So long ago that you cannot comprehend it and so far away that it is impossible to calcuate the distance. A system of government has fallen and an Empire of evil has taken it's place.

Complicated.

A boy who wants to get off his uncle's farm and do some exploring. A girl who wants to restore freedom. A smuggler and his pal just trying to make ends meet.

Simple.

The magic of "Star Wars" is that you are taking something that is really difficult to grasp (if you take it for what it says it is) and have it boiled down to something almost routine.

George Lucas could have made a film about a young man who wants to enlist in a war he believes in, but his uncle wants him to stay on the ranch. It might have made a great story and be remembered today. However, that element of space, of unknown aliens and the worlds they inhabit, make it something that goes from a "day in the life" story, to an epic.

Simplistic complexity that can be enjoyed by a kindergartener and pondered by an adult.

Happy Birthday, Luke Skywalker (sorry this tribute is a little late).