A 1970s Time Capsule from #AtoZChallenge @AprilAtoZ – S is for Star Wars

A 1970’s Time Capsule

POP CULTURE

Be sure to visit my News and Noteworthy post today as well.

The A to Z Challenge has dueling decades going on.  Check out the 1980s theme from a fellow blogger HERE

 

It is May 25, 1977 and a film from creator, George Lucas opens in theaters.  This movie from 20th Century Fox would become a worldwide pop culture phenomenon.  It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans in comparison to the original trilogy. All six films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $4.38 billion.  In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.  The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and in 2015, the first of three new movies, The Force Awakens was released.

In case there is anyone out there in our galaxy or one that is far far away, here is the plot of the first film.

• In the beginning, the Galactic Empire is nearing completion of the Death Star space station, which will allow the Empire to crush the Rebel Alliance, an organized resistance formed to combat Emperor Palpatine’s tyranny.

Death Star 1

Emblem of the Galactic Empire

Emblem of the Rebel Alliance

Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.

• Palpatine’s Sith apprentice Darth Vader captures Princess Leia, a member of the rebellion who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in the astromech droid R2-D2.

Darth Vader and Princess Leia

Princess Leia hides the Death Star plans in R2D2

• R2D2 along with his protocol droid counterpart C-3PO, escapes to the desert planet Tatooine.

R2-D2 and C-3PO, escapes to the desert planet Tatooine.

• The droids are purchased by farm boy Luke Skywalker and his step-uncle and aunt and Luke accidentally triggers a message that was put into the droid by Princess Leia.

Luke triggers a message from Princess Leia

• The message hologram from Princess Leia asks for assistance from the legendary Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke later assists the droids in finding the exiled Jedi, who is now passing as an old hermit under the alias Ben Kenobi.

Luke Skywalker and Ben Kenobi

• When Luke asks about his father, whom he has never met, Obi-Wan tells him that Anakin Skywalker was a great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader.

• Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan. This was Leia’s home world and eventually they find that it has been destroyed by the Death Star.

• Once on board the space station, Luke and Han rescue Leia while Obi-Wan allows himself to be killed during a lightsaber duel with Vader; his sacrifice allows the group to escape with the plans that help the Rebels destroy the Death Star.

• Luke himself (guided by the power of the Force) fires the shot that destroys the deadly space station during the Battle of Yavin.

 

A phenomenon in itself, the film score by the legendary John Williams is unforgettable.

Composer, John Williams conducts Star Wars

All images in this article are in the public domain. For any YouTube clips embedded in my posts, I am not the uploader.