Star Wars

Star Wars
Directed by	Episodes I-IV: George Lucas Episode V: Irvin Kershner Episode VI: Richard Marquand
Written by	Episodes I, III, IV: George Lucas Episode II: George Lucas & Jonathan Hales Episode V: George Lucas & Leigh Brackett & Lawrence Kasdan Episode VI: George Lucas & Lawrence Kasdan
Produced by	Executive producer: George Lucas Episodes I-III: Rick McCallum Episodes IV-VI (Special Edition): Rick McCallum Episodes IV, V: Gary Kurtz Episode VI: Howard Kazanjian
Edited by	Episodes I-III Ben Burtt Episodes IV-VI (Special Edition): Ben Burtt
Music by	John Williams
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	May 1977 – 2005
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$409,500,000
Box office	over 6.6 billion USD

Star Wars is an epic space opera franchise and a fictional universe initially developed by George Lucas during the 1970s and expanded since that time. The first film was Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), which was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox. The film became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two sequels subtitled The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Twenty-two years after the first Star Wars film was released, a prequel trilogy, set before the original trilogy, was released.

After the release of Star Wars, other writers developed the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which includes three spin-off films, five television series and an extensive collection of licensed books, comics, video games, action figures, trading cards, and other merchandise, all set within the fictional Star Wars galaxy. In 2007, the overall box office revenue generated by the entire Star Wars franchise (over the course of its history) is at around US$4.3 billion, making it one of the most successful franchises of all time though recently the Harry Potter franchise, with still two films left, surpassed Star Wars with earnings totaled at US$4.47billion.

Feature films

Episode	Original release date
I The Phantom Menace	May 19, 1999
II Attack of the Clones	May 16, 2002
III Revenge of the Sith	May 19, 2005
IV A New Hope	May 25, 1977
V The Empire Strikes Back	May 21, 1980
VI Return of the Jedi	May 25, 1983

Although The Ewok Adventure, later renamed Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, played in theaters in Europe, Mexico and Australia and are technically Star Wars feature films, they are generally associated with television.

Setting

Main article: Star Wars galaxy

The events of Star Wars take place in the fictional Star Wars galaxy. Each film begins with an "opening crawl" of text that provides a specific context for the events of the film. In each instance, the crawl is preceded by the line, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." (There are four points since 1977 and the first episode. This mistake was kept for the line of all other episodes).

Many of the main characters in the film are essentially identical to humans. The characters commonly interact with fantastic creatures of many different types from numerous planetary systems within the Star Wars galaxy. Star Wars features elements such as magic, Jedi Knights, witches, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre.

The Star Wars world, unlike many science-fiction and fantasy films that featured sleek and futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas' vision of a "used universe" was further popularized in the science fiction-horror films Alien, which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner, which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future.

Plot

The overall plot of the films is the chronology of Anakin Skywalker's life.

Episodes I - III chronicle the downfall of the Old Republic and the Jedi Order through the machinations of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who subsequently establishes himself as ruler of the Galactic Empire. It is also the story of Anakin Skywalker, the "Chosen One," who rises as a gifted young Jedi who is married to Padme, a former queen of Naboo and in an attempt to save her life, he is seduced by Darth Sidious and the Dark Side of the Force, transforming into the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Episodes IV - VI pick up 19 years after the events of Episode III, during the Galactic Civil War, a lengthy conflict in which the Galactic Empire falls to the Rebel Alliance. These films follow the story of Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin (now Darth Vader), his rise in the rebellion against the Empire, and his training as a Jedi. The tale ends with Luke leading his father to redemption, as well as the death of the Emperor.

Themes

Main articles: Philosophy and religion in Star Wars and The Force (Star Wars)

Tatooine's sunset has two suns, the result of a binary star system. This shot from A New Hope is alluded to in Attack of the Clones and Return of the Jedi, and recreated as the final shot of Revenge of the Sith.

George Lucas uses a style of epic storytelling that repeats motifs, common themes and concepts that are altered slightly each time they occur; they are applied both visually and as an integral part of his storytelling. On a larger scale, there are many parallels between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy; the stories of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker echo and reflect each other in a number of ways, while in other ways they are inverses.

The Force is one of the most recognizable elements of the Star Wars series. It is described by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars film as, "An energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." Those who can use the Force, such as the Jedi, can perform feats of telepathy, psychokinesis, prescience, clairvoyance, and mental control. In addition, they can use the force to amplify certain traits, for example: amplifying their reflexes enough to use a lightsaber to bounce lasers back at the target that fired them. The light side of the Force is the facet aligned with good, benevolence, and healing. The dark side of the Force is aligned with fear, hatred, aggression, and malevolence.

