George Lucas' marketing empire strikes back<\/p>\n
By Dini S. Djalal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A funny thing happened on the way to the movie
\ntheater. Headed to see Star Wars, we were stopped in our tracks
\nby an elaborate spaceship.<\/p>\n
Kids stood with glazed eyes around this shopping mall Death
\nStar. Onstage, actors mimicked the scenes on the screen behind.
\nWe, too, were soon hypnotized by the lightsaber noise, and
\nskipped watching the film in the theater.<\/p>\n
Our reaction, and that of the kids, is further proof that the
\nStar Wars marketing team is going for the hard sell. Armed with
\nshiny new Star Wars toys, they're saying to the kids and their
\nnouveau riche parents: Ignore us if you can, but we're not
\nwaiting for you to come to us, we're coming to you every way we
\nknow how.<\/p>\n
The Star Wars trilogy's second re-release, The Empire Strikes
\nBack, has arrived and it's serious business. With nearly US$4
\nbillion in merchandising tie-ins and $1.3 billion in box-office
\nreceipts, director George Lucas has an economic portfolio bigger
\nthan some African nations and is a true Hollywood mogul.<\/p>\n
And a cunning one. Only Steven Spielberg matches Lucas in
\nbusiness savvy, but even Spielberg is not planning a re-release
\nof E.T. And merchandising mania for Spielberg's Jurassic Park was
\nnowhere near the hyperbole accompanying the Star Wars trilogy.<\/p>\n
As avoidable as a meteor in a meteor field -- that's Star Wars
\nhype, 1997. Big Brother is definitely watching you, and his name
\nis Darth Vader. At KFC, packaged meals come with Star Wars toys.
\nAt Metro Department Store, Star Wars gadgets crowd the windows
\nand interiors, transforming it into an Imperial battleship -- and
\nthe battle is for every dime in your pocket.<\/p>\n
The hype is enough to make even Luke Skywalker faithfuls dim
\ntheir energy field. Lucas' marketing team is counting on
\nsentimentalists like me to relive our childhood memories. Indeed,
\nthe force of memories rather than the Force of the Jedi is what
\nhas Star Wars fans back in the theaters. But the films' over-
\nexposure makes loving Star Wars seem like a cliched corporate
\npastime.<\/p>\n
The hype wasn't as aggressive in the 1970s. Lucas likely had
\nno idea his $10 million splurge on a story about planet-hopping
\nfreedom fighters, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia
\n(Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), would have kids
\nlining around the block. When Empire first showed in 1980,
\naudiences didn't think, oh no, not another sequel (but that was
\nbefore sequel madness threatened to make possible Nightmare on
\nElm Street Part 17 or Rocky, the Geriatric Years). No, critics
\nand die-hards alike thought, wow, we didn't think it could get
\nany better.<\/p>\n
Sophisticated sibling<\/p>\n
And it is pretty damn good. If Star Wars is like a sweetly
\nbumbling kid dabbling in space travel, special effects, and
\nteenage rebellion, Empire is in every sense its far more
\nsophisticated sibling. Even the acting shows improvement,
\nalthough no Oscar nominations, please.<\/p>\n
The film's strength was pictorial, not cerebral. Empire
\ncoincided with the birth of MTV, and how it shows; its shuffle is
\nmore hurried, its set lighting more vivid. The scenes where Leia,
\nHan, and Chewbacca take refuge with Lando Calrissian (a slick
\nBilly Dee Williams) at Cloud City are bathed in dramatic blue and
\nred light; Leia, not the most photogenic of princesses even
\nwithout her previous donut-bun hairdo, looks luminous.<\/p>\n
The art direction is Oscar-worthy, and the Academy Awards did
\nnominate Empire for art direction, as well as awarding Lucas'
\nspecial effects team Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) a Special
\nAchievement Award. Every inch of the screen is arranged to
\nmaximum, elegant effect. Its opening scenes alone, where the
\nrebel forces are attacked at their snow-bound hideaway Hoth, are
\noutstanding in visual and tempo terms. The special effects are
\neven more blinding now. With digital recomposition, ILM enhanced
\nthe animation, notably that of the Wampa monster which Luke
\nwrestles with in an ice cave.<\/p>\n
Luke wrestling? Down and dirty; if Star Wars is about Luke
\nchasing adventures, Empire is about Luke getting stuck in them.
\nThis Luke is older and more heroic, confronting struggle at every
\ncorner. With battle after battle after battle, Empire is war-
\nobsessed. No wonder then U.S. president Ronald Reagan named his
\n\"Strategic Defense Initiative\" against Russia \"Star Wars\".
\nUnsurprisingly, Lucas wasn't very happy with the Republicans'
\nbandwagoning and sued Reagan for copyright infringement.<\/p>\n
Lucas should have thanked Reagan for the publicity, although
\nthe film's aesthetic triumph remains all his own (the script,
\nhowever, was cowritten by Lawrence Kasdan, who went on to pen The
\nBig Chill). The most memorable of Lucas' creations is Luke's
\ndiminutive mentor, the otherworldly Yoda, a cross between a frog
\nand Jurassic Park's Richard Attenborough. Training Luke in the
\nways of the Force, Yoda offers both comic relief and California-
\nstyle wisdom. When he rasps solemnly \"But beware of the Dark
\nSide\", you want to simultaneously salute this ancient Jedi Master
\nand throw him a lozenge while holding back the giggles.<\/p>\n
Yoda's star turn almost eclipses that of Darth Vader.
\nInspiration to a dozen masked madmen (think Halloween's murder-
\nhappy Jason or Robocop), Vader's evil in Empire is much more
\ncomplex. Vader's power is even strangely Javanese -- he's able to
\ncommand authority with few words and no facial expressions. So
\ncogent is Vader's enigma that the Official Star Wars fan club,
\nwhich today has 100,000 members, is allegedly counting the days
\nfor the new trilogy's first release in 1999, which will reveal
\nhow the young Anakin Skywalker crosses over to the Dark Side.<\/p>\n
Lucas promises more staggering special effects for these
\n\"prequels\". Considering that ILM's Pixar division developed
\nthree-dimensional computer graphics imagery, or CGI, it's a
\npromise worth waiting for. Lucas eventually sold Pixar to Toy
\nStory creator Steve Jobs, but ILM is still a leader in digital
\nanimation, as proven by Jurassic Park's computer-generated
\ndinosaurs.<\/p>\n
Will the prequels create a world even more fantastic than the
\nDagobah swamps and Hoth glaciers of the galaxy-gazing Evil
\nEmpire? Or more importantly, at least to toy manufacturers, what
\nkind of goodies can audiences buy?<\/p>",
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