{"id":7713,"date":"2017-05-30T15:33:38","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T19:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=7713"},"modified":"2017-05-30T15:33:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T19:33:38","slug":"the-force-has-always-been-strong-in-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/05\/30\/the-force-has-always-been-strong-in-pittsburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"The Force has always been strong in Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Post-Gazette <\/a>
Post-Gazette film critic George Anderson reviews “Star Wars: A New Hope” in the paper’s May 25, 1977, edition. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Readers <\/a>
Readers critique George Anderson’s review of “Star Wars: A New Hope” in the Post-Gazette’s July 12, 1977, edition. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"George <\/a>
George Anderson interviews “Star Wars: A New Hope” optical photography coordinator and Pittsburgh native Joseph Paul Roth in the Post-Gazette’s Aug. 11, 1977, edition. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Tim <\/a>
Tim Vetterly, of Avalon, dressed as Chewbacca, stands next to Owen Chaffin, 10, of Bethel Park, dressed as Hans Solo frozen in carbonite. The two took part in Star Wars day Wednesday at PNC Park. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Brian <\/a>
Brian Rasbach, left, of Atlanta, Ga., and Jason Cataldo, right, from Durham, N.C., poses for photos with a Steelers-clad statue of Yoda from “Star Wars” in the parking lot outside Heinz Field, Nov. 10, 2013. (Larry Roberts\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Steve <\/a>
Steve Korbett, 24, from Brookline, dressed as “Darth Vader”; Beth Schrier, 24, from Hazelwood, as “Barriss Offee”; Stephanie Vargo, 24, from Hazelwood, as “Leia”; Carolynn Schrier, 26, from Hazelwood, as “Luminara”; and Rich Vargo, 21, from Hazelwood, as “Luke.” (Alyssa Cwanger\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Dave <\/a>
Dave Filoni, Pittsburgh native, Steelers fan and executive producer of “Star Wars: Rebels.” (Courtesy of Lucasfilm) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Cathy <\/a>
Cathy McCrohan, 25, of Millvale, strikes a pose for “Star Wars” fans prior to the showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at AMC in Homestead on Thursday, December 17, 2015. (Lake Fong\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mt. <\/a>
Mt. Lebanon’s Paco Carioli, 20, and his mother Cyndie Carioli exhibit their “Stars Wars” Collection, from R2D2 which Paco is holding to the AT-AT that Cyndie is holding, and the B-Wing Fighter hanging from the ceiling, on March 28, 1997. (Robert Pavuchak\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mark <\/a>
Mark Hoag of Ambridge, dressed as a a Republic commando from “Star Wars,” greets Hunter Bolyard, 11, of Morgantown, W.Va., during Steel City Con Friday at the Monroeville Convention Center on April 5, 2013. (Julia Rendleman\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Matt <\/a>
Matt Rogers, left, and Valerie Micher joust with toy lightsabers they have in their “Star Wars” display at their offices at ServiceWare, Inc. in Oakmont, Pa., Friday, May 7, 1999. (AP Photo\/Keith Srakocic) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"George <\/a>
George Tropster, left, a student at the Art Institute majoring in Industrial Design\/Special Effects Makeup, paints Mike Cartier’s, 13, from Carmichaels, face as “Darth Maul” at a Star Wars Premiere Party at Loews at the Waterfront in advance of the first showing of “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, May 19, 2005. (Alyssa Cwanger\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Pittsburgh has been one with the Force since \u201cStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope\u201d first debuted in theaters on May 25, 1977.<\/p>\n

On the day of the film’s release, Post-Gazette film critic George Anderson raved<\/a> about \u201cA New Hope\u201d in his review, declaring that it \u201cmay be the greatest comic book movie ever made,\u201d comparing it to so-bad-it\u2019s-good sci-fi adventure \u201cFlash Gordon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movie opening today at the Showcase Cinema is distinguished by great imagination, astonishing technical wizardry and an almost childlike sense of real fun,\u201d Mr. Anderson gushed.<\/p>\n

He singled out Princess Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) as a sign of the film\u2019s \u201ccontemporary flavor,\u201d admiring that she \u201dis not a damsel in distress, but a spunky, resourceful, independent woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Anderson did criticize the film\u2019s plot, calling it a \u201cdistillation of every simplistic good-guys-vs.-bad-guys clich\u00e9.\u201d He was willing to overlook that, however, because of the sheer cinematic exhilaration \u201cA New Hope\u201d provided.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee it,\u201d he commanded. \u201cTake every kid you know and find out how much kid still lives in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA New Hope\u201d went on to become a bona fide phenomenon in the summer of 1977, though it was not without its critics.<\/p>\n

One such grouch \u2014 Howard H. Hobaugh, a Pittsburgh native who continued to read his hometown paper eight years after moving to Vero Beach, Fla. \u2014 wrote a scathing note<\/a> to Mr. Anderson questioning his review, which was published in the July 12, 1977, edition of the Post-Gazette.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plot was trite; the dialogue could have been written by an eighth-grade student and the robots acted and mouthed the dialogue as well as the live actors,\u201d Mr. Hobaugh wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe depressing part of the affair,\u201d he continued, \u201cis that the critics\u2019 acclaim will cause the picture to make a profit and we will have many sequels and imitations …\u201d<\/p>\n

One can only imagine Mr. Hobaugh\u2019s outrage when the exact scenario he described happened.<\/p>\n

The Post-Gazette published a more positive reader review of \u201cA New Hope\u201d in the same issue, with Gary Anthony Surmacz writing in with a simple expression of his love for the film: \u201cWOW!\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Surmacz and every other \u201cA New Hope\u201d fan who was wowed by the film\u2019s outer space scenes have a Pittsburgher to thank for that sense of wonder.<\/p>\n

Joseph Paul Roth of Beaver Falls served as the movie\u2019s optical photography coordinator, supervising a team of 16 people tasked with creating iconic scenes involving X-wings, star destroyers and the Death Star.<\/p>\n

Mr. Anderson profiled the 1965 Art Institute of Pittsburgh graduate in the Aug. 11, 1977, edition of the Post-Gazette, and Mr. Roth wowed him<\/a> with his mastery of \u201cStar Wars\u2019\u201d then-groundbreaking special effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cVisual effects, commonly referred to by laymen as \u2018trick photography,\u2019 constitute one of the true mysteries of moviemaking and, therefore, are authentic magic as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Movie reviewers in 2017 probably cannot get away with admitting they believe CGI is \u201cauthentic magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the wizardry employed in its creation, \u201cA New Hope\u201d spawned a multibillion-dollar franchise that has continued to produce new work in just about every medium imaginable to this day.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has been enthralled with \u201cStar Wars\u201d since the beginning and, as evidenced by the more modern photos above, that passion for a galaxy far, far away does not seem to be dying down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Joshua Axelrod<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pittsburgh has been one with the Force since \u201cStar Wars Episode IV: A New Hope\u201d…<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe Force has always been strong in Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":7725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[1388,1386,1250,1387,1385],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/SteelersYoda.jpg?fit=2400%2C1577&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8124,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/08\/02\/the-pittsburgh-post-gazette-celebrates-90-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":7713,"position":0},"title":"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Celebrates 90 Years","date":"August 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Though we\u2019ve still got some spring in our step, we can\u2019t lie: the Post-Gazette is a bit long in the tooth. 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