Influences

See also: Star Wars sources and analogues

Many different influences have been suggested for the Star Wars films by fans and critics. George Lucas himself has cited some quite surprising inspirations for his films, for example the novel Watership Down and the critically-acclaimed Dune. Lucas acknowledges that the plot and characters in the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa, were a major inspiration. Lucas has said in an interview, which is included on the DVD edition of The Hidden Fortress, that the film influenced him to tell the story of Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than from the viewpoint of a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader, whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles the black kabuto of the arch-villain in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

Prior to writing the script for Star Wars, George Lucas originally wanted to make a film of Flash Gordon. The rights for Flash Gordon, however, were held by Dino De Laurentiis, and Lucas decided to work on his own science fiction/fantasy project instead.

Another influence in Lucas's creation of Star Wars was the writings of Joseph Campbell. Campbell's work explored the supposed common meanings, structures, and purposes of the world's mythologies. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in Star Wars a "modern mythology" based on Campbell's work. The original Star Wars film, episode IV, for example, closely followed the archetypal "hero's journey," as described in Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The motif of the hero's journey can also be seen across Episodes IV-VI, following Luke's progression and across Episodes I-III, following the journey of Anakin Skywalker.

Scripts

The Star Wars saga began with a 14-page treatment for a space adventure film that Lucas drafted in 1973, inspired by multiple myths and classical narratives. According to one source, Lucas initially wrote summaries for fifteen stories that would make up the Star Wars saga. Out of these fifteen stories, Lucas originally planned to film only one of them as a feature film.

In 1978, following the success of the first released Star Wars film, George Lucas announced that he would create a total of twelve films to chronicle the adventures of Luke Skywalker (in the original scripts, the character’s name was Luke Starkiller). In 1979, Lucas retracted his former statement, saying that he would instead make nine films. Four years later, having completed Return of the Jedi, Lucas announced that he was putting Star Wars on indefinite hold until special-effects technology had improved to his satisfaction. Finally, in 1994, (after seeing the effects results of ILM's work on Jurassic Park) Lucas decided that he would produce the trilogy of prequels (Episodes I, II, and III), for a total of six films. He also claimed at the time that he had always envisioned "the whole thing as a series of six films."

Other sources, including publicly available draft scripts of Star Wars, show that Lucas had an incomplete and quickly-changing conception of the Star Wars story up until the release of the first film in 1977. Story elements such as the Kaiburr crystal present in early scripts are missing entirely in the films and were relegated to novels and the Expanded Universe, while names were freely exchanged between different planets and characters — "Organa Major" being the original name for Alderaan, for instance (Organa later became Princess Leia's surname).

Even as late as the production of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, there were significant differences from the films which emerged — for example, Lando Calrissian being a clone from the Clone Wars and the climactic battle of Return of the Jedi taking place against two Death Stars orbiting the Imperial capital planet, then known as Had Abbadon. Another version of the Return of the Jedi script had Luke turning to the dark side after killing Darth Vader. Leia would then become the next Jedi to fight the dark side. This did not happen, however, because Lucas felt that the ending would be too dark, especially for children, who were a major target audience. Also, George Lucas had the script of The Empire Strikes Back saying that "Obi-Wan killed your father," in order to throw people off from his intended "I am your father" line.

Since Darth Vader's voice was overdubbed by James Earl Jones, the true line was revealed in post-production. In addition, the story released as the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye was intended as a possible direction for a low-budget Star Wars sequel - however, the success of A New Hope allowed Lucas to pursue the more ambitious The Empire Strikes Back instead.

For his part, Lucas claimed in a segment filmed for the THX-remastered VHS release of the original trilogy that the original Star Wars story was intended as a single film but was later split into three because the story was too long to be told in a single film. In the DVD commentaries for the original trilogy, Lucas claims that many story elements were changed within the production of the films — for instance, the attack on the Death Star in A New Hope was moved from the end of the trilogy in order to strengthen A New Hope on its own merits, while the character of Chewbacca established the Wookiees as a technologically advanced race, necessitating their replacement with Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Other changes, including the death of Obi-Wan in A New Hope, were made during the filming.

