Star Wars

Cover of the 2004 DVD widescreen release of Star Wars Trilogy.

Note: This article deals with the science fiction saga, not the American Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

For the original Star Wars film, see Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Star Wars is a science fiction film saga and fictional universe created by American director George Lucas. The original Star Wars movie (Episode IV) came out on May 25, 1977. The earlier set of Star Wars movies (Episodes IV, V and VI) are renowned as classics of cinema and were some of the first "summer blockbusters" ever made. Episodes I, II and III were released in 1999, 2002, and 2005 respectively. All six movies are among the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time.^[1]

During the time of the Prequel trilogy, Lucas's liberal politics came to the forefront, with there being a more overt left-leaning agenda in the films, including a negative depiction of creating a military, a negative depiction of capitalism in Episode I and II via the main antagonistic groups of the Trade Federation and the Separatists, respectively (the former showing the Trade Federation literally owning a seat in the Senate, and the latter having the inner circle of the Separatists being composed of various corporations such as the aforementioned Trade Federation as well as the Techno Guild, Intergalactic Banking Clan, and the Corporate Alliance), some demonization of Republicans in the form of the main antagonist Nute Gunray (who was explicitly named after both Ronald Reagan in reference to his role in SDI as well as then-Senate Majority Leader Newt Gingrich), the minor character and "senator" of the Trade Federation Lott Dod (referring to Trent Lott, then-current House Majority Leader of the Republican Party), and to a lesser extent the entire Republican party (as the first film, and the decision to make the Trade Federation the main villains was derived largely from the Republican Revolution of 1994 as well as Gingrich's Contract with America plan, all of which had occurred within eight days of Lucas draft-writing Episode I), as well as some George W. Bush jabs in the third movie (as well as at least one implied instance of promoting postmodernism via the line "Only a Sith deals in absolutes."). In addition, the prequel movies had implicitly condemned elements of the family unit, as part of the Jedi code denounced having any attachments, with parental attachments being included, as well as George Lucas implying that Vader turning to the Dark Side was ultimately rooted in a desire to protect his family, which he labeled as "greedy". While box office successes, the Prequel Trilogy had controversial reception, with complaints including the creation of Jar-Jar Binks as well as the more overt pushing of politics in the films (particularly pushing a more left-wing view of politics).

In 1984 and 1985, two spinoff movies to the original trilogy (Episode IV, V and VI) were made featuring the Ewok characters seen in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. An animated film called Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in 2008. In 2012, George Lucas sold the franchise to The Walt Disney Company, which plans to make three more movies ^[2] Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on December 18, 2015, making it the second film in the overall franchise (the first being The Clone Wars), and the first in the main series, to not be released in May. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi followed suit, releasing on December 15, 2017. Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was released on December 20, 2019, with J.J. Abrams returning to direct. Overall, with the comics, movies, video games, books of various genres, and toys, it is the second-highest-grossing media franchise in existence, with only Pokémon surpassing it.

Films and television shows[edit]

Main films (Skywalker Saga)[edit]

Prequel trilogy[edit]

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Original trilogy[edit]

• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Disney trilogy[edit]

• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
• Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Canon anthology films[edit]

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Other canon films and television shows[edit]

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
• The Clone Wars (2008–2014)
• Rebels (2014–2018)
• The Mandalorian (2019)
• The Book of Boba Fett (2021)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Non-canon films and television shows[edit]

• The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
• Caravan of Courage (1984; TV)
• The Battle for Endor (1985; TV)
• Droids (1985–1986)
• Ewoks (1985–1986)
• Clone Wars (2003–2005)

Origins[edit]

The story of Star Wars was originally planned to be the third entry of a trilogy focusing on, or more accurately, criticizing the events of American involvement in the Vietnam War, after American Graffiti (set in 1962) and Apocalypse Now, and as such was intended to initially be in our galaxy as well as take place in the thirty-third century (the implication being that after America won the war in Vietnam, it would become a fascistic dictatorship desiring to conquer the universe). However, Apocalypse Now ended up changing hands from George Lucas to Francis Ford Coppola due to Warner Bros. shutting down his studio, American Zoetrope. He then made American Graffiti, which indirectly alluded to Vietnam in its plot, which was a moderate success. He eventually decided to revisit the idea of Apocalypse Now in 1973, although because America was still within the Vietnam War, he couldn't directly tie it to the Vietnam War, and upon settling on an idea for subtly pushing the anti-war agenda in the film by moving it to a galaxy far from our own and in the past, he then proceeded to get started on filming after Fox agreed to make it.^[3][4][5][6] During Cannes Film Festival 2005, George Lucas also implied that, in addition to the direct inspiration by Nixon and the Vietnam War (as well as the more indirect similarities in the films to the second Iraq war and George W. Bush), the Old Republic in the prequel trilogy took inspiration from the First French Republic under Robespierre, the Roman Republic under Julius Caesar, and the Weimar Republic, and the transition of power into the Empire, and in particular the implication that the people willingly turned democracy into a dictatorship, was taken from when Napoleon Bonaparte took over France, when the Roman Republic shortly after Julius Caesar's assassination turned into the Roman Empire under Augustus, and the Weimar Republic turned into Nazi Germany and brought Adolf Hitler into power.^[7][8]

