In 1977, a relatively unknown filmmaker by the name of George Lucas released something to the public that would change the way we look at movies and how they are made. Star Wars was released to enormous success, so much that it broke records. This was a film that ushered in a new age of science fiction and fantasy. No one had ever seen anything like it before. Sure, 2001: A Space Odyssey influenced many movies, but it was Star Wars that lit up people’s imaginations. With unique characters such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Darth Vader, Star Wars became a world-wide phenomenon. 2001 notwithstanding, Star Wars is one of the most influential movies ever. It had great characters, a great story, great music and astounding visuals. It was revolutionary. For a fairly low-budget picture, Star Wars garnered such a following that merchandise like toys and books were being made. Following the original film’s success, work began on the sequel: The Empire Strikes Back. The resulting film actually ended up besting A New Hope in almost every way, and is what many consider to be the greatest Star Wars movie ever made, and it’s hard to argue that point. Capping off the Original Trilogy is Return of the Jedi. While not the strongest entry in the series, it’s still an amazing achievement and had amazing action sequences that capped off the greatest movie trilogy. Here’s an interesting tidbit: George Lucas had originally written treatments for nine movies in total, but he only made six movies.
The Prequel Trilogy began in 1999 with The Phantom Menace, continued with Attack of the Clones in 2002, and concluded with Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The Prequel Trilogy, while successful wasn’t as critically acclaimed as the original movies, even though Revenge of the Sith took a big step in the right direction. But shoddy writing and over-use of CG animation, really made the Prequels seem kind of generic and not nearly as memorable. A few years back, George Lucas sold his company and Star Wars to Disney. When that happened, they announced a bevy of new Star Wars movies, including the beginning of new film trilogy. People had been hoping for years to see a sequel trilogy. In December of 2015, that is exactly what we will get. Directed by J.J Abrams, the new Star Wars film: The Force Awakens will be released to audiences world-wide. Today, the first teaser for the film was released:
I don’t know about any of you, but I’m stoked. It’s a year away, but if this teaser is any indication, The Force Awakens is going to be a hell of a movie. It’s being directed by a huge fan of the series and features the return of Han Solo(Harrison Ford), Princess Leia(Carrie Fisher), Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill), and Chewbacca(Peter Mayhew). The teaser doesn’t show a whole lot, but seeing the Millenium Falcon again sends chills down my spine in a good way. The Force Awakens could very well be the movie event of 2015. There a lot of movies coming out next year, and this one just shot up to the top of my list.