Lucas also stated in the commentaries that the prequel stories existed only as "notes" explaining the backstories of characters such as Obi-Wan. In an interview with Wired prior to the release of The Phantom Menace, Lucas remarked that he had allowed the publication of novels written as sequels to the films (see Expanded Universe) because he would never make the sequels himself.

Lucas's history of different statements regarding his future and past plans for the Star Wars saga have caused a great deal of popular confusion, while drawing criticism from some. For example, some still believe that Lucas's original plan was for a "trilogy of trilogies," based on early statements made by Lucasfilm regarding sequels. For more information on the supposed sequel trilogy, see Star Wars sequel trilogy. Lucas's original script was almost 500 pages long, and its title, originally The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, was changed several times before becoming Star Wars.

Production and release

The Star Wars film series was shot in an original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The "original trilogy" was shot with anamorphic lenses. Episodes IV and V were shot in Panavision, while Episode VI was shot in Joe Dunton Camera (JDC) scope. Episode I was shot with Hawk anamorphic lenses on Arriflex cameras, and Episodes II and III were shot with Sony's CineAlta high-definition digital camera.

The 1977 release of Star Wars also marked a paradigm shift in film sound effects. Lucas heralded this new era of sound effects in three main ways. Sound was no longer only loud or soft, it was a spatial element as important as any actor or visual effect. Ships passing by on the screen were heard passing by from speaker to speaker in the theater through the use of the new Dolby surround technology.

Another of the important ways in which Star Wars achieved this shift was the use of "physical sound" to increase the sound space of the film. The use of sub-frequencies allowed the audience to feel a physical vibration as the Star Destroyer comes into view during the opening scene of the film, establishing both its menace and the enormous size difference between it and the rebel ship.

Finally, George Lucas hired Ben Burtt to oversee the sound effects on the film. Burtt created a new kind of sound texture; all of the unique laser blasts, droids talking, voices, and other effects expanded the audience's immersion in the universe of Star Wars. The enormity of Burtt's accomplishment was such that the Academy of Motion Pictures: Arts and Sciences gave him a Special Achievement Award because they had no award for what he had done. It is also telling that every sound effects award since Star Wars has gone to a film recorded in Dolby.

There were countless problems during the production of Episode IV, and few critics expected the film to achieve the measure of success it did. Many problems with effects, editing, funding, and shooting caused the film to be pushed back from its expected release date of December 1976. The production company, not to mention many involved in the actual production, had little faith in the film. According to reports, it was a daily struggle merely to complete the film on time. Despite these difficulties, the first film was released on May 25, 1977, and became a surprise hit. Though its novelization had hit the shelves six months earlier, the book had not seen nearly the amount of interest that the film would draw.

The phenomenal popularity of the first Star Wars film may be in part due to the American public's need for escapism after the harrowing experience of Vietnam and political scandals such as Watergate. Throughout the first half of the 1970s, baby-boomers (like Lucas himself) were getting more involved in filmmaking along with Coppola, Scorcese, Friedkin and others only to express dark and gritty realism in their films.

Filming locations

Main article: Star Wars filming locations

Episodes IV, V, and VI were shot at, among other locations, Elstree Studios, in Hertfordshire, England. The outdoor scenes from the ice planet Hoth in Episode V were shot at Finse, Norway. Also, shots of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV in Episode IV were of Mayan temples in Tikal, Guatemala. The scenes from the forested Endor's moon in Episode VI were shot in Redwood State Park, in Humboldt County, Northern California. The Phantom Menace was filmed at Leavesden Film Studios and the subsequent prequels were filmed in Fox Studios, Sydney, Australia. A scene in Attack of the Clones is shot in Sevilla, Spain. Tunisia has served as the location for filming scenes set on the desert planet Tatooine in A New Hope, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the sand dunes of Yuma, Arizona, for Return of the Jedi. Italy's Caserta Palace was used to create the Theed palace on Queen Amidala's home planet, Naboo, and some scenes were also shot at Italy's Lake Como. Also some scenes in A New Hope were shot in Death Valley National Park, California, USA.

Both the "original trilogy" and the "prequel trilogy" were each released over a period of six years (1977 – 1983 and 1999 – 2005, respectively), each film taking two years to produce.

Musical score

Main article: Star Wars music

The scores for all six Star Wars films were composed by John Williams. Lucas' design for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important concepts--an approach used to great effect, for instance, in the operas of Richard Wagner.

