Director Rian Johnson is smart and careful enough not to reveal any spoilers of his upcoming blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But he felt free to name his own cinematic influences in the helming of this movie. The three films he cites may not ring a bell with very modern viewers, but a little YouTube search might be in order for fans looking for any clue that can reveal more about the next installment in the Star Wars saga.
Johnson names these three influentail films in an interview with Empire:
"Twelve O'Clock High was a big touchstone, for the feel and look of the aerial combat as well as the dynamic between the pilots. Three Outlaw Samurai for the feel of the sword-fighting, and the general sense of pulpy fun. And To Catch A Thief was a great film to rewatch, for the romantic scale and grandeur."
Twelve O'Clock High was a 1949 movie that had Gregory Peck, the era's screen idol, play an air force general who whipped his discouraged team into a fighting unit. It spun off a popular TV series in the early 1960's.
Three Outlaw Samurai was a Japanese 1964 film which centered on three renegade sword experts who learned to fight for the poor and the oppressed.
To Catch a Thief was Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 classic thriller which introduced breathtaking locations, beautiful women, and nail-biting chases into the spy movie genre almost a decade before James Bond made his screen debut.
Viewing clips from their scenes just might give us an idea of what Johnson is planning for our heroes come December. Don't let their slow pace and primitive special effects (by today's standards) throw you off guard. Go past the surface into the core of the story.
Remember that a very young George Lucas got his inspiration for the very first Star Wars movies from the 1930's black-and-white Flash Gordon movie serials. Out of the old-fashioned reels of flying birdmen, a clunky rocketship, and a blond hero fighting a bald evil villain, he wove a new mythology that endures with us today.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will open on December 2017.
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