Star Wars - The films

5 Conversations

In 1977 George Lucas, he of badly cut beard shame and use of too many special effects, created a saga. This saga we now know as Star Wars. When Star Wars was originally written (it is believed Lucas started work on the first draft back in 1972), it was intended for TV (in fact, as a Saturday afternoon serial) and so was written in nine parts. When Lucas eventually figured it would work better on film, it was merged together to create six parts. When some fans of the films hear that nine parts (for TV) were originally written, they get all excited and think that the films will eventually come in nine parts. Lucas is the only one who knows and he keeps releasing conflicting statements, so go to the About.com article on the six or nine issue for more information1

Before you begin reading, be warned, there are some spoilers in this.

Star Wars-1977

Star Wars was the surprise success of 1977, not least to the some of the actors in the film, who subsequently profited from its success having accepted a percentage of the gross in return for taking a smaller fee up-front. This was part of the deal struck with the actors when production began in 1975 as the studio only gave Lucas a fraction of the budget that the later films were made on. Although the opening scrolling narration identifies the film as 'Episode IV', this was a reference to the old Flash Gordon films that inspired it. Only after the film had broken box-office records did Lucas confirm further episodes were on the way. In 19782, rerelease prints were slightly re-edited to carry the subtitle 'A New Hope'. The film was eventually renamed Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope after the release of the re-edited special edition in 1997.

Principal Characters

  • Luke Skywalker - Played by Mark Hamill
  • Princess Leia - Carrie Fisher
  • Han Solo - Harrison Ford
  • Obi-wan Kenobi - Alec Guinness
  • C-3PO - Anthony Daniels
  • R2-D2 - Kenny Baker
  • Chewbacca - Peter Mayhew
  • Darth Vader - body by Dave Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones (uncredited)
  • Grand Moff Tarkin - Peter Cushing

Plot Outline

A New Hope introduced an audience in 1977 to a new galaxy far, far away, where a Rebellion, confronted with the deadly battle station the Death Star, found a new hope in Obi-wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master of old and his new apprentice, Luke Skywalker. The Jedi were an order from long ago that kept peace in the galaxy before being destroyed by the Empire. They harnessed the Light Side of the Force, a mysterious energy that surrounds us all. The Jedi Master taught the ways of the Force to young Luke Skywalker, son of his old friend Anakin Skywalker, now long dead. The Jedi tells Luke of the Dark Side and of Darth Vader, who killed his father. Vader is one of the commanders of the Empire, a tyrannical regime that rules the galaxy and which the Rebellion wants to destroy.

Production

Despite budgetary constraints3Star Wars nonetheless pushed back the boundaries of filmmaking. George Lucas even set up Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) to create some of the special effects techniques simply because they didn't exist at the time.

Before Star Wars came along all blue/black screen shots of a vehicle moving required the object to move around a stationary camera. This, for various reasons (ie, setting up the equipment that makes the object move, the longer editing process) was very expensive. ILM found that if you moved the camera around a stationary object in a certain way, then super-imposed the right background, the object appeared to move, but not at such a great cost. This is how most of the Tie Fighter and dogfight scenes in Star Wars are filmed.

Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars Holiday Special, shown in the USA Christmas 1978, was filmed hot-on-the-heels of the surprise success of the first film. Revolving around Chewbacca returning home for Wookie Life Day celebrations it bought together most of the cast from the first film and was also the first sighting of Boba Fett, who would go on to be an integral part of the next two films. Most that have seen the show have bad things to say about it and Lucas has even said that he would happily hunt down every copy of the film and destroy it. Never repeated in the US, or anywhere else, its memory has only stayed alive throught bootleg copies.

The Empire Strikes Back-1980

Principal Characters

  • Luke Skywalker - Played by Mark Hamill
  • Princess Leia - Carrie Fisher
  • Han Solo - Harrison Ford
  • Obi-wan Kenobi - Alec Guinness
  • C-3PO - Anthony Daniels
  • R2-D2 - Kenny Baker
  • Chewbacca - Peter Mayhew
  • Darth Vader - body by Dave Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones (uncredited)
  • Lando Calrissian - Billy Dee Williams
  • The Emperor - Image uncredited, voice Clive Revill
  • Yoda4 - Frank Oz, voice and puppet master.