Development of the Monomyth[edit]

George Lucas built on the idea of the monomyth - a dominant mythic structure that resounds strongly with the human psyche - in structuring his narrative. He consulted closely with Joseph Campbell, author of the book, Hero of a Thousand Faces, in his utilizing of the monomyth structure for the movie. In Star Wars (now known as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), the reluctant hero is Luke Skywalker, the teacher Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the archetype villain Darth Vader.

Fan Films[edit]

There have been many short films created by Star Wars Fans. One major website is www.fanfilms.com; which contains many fanfilms including TROOPS, The Essence of The Force, The Jedi Hunter, the Pink Five trilogy, Revelations, and Ryan Vs. Dorkman 1 and 2. One major high-quality fan based movie is I.M.P.S: The Relentless; which can be found at www.impstherelentless.com, and is the first chapter of a future full-length, chapter-based movie based on the Imperial Starship Relentless and her crew.

Expanded Universe[edit]

Since the success of the film franchise, Lucasfilm has licensed a number of novels, comic books, and video games that take place in the Star Wars universe, otherwise known as the Expanded Universe (EU). Hundreds of novels and comics and dozens of video games have been, and continue to be produced. Although these spin-off media often take place before, after or in between the films, some take place in "alternate realities." A major focus of the EU is to feature characters not on-screen or only briefly shown in the films. All officially licensed works are considered canon, except in places where they contradict the films. There are also two cartoon series and three TV movies, two about the Ewoks and the Star Wars Holiday Special, which represented a secularized version of Christmas for Wookiees known as "Life Day." The last has been disowned by Lucas due to its incredibly poor quality, however, an animated sequence from the special featuring Boba Fett was released as an Easter egg on the Star Wars Blu-ray collection.

Of note is Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the only part of the Expanded Universe to reach the big screen.

After the franchise was bought out by the Walt Disney Company, a new expanded universe was established, with the old one being designated as "Legends" material.

In 2014, Lucasfilm overhauled the Star Wars canon, meaning that all expanded universe materials prior to that year, except the 2008 Clone Wars television show, would no longer be canon.

Prequel Trilogy[edit]

From 1999-2005, George Lucas released Episodes I, II and III of the Star Wars saga. Although released after the original films, they take place prior to them. The films tell the story of Anakin Skywalker, from being discovered on Tatooine, his Jedi training, his role in the Clone Wars, and ultimately, how he becomes Darth Vader. The films have been met with mixed reactions. Out of the three, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, is generally considered the best of the prequels.

Sequel Trilogy (AKA Disney Trilogy)[edit]

With the purchase of Lucasfilm (and with it, the Star Wars franchise) by the Walt Disney Company in 2012, Disney set out to make a new sequel trilogy, covering the years following the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of the New Republic and continuing what has since been dubbed the Skywalker Saga. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens was the first of the new trilogy to be released, premiering in Los Angeles on December 14, 2015 before getting a wide release on December 18, followed by the releases of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi in 2017 and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Disney also bought 20th Century Fox, the company which released the first six Star Wars films, in 2019, enabling them to get the full rights to the entire franchise (including Episode IV: A New Hope, which 20th Century Fox originally had the full distribution rights to).

While The Force Awakens was the most successful of the new trilogy (drawing over $2 billion in profit to date), The Last Jedi did not fare as well and The Rise of Skywalker was the least successful of the three films, with the last two drawing criticism from fans for its inclusion of political correctness and imposition of social justice issues^[9] and, in the case of The Rise of Skywalker, the imposition of the homosexual agenda via the inclusion of a lesbian kissing scene at one point in the film. Fans who were displeased with the sequel trilogy for those reasons have derisively dubbed it the Disney Trilogy,^[10][11][12] not only due to those films being released by Disney since that company's purchase of Lucasfilm, but also because of the attempt by the company to "Disneyfy" the Star Wars franchise and ruin it through the imposition of PC culture and liberal/SJW agendas.

