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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 146279" data-attributes="member: 158">My review of the article, for anyone who cares...I apologize for the long post, but I want to point out, as Nemmerle did, with evidence, that pulp inspiration and mythic values are not mutually exclusive; in fact, one must include mythic archetypes to do it correctly.I find some of the things he says true, but at this same time it does not obviate what makes star wars great. What the author misses here is that, while Star Wars incorporates much of what came before in 1930's to 1950's pulp fiction and movies, THOSE sources themselves are great models for mythic heroes and ideals.What fan of Star Wars DOESN'T recognize the inspiration for the Death Star Trench run? Who DOESN'T by now recognize the inspiration for the basic plot of "Rescue the Princess from the Evil Wizard in the Fortress?" (And trust me, it wasn't original with The Hidden Fortress, either.)The magic of Star Wars is, I think, as uncapturable as our childhoods, or our first loves, or even our first gaming sessions. Notice the writer's pointing to "Rocky" as a better example. Rocky is a clear indicator that a change was already brewing in the 1970's culture. Where "The Godfather" was the most popular movie just a few scant years before, the debacle of Viet Nam, Watergate, and more problems and scandals than I can remember right now, gave people a desire for two things: (1) Identifiable Heroes, (2) Escape. Rocky fits these two themes to a "T". Star Wars, however, fits them even more. The good guys wore white (or Gold or fur), the bad guys wore black, and there was victory in the end.On the point of the Indiana Jones films, OF COURSE they also had pulp values and elements, and OF COURSE Spielberg's dynamic direction helped this movie. But if he had directed it any other way, he wouldn't have done justice to the genre, and I believe it wouldn't have turned out successfully at all. (The fact that Harrison Ford, with his charisma and mannerisms,  was the only character who could have been Indiana Jones, should go without saying.)One last point: Star wars was a distilled brew of "firsts." This contributed to its popularity.No other sci-fi film of its production quality existed at the time; anyone saying Star Trek is missing the point. Star Trek could not hold a candle to the photo-realism and action of the period; the original Star Trek was too sterile and staid in its look to be "real." No film or series had its level of production value.Star Wars was the first to use new filming technology (such as the hideously over-budget Dykstra-cam) to capture detail. It also had a very dedicated staff of modelling personnel that created wizardry with very frugal resources.As said before, it was also among the first films of the decade to develop simpler, "pulpish" core values at its story's center.Its main cast of characters were almost complete unknowns. The most publicized one I think was Harrison Ford; despite Carrie Fisher having a famous mother, I don't think she had appeared in any filmwork before, although I could be mistaken on this point.</blockquote>

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