Williams' score for Star Wars in 1977 set a new standard for science-fiction/fantasy films by drawing its inspiration primarily from a palette of Romantic rather than avant-garde music. In choosing this approach, Williams somewhat followed the lead of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which director Stanley Kubrick scored with preexisting classical works rather than an original score. (Alex North's original score was rejected and unused.) George Lucas set the first Star Wars to a temp track of concert works by Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Holst and others. Williams' score did not borrow material from these masterworks, but followed in their footsteps in terms of scope and, to some degree, harmonic language. Williams' scores for the original trilogy were primarily motif-based: individual characters and concepts were each given their own unique musical theme which would identify their presence in the film, whether physically or figuratively. By combining and varying these motifs, Williams could create a score possessed of a rich, interwoven fabric.

Although Williams had already established himself as a popular film composer with scores for blockbusters such as The Poseidon Adventure and Jaws, the Star Wars score brought him international recognition.

By the time of the prequel trilogy, however, Williams had grown and changed as a composer. His new scores deemphasized leitmotifs, tending to weave shorter motifs subtly into broader and more dynamic musical compositions. He had also expanded his use of thematic motifs, using the technique to highlight the emotional or archetypal structure of the film, rather than the more literal associations to character and setting used in the earlier scores.

Re-releases

Main article: List of changes in Star Wars re-releases

In 1997, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi were re-mastered and theatrically re-released as the "Special Editions." It was one of the first films series to be re-mastered in this way. For the re-release, in addition to extensive clean-up and restoration work, Lucas also made several changes to the films in order to "finish the film the way it was meant to be" (as Lucas said in a September 2004 interview with the Associated Press). Many of Lucas' changes for the Special Editions were cosmetic, generally adding computer generated effects which were not originally possible. Other changes, however, are considered to have affected plot or character development. These changes, such as the change often referred to by fans as "Han shot first", have proven to be controversial, inciting considerable criticism of George Lucas by fans, and was one of the first cases of what came to be known as "Lucas bashing."

In 2004, in addition to an extensive and comprehensive hi-definition digital cleanup and restoration job by Lowry Digital Images, the original films were changed once again for their release on DVD. In these new versions of the films, in addition to new scenes and major image adjustments designed to make the films visually resemble the prequels, a few changes which had been made for the 1997 Special Editions were removed. With this release, Lucasfilm created a new high-definition master of the films, which will be used in future releases as well.

Although the original films have undergone significant alterations over the years, the prequel films have received only minor changes from their theatrical versions. The DVD releases of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith have had such elements altered as small additions of scenes, touch-ups in effects, and small sound changes.

For many years, Lucas had stated that the original, unaltered versions of the trilogy would never be released again, having been released for the last time on VHS and Laserdisc in 1995. However, on May 3, 2006, Lucasfilm announced on the official Star Wars site that due to "overwhelming demand," the original versions would be released on DVD on September 12, 2006. Each film was released as a two-disc set with the 2004 versions of the films on one disc, and the original, unaltered film on the second disc, as a bonus feature. The set was available until December 31, 2006, when it was withdrawn from the market.

There has been controversy surrounding this release, since it was revealed that the DVDs featured non-anamorphic versions of the original, unaltered films based on laserdisc releases from 1993 (as opposed to newly-remastered, film-based transfers). Since non-anamorphic transfers fail to make full use of the resolution available on widescreen sets, many fans were upset over this choice. The laserdisc releases utilized the PCM format for the stereo soundtrack, while the DVDs contain the more compressed Dolby Digital 2.0 format. Dolby Digital is a mandatory format for DVD, but the lack of the superior PCM format is also upsetting to some fans.

Future releases

At a ShoWest convention in 2005, George Lucas demonstrated new technology and stated that he planned to release all six films in a new 3-D film format, beginning with A New Hope in 2007. However, by January 2007, Lucasfilm stated on StarWars.com that "there are no definitive plans or dates for releasing the Star Wars saga in 3-D." At Celebration Europe in July 2007, Rick McCallum confirmed that Lucasfilm is "planning to take all six films and turn them into 3-D," but they are "waiting for the companies out there that are developing this technology to bring it down to a cost level that makes it worthwhile for everybody".

