GEORGE LUCAS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB.5. 

USA, 1977.  Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.   Screenplay by George Lucas.  Cinematography by Gilbert Taylor.  Produced by Gary Kurtz.   Music by John Williams.  Production Design by John Barry.  Costume Design by John Mollo.  Film Editing by Richard Chew, Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas.  

This science-fiction blockbuster breathed new life into the genre by creating a space opera (inspired by director George Lucas’s love of Japanese samurai films) in which passionate character conflicts play against beautifully designed interplanetary backdrops. Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker, a young farm boy looking for adventure who finds it when he joins up with two Droids (short for androids), an old hermit (Alec Guinness) and a cad of a mercenary pilot (Harrison Ford) to rescue a princess (Carrie Fisher) who has been kidnapped by the evil Darth Vader. Followed by an even better sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, this is one you’ll want to watch again and again (provided that you haven’t already).

Academy Awards:  Best Visual Effects; Best Art Direction; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing; Best Sound; Best Original Score; Special Achievement in Sound, for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices
Nominations: Best Picture; Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness); Best Director (George Lucas); Best Original Screenplay

Golden Globe Award:  Best Original Score
Nominations: Best Picture-Drama; Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness); Best Director (George Lucas)