When I did an online search, I found a few articles mentioning how the video game Halo could be "the next Star Wars". I am not very familiar with the story behind Halo, but I have serious doubts that a video game or movie based on it could earn that designation even if Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson is involved. Here's the article: http://blueskydisney.blogspot.com/2009/08/this-generations-star-wars.html.
As far as I'm concerned, there has not been a Next Star Wars, and unfortunately, there most likely never will be.
I'm not just saying this because I am a tremendous Star Wars fan. I have been since my father first took me to see Star Wars - not Episode IV: A New Hope, which I refuse to call the film just like I refuse to precede Raiders of the Lost Ark with Indiana Jones and... - and saw it 30 times before it finally came out on VHS in the early 1980s and saw hundreds of times beyond that. Many of my fondest memories involves Star Wars: going to the toy store with whatever money I earned or received from relatives to buy the latest action figure made my Kenner; my father waiting in line for hours at the Fox Theatre on Wolf Road in Colonie so we can see The Empire Strikes Back in 1980; my father taking me out of school early in 7th grade and skipping Mrs. Nero's science class to see the first showing of the day of Return of the Jedi in 1983; being so excited reading the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster, the unofficial sequel to Star Wars, and Han Solo novels by Brian Daley, which were set before Star Wars; waking my father up in the middle of the night to see the premiere of Star Wars on HBO; even driving two hours both ways from Blythe, CA, to Phoenix, AZ, to see the midnight showing of Episode I - The Phantom Menace with my father, my future wife, and my best friends. Before I had kids, I couldn't wait to sit down and have them watch the movies with me. Now that they're old enough, we sit together and watch the films whenever they're on cable or if I buy or do something new with electronics - my 55:"HDTV, my Blu-Ray DVD, hooking my stereo up to the TV. I have to test out the potency of the electronics by playing the opening to Star Wars.
Why? Because after 35 years since its release, the intro for the 20th Century Fox logo, the flash of the Lucasfilm Ltd. logo, the message, "A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far way..." followed by the BOOM! of John Williams's opening score accompanied by the retraction of the STAR WARS title zooming into space and the scroll detailing the prologue to the story, it still sends a chill of excitement up my spine.
So why has the thrill and appeal of Star Wars continued for over 35 years?
1) It redefined a genre. Before Star Wars, science fiction emphasized more of the science than the fiction. The characters were usually one dimensional caricatures who fit their role and responsibility. The captain was always the brave adventurer. The scientist was a genius. The female was the designated female who served either as the damsel in distress or the eye candy. The dialogue was wooden and often laced with references and explanations straight out of a textbook. The lasers were either light shows or sparks and the ships were one step above model kits. In other words, it was a cheap genre.
Star Wars transformed the genre. The dialogue, while not spectacular or resounding, was at least more natural and acceptable than in other science fiction films. It wasn't stilted or laden with scientific terms or references. In fact, the only real scientific statement - "But I was going to go into Toshi Station to buy some power converters!" - is downright laughable with how Luke Skywalker whines about the responsibility his Uncle Owen gives him to fix up C-3PO and R5-D4 (not R2-D2, who was purchased only after R5-D4 broke down due to a "bad motivator" - well, there's another scientific term).
Even the robots and aliens had personality! The dynamic of C-3PO and R2-D2 is more like a classic vaudevillian comedy team than that of two monotone robots. They're more Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy than monitor and desktop. The aliens emoted and showed character. Even when the aliens spoke, they spoke in an alien language that actually had phonics, lexicon, and semantics. Even R2-D2's blips, bleeps, and bloops had emotional tone behind them. Never had we seen such portrayals in science fiction movies before, where the robots were generally fact-spewing, logical machines and the aliens just lumbered and even spoke perfect English.
The special effects took filmmaking to the next level. Spaceships were not hovering in space simply firing at their enemies. They moved like fighter jets or hulking battleships. Right from the beginning when we are dragged below the underbelly of the Star Destroyer pursuing the Rebel Cruiser, you know you're about to witness movie magic like you've never seen before. The amazing thing? The magic was created with models and innovative movements of a camera, not computer-generated images.
2) It's not just science fiction. The best stories are those that transcend genres by incorporating motifs under the umbrella of its own presentation. Star Wars is not just a science fiction story set in space. It's actually more of a fantasy with its characters of princesses, knights, pirates, and dark lords; its sword fights; its creatures who are more monstrous than alien; and the mysticism of The Force. It's a western in that it takes place in the "pioneer" of space on the planet of Tattooine with simple farmers taking on "the corrupt system". It's a swashbuckling adventure in which daring heroes need to rescue the princess from her captors. It's a romance between a young farm boy and the princess he must save (this is before we learned they were actually brother and sister, which still strikes an odd chord with many - but hey, the religious norms of Earth do not exist in space, so that's how we can explain their incestuous relationship).
