Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageStar Wars (1977)
Director: George Lucas
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Hollywood began in an amusement arcade, so it's appropriate that its most profitable film should be as formally enchanting and psychologically sterile as a Gottlieb pinball machine. Star Wars is at least 40 years out of date as science fiction, but objections pale beside the film's major achievement: nearly 50 years after it was conceived, pulp space fiction is here for the first time presented as a truly viable movie genre. Discounting 2001, which isn't a genre movie, it's like watching the first Western to use real exteriors. And audiences rightly feel that this is something they've been owed for some time. Star Wars itself has distinct limitations, but the current return to a cinema of spectacle and wonder is wholly encouraging. Or would you prefer The Sound of Music?Author: DP
Cast & crew
Director: George Lucas
Producer: Gary Kurtz
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse full cast
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Duration: 121 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
The ultimate 'Harry Potter' crib sheet
Our resident potter professor, Wally Hammond, offers the ultimate introduction to 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
Bruno is here!
Sacha Baron Cohen hits the streets as Austria's premiere gay fashionista in 'Bruno'. Read our review of the film plus see the pics from our cover shoot
Lars von Trier's 'Antichrist': joke or masterpiece?
Dave Calhoun invites seven experts to watch Lars von Trier's latest and share their reactions
Classic Film Club: 'Smiles of a Summer Night'
Each week Tom Huddleston watches a classic film he's never seen before. The rules are simple: each film must be considered a masterpiece and each must be completely new to him.
Has Michael Mann lost it?
Adam Lee Davies mourns the passing of a major Hollywood talent as Michael Mann's 'Public Enemies' sees the great director running on empty
Why 'Ice Age 3' is really for adults
Tom Huddleston takes a look at a selection of films which bring adult problems to a pre-teen audience
Is this Summer 2009's best film?
The French filmmaker Claire Denis speaks to Dave Calhoun about her new film, '35 Shots of Rum', a tender portrait of a father-daughter relationship in Paris
Outdoor film screenings in London 2009
Derek Adams offers a guide to the best places to see films outside in London this summer
50 essential sci-fi films
With 'Star Trek' making serious waves, we thought it would be a perfect time to select 50 must-see sci-fi films
What do you think?
Post your review now