Plot Outline

The Empire quickly pursues the alliance to its new base and routs them in a massive assault. The alliance flees and its new heroes Luke, Leia and Han separate. Luke seeks out Yoda, an old Jedi Master5, who then helps Luke complete his Jedi training. Meanwhile Vader quickly takes advantage of a chance to capture Leia and Han. Luke’s growing powers reveal the threat and he reacts as every good hero should, but too late to save all of his friends.

Yoda's speech pattern... Frankly Weird!

Yoda has the strangest speech pattern in the Universe. From his mouth have sprung such immortal, and totally baffling, lines as 'guide you to him I will', 'around the survivors a perimeter create' and 'size matters not'. Generally, Yoda takes the first two words of a sentence and puts them at the end. Why? It might have something to do with Frank Oz6 being the man behind the green suit.

The history of the previous film is also changed quite a bit by a plot twist, the infamous 'Luke, I am your father' scene, where Darth Vader reveals the truth of Luke's heritage to him. Most have found that this scene significantly changes the context of the previous film, where Obi-wan tells Luke his father was killed by Darth Vader.

Production

This film opened up new challenges to filmmakers. For the first time the blue-screen technique was used in a snow scene. This created significant problems for ILM, which they weren't able to rectify until the Special Edition7 17 years later. The principal problem was that when transferring the blue-screen shots of the models (and of views from the cockpits of the fighters) onto the white background of the snow, a black line would appear around the models. Back then, this was always the case when shooting against blue screen, however, usually the models were put into space, which is already black, so the outline doesn't show up quite so badly. ILM found a trick to get around this problem back in 1980. They made the cockpits and the models slightly transparent, so the black line was toned down. In doing this, however, audiences could see through the cockpits in some scenes.

Return of the Jedi-1983

Principal Characters

  • Luke Skywalker - Played by Mark Hamill
  • Princess Leia - Carrie Fisher
  • Han Solo - Harrison Ford
  • Obi-wan Kenobi - Alec Guinness
  • C-3PO - Anthony Daniels
  • R2-D2 - Kenny Baker
  • Chewbacca - Peter Mayhew
  • Darth Vader - body by Dave Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones (credited, hooray!)
  • Lando Calrissian - Billy Dee Williams
  • The Emperor - Ian McDiarmid
  • Yoda - Frank Oz, voice and puppet master.
  • Anakin Skywalker (when Darth Vader returns to the Jedi) - Sebastian Shaw

Plot Outline

The final film in the Star Wars saga8 this told the true story of the Skywalker family. Vader is Luke's father, although as Obi-wan says, 'he is more machine than man now', and Leia is Luke's twin sister9. A new Death Star was being built and as the Rebellion sought to destroy, Luke confronted his father on it. He saw the good in him and Vader 10 killed the Emperor (Darth Sidious). With the Emperor dead the Rebellion had won and peace returned to the galaxy.

Production

An interesting nugget of information appears when the production of Jedi is examined. When filming the exterior shots for the Jabba the Hut sequence, Jedi was given the ficitional name of Blue Harvest. T-shirts and caps were even made for the crew to wear. This was done so that eager fans didn't invade the set. They still did though. Also, at one point the film was going to be called Revenge of the Jedi, however Lucas decided against the idea because 'revenge isn't something a Jedi would do'.

Some have argued that the title of Return of the Jedi works on a number of levels. Simplistically, it's about the return of the Jedi movement in the form of Luke. It's also about Luke's return to his homeworld to rescue his friend Han. But it can also be argued (especially in the light of the later prequels) that it's about the spiritual return of the Jedi Darth Vader once was, in the form of Anakin Skywalker.

