Alex Moehn
Film 301
Star Wars VII: A Cultural Revolution
Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977, United States and Guatemala) even though it’s in a galaxy far, far away it was able to still revolutionize the science fiction films in America. Before the release of Star Wars in the late 70’s sci-fi films hadn’t been able to take a front sit to American audiences. When Lucas took the stage he easily won audiences over with introducing new special effects and adding new meaning and ideas to sci-fi genre. Star Wars put a new meaning to space travel, space ships, the ray gun, and aliens. Not only did Lucas create a craze for sci-fi films he brought together a country with Luke Skywalker era. By Lucas evolving the sci-fi genre and winning the American hearts Star Wars was able to revolutionize sci-fi films.
The father of Star Wars, George Lucas, didn’t always have a vision of a Star Wars trilogy. In Lucas’s younger days he desired to become a racecar driver, but soon found out that his calling was in the film industry. After graduating from USC Lucas had already produced his first film THX 1138 in which Harrison Ford acted in before his career as Han Solo. Star Wars being the first major movie Lucas produced led him to create another six Star Wars movie, theIndiana Jones series, and Tucker just naming a couple. Aside from Lucas’s award winning movies, Star Wars swept the nation off their feet in the late 1970’s.
Star Wars not only gave its audience the thrill of a science-fiction movie but it brought back sci-fi films from the pits. As stated about Star Wars “it ultimately helped to resurrect the financial viability of the science-fiction genre” (1). Producing a high budgeted movie allowed Lucas to incorporate everything from generic expectations to unexpected features in the movie.The 1970’s in America had showed rapid growth towards new technology. Everything from the neutron bomb and first test tube baby, to Atari and computers led America into a technology era. Also the space race with Russia had America still competing for newer and better weapons and spaceships. The ships in Star Wars set themselves apart from other movies before this with ships like The Millennium Falcon, Death Star, and TIE fighters that extended a key science fiction feature, space travel. Having these ships capable of flying at light speed and to numerous different planets which engraved in viewers minds of what an endless universe could really hold. Lucas was able to incorporate many computer and digitally—time special effects that let audiences get lost in the never ending galaxy of planets and ships filled with hundreds of different characters. Star Warsnot only had pinnacle special effects it had an arsenal of new weapons that drew out the oohs and awes from audiences during the actions scenes. The special effects were a huge influential factor to not only the success of star wars, but on what sci-fi films would become. With so many new and improved special effects it opened doors to other sci-fi movies competing for the new and best technology in their films. Lucas was not only able to contribute to factors in sci-fi films he was able to expand the sci-fi genre in America.
In the late 1970’s hit movies were being made and turned into blockbusters and feature films. Like mentioned in our text about movies in the late 70’s into the early 80’s, “Lucas and Spielberg went on to produce and direct a large number of science fiction films and were central figures in the re-creation of the film series”(2). Lucas had a major contribution to this growing genre. Since Star Wars was such a big hit in 1977 it opened many sci-fi and other genre movies producers into thinking they would be able to produce the best new blockbuster. Film makers were now funding for higher action and budgeted films expanding the ideas of what sci-fi was capable of. Examples of some movies would be Blade Runner, Robocop, Alien, E.T, and Terminator just listing a few feature films thathit it big. The use of mise-en-scene in Star Wars helped Lucas to incorporate all the characters and ships he had in the movie. Throughout the entire movie each scene was filled numerous troops, battle ships, or scenery. This allows audiences to see an array of different sci-fi elements like space ships, space travel, aliens, and technology throughout the movie.

Star Wars not only helped modernize sci-fi films it created a wider audience in America.George Lucas culturally revolutionized sci-fi films in the late 1970’s setting a foundation for what sci-fi movies were soon to become.
Notations
(1) Kerks, Tim. "Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)."
(2) Cornea, Christine. Science Fiction Cinema. Rutgers UP.