True confession: I am a geek and proud of it. I love StarWars and saw the first movie in a theater when it first came out. I was pregnant with my first child at the time. When StarWars: the Force Awakens came out last year, I took her youngest child to see it. I felt as if I’d gone full circle.
StarWars Opinions
Everyone has an opinion about this series. I won’t go into the platitudes about it or state the obvious about how it changed cinema forever. It’s obvious that it did. The technology to create the first film revolutionized filming. SteadiCam anyone? In the same way, Avatar made 3D a new force to be reckoned with (no pun intended).
When fans say “May the Fourth be with you” on every May 4th, it’s a tribute to the legacy of the series. The Jedi say “May the force be with you” as a means of farewell, and a blessing that is more than “good luck”. The fan phrase is also a reminder of the fun to be had when watching the films. When I saw The Force Awakens I loved seeing all the Easter eggs (references to things fans would recognize). There were entire blogs devoted to listing them. Here’s a trailer that claims to list them ALL.
Created by George Lucas, the first film in the series was released in 1977. It began with the Episode 4: A New Hope. Episode 5 and 6 followed, and then several years later, episodes 1, 2, and 3 were released. With episode 7, we are beginning a new leg of the series. It’s a fan joke that we teach our kids to count this way: 4-5-6-1-2-3-7. Seriously, when you ask someone if they’ve seen the first StarWars, they invariably ask “Episode 1 or Episode 4”? Because 4 was the first, but 1 is the fourth, while still technically being the first episode. It’s like being a termite in a yo-yo. You go around and around with this.
But however you add it up, StarWars is one of those series you either love or hate. It’s polarizing, and hard to explain. I guess you’ll have to see it for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Whether you are a new fan or one from way back, may the fourth (and the force) be with you.