Here’s why Star Wars was a hit

May 4 is an opportunity for everyone to be a little nerdy with the greeting “May the Fourth be with you,” obviously inspired by the Star Wars franchise.

On “The Glenn Beck Radio Program,” Glenn Beck and the guys took advantage of May the Fourth Day to talk about one of the biggest movie franchises of all time and the ingredients that made it a hit.

“If you look at what George Lucas did at that time, it was crazy,” Glenn said, outlining the cultural context to show how Star Wars came onto the scene as something completely different.

“Episode IV: A New Hope” premiered in a dark world. America was recovering from the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War while facing the threat of communism.

“It felt very much like today except I think in some ways, worse,” Glenn described. “You had the complete collapse of faith in America; you had the collapse of faith in the dollar, in the military.”

Glenn noted that other films from the era were incredibly dark, listing “A Clockwork Orange,” “Taxi Driver” and “The French Connection.” The biggest break for moviegoers who wanted something lighter was Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws.”

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Glenn Beck Radio Program” with Glenn Beck, Pat Gray, Stu Burguiere and Jeffy Fisher weekdays 9 a.m.–noon ET on TheBlaze Radio Network.