Spielberg is The Man

There are many reasons why Spielberg is The Man. He sure has a pretty impressive list of films under his belt, many of our favorites like Jaws, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park to name just a few. His movies have some of the most iconic characters and moments in cinema…his works are usually of epic proportions and make millions of dollars at the box office. But there is one special reason (for me) why Spielberg is The Man.

Way before the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977, Writer/Director, George Lucas, decided to screen an early cut of the film to some of his fellow film buddies. In attendance were Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Goodfellas), Brian De Palma (Carlito’s Way, Scarface), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now), Spielberg and Lucas’s own wife (who also edited the film). Apparently this cut of film was missing some of the music, epic title scroll and some other features we now recognize as staples of the franchise.

When the film ended there was silence among the small audience. Everyone just looked around at each other with an odd expression on their face. They didn’t understand what they had just watched. No one liked it; no one got what Lucas had tried to create. His wife supposedly burst into tears and said it was awful... De Palma started to heavily criticize the film (but actually gave some great feedback, one being the suggestion of the famous title scroll). Everyone agreed the film didn’t work… except for one guy, Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg contradicted the entire room. He was the only one that claimed Star Wars had “the stuff”. He announced, “This movie is going to make a $100 million”. As of 2010 the first Star Wars film (completely by itself) has grossed $461 million domestically, $775 million worldwide…the movie has yielded some of the most historical characters in film and ranks as a favorite by millions of people all over the globe. Spielberg was the only one who saw the potential of what was to come…that’s why Spielberg is a studio head these days, and why he is The Man.


Here is a very early trailer for the film. Notice it lacks the music we have all come to love, the traditional Star Wars logo and how the footage itself is dingy looking (before finalized color and printing of the film) This may be kind of close to what was screened that day.