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NameDateIntellectual Devotional Modern Culture Reading: Star Wars (1977). Please use this reading on the first Star Wars film, released in 1977, to answer the reading comprehension questions on the worksheet that accompanies it.“May the force be with you.”--Alec Guiness (1944-200) as Obi-Wan KenobiGeorge Lucas’s (1944-) space epic Star Wars not only revitalized the science-fiction genre, it also revolutionized the business of Hollywood and added such terms as Jedi, the Force, and lightsaber to the world’s vocabulary.The film is a classic good-versus-evil story in which a na?ve youth, Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill, 1951-), rallies a band of underdog rebels to fight the evil Galactic Empire, led by part-pan, part-machine Darth Vader (played by David Prowse, 1935-, and voiced by James Earl Jones (1931-). The film combines some of man’s most traditional archetypes, myths, and legends with cutting-edge special effects to create one of the most popular films of all time.Star Wars also contributed to an era in Hollywood—which largely persists today—in which studios pursue major blockbuster films in the hope of producing sequels and lucrative merchandise, rather than the more personal, often cynical films that had taken hold during the mid-1970s.The picture also broke with recent Hollywood tradition in that previous Hollywood hits had been adapted from best-selling novels, Broadway musicals, or other popular sources. Star Wars had an original script (written by Lucas) and no stars in leading roles. The primary actors would all become stars after the film’s release, especially Harrison Ford (1942-) who played the mercenary pilot Han Solo.That Star Wars was a box office smash only begins to describe its impact on the film industry. It is the first film to legitimately claims to have launched a “franchise” that included many subsequent films and array of merchandising offshoots, including toys, video games, home videos, DVDs, and various published materials. All told, in 2005, Forbes estimated that the Star Wars franchise had generated more than $20 billion.Including rereleases, the films grossed more that $4.3 billion at worldwide box offices. The original movie became the most commercially successful film in history, surpassing Jaws (1975) and coming in second in domestic gross to Titanic (1997). Adjusted for inflation, its $460 million US gross (including rereleases in 1982 and 1997) translates to $1.1 billion, second of all-time only to Gone with the Wind (1939). The budget of Star Wars is estimated at a mere $13 million.Additional FactsThe film’s full name is Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Lucas originally envisioned a nine-film series.Lucas founded the firm Industrial Light and Magic to provide the special effects for Star Wars; the company has gone on to become an industry leader in Hollywood special effects production.Lucas took only $175,000 for writing and directing the original film in exchange for 40 percent of the merchandising rights. That turned out to be a smart move—Star Wars merchandising has dwarfed the film’s box office gross.Adapted from: Kidder, David S, and Noah Oppenheim. The Intellectual Devotional Modern Culture: Converse Confidently about Society and the Arts. Emmaus PA: Modern Times, 2008. ................
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