Lucas has hinted in the past that he will release his definitive (often called "archival") editions of all six of his Star Wars films on a next-generation home-video format. It has been speculated that he will take this opportunity to make any final adjustments, changes, additions, and/or subtractions to his films for this final release. An altered clip from The Phantom Menace included in a featurette on the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith (in which a computer generated Yoda replaces the original puppet) appears to be a sign that the "archival" editions are indeed in the works. Lucasfilm Vice President of Marketing Jim Ward confirmed that Lucasfilm is likely to do even more work on the films (possibly digital contemporization of the original trilogy), stating "As the technology evolves and we get into a high-definition platform that is easily consumable by our customers, the situation is much better, but there will always be work to be done."

Producer Rick McCallum has also explained that Lucasfilm has been holding back a large amount of bonus material for this release, including deleted scenes, as well as numerous previous Star Wars "making-ofs," spin-offs, television specials, documentaries, and other special material.

Television rights

The original Star Wars film (Episode IV) first saw TV release in February 1983 on HBO,Showtime, and the Movie channel. (Cinemax would not air it until November 2006) The original asking price was $1 per subscriber which would cover the entire production budget for the film solely from money from HBO. CBS had exclusive network rights when it aired on commercial television one year later, and continued on CBS for several years. The remaining films in the original trilogy also aired on premium cable before airing on network television (NBC acquired the original network rights to The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi).

In 1992, the Sci-Fi Channel became the first U.S. network to air the three then-existing episodes in the saga. Sci-Fi and USA Network retained TV rights until 1996, in preparation for the theatrical release of the "Special Editions" of the original trilogy. In 1998, a year after the SE releases, Showtime acquired limited one-month premium cable rights to the "Special Edition" of Star Wars for airing in January. It continued on broadcast stations, including superstations TBS and WGN, for several years after).

In 1999, to promote Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the remaining "Special Edition" films (V and VI) aired on U.S. broadcast network Fox (they bypassed premium cable for direct broadcast airing). That same year, Fox acquired all television rights to Episode I after the premium cable networks declined due to cost. A similar situation nearly happened with Attack of the Clones, until HBO struck a last-minute deal with Fox and Lucasfilm for the exclusive pay-cable rights. Episode II, like its predecessor, never saw prior pay-per-view cable release, but it did run on HBO and sister network Cinemax during its 18-month term of license.

The Fox network acquired the U.S. network television rights, in April/May 2005, to promote the then-upcoming Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, with Episodes I, IV, V, and VI placed in limited syndicated television distribution, (on Fox affiliates in most markets) while the Fox network was able to air Episode II in mid-May, prior to Episode III's initial theatrical release.

The six films have aired on HBO and Cinemax in both standard & High Definition. The versions of Episodes IV, V, and VI that are airing are the 2004 DVD Special Editions, as they are the current canonical versions. In the UK, Sky purchased the rights to air all six films in August 2006, becoming the first United-Kingdom based television network to air all six films, which will be aired in order of release, beginning with Episode IV. Afterwards, the episodes will continue to be shown during the "100 films a month" cycles on Sky Movies.

During negotiations for the cable rights to Episode II, HBO/Cinemax also struck a first-look deal for Episode III, which they accepted and is currently on its initial 18-month term of license (it was also the only Star Wars prequel film to see any pay-per-view cable issue). In addition, the Time Warner-owned networks were able to win the right to become the first U.S. television network system (cable or broadcast) to air all six films in the saga. On November 11, 2006 Cinemax aired all six films in rotation in both standard & High Definition. (Cinemax had never aired the original Star Wars (Episode IV) prior to this date, and at the explicit request of Lucasfilm, the high definition broadcasts were in the original scope aspect ratio.)

In a separate deal, Spike TV acquired the commercial broadcast rights to Episode III, including the right to become the first broadcast network to air all six films (the deal takes effect after the HBO/Cinemax rights expire in April 2008). From late December 2006 to early January 2007, Star Movies Asia aired the complete saga for their region.

Expanded Universe

Main article: Star Wars Expanded Universe

The term Expanded Universe (abbreviated EU) has come into existence as an umbrella term for all of the officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. This includes television productions, books, comics, games, and other forms of media. The material expands and continues the stories told in the films, taking place anywhere from 25,000 years before The Phantom Menace to 140 years after Return of the Jedi. The first Expanded Universe story appeared in Marvel Comics' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues of the series having been an adaptation of the film), followed quickly by Alan Dean Foster's novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month.

George Lucas retains ultimate creative control over the Star Wars universe. For example, the death of central characters and similar changes in the status quo must first pass his screening before authors are given the go-ahead. In addition, Lucasfilm Licensing devotes considerable effort to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across multiple companies.