3) It defined the times. Star Wars came out at a time in which America's youth was disenfranchised with the system and society created and run by the adults. America's youth was disenfranchised with the world their parents had created for them. We were still licking the wounds from the Vietnam War. The President had just been impeached for criminal behavior. Unemployment and crime rates were high. Adults were intimidated and actually frightened by America's youth, and they oppressed them by denying them the opportunities that were provided to their parents. Kids were discouraged that their lives were not turning out as smoothly their parents' in the way of "the grand plan" - graduate high school, the man goes to college, marries his high school sweetheart, she stays home and raises the kids. Kids were fed up, and they wanted more. However, social norms and situations prevented them from getting what they want.
Star Wars symbolized America's disappointment with the corrupt and conflicted adult culture that was being heaped on them. When Luke, Han, and Leia went up against Darth Vader and the evil Empire, it struck a chord with America's youth in the seventies. Here were these kids rising up against their oppressors and trying to create a life that was good for them in a world in which they wanted to live. Luke was every young man who aspired to be more and fulfill their destiny. Leia was not just some helpless girl. She was strong, independent, had freewill, and even put "the boys" in their place when necessary. Han Solo was the screw-up who redeemed himself by proving "there was more to him than just money" and actually cared about things other than himself.
4) It allowed us to escape. The seventies were a dark time. America had just lost a war. We lacked faith in our leaders. Married couples were getting divorced. Moms were no longer staying at home raising the kids and tending the house because they either had to or wanted to go to work. Kids were coming home to empty houses and spending time with their parents separately. America's faith and confidence was rocked.
Star Wars whisked us to a galaxy far, far away from the depressing times facing America - and the world, for that matter. It took us to a place where good beats evil, where the youth can rise against their oppressors, and the story ends happily ever after. The universe was saved not by the leaders of the political parties but rather a young farm boy who used The Force and believed in himself to blow up the Death Star. In other words, it gave the world hope.
5) It was not like other films currently being made. The films of the seventies were dark and tragic. Most of the films addressed bleak themes. Graphic violence, nudity, and sex permeated films. This was mostly out of a response to the new rating system implemented by the Motion Picture Association of America. Filmmakers felt unrestricted and unburdened to confirm to standards and practices. The rating system allowed them to address subjects that would be considered risque and taboo prior to the rating system, which gave them the permission to push the envelope. Case in point - even Alfred Hitchcock featured nudity - albeit uncomfortably - in Frenzy because he could as long as the film was Rated R.
The "heroes" were not noble or upstanding. Actually, they were more rogues than heroes. Some of them were even as treacherous as their antagonists. Think about the characters permeating the films of the 70s. The Corleone Family were ruthless gangsters and killers whose only redeeming quality was their love and devotion to family. "Dirty Harry" Callahan resorted to tactics that were sometimes even more violent than the criminals he chased, which usually ended with a kill than an arrest. Popeye O'Doyle was a ruthless, racist cop who did whatever he could to get what we wanted and lived a single, depressing life when he wasn't working the job.
The stories did not end happily ever after. In fact, more often than not, these films ended in loss or even death. In The Godfather, Michael Corleone does not follow the path his father wanted for him and ended up inheriting the mantle of his father's criminal empire. In The Godfather, Part II, Michael kills his brother and his wife, Connie, leaves him. In The Exorcist, Father Karras saves young, possessed Reagan by letting the demon possess him and throws himself out the window, where he falls down a staircase to his death. In The French Connection, the drug czars get away with their crimes. In Chinatown, Mrs. Mulwray is gunned down and Jake Gittes is told, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." In Rocky, Rocky Balboa does not win the title from Apollo Creed.
Even the war films, which were often used as propaganda to celebrate military heroism and might, were more tragic than heroic. The Deer Hunter and Coming Home showcased the suffering of the Vietnam vet. Apocalypse Now took the classic Joseph Conrad novel Hearts of Darkness, set it during the Vietnam War, and showed the physical and psychological trauma the war caused for America's soldiers. Taxi Driver introduced us to a lonely Vietnam vet named Travis Bickle who has a warped sense of values and ends up becoming a "hero" through violent means. The soldier was not one to be celebrated on film but rather pitied.
