What Does Star Wars Have Now it Did Not Have When First Released? Timothy Sexton College

When Stars Wars was first released in 1977 (without the subtitle A New Hope but simply as Star Wars) it was greeted with instant adoration by movie fans and surprisingly robust (if nowhere near universal) critical acclaim. And why not? It was the movie that seemed to have something for everybody. It had cute robots and scary villains. Weird looking alien creatures. Special effects well beyond the stage of the art. An exciting adventure story populated by engaging characters. It was by turns funny, thrilling and even offered a little tame romantic intrigue. And for those looking for something more, it even had a deeply philosophical foundation that would be seized upon by Joseph Campbell and turned into a full-fledged mythology. Heck, what with the oppressive Empire and the plucky rebels trying to set things right again, the movie even managed to plug into—in its own unique way—the zeitgeist of paranoia which defines 1970’s Hollywood. Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly the most serious use of celluloid in history, but there was that stuff Campbell and Moyers would spend hours talking about. And besides, what was so deep about Annie Hall, anyway? (The movie which beat out Star Wars at the Oscars for top honors.)

Turns out there was...