Star Wars, film

It was in this new environment that the James Bond films—a formulaic series already beginning to seem outdated— tried to compete. In addition, Stanley Kubrick had released the big-budget, futuristic film 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968), while a similar technologically-based film, THX1138, was produced by George Lucas in 1971. The development of storylines based on futuristic space technology would later be escalated by the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977. 

As in the long film, the main character and his or her goal serve the moral rather than inviting identification. The character tends to be a vehicle, even in stories where he becomes a superhero (Star Wars). The voice of the writer-director, his or her affiliation to the moral rather than to the character, distances us from character. Nevertheless, the main character does have a well-defined goal, and it carries him or her forward into the narrative. 

For exairple, it was originally plarmed that the next film to be produced after The Spy Who Loved Me would be For Your Eyes Only. This was changed to Moonraker for two main reasons. First, as a direct result of Star Wars phenomenal success, science-fiction became the latest popular film genre. The producers wished to capitalise upon this popularity. The... 

How many characters did you identify with in Star Wars—Episode IV How many inThe Matrix How many in theLo/d of the RingsfWms It s no wonder these films take up permanent lodging in our hearts. 

James Bond films are quintessential examples of products tailored for the international market. Financed by an American major [studio] partly with British film subsidy funds, produced by two expatriates [American, Canadian] who had incorporated in Switzerland, and based upon a popular series of British espionage novels that played off Cold War tensions, the James Bond films were shot in exotic locales featuring a cast of mixed nationalities that was headed by a star of universal appeal. (Balio, 1987 253)... 

The most significant film Lazenby made was a vanity production where he produced, wrote and starred in Universal Soldier in 1971, directed by Cy Enfield. Most of the money that he got for Bond went into this tale of a former secret agent who becomes an arms dealer. As criticism of the Vietnam war increased, Lazenby probably thought he was addressing a new counter-cultural audience whom he thought would now reject James Bond. 

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