The name says it all. Star Wars. It’s a pop culture phenomenon. A mythology. A religion. It made it cool to be a nerd or a geek. It’s the story of good and evil. Of coming to age. Leaving home, and becoming the person you were destined to. It’s full of creatures, science, and things out of the ordinary. The reason Star Wars remains a classic is that is defines escapism.

    When George Lucas decided to make Star Wars in 1977, it was supposed to fail. In fact, 20th Century Fox gave him a special deal—he would collect 40% of box office profits and any franchise material in spite of a paycheck. The film just seemed too simply to simplistic. A Western and Samurai influenced B-movie set in space? Star Wars was a risky idea with very little potential. Aside from Alec Guinness, who was past his prime, here were no big stars; even Harrison Ford, arguably the biggest star to come from the series, had only a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation. It was special effects heavy, which were still looked down upon by many. And while other films of the time were questioning their genres, like The Godfather or Chinatown, Star Wars reinforced into the genres that influenced it.

    But what makes the magic of Star Wars come alive? It is just a memorable and beautiful movie. Every shot, every scene, and every line is just meant to be preserved. How does one forget the opening shot of the giant space cruiser gunning on the smaller? Or Luke Skywalker staring at the two suns? Or of course, Darth Vader’s menacing presence? Star Wars is built in such a way that everything sticks to the wall. The mythology and rules are set that one just accepts it.

Special effects do play a very big role, and Star Wars cannot be separated from its influence. Led by John Dysktra, the Industrial Light and Magic Studio pushed special effect boundaries for years to come. Unlike the 50s science fiction films, which looked cheesy and silly, Star Wars looked believable. The action sequences were choreographed as realistic. Only 2001 had come close to making space believable, but it did so in an inaccessible non-mainstream way. Star Wars brought the same effects to a way people could believe it and be entertained by it, instead of being forced to question their humanity (2001 is still the better film because of that). Details such as the little pieces of the Millennium Falcon or the trenches of the Death Star were poured on.

    Another highly influential part of Star Wars is the visual disgust to it. Unlike 2001 or The Day the Earth Stood Still, the aliens of Star Wars are dirty, vile, and ugly. The Cantina Bar quintessential shows this—a sleazy place for bad people. Filmmakers like Ridley Scott took that idea of space as dark and pushed it to the edge, best seen in Alien.

    Characters are also a crucial part to the Star Wars mythology. Simply put, we know everything we need to know the second they come stage. The young hero, the wise trainer, the bad ass scoundrel, the princess with the edge, the trusty sidekicks, and the villain who controls them all. We know what will happen through the film, yet there is still surprise. We are drawn into these people we’ve never met, though feel like they’ve been with us our whole lives.

    Of course, the eventual sequel The Empire Strikes Back took the series in a darker and more complex direction. But Empire could not exist without Star Wars to set it up. The story might be simple, yet its how Lucas raises the stakes, introduces the characters, and brings it to the climax that makes it such a classic. The hero story has been around since Greek culture began over 5000 years ago—of course we have seen it before. But not with the energy and pacing that Lucas brought to his film.

    If there is one thing that everyone can recognize, even those who haven’t seen the films, it is the classic score of John Williams. His themes and music are so crucial to the story and the characters, but never intruding. The irony is that a score is supposed to simply function to get someone to feel an emotion without being memorable. Star Wars manages to be emotional yet memorable, a feat only done by few score writers.

    Star Wars also simply has the nostalgia record that many from my and previous generations. For many of us, it is the first film we can remember as children. To think about that powerful notion—of all the movies I have seen in my life, I first remember Star Wars. The adventure, the fight between good and evil, everything about those films is something magical that maybe only a child can appreciate.

    Sure, Star Wars has lost some of its fame due to the more recent prequels. Yet the magic of the originals still remains. What would are world be today without Han Solo, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker? You might like to live in reality, but I prefer a galaxy far, far, away.