One of my first cinematic memories is watching Star Wars Episode IV- A New Hope (1977) with my Dad. The jump to lightspeed or hyperspace jump sequence, one of the franchise’s most iconic visual effects (see below), had a profound impact on me.

Clearly, I’m not the only one. A YouTube comment among many on the Star Wars: Lightspeed Supercut video (Geek Cinema, 2020) below reads: “…At first you see the blue hyperspace and it feels like you’re still accelerating…it feels like you’re “falling”, not braking but also not accelerating, as if you’re dropping out, and then you suddenly brake and bam your destination just appears in front of you. One of the coolest visual effects I’ve ever seen in a movie” (@ju-87b9, 2024).

For me, this effect is one of the best examples of the “Kaleidoscopic Perception” and “hallucinatory special effects” of the science fiction genre (Bukatman, 2003, pp.111,115). Although the kaleidoscopic and hallucinatory have featured in many sci-fi films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or Forbidden Planet (1956), George Lucas’ trippy star-stretching and psychedelic blue tunnel sequence beats them all. The jump to lightspeed represents a backlash against the Age of Reason’s “privileging of rationality” (Bukatman, 2003, p.112) and an embracing of the “irrational aspect of technology” (p.113). It demonstrates our desire to lose our bearings (p.114) in order to break free. Furthermore, it enables not only a form of escapism (indeed, characters in the Star Wars movies are more often than not fleeing one star system to another using lightspeed), but a possibility of utopia (p.113), allowing audiences to imagine different societies, transgress boundaries and transcend beyond this world into utopic third spaces (pp.122, 126). The jump to hyperspace brought together all these elements of the kaleidoscopic artistic tradition whilst giving audiences then and now, a sensation filled with the promise of the “beyond-space” (p.123).

Next time you are casually watching a Star Wars film, take a moment to pause. This special effect sequence, which last a mere few seconds, holds some powerful reflections on the human psyche.

Author: Cerys Jones, student ID: 33695258

References:

@ju-87b9. Comment on: Geek Cinema (2020). Star Wars: Lightspeed Supercut. [online] http://www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qckDs0ODemg [Accessed 28 Nov. 2024].

2001: A Space Odyssey. (1968). [Film] USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Bukatman, S. (2003). Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the 20th Century. Duke University Press.

Eiviten (2015). Star Wars Hyperspace Jump (Extended). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFMMeCMbNt8 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2024].

Forbidden Planet. (1956). [Film] USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Geek Cinema (2020). Star Wars: Lightspeed Supercut. [online] http://www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qckDs0ODemg [Accessed 28 Nov. 2024].

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. (1977). [Film] USA: 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Home Entertainment.