The AFI Top 100 Films - #15 Star Wars

For those that find in them a certain joy every time the orchestra of film kicks, when those studio logos lighten the dark of the screen and the familiar trumpet notes sound, you know what I mean when I say that the greatest films ever made are a must see for everyone. Those top 100 or 200, or 500 films that everyone should see before they die. Film is subjective though, and there are many lists. Fortunately for us, the American Film Institute compiled a list of the top 100 films of the 20^th Century. From top to bottom, the list compiles the greatest American films released in the first 100 years of cinema.

In 1977, George Lucas had finally finished trudging through an over budget, often questioned shoot that would soon revolutionize the film industry. Star Wars would soon premier and with it the adoration of a generation of young movie goers would follow. The number 15 film of all time according to the AFI is Star Wars.

The film is the tale of a young farm hand, Luke Skywalker, living on a backwater planet with his aunt and uncle, moisture farming, but dreaming about joining the academy and becoming a pilot like his father. One day a couple of droids crash land on the planet, refugees from an ambassador's ship recently captured by the emperor. They're purchased by Skywalker's uncle and eventually lead him to Obi-Wan Kenobi, a reclusive Jedi Knight in the wastelands.

Luke Skywalker is flung into an adventure to return the droids to the Rebel Alliance and rescue the Princess with whom they were originally traveling, garnering the services of Han Solo and his wookie crew member, Chewbacca. The team must reach the Death Star, save the princess, and eventually assist the rebellion in destroying the Death Star and keeping the galaxy safe from the evil clutches of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader.

The story is timeless, the kind of film that we've all seen a dozen times and heard referenced a dozen more, and it spawned two sequels and three prequels, each more financially successful than the last, creating one of the largest film franchises of all times and helping George Lucas create an array of companies along the way.