What it's known for: As we said ourselves a couple of months ago, Star Wars is the most influential blockbuster ever made. It not only pioneered some groundbreaking special effect techniques, essentially creating ILM, but helped cement the blockbuster formula. A couple of years before Jaws had made history by being released across hundreds of screen at the same time (things used to be much more gradual) and Star Wars only pushed that further, showing studios a way to make more money than ever before. What it also changed: One of the most distinct moments from Star Wars is the opening crawl. A throw-back to the Flash Gordon serials that originally inspired George Lucas to make the space saga, it provided a major point of contention upon initial release. Traditionally a film had a full run of opening credits before the action began, but as the serials hadn't done that, Lucas decided to go for the same approach, which didn't go down well. You see, it wasn't just a convention, but a mandatory rule all films had to adhere to; to ensure his film could get away with it, Lucas had to pay a fine and resign from the Director's Guild of America. Nowadays the convention's gone the other way; the majority of credits (perhaps excluding main actors and director) are saved until the very end of the film, something that never used to happen. Heck, some films (we're looking at you Nolan) don't even bother with a title card any more. All because George Lucas wanted to make a little homage. Which other unsung revolutionaries are there out there? Let us know down in the comments.
