Star Wars Wookieepedia FANDOM powered by Wikia. Star Wars logo. Star Wars is a science fiction franchise. It is a fictional universe created by George Lucas. The Star Wars story employs archetypal motifs common to science fiction, political climax and classical mythology, as well as musical motifs of those aspects. As one of the foremost examples of the space opera sub genre of science fiction, Star Wars has become part of mainstream popular culture, as well as being one of the highest grossing series of all time. It is currently the third highest grossing film series behind only Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Star Wars story has been presented in a series of American films, which have spawned a large quantity of books and other media, which have formed the Expanded Universe. The Star Wars mythos is also the basis of many toys and games of varying types. The films and novels employ common science fiction motifs. Whereas Gene Roddenberrys. Star Trek, a science fantasy franchise that has enjoyed long lasting popularity in American popular culture, is portrayed by its makers to appear as a rational and progressive approach to storytelling, Star Wars has a strong mythic quality alongside its political and scientific elements. Unlike the heroes of earlier space set sci fifantasy film and TV series such as Flash Gordon, the heroes of Star Wars are not militaristic types but romantic individualists. College literature professors have remarked that the Star Wars saga, with its struggle between good and evil, democracy and empire, can be considered a national epic for the United States. The film has many visual and narrative similarities to John Fords. The Searches that also provides a clue to the relationship between Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker. The strong appeal of the Star Wars story probably accounts for its enduring popularity it has also been postulated that this popularity is based on nostalgia. Many Star Wars fans first saw the films as children, and the revolutionary for the time special effects and simple, Manichean story made a profound impact. The Star Wars films show considerable similarity to Japanese Jidaigeki films, as well as Roman mythology. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in Star Wars a modern mythology, based on the studies of his friend and mentor Joseph Campbell. He has also called the first movies similarity to the film The Hidden Fortress Akira Kurosawa an homage. The Star Wars films portray a world full of grime and technology that looks like it has been used for years, unlike the sleek, futuristic world typical of earlier science fiction films. In interviews, Lucas tells of rubbing the new props with dirt to make them look weatherworn. Lucas may have been inspired by the Sergio Leone. Spaghetti Western films of the 1. Western many years earlier. It is tempting to speculate that this break from traditional science fiction film influenced the cyberpunk genre that emerged around 1. Cult Horror Movies Star Wars: The Clone Wars ' title='Cult Horror Movies Star Wars: The Clone Wars ' />Officially licensed Star Wars novels have been published since the original movie was released in 1. Although these novels are licensed by Lucas meaning he shares in the royalties, he retains ultimate creative control over the Star Wars universe, forcing Lucas Licensing to devote considerable ongoing effort to ensuring continuity between different authors works and Lucas films. Occasionally, elements from these novels are adopted into the highest tier of Star Warscanon, the movies. Books, games, and stories that are not directly derived from the six movies of Star Wars are known as the Extended or Expanded Universe EU for short. Lucas has said that he does not deeply involve himself in the EU, choosing instead to concentrate mainly on his movies instead of the licensing world of the books, games and comic books. The original 1. 97. Star Wars A New Hope has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. In 1. 97. 8, Lucas sued the creators of Battlestar Galactica for its similarity to Star Wars, although the case was dismissed as having no merit in 1. U. S. Federal judge. History. Before Star Wars. Cult Horror Movies Star Wars: The Clone Wars ' title='Cult Horror Movies Star Wars: The Clone Wars ' />Although George Lucas had made a name for himself among some industry insiders for his work at USC, it was not until the release of American Graffiti in August of 1. The film grossed over 1. Hollywood at the time. Lucas profit participation in Graffiti earned him over 7 million. Lucas was now a millionaire and one of the most sought after young directors in the world. There are a lot of things I miss from the old Star Wars Legends timeline. Kyle Katarn. Synthetic lightsaber crystals. Mara Jade. But what I really pine for are the. Star Wars reading list where to start after you finish the movies. Alan Ladd, Jr., then the head of Twentieth Century Fox, saw a smuggled print of American Graffiti before it was released in theaters and was determined that Fox was going to be the next studio to profit from Lucas genius. Lucas would later profit from an upcoming star in that movie Harrison Ford. Star Wars would further place Ford higher into stardom. Conception. Influences. Poster art for Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope. Many different influences have been suggested for the Star Wars films by fans, critics, and George Lucas himself. Lucas acknowledges that the plot and characters in the 1. Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa, was a major inspiration. Lucas has said that the movie influenced him to tell the story of Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader, whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles a samurai helmet. George Lucas has often said that his original idea for the project that evolved into Star Wars was to remake the Flash Gordon movie serials from the 1. The license wasnt available, so Lucas moved on to other ideas, beginning with Akira Kurosawas film The Hidden Fortress and then Joseph Campbells The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Despite the plot changes the Star Wars films are still bursting with influences from the Flash Gordon movie serials, including the Rebels vs. Imperial Forces, Cloud City and even the famous roll up which begins the movie. The second major direction for Star Wars used in the 1. Flash Gordon vocabulary to create an outer space version of the Samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, primarily Kakushi toride no san akunin The Hidden Fortress, 1. Tsubaki Sanjr Sanjuro, 1. Yojimbo 1. 96. 1. Joseph Campbells The Hero With a Thousand Faces eventually gave Lucas a third and final major story direction, but many elements from Kurosawas work remain, including the two bickering peasants who evolved into the droids, and the queen who often switches places with her handmaiden. The Darth Vader like evil general who has a change of heart at the end wears a kamon a Japanese family crest that looks very similar to the Japanese Imperial Crest. Lucas had already written two drafts of Star Wars when he rediscovered Joseph Campbells The Hero With a Thousand Faces in 1. This blueprint for The Heros Journey gave Lucas the focus he needed to draw his sprawling imaginary universe into a single story. Buy Veggietales: Madame Blueberry Movie. Campbell demonstrates in his book that all stories are expressions of the same story pattern, which he named the Heros Journey or the monomyth. Lucas has often cited The Lord of the Rings series as a major influence on Star Wars. Lucas learned from Tolkien how to handle the delicate stuff of myth. Tolkien wrote that myth and fairytale seem to be the best way to communicate morality hints for choosing between right and wrong and in fact that may be their primary purpose.