked his locations well when designing the
appearance and style of Star Wars. From the cold, black and heartless
mechanical confines of the Death Star, to the warm and dry sand dunes of
Tatooine this film was one of the very first to achieve an all-together
alien look, distinct from any film before it. No matter how much CG you can
throw into a film, there is nothing quite like the ability to create a piece
of art that can fool the human eye and the art design for this film has been
one of its trademark features since A New Hope wowed audiences right out of
the gate.
Which I guess leads me off into a little discussion on the controversy over
Lucas's 'artistic' changes. Greedo no longer shoots first, rather the two
pirates shoot at one another almost instantaneously, and the scene is
probably the best it will ever be short of the original reel. Jabba the Hutt
has also been redone - a good move since this was probably one of the
weakest computer generated parts of the special edition in my opinion, and
he now looks a lot closer to his actual Return of the Jedi self. As for the
other computer generated changes I should mention that these enhancements
really do the film some justice for the most part; I was really impressed
with the new lightsabers, and certainly thought that this was a fitting
change, as well as the tidying up of several effects which couldn't be done
as well back in 1997 for the Special Edition release.
So, is that it then for me? As someone who has spoken up about the error of
Lucas's ways, and the blasphemy of the changed trilogy should I just shrug
it all off and accept what Lucas has said to be his one and only vision for
Star Wars? Frankly, for me the movie loses something because of the lack of
options - I would guess that a real artist knows that art cannot be
expressed without an audience, and had Lucas not found an audience we'd
never have seen THX versions, and special editions of his films - nor the
relentless onslaught of Star Wars merchandise for that matter. It would be
fitting to give the public the choice (though I assume you'd find more
people would go with the newer editions), not just to appease the hundreds
of thousands - like myself - who've invested so much into Lucas and his
businesses over the past three decades, but to preserve a piece of film
history which has changed the way modern movies are made.
Sure - this could be the inane pleas of someone who has a little too much
time on his hands, but - no - this is a plea from someone who grew up hooked
on Star Wars, and as someone who developed a penchant for all forms of
films, even those which are dated by today's standards. Besides, one can't
deny that most of Star Wars - and I'm referring to the scenes that have gone
un-altered especially - looks as good as some of the big budget films
produced today, and I think a real artist would support the credo that you
imagination can't be restrained with a dollar figure and the only obstacle
should be the will to put those images on the big screen.
With that being said, Star Wars is finally here - and I'm so very glad that
we are able to enjoy it on DVD - but I do really hope that one day George
"The Artist" Lucas comes down from the pedestal he's put himself on and
gives the fans like myself their just desserts. Still, it's hard to deny
that a smile doesn't cross my bearded visage when I can pop this baby into
my DVD player, sit back, and enjoy.
The Disc
Oh wow. There are absolutely no gripes whatsoever here from me. A New Hope
looks simply amazing here, and I can seriously say without a doubt that this
is by far one of the best looking DVDs of all time. Everything from shadow
detail to the black levels are all so perfect, especially during darker
scenes (e.g. in the cantina) come out with crystal clarity - and Lucasfilm
deserves a pat on the back for the work they've done at restoring what was
called a 'very dirty old print.' Colors are also as vivid as you'll remember
them, though Star Wars was never anything of a bright and cheery film, this
transfer will show colors in clarity that has probably never before been
associated with A New Hope.
I'm certain that we've never seen this film in such stunning clarity - in
fact, many of our readers will have never seen Star Wars in widescreen (save
the re-release in 1997), and Lucas has definitely made the wait worthwhile
with this truly stunning video presentation. A New Hope is presented in
beautiful 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen - though beware, the gold cover means
certain doom for those of you who fear the full frame fate.
As far as the audio is concerned Lucasfilm has given us the option of Dolby
5.1 surround or Dolby 2.0. The 2.0 track is decent, but let's be honest
here - if you're buying this on DVD, you're doing it for the real deal. The
5.1 track offers some nice surround effects, however as I'm going through
the films I've noticed that A New Hope seems to be the least aggressive of
the three tracks.
As soon as John William's score filled the screen after 'A Long Time Ago.' I
got a chill down my spine, and a grin crept up with the vivid and absolute
burst of music that rang in through all channels. The people behind this DVD
have done their homework, and Star Wars comes in as buttery and as sweet as
your ears could have liked. Dialogue is clear, and there are some great
Low-Frequency Effects to boot (especially during the final dogfight at the
Death Star).
While most of the supplemental material is featured on the fourth 'Bonus
Disc,' this disc does have animated menus, featuring a scene from different
locations of the movie with parts of the film playing in the background. On
top of that we've also got the audio commentary with director Lucas, sound
designer Ben Burtt, special-effects cameraman Dennis Muren, and actress
Carrie Fisher. These commentaries were recorded separately, and obviously
had some thought put into them before hand. Lucas is there to tell us the
why? Whereas Burtt and Muren each talk about the audio and video and getting
a particular effect respectively, and Carrie Fisher talks more about the
actor/actress involvement and has a few behind-the-scenes stories to tell as
well.
Most of the bonus footage lies on the fourth disc.
Summary
It's finally here - and yes, I think it's definitely worthwhile. Had Star
Wars come out on DVD the first time around I'm sure we could have expected
dozens of dips to follow suit, however Lucas bade his time well, and the
result is certainly satisfying. As I said before, I'd certainly like to have
the original trilogy as it was released in 1977, but I suppose that's
another argument for another time. and even when I popped this one I was
definitely forgetful of any changes until they actually appeared on screen.
Star Wars is here, let us rejoice - for it is good.
http://www.dvdork.com/publish/cmg_sw_anh.shtml
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