THX 1138 Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Stanley Kauffmann

Critical Essay by Stanley Kauffmann

George Lucas has made three features: THX 1138, which was about the future; American Graffiti, which was about adolescents; and now Star Wars, which is a "future" film for adolescents. Neither of the earlier pictures was distinguished for novelty or depth, but THX 1138 tried to compensate with visual and technical ingenuity, and American Graffiti found some good objective correlatives, in cinematic method, for its study of small-town teen-agers. Star Wars … doesn't have the technological cleverness of his first, and it's about nothing more than what it seems to be about.

This is Lucas' tribute to Flash Gordon, and is now enthralling all those who feel that Flash Gordon needs a two-hour, eight-million-dollar tribute. There's a glitzy attempt at profundity in the opening title which tells us that the story took place on a galaxy far away "a long time ago." It really takes place in the science-fiction future,...
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