Well, it’s finally here. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the seventh chapter in the ‘Star Wars’ series, made its highly anticipated premiere earlier this week to what appears to be wildly solid praise (our B-grade review). But as every fan knows, it’s been quite a journey to this moment. After 1983’s ‘Return Of The Jedi’ fans held out hope for a return to a galaxy far far away, only to have those hopes and dreams steamrolled repeatedly between 1999 and 2005. The Prequels, as they have come to be known, effectively took everything magical, unique, and mysterious about the ‘Star Wars’ universe and made it painfully boring. Which made it difficult for quite a few years to remember just how fun and innovative the 1977 original was.
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So, to gear up for the long awaited theatrical release of ‘The Force Awakens’ this week, Julian Palmer has put together another episode of ‘The Discarded Image,’ ‘Episode 5 – Star Wars.’ As detailed as the other entries in the series, ‘Episode 5’ takes a long, thorough look into what makes the climactic battle in the original, "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope," work. To do so, Palmer carefully places the film within the context of the cannon, the then-current political climate, and the body of George Lucas’ work. Most interestingly, the essay digs into some of Lucas’ struggle with directing actors, and his often obvious desire to simply create cool, visually entrancing images.
If you haven’t sat down with the ‘Star Wars’ films in a while, “The Discarded Image: Episode 5 – Star Wars” is a great reminder of just how exciting and ahead of its time that first film was — and a great way to get psyched about rewatching the original trilogy before getting in line for ‘The Force Awakens.’
Check out the video below, and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.
