U.S. Government Deems The Empire Strikes Back, THX 1138 4EB Important

Two films by George Lucas were among the 25 named for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry.

Every year, the United States Librarian of Congress names 25 films to be added to the National Film Registry. As the Library of Congress describes it, the Registry isn’t intended to contain “the ‘best’ American films of all time, but rather…works of enduring significance to American culture.” This year’s list contains two films produced by George Lucas: Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back and Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.

The Library praised Empire for both Irvin Kershner’s direction and the film’s sustaining the energy of its predecessor, noting that the film, “helped lay the foundation for one of the most commercially successful film series in American cinematic history.” The Library also reminds us that Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, Lucas’s student film while at the University of Southern California, “won the 1968 United States National Student Film Festival drama award and inspired Warner Bros. studio to sign Lucas to produce the expanded feature length THX 1138 under the tutelage of Francis Ford Coppola.”

The other honored films include Airplane!, All The President’s Men, The Exorcist, Malcolm X, The Pink Panther, and Saturday Night Fever. A full list of all 25 of Librarian of Congress James H. Billington’s picks, and a description of each, can be found here. With these inclusions, the registry holds 550 films for preservation.

Source: The Library of Congress, via The Hollywood Reporter