Star Wars
- Disambiguation: This article deals with the science fiction saga, not the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
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 25th, 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 amongst the top 25 highest grossing films of all time.[1] 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.
Fan Films
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 Essense 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 Emperial Starship Relentless and her crew.
Development of the Monomyth
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 inner world the galaxy at large.
Miscellaneous
Star Wars became forever linked to politics when a missile-defense plan was devised under the Reagan administration which was nick-named Star Wars.
Many novels have been written as follow ups to the films.