Some purists, and many fans, reject the Expanded Universe as Apocrypha, believing that only the events in the film series are part of the "real" Star Wars universe, though elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films. These included the name of the Republic/Empire capital planet, Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire before being used in The Phantom Menace, while a character introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, a blue Jedi Knight named Aayla Secura, was liked enough by Lucas to be included as a character in Attack of the Clones.

Television/spin-offs

To date, three films and three animated series have been produced for television, with a live-action series in pre-production. For the most part, Lucas has played a large role in the production of the television projects — usually serving as storywriter and/or executive producer.

Production	Release date
The Star Wars Holiday Special	November 17, 1978
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure	November 25, 1984
From 'Star Wars' to 'Jedi': The Making of a Saga (Documentary)	1985
Star Wars: Droids	September 7, 1985
Star Wars: Ewoks	September 7, 1985
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor	November 24, 1985
Star Wars: Clone Wars	November 7, 2003
Star Wars: Clone Wars	2008
Star Wars live-action TV series	2009

Radio dramas

See also: Star Wars (radio)

A radio adaptation of A New Hope was first broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981. The adaptation was written by science fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden. It was followed by adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi in 1996. The adaptations included background material created by Lucas but not used in the films. Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams reprised their roles as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and Lando Calrissian, respectively. The series also used John Williams' original score from the films and Ben Burtt's original sound designs.

Novels

See also: List of Star Wars books

Star Wars-based fiction predates the release of the first film, with the 1976 novelization of Star Wars (ghost-written by Alan Dean Foster and credited to George Lucas). Foster's 1978 novel, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, was the first Expanded Universe work to be released. In addition to filling in the time between the films, this additional content greatly expanded the Star Wars timeline before and after the film series.

Star Wars fiction flourished during the time of the original series (1977–1983) but slowed to a trickle afterwards. In 1991, however, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy debuted, sparking a new interest in the Star Wars universe. Since then, several hundred tie-in novels have been published by Bantam and Del Rey. A similar resurgence in the Expanded Universe occurred in 1996 with the Steve Perry novel Shadows of the Empire, set between Episodes V and VI, and accompanying video game and comic book series.

LucasBooks radically changed the face of the Star Wars universe with the introduction of the New Jedi Order series, which takes place some 20 years after Return of the Jedi and stars a host of new characters alongside series originals. However, several significant events which occur during the course of this series (such as the death of a major film character) have sparked much fan criticism.

For younger audiences, three series have been introduced. The Jedi Apprentice series follows the adventures of Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi before Episode I. The Jedi Quest series follows the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker after Episode I and before Episode II. The third and currently on-going series is The Last Of the Jedi series which follows the adventure of Obi-Wan Kenobi and the adventures of a surviving Jedi almost immediately after Episode III. All three series are written by Jude Watson.

Comics

See also: List of Star Wars comic books

Marvel Comics published Star Wars comic book series and adaptations from 1977 to 1986. A wide variety of creators worked on this series, including Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Al Williamson, Carmine Infantino, Gene Day, Walt Simonson, Michael Golden, Chris Claremont, Whilce Portacio, Jo Duffy, and Ron Frenz. They also published a Star Wars newspaper strip by Russ Manning, Steve Gerber, and Archie Goodwin, the latter under a pseudonym. In the late 1980s, Marvel announced it would publish a new Star Wars comic by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. However, in December 1991, Dark Horse Comics acquired the Star Wars license and used it to launch a number of ambitious sequels to the original trilogy instead, including the very popular Dark Empire stories. They have since gone on to publish a large number of original adventures set in the Star Wars universe.

Games

See also: Star Wars computer and video games and List of Star Wars video games

Since 1982, over 120 video games have been published bearing the Star Wars name, beginning with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back published for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers. Since then, Star Wars has opened the way to a myriad of space-flight simulation games, first-person shooter games, roleplaying games, RTS games, and others.

Two different official tabletop role-playing games have been developed for the Star Wars universe: a version by West End Games in the 1980s and 1990s, and one by Wizards of the Coast in the 2000s.

The successful Rogue Squadron series was introduced in the late 1990s with Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and its accompanying comic series.