Films were also geared toward adults. Kids or family movies were relegated to Disney feature productions, which were often cheaply and even poorly made. That's why many of the Disney classic cartoons were rereleased into the theaters in the seventies. Even the first summer blockbuster - Jaws - was a film for adults, a horror film that featured graphic violence and even nudity within the first five minutes.
Star Wars was a family event. Young and old could see and enjoy the film - and they did! Adults not only took their children but also went on dates or with groups of friends to see the film. This was the origin of what Hollywood calls the Four Quadrant Film - a film that appeals to all members of the audience: the young, the old, the men, and the women.
It also brought back the concept of the "happy ending". Unlike most films of the seventies, the good guys won, and they did so with little sacrifice. While Jaws can be attributed that it brought back the happy ending with Roy Scheider's Brody blowing up the Great White Shark, he did so after being subjected to great violence, suffering, and even death. In Star Wars, the good guys won with some tragedy - specifically, the death of Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi - but that loss was more through sacrifice for the greater good than suffering.
However, Star Wars still embodies the darkness of the seventies in that one of the bad guys does get away to fight another day, and when he does, he brings such tragedy to our heroes in the sequel.
6) It doesn't look like a period film. Most of the science fiction films of the seventies - or even most of the films of the seventies - capture the style of the times. In the future, people wore bell bottom pants, had mutton chops or feathered hair, and wore leisure suits while the women wore miniskirts or pantsuits. Think Logan's Run in which Michael York and Jenny Agutter. Many of the characters look like they were going to dance in a disco rather than soar the spaceways.
With Star Wars, the style is non-descript. Other than Carrie Fisher's hair, which was more unique than typical of the times, there truly is nothing about the look or style of the film that marks the time period. Haircuts were nondescript. Clothing and costumes were simple with bland tones - whites, tans, browns, and darks. Even the music played in the Cantina was non-descript lounge music that could be from any era - no heavy funk bass or synthesizers. Star Wars could have been filmed in the seventies, the eighties, the nineties - or any time period.
7) It's still relevant. The theme of Star Wars (not the soundtrack) is still relevant today. Good defeats evil. Young defeats the old. It allows us to escape the depressing times facing us.
These are all things what a film that could be "the next Star Wars" needs to do. Unfortunately, none of the modern films are powerful or innovative enough to create the same effect.
The problem with modern movies isn't just the filmmaking. It's the audience. We're not demanding when it comes to our expectations and entertainment of movies. It's why movies like TRANSFORMERS can make so much money and be considered a box office success. These days, a movie is judged not just by quality of talent but rather quantity of box office.
Modern audiences also does not know how to create "classics" anymore. Our memories are too short, and we make things so popular that there's a backlash. What's popular quickly becomes uncool and therefore forgotten. Think about it - does anyone get as excited about The Matrix anymore, which was once considered to be "the next Star Wars"?
Then there's the Harry Potter film series, which has the same solid fan base as its own universe like Star Wars. However, it's not "the next Star Wars" because the fan base came from another medium. It's the same reason why Star Trek or the comic book movies can't be "the next Star Wars" because there was already an avid fan base before the movies came out.
The excitement around the upcoming production of The Hobbit could re-establish the Lord of the Rings film series as "the next Star Wars", which is ironic since Tolkien's novels heavily influenced the Star Wars films. However, it could also be like The Godfather Part III in which there was so much hype and enthusiasm that it was bound to never live up to the expectation of the audience.
That's why the new Star Wars trilogy failed. While the special effects were much more dynamic, it could never live up to the hype, excitement, or expectations created by the original. The modern trilogy also felt much more cold and detached than the original trilogy. Basically, it felt like traditional science fiction films: unemotional and scientific. Case in point - the resounding boos heard in the theater during the midnight screening of The Phantom Menace in which strength with The Force is due to a midchlorian count. What was once spiritual became scientific. What was once original became genre specific. In other words, Star Wars became Star Trek.
There's only one filmmaker whose films can create the Star Wars effect, and that's James Cameron. Titanic and Avatar are like Star Wars in that they are great films that encourage the audience to return for repeat viewing. However, Titanic does not have the staying power a classic like Star Wars or even Gone with the Wind has. It's not one of those films that trigger memories or reflect a time period. It's just a damn good movie whose value and presence has been deflated due to repeat viewings on DVD and cable. Also, there can't be any sequels made. The boat sank. Jack died. Story ends.
When it comes to Avatar, it could be "the next Star Wars". However, we'll have to wait until Cameron makes the sequel before any comparisons can be made. Until then, we have the original, often imitated, never been replicated to entertain us until some creative genius finds a way to tap into those things that make Star Wars so classic without Hollywood overmarketing or overexposing the films.
No comments:
Post a Comment