Ewoks

Return of the Jedi introduced the audience to the Ewok race of the planet Endor. A more compact version of Chewbacca, their cuteness factor proved incredibly popular and two made-for-TV films11 were produced, The Ewok Adventure (released in cinemas as Caravan of Courage) and Ewoks - Battle for Endor.

Special Edition

In 1997 Lucasfilm (created by guess who!) released the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Star Wars. In the Special Edition new scenes were added to the original trilogy and certain special effects were cleaned up to rectify problems. The most notable edition was of Jabba the Hut to A New Hope. In the original the audiences hear of him, but don't see him. In the special edition old footage is used to bring him into the first film. Other notable additions are -

  • The snow scene in Empire Strikes Back being cleaned up so the vehicles are no-longer transparent in some scenes.
  • Jabba the Hut's lair scene in Return of the Jedi having a longer musical sequence (specially filmed for the Special Edition by the original actors).
  • The overall quality of the picture being improved. Over the years the film had bleached, so this was rectified
  • Cloud City in Empire Strikes Back being 'opened up'. Windows were added to internal shots so the audience could see the rest of Cloud City.
  • The end of Return of the Jedi was re-cut to include shots of Coruscant and Tatooine celebrating the downfall of the Empire. A new score by John Williams was also added.

Star Wars I: The Phantom Menance-1999

Principal Characters

  • Qui-Gon Jin - Liam Neeson
  • Obi-wan Kenobi - Ewan McGregor
  • C-3PO - Anthony Daniels
  • R2-D2 - Kenny Baker
  • Jar-Jar Binks - Ahmed Best
  • Anakin Skywalker - Jake Williams
  • Mace Windu - Samuel L Jackson
  • Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine - Ian McDiarmid
  • Yoda - Frank Oz, voice and puppet master.
  • Queen Amidala - Natilie Portman

The first Star Wars film in 16 years attracted a lot of hype in the weeks preceding its release. Whether it lived up to this publicity, is up to the audience to decide.

Plot Outline

The film (starting with an innocuous trade dispute) races around to introduce the key players of the first three films and set up the course of the entire film sequence, rather than focusing on too much plot detail. The series is revealed to be the life story of Anakin Skywalker, a messianic character, conceived by the Force and destined to restore balance to the Force after a thousand years of stagnation under the Jedi council.

Production

In true Lucas style, this movie tried to be innovative with the introduction of the Jar-Jar Binks character, one of the first fully computer animated main characters in a movie. Unfortunately, he was also one of the most annoying.

In this film, Vader was a young boy, Obi-wan a young Jedi trainee and Yoda, well, still 800 years old. The Jedi, alive and well in this film, sense that Anakin is the One who will restore balance to the Force and so take him on as a Jedi trainee. A character, that no-one is familiar with but is central to the plot of the third film, is also introduced, Queen Amidala12.

The Emperor is also in this film, although now he is just a Senator in the Galactic Senate, that later becomes Supreme Chancellor.

Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones-2002

Principal Characters

  • Obi-wan Kenobi - Ewan McGregor
  • Anakin Skywalker - Hayden Christensen
  • C-3PO - Anthony Daniels
  • R2-D2 - Kenny Baker
  • Jar-Jar Binks - Ahmed Best
  • Mace Windu - Samuel L Jackson
  • Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine - Ian McDiarmid
  • Darth Tyranus - Christopher Lee
  • Yoda - Frank Oz, voice only.
  • Senator Amidala - Natilie Portman
  • Qui-Gon Jin - Liam Neeson (voice only)

Plot Outline

This film focused a lot more on plot than Phantom Menance, Anakin dealing with his mother dying whilst falling in love with Senator Amidala, Obi-wan learning of a new Galactic Army and the political intrigues of the Senate. The sense of impending doom is also high in this film, with everything not lit quite so brightly as in the Phantom Menace.