In the Star Wars: Battlefront series, the player can choose to be on the Rebel Alliance, the Galactic Empire, the Separatists, or the Republic, depending on the situation. The player travels across many different exotic worlds. Within the many different modes of play, there is one named "Galactic Conquest" in which the player struggles against the opposing side for total control of the galaxy by moving their fleets across the map and fighting in a battle on each planet until the player controls all the planets. It also has online play for those competitive players who want to go beyond the AI players usually played against. It is the best selling Star Wars game to date. In the new game, Star Wars: Battlefront II, the player is given more gameplay and character options, as well as the chance to play as a Jedi or Sith.

In Lego Star Wars and its sequel, the films are played in a different way. In Star Wars: Empire at War, players can take control of either the Empire or the Rebellion and fight for control of the galaxy.

Sony Online Entertainment, developed a MMORPG called Star Wars Galaxies. In this game, which requires a monthly subscription fee, the player chooses a class, (Jedi, commando, smuggler, etc.) and fights for control of the galaxy by choosing to be on the Empire or the Rebel Alliance. The game was widely anticipated throughout the industry, and as of 2007, many, albeit in less numbers compared to the numbers around the initial games timeframe of release, players are still participating in it, and 3 expansions (Jump to Lightspeed, Rage of the Wookiees and Trials of Obi-Wan) have been made.

LucasArts is also currently developing a next-gen Star Wars game for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The game, which is of the same name of the multimedia project which it is a part of, is entitled The Force Unleashed, and takes place in the largely unexplored time period between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and casts players as Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" hunting down the remaining Jedi. The game features a new game engine, and is set for a Spring 2008 release.

Trading cards

Star Wars trading cards have been published since the first 'blue' series, by Topps, in 1977. Dozens of series have been produced, with Topps being the licensed creator in the United States. Some of the card series are of film stills, while others are original art. Many of the cards have become highly collectible with some very rare 'promos', such as the 1993 Galaxy Series II 'floating Yoda' P3 card often commanding US$1000 or more. While most 'base' or 'common card' sets are plentiful, many 'insert' or 'chase cards' are very rare. Star Wars card game cards are different from the trading cards. A thriving market for both types exists on eBay.

Fan works

See also: Star Wars fan films

The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own stories set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films.

In 2002, Lucasfilm sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were originally ineligible, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.

While many of the serious fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way.

Lucasfilm's open support and sanction of fan creations is a marked contrast to the attitudes of many other copyright holders. Some owners, such as Paramount Pictures with the Star Trek properties, have been known to actively discourage the creation of such works by fans.

Legacy

Main article: Cultural impact of Star Wars

The Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern global pop culture. After many years, some even began to view it as the "World Epic," with comparisons made to the national epics of ancient history. Science fiction since Star Wars, particularly in films, has often been influenced by and compared to Star Wars. References to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in American society with the well-justified assumption that others will understand the reference. George Lucas is also famous for using the best possible cameras and technology (see also Industrial Light and Magic) in his films. Many say that the visual and virtual effects that take over today's films would have never been created if not for Lucas's revolutionizing of the film industry with Star Wars.

Parodies

Both the film and characters have been parodied or spoofed in popular films and television. Notable film parodies of Star Wars include: Hardware Wars, a 13 minute 1977 spoof which George Lucas has called his favorite Star Wars parody; Spaceballs, a feature film by Mel Brooks which featured effects done by George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic ; and Troops, a COPS-style documentary. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders also created a parody of Star Wars on their comedy sketch show French & Saunders. Another parody, R2D2-Beneath the Dome was created in 2002 by Lucasfilm Ltd. It features many people, among them George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola. It's not rated and projects R2D2 as an actor born in Bollocks, England; coverage of his evolution as a person before an actor is quite hilarious.

There have been numerous parodic references to Star Wars in films such as Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and most of the films of Kevin Smith. In 1997, the first film's twentieth anniversary, Saturday Night Live featured a pair of skits that parodied the film's screen tests, which included Kevin Spacey playing Christopher Walken auditioning for Han Solo. Walken was originally considered for the role before Harrison Ford was chosen.

Star Wars has also been parodied in numerous TV shows, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, Dexter's Laboratory, Teen Titans, Robot Chicken, Animaniacs, The Fairly OddParents, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Codename: Kids Next Door, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and many others.

Songs

There have been many songs based on, and in, the Star Wars universe. The most notable of these are "Weird Al" Yankovic's Yoda, (a parody of The Kinks' "Lola"), which describes Luke's training with the "wrinkled and green" Jedi master, and The Saga Begins, (a parody of Don McLean's "American Pie"), which chronicles the events of Episode I. The latter of these was released one week before the film. On Blink-182's album "Dude Ranch," the track "A New Hope" discusses the bassist Mark Hoppus' obsession with Princess Leia. A New Zealand Rapper, MC Stormtroopa, sings only about Star Wars and has released a free EP called "The Dark Side Of The Death Star." MxPx's song "Empire" (which is included in a "songs inspired by" soundtrack for The Passion of the Christ) has a lyric that reads: "You're the Empire or the Rebellion."

