Star Wars
The epic series by George Lucas is part of the science fiction subgenre known as Space Opera and is one of the most recognizable works of american cinematography of the 20th century.
Almost everyone is at least slightly familiar with the story of a struggle between good and even where robots, princesses, space knights and all sorts of villains compete for control of a distant galaxy.
But how did it begin?
George Lucas had been fascinaed with a tv series from the thirties about a space hero called Flash Gordon since his early childhood. He came up with an idea of creating a similar film but using a much more modern technology.
After completion of the film called American Graffitti he started writing a script for his own saga and after a number of problems with becoming funded by a studio and preparing a proper plot Star Wars began to be created.
The first film, originally called simply Star Wars,
has been first displayed on 25th May 1977.
It was made as a stand alone product and
did not possess a subtitle yet. The story
could have finished with it but it was not to be so.
The film has completely exceeded
the expectations of 20th Century Fox
and became a major success.
What is more, it was nomited for 10 Oscars,
getting 6.
The plot is a classic fable - a young boy turns from a simple farmer into a great hero under the watchful eye of a wise mentor.
Next to him we can find a charismatic rogue with his loyal companion and a couple of funny and extremely awkard intellectuals in the guise of robots.
This unlikely band rescues an opressed princess and saves the world from a terrible tyrant and his powerful minion.
The execution, especially considering it was the seventies, was absolutely amazing. The number of such detailed special effects had been unheard of before the film.
Lucas created the firm Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to prepare all the FX we can see in the film and the firm is still around today.
Adding some outlandish locations from around the world, such as Tunis or Guatemala, and we have a recipe for succes by George Lucas.
The success was so big
that Lucas became financially
independent and could start
planning continuations.
In the year 1981 during
the release of another
Star Wars edition, the original
film receved the number IV
from the planned 9
movies and the
well know subtitle A New Hope.
In the year 1997 another edition of the film appeared where Lucas decide to utilize the newest technological possibilites and introduce changes impossible thirty years before.
He also decided on several plot changes which weren't welcome by the fans of original version.
Start Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
In the year 1980 the second part was released, however this time Lucas was neither a scriptwriter nor a director.
Still, the film was considered a wonderful successor to the original and a great continuation of a culutral phenomena still recognizable in many parts of the world.
In the following year many more films appeared in the series, greatly expanding the story of the distant galaxy of Star Wars:
- Start Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
- Start Wars: Episode I - A Phantom Menace
- Start Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Start Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
Many more products based on the ideas prepared in the films have been made.
Tv series, countless books, board, computer and rpg games, toys, plushies and all kinds of gadgets present an extremely big, though not always official, part of the world of Star Wars.
In the year 2012 The Walt Disney Company bought the licence to Star Wars and decided to create three more films numbered from 7 to 9.
Lucas could still oversee the production of the films but had little say as to how would be released.
Many fans of the previous film were not satisfied but all the classic elements of the series, such as great heroes doing heroic deeds against all odds, were there.
Still, Disney has created quite a few well-received stories in the universe, including Rogue One and the Mandalorian, and many more are in the making.
To conclude, as it it sometimes said by the character of the Star Wars universe:
May the Force be with you!
by Bartosz Lewczuk
star wars
By bmlewczuk
star wars
A short overview of the cult series by George Lucas.