Production

The Attack of the Clones might not seem that innovative on the technological front but it was in fact a ground-breaking production. It was the first mainstream movies to be filmed13, edited and distributed digitally. This meant that Lucas didn't have to wait until the next day for the rushes14 to see if he was happy with a take, he could simply view the recordings immediately. As only a few cinemas worldwide have digital projectors, film prints were also made available. The film has subsequently been converted for IMAX cinemas, with slight cuts made to fit onto the shorter IMAX reels.

A major step was also taken with the character of Yoda. Where previously he was always a puppet (except for one long shot in The Phantom Menance where he was CGI) the decision was taken to make him a fully Computer Generated Image, something that had never been done with a long-established Star Wars character before. The problem that ILM had in creating the new Yoda was that the audience already knew how he behaved and moved and so many a lonely night was spent by ILM employees trying to get his ears to move in order to express distress15. When the release date rolled around, however, all shots were complete and ILM even had the time to generate 'digital stunt-people', where the action was considered too risky for normal actors.

Star Wars III: Untitled-2005

As of yet, George Lucas hasn't released the final Star Wars film (which is the 3rd in the trilogy!), however, certain facts about it are known. All the major players from the last three films (that weren't killed, that is) will be returning and it looks likely that some players from the original trilogy will be featured as well16Anakin will fully turn to the Dark Side and all the Jedi will be killed, with the exception of Yoda and Obi-wan who will go into hiding. Luke and Leia, still babies/toddlers, will be hidden on Tatooine and Alderaan respectively and Chancellor Palpatine will become Emperor Palpatine. It is also believed that after Amidala gives birth to Luke and Leia she will be killed.

A quick warning to everyone out there. George Lucas has stated on a number of occasions that this film will be the darkest of them all, so if you're expecting the usual Star Wars jolly-up, you're in for a big surprise.

The Force and surrounding Mythology

The Force, which in the films surrounds every living thing, has started to be taken seriously by the world as a religion. Crazy as it sounds, in Australia over 70,000 put down Jedi as their belief in the census (don't believe it? Check out this Ananova news article then) . Will The Force be accepted one day as a major religion?

In the movies, The Force is used in two ways, the Light and the Dark. The Jedi follow the Light Side of the Force and the Sith follow the Dark.

The Jedi

The Jedi were originally the protectors of the Galaxy before the majority of them were killed in the Clone Wars or by Anakin Skywalker on his path to the Dark Side. When A New Hope begins there are only two Jedi left in the Galaxy, Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda.

The Jedi's powers, through use of the Force, are -

  • The ability to manipulate objects (make them move)
  • The ability to manipulate people's thoughts (usually accompanied by a slow waving action on the part of the Jedi). This power doesn't work on other Jedis, Siths or people who are strong-minded.
  • The use of a light-sabre
  • The ability to sense events around them.
  • The ability to strangle those around them just by holding their hands out. Again, this power doesn't work on other Jedis, Siths, people who are strong-minded or Toydarians.

The Sith

The Sith, who harness the Dark Side of the Force, can only ever be found in twos. During the course of the movies the Two Sith are, in chronological order -

  • Darth Sidious and Darth Maul (killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi)
  • Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus (presumably killed by Darth Vader, however details unsure as of yet)
  • Darth Sidious and Darth Vader (Darth Vader returns to the Light Side and kills Darth Sidious).

The Sith also have a separate set of powers that they harness through the Dark Side. These are -

  • The use of a lightsabre (not just the traditional blue or green straight one, either. In the films the Sith use curved lightsabres, double-bladed lightsabres and red lightsabres.
  • The ability to throw Force Lightning. (It is unclear whether Jedi have this ability, as during battle they usually only use lightsabres. It's a lot more honourable, apparently)
  • The ability to manipulate objects (make them move)
  • The ability to manipulate people's thoughts (usually accompanied by a slow waving action on the part of the Sith). This power doesn't work on other Siths, Jedis, people who are strong-minded or Toydarians.
  • The ability to strangle those around them just by holding their hands out. Again, this power doesn't work on other Siths, Jedis or people who are strong-minded.

Misc

  • The score for this film, by composer John Williams has become as famous as