With the release of Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas has finally finished the Star Wars saga that he began over twenty years ago. The films have etched a permanent place in popular culture and have even invaded the English language itself with expressions like "the Dark Side," "May the Force be with you" and even "I've got a bad feeling about this." We asked several celebrities what Star Wars has meant to them over the years, both personally and professionally. Here are their answers to what we have referred to over the past several months as "The Star Wars Question."
Bruce Willis:
"I'm a huge fan of them. My favorite was The Empire Strikes Back.
But I'll tell you what, you're going to forget all about it. You're
going to forget all about Star Wars. Sin City [is the
real deal]. There are only two groups of filmmakers right now that know
how to use these new digital camera: George Lucas' team and Robert
Rodriguez's team."
Morgan Freeman:
"I loved the first Star Wars. I didn't see Star Wars Two and I ain't gonna see the rest. The first one was innovative with
the lightsabers and all that, and the Millennium Falcon, but after that
it was just another cowboy picture."
Jet Li:
"25 years ago I watched the first one in the States and I dug it. I
think that the first three are better."
Ben Foster (Angel in the upcoming X-Men 3):
"I was really protected as a kid so I wasn't allowed to watch anything
violent. I couldn't watch Star Wars or Die Hard when
they came out. But after I saw them I really related to Darth Vader."
Terry Funk:
"I loved the first Star Wars and thought it was about the
greatest thing that I ever saw. I didn't see the next two. But I'll
tell you who I would like to see again - Walter Matthau. That's who I
always wanted to be like. I love his nose. I'm thinking about having a
nose job and making my nose look just like Walter's."
Bob Hoskins:
"When they first came out they were just extraordinary. I'm a big fan of
science fiction and Star Wars. Maybe it's not so special now
but then it was just a phenomenon."
Kevin Pollack:
"I don't know if it influenced my life, but it did have a great impact
on my moviegoing experiences. It was one of those things that changed
the canvas in terms of what was possible, in terms of special effects
and science fiction. I was a huge fan, but I think that screwed up Episode
II when they showed us Yoda kicking ass. That was messed up
because in the first four movies he was hobbling around with that cane."
Ralph Bakshi:
"I was doing Wizards for Fox at the exact same time George
Lucas was doing Star Wars for Fox. Wizards was
originally called War Wizards and George asked me to drop the
word "War" from my title. I said that of course I would. Lucas opened Star
Wars three weeks after I opened Wizards and he ended up
in all my theatres. It didn't affect my career, it ruined my career. I
think Star Wars is the world's greatest movie but I wish he had
done it at another studio at another time [laughs]."
