“It’s the anchoring element of a vast commercial program, painstakingly factory-made for maximal audience appeal, which means maximal inoffensiveness.”
“It’s commonly said that the original “Star Wars” changed Hollywood, and that’s true. But it didn’t change the movies the way “Bonnie & Clyde” (1967), “Chinatown” (1974) and “Taxi Driver” (1976) did, by applying creative craftsmanship to raw, adult subject matter; or like the ’30s movies “It Happened One Night,” “The Awful Truth,” and “Bringing up Baby,” which undermined the moralistic strictures of the Hays Office with the libertine sophistication of screwball comedy.”
“Instead, “Star Wars” transformed Hollywood economically, by establishing a blockbuster mentality–and especially a mentality based on blockbusters made for teens. It wasn’t the first film to do so; “Jaws,” released in 1975, was a pioneer. But “Star Wars” outdrew “Jaws,” and the opportunities to exploit the product commercially were much greater.”