Star Wars fans have especially directed their animus over this trilogy, and the Disney-produced Star Wars projects in general, toward four particular people - Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy^[12] (who also serves as the Star Wars brand manager), who authorized the changes made to the franchise for the sequel trilogy, standalone films and related TV series; J.J. Abrams,^[13][14] who produced and directed The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker; Rian Johnson,^[15] who wrote and directed The Last Jedi; and Leslye Headland,^[16][17] a lesbian/feminist playwright and director who was hired by Kennedy to develop a feminist-oriented Star Wars TV series. Kennedy, who was particularly targeted by Star Wars fans (who have accused her of attempting to intentionally ruin the franchise and of being out of touch and not understanding it or its fanbase^[18]) for her imposition of liberal agendas (including feminism [of which she strongly implies she deliberately went out of her way to forcibly implement due to hating the franchise's status as a "boys franchise"^[19]], social justice, political correctness and the homosexual agenda) into the franchise^[20] and has been extremely unpopular with the fanbase and with several Star Wars actors^[21] and franchise creator George Lucas^[22] (who ironically had hand-picked her as his successor for Lucasfilm^[23]) because of those and other Star Wars-related controversies, responded in dismissive fashion by refusing to take responsibility for her failures as the head of Lucasfilm,^[24] dissing the fanbase^[25] and essentially telling them that their opinions about her vision for Star Wars did not matter;^[26] in response, many Star Wars fans have disowned the sequel trilogy and Lucasfilm for that company's attempt under Kennedy to destroy the Star Wars franchise.^[27][28] In fact, she was even hated by the far-left higher ups of Disney, in particular then-CEO Bob Iger, to the extent that he deeply considered firing and replacing her during a secret conference call made at the time of the bombing of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and only didn't do so both because Kennedy staffed half the candidates with those completely loyal to her, and the other half simply didn't want to take the task of doing the then-under development Rise of Skywalker film.^[19]

The Franchise[edit]

The Star Wars film series and its expanded universe have been a large revenue producer. As of 2005 the Star Wars franchise has produced over $20 billion.^[29] With the release of the expanded universe series, it has increased.

Portrayal of religion[edit]

George Lucas has stated that he came up with the idea of "The Force" as he wanted to promote a vague idea of hollow Hollywood-style spirituality without referencing any recognizable religion.^[30] Despite this, the depiction of the philosophy and beliefs of the Jedi seem to be a way to promote eastern mysticism (in particular Buddhism) and undermine Christianity in the movie's western audience. This is typical of the New Age movement's tendency to use parts of different religions willy-nilly without any structure of sense, and shows the influence of Lucas growing up in 1960s California, which he had briefly referenced in an interview regarding his film Red Tails.^[31] In addition, the Sith and Empire, largely due to Lucas's attempts at trying to push an anti-Vietnam War message within the movie, come across as being closer to Western religions than the Jedi.^[32] Lucas is strongly liberal and actually describes himself as a "Buddhist Methodist".^[33] In large part because of the Force largely being based on new-age elements, the commentator Ben Shapiro, otherwise a massive Star Wars fan, condemns the concept of the Force as being "stupid" and "amoral" largely because of the implication that having any anger at all automatically means you are an evil person, even if the anger in question is actually directed towards something that actually is an evil act.^[34]

Regarding moral relativity, the franchise has generally depicted the concept in a more neutral light overall, while being a bit closer to promoting it, with Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith both having the character Obi-Wan Kenobi implicitly supporting moral relativity, at least under the context of the Jedi using it. In particular, the former had Obi-Wan Kenobi, when admitting that his telling Luke that Vader killed his father was not quite true, stated that what he said was "true - from a certain point of view", he tells a dumbfounded Luke (who had already learned that Vader was, in fact, his biological father all along) that the latter will eventually learn that many of the great many truths that people cling to depend greatly on that person's point of view; and the latter had Obi-Wan Kenobi, when confronting Vader on Mustafar just prior to the duel, saying "Only a Sith deals in Absolutes" after the latter yelled "If you are not with me, then you are my enemy!" On the other hand, Palpatine while tempting Anakin claimed that "good was a point of view", and upon stating that evil is simply a point of view, Anakin is berated by Obi-Wan and his worldview is condemned. "From my point of view," Anakin states, "the Jedi are evil." Obi-Wan responds by claiming that this means that he is "lost" to darkness, which has been interpreted as condemning moral relativity.

