'Star Wars' not just about spaceships, Lucas says

SKYWALKER RANCH, MARIN COUNTY, Calif. — Forget the groundbreaking special effects for a moment. "Star Wars" mastermind George Lucas, 61, says the key to the monumental success of his franchise lies in what's old rather than what's new.

"(The films) are based on mythological motifs that have been around for thousands of years," Lucas says. "I've been saying that since the first one, but people keep saying it's all about the spaceships."

The spaceships are still a big part of it, which is why we are doing interviews for "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," the sixth and final "Star Wars" film, on a soundstage in a building nestled among the rolling green hills of Lucas' 5,000-acre property near San Rafael. The soundstage is part of Skywalker Sound, which, along with Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic special-effects house, revolutionized movie postproduction via the "Star Wars" films.

Yet there's something to what Lucas is saying about the psychological core of the saga, especially in "Sith," which opens next Thursday and shows how Darth Vader became Darth Vader.

Call it mythological, biblical or Faustian, the crossover of Anakin Skywalker (a k a Darth) to the dark side represents a classic tale of good being seduced by evil — in this case, a Sith lord (played by British actor Ian McDiarmid) who promises to show Anakin the wicked side of the Force. There's also the undeniable draw of seeing 24-year-old actor Hayden Christensen, he of the peachy skin and angelic eyelashes, donning the Darth Vader mask and wheeze.

"Getting to act behind a mask in general is a very freeing experience, and when that face is Darth Vader, it's very empowering, very beastly," Christensen says with a grin. People on the film's Australian set treated him with newfound respect once he put on the suit, and he even sensed "a glimmer of fear."

Linking the original trilogy of "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" to the prequels "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," "Revenge of the Sith" might not be the final film chronologically, but its pull-out-the-stops battle scenes and greatest-hits parade of sidekicks, from C-3PO to Chewbacca, give it an air of finality.

The film's juicy themes inspired Lucas as a director, Christensen says.

"I did notice a significant change in him" from "Clones," the actor says. "He was genuinely excited about the story he was telling this time around, and he was up from behind the monitors to talk to the actors between each scene."