Date: Fri 14-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Illustration: C

Location: A12

Quick Words:

Playing-Star-Wars-Lucas-Leia

Full Text:

(rev "Star Wars" For Now Playing, 2/14/97)

Now Playing-

The Return of A Magical Movie

By Trey Paul Alexander III

OK, I can no longer resist. I need to put in my two cents. After securing the

cover of Time magazine, a Fox TV special, countless mention in newspapers

everywhere, and a record-breaking box-office opening in January, Star Wars has

garnered my attention. Actually, it has held it since I was not yet seven

years old and got my first glimpse of a galaxy far, far away and heard the

first strains of John Williams' majestic, memorable score.

My most vivid memory of going to the movies as a youngster is seeing Star Wars

with my family and being completely awed by it. I can even remember Mom - who

went in protest because she knew it would be "junk" - walking away from the

theatre, mouth agape, admitting, "Wow, it was good!"

The adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and their motley

crew of compatriots against the menacing Darth Vader and the evil Empire

immediately became part of the lexicon. Our modest little town in Colorado

then proceeded to show Star Wars for over a year (and those were the days

before ten-screen multiplexes made it easy for films to hang around). From

then on it wasn't hard to convince my parents to buy my brother and me just

about every "Star Wars" toy in creation (not to mention bed sheets, bubble gum

cards, breakfast cereals, etc) and drag them to the cinema to stand in line

for the following two sequels.

But even I was taken aback when this film, approximately 20 years later, took

the nation by storm (again!) and gathered over $60 million in less than two

weeks - all while sitting on the rental shelves of every video retailer in the

country (not to mention the vast number of homes that can claim to have their

own personal copy). I'd love to claim responsibility and say everyone has

finally come to their senses and realized what I've said all along: watching

movies at home (whether or not you've got Dolby Pro Logic surround sound or

some such other techno gadget in the home theatre arsenal) pales to the

experience of viewing them on the big screen, as they are meant to be seen.

But alas, I must admit that this resurgent Star Wars craze goes much deeper

than me.

However, Star Wars: Special Edition , George Lucas' slightly tweaked version

of his classic 1977 film, can indeed attribute a great deal of its success to

the simple fact that it has returned to theatres after years of showings on

the USA Network and other broadcast venues. Though the movie now boasts

enhanced special effects, a digitized soundtrack and some restored footage

(all of which makes for a nice novelty production but doesn't render the

original film obsolete, nor usurp its standing as the definitive Star Wars ),

the true enticement is its reappearance on the silver screen.

Now, I could sit here and ramble on about how much depth and perspective is

gained in the filmic mode over video, or the richness of the screen's

rectangular picture ratio in contrast to the square, more confining dimensions

of television. But I won't. I will say that today's teenagers (a generation

that knows Star Wars but never experienced it on the big screen until now)

grasp this, maybe not overtly, but they understand it intuitively. They may

not be able to explain how this science-fiction, fantasy concoction of Lucas'

plays out like a contemporary mythical fable. Nor would they see the irony

that Lucas' saga, propelled by his singular vision but made timeless by its

effervescent spirit, gave rise to an era of blockbuster filmmmaking that is

more often than not characterized by derivativeness and soulless

craftsmanship. But they do fathom that to truly encounter the fanciful world

of Star Wars , you can't sit at home - you need to be in a theatre full of

cheering adventurers, all sharing this same wonderful ride to "a long time ago

and a galaxy far, far away."