Controversy[edit]

Similar to other works, Star Wars fell under some controversy at some points. When covering Return of the Jedi in Empire of Dreams, George Lucas admitted that he based the Ewoks on the Vietnamese National Liberation Front, otherwise known as the Viet Cong, while implying that the Galactic Empire was intended to be based on America's involvement in the Vietnam War. It should also be noted that George Lucas since 1973 had intended for the Rebel Alliance was intended to represent the Viet Cong, and as noted above the first Star Wars movie had intended to be the third of a trilogy of anti-Vietnam War films, after Apocalypse Now and American Graffiti. Former president Richard Nixon in his 1985 book No More Vietnams cited Return of the Jedi and its depiction of the Ewoks taking down the Galactic Empire's war machines with little more than wooden bows and arrows (as well as Lucas's explicit admission to the Ewoks being based on the Vietcong at the time) as ultimately one reason why America, at least by that time, had initially felt so guilty of their strength that they were unwilling to use it even to defend their freedom and that of others.^[35]

Miscellaneous[edit]

Star Wars became forever linked to politics when a missile-defense plan, devised under the Reagan administration, was nicknamed Star Wars. Attempts to bring back such a system are still referred to by this name. Ironically, the name "Star Wars" being applied to the SDI was originally coined by left-wing journalists as an insult towards the program. In addition, despite the moniker actually being invented by the mainstream media rather than Ronald Reagan himself, George Lucas held a grudge against Reagan for "stealing" his work when naming it.

Special Editions[edit]

In recent years, Star Wars has become infamous for its re-releases, as well as edits to the film that have been met with heavy criticism from fans. In 1997, in honor of the 20th anniversary of A New Hope, the Original Trilogy was released in theaters, with a film being released each month from January to March. Later that year, the trilogy was released on VHS. It was during this release of the original films that the alterations began. Some of the most infamous changes include Greedo proceeding to shoot first and missing despite being inches away from Han before Han shot him when originally, Han Solo shot first (Lucas, when discussing this particular change, would later claim to the Hollywood Reporter that it was "always Greedo shooting first" and that they just did closeups and that they went back to the original intention to dissuade any notions that Han was a "cold blooded killer"^[36] despite Han shooting first being mentioned in a shooting script^[37]), as well as Jabba the Hutt being added to A New Hope, which was created from a deleted scene in which Jabba was played by an actor. The same scene also included a cameo from Boba Fett, who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. Out of the 1997 re-releases, The Empire Strikes Back received the least amount of changes, with the most significant being different angles in the wampa cave on Hoth. Another was Luke's scream when falling after the duel with Darth Vader. The scream was actually used for Emperor Palpatine when he is thrown down the Death Star by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. In Return of the Jedi, the music from Jabba's palace was changed, as was the ending of the film. The sarlacc scene was altered as well, with a CGI beak being added. The original ending featured the song called "Yub Nub", with just the celebration on Endor. The 1997 version would feature a new song, simply called "Victory Celebration," which has a more tribal sound than "Yub Nub". Scenes were added featuring celebrations occurring on Bespin, Tatooine, and Coruscant following Palpatine's downfall, even though Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was still two years away from release.

In 2004, the Original Trilogy was released on DVD for the first time, eight months before the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. These releases featured even more changes. In A New Hope, Jabba's appearance was altered to look more like he did in Return of the Jedi. In The Empire Strikes Back, the scene in which Darth Vader talks to Palpatine was altered. Elaine Baker, who played the Emperor, and Clive Revill, who provided the voice, were replaced with Ian McDiarmid. McDiarmid played Palpatine in Return of the Jedi as well as the Prequel Trilogy. The way the Emperor looks in The Empire Strikes Back is similar to his appearance in Revenge of the Sith. The voice of Boba Fett was also changed. Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, provided the voice. Out of the three original films, Return of the Jedi has the most notorious changes. The first was the inclusion of a celebration scene on Naboo in the ending following Palpatine's death, as well as a Gungan saying "Wesa Free!" in the background. The second was Sebastian Shaw, the actor who played Anakin Skywalker as a force ghost being edited out from the Endor celebration scene and replaced with Hayden Christensen. The reason provided for the change was that he "died as a Jedi" in Revenge of the Sith, hence why he looks the same.

2011 saw the entire saga released on Blu-Ray. Like the 2004 releases, these films also had significant changes. In A New Hope, rocks were included in the small cave that R2-D2 was hiding in when they were found by Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like 2004, Return of the Jedi, once again, had the most talked-about changes. The first was that the eyes of the Ewoks could now blink. The second, and most controversial, was when Darth Vader screamed "No!" right before throwing the Emperor down the Death Star shaft. This set also saw an alteration to the Prequel Trilogy. In The Phantom Menace, the puppet Yoda was replaced with a CGI model used in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, many fans hoped this would mean a release of the Original Unaltered Trilogy. However, the rights to A New Hope permanently belong to 20th Century Fox, while the rights to the Prequel Trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi revert to Disney in the year 2020. However, Disney eventually managed to get the rights to A New Hope via its purchase of 20th Century Fox in late 2017 (a purchase cleared by U.S. antitrust officials in June 2018, but which still needs the approval of international regulators).

References[edit]