In late 1977, at the height of the original Star Wars craze, comedian Bill Murray portrayed Lounge Lizard Nick Winters on Saturday Night Live and sang a swanky version of the Star Wars theme, complete with inane improvised lyrics. Carrie Fisher reprised her role as Princess Leia on SNL in a parody of Star Wars and the old beach party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello with Fisher as Annette singing about Obi Wan Kenobi

In 1977 an album called Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk was released by Meco which featured disco remixes of Star Wars music. Other songs based on the Star Wars saga include The Star Wars Gangsta Rap and Star Wars Cantina. Northern Ireland band Ash released an album called 1977, named in honor of the year Star Wars was released, on which "Lose Control" used sound bytes of a TIE Fighter, and a song entitled "Darkside Lightside" is an obvious reference to the mythology created by the films.

"Rocket Roll" band, The Phenomenauts mention that their intergalactic tour van "The Phenomenator": "Does the Kessel Run in one parsec."

Supernova recorded the song "Chewbacca" for the soundtrack of Kevin Smith's movie Clerks. The entire lyrics are "Chewie! Chewbacca! What a wookie!," with what appears to be samples of a Wookie.

Adult Swim icon MC Chris recorded the rap song "Fett's Vette" which details the lifestyle of the legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett.

Politics

When Ronald Reagan proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a system of lasers and missiles meant to intercept incoming ICBMs, the plan was quickly labeled "Star Wars," implying that it was science fiction and linking it to Ronald Reagan's acting career. According to Frances Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan was annoyed by this, but Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle told colleagues that he "thought the name was not so bad."; "'Why not?' he said. 'It's a good movie. Besides, the good guys won.'"

This gained further resonance when Reagan described the Soviet Union as an Evil Empire (which was taken from the opening crawl to A New Hope whilst the term he used for the Contras, "freedom fighters", was taken verbatim from the opening crawl to The Empire Strikes Back).

John McCain originally likened himself to Luke Skywalker during the 2000 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, repeatedly hefting lightsabers and calling Jerry Falwell an "evil influence" on the GOP. His embrace of the right leading up to the 2008 election prompted journalists to liken him to "a fallen Jedi knight."

See also

Here are some of the general articles featured in the Star Wars portal. For a detailed outline of the Star Wars Wikipedia articles, please see the Star Wars category.

General information

Cast of Star Wars Star Wars novels Star Wars comic books Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars video games Star Wars radio dramas Physics and Star Wars

Star Wars universe

Star Wars characters Star Wars locations Star Wars creatures

Star Wars weapons Star Wars conflicts Star Wars items Dates in Star Wars

Further reading

• Books about religion/philosophy and Star Wars:
  • Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars', by Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D., Foreword by Jonathan Young, Ph.D.ISBN 0-9755214-7-0
  • The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter ISBN 0-89334-385-4
  • The Dharma of Star Wars by Matthew Bortolin ISBN 0-86171-497-0
  • Star Wars And Philosophy by Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl, William Irwin ISBN 0-8126-9583-6
  • Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters by Dick Staub ISBN 978-0-7879-7894-5
• "Conception" section based on: The Star Wars Timeline Gold-Appendice L-Understanding the Lost Episodes (p. 141 – 142).
  • The Tao of Star Wars by John M. Porter ISBN 0-89334-385-4
• On the influence of Joseph Campbell on the Star Wars films:
  • Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars', by Jon Snodgrass, Ph.D., Foreword by Jonathan Young, Ph.D.ISBN 0-9755214-7-0
  • Henderson, Mary. Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Companion volume to the exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. New York: Bantam, 1997.
  • Larsen, Stephen and Robin Larsen. Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind. Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2002.
  • Moyers, Bill and Joseph Campbell. The Power of Myth. Anchor; Reissue edition (1991) ISBN 0-385-41886-8

External links

• The official Star Wars website
• Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki — A wiki devoted to Star Wars
• The Force of Star Wars from Time.com
• Star Wars at Curlie
• Star Wars Trivia Quiz
• The World of Star Warsat Yahoo!