Directed by George Lucas / Screenplay by George Lucas

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a time before Star Wars: a time that is now almost impossible to imagine. By the mid-1970s, outer-space action had all but vanished from popular cinema: so brilliantly definitive had been the spectacle of 2001: A Space Odyssey that it seemed few pictures dared tread in its wake, and those that did, like Silent Running (1972), Solaris (1972) and Dark Star (1974), were noticeably ploughing the same cerebral, existential furrow as Kubrick’s masterpiece. Everything changed with the arrival of Star Wars in 1977. The notion of reviving an old-fashioned space adventure in the Flash Gordon tradition had long been cherished by filmmaker George Lucas, but with space opera out of fashion, and with ageing screen legends Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing supporting a leading cast of virtual unknowns, few in the industry were confident of the film’s success. How wrong they were. Star Wars exploded into the mainstream and became the highest-grossing film of the decade, opening the floodgates on a golden age of space movies, as studios rushed to greenlight similar properties: Battlestar Galactica, Alien, The Black Hole, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Flash Gordon and many more besides. Even James Bond blasted off into space for 1979’s Moonraker. Meanwhile, Star Wars itself generated a parade of sequels, starting with 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, in whose wake the original film gained the additional subtitle Episode IV - A New Hope. Almost half a century later, as the Star Wars universe continues to expand into countless hours of film and television, it’s easy to take for granted the charm, the thrill and the impact of the first and most important picture in this most legendary of science fiction franchises.

Framed Dimensions: 330mm x 410mm

Acrylic on 300gsm Arches oil paper
Glazed, mounted and framed

Supplied with signed letter of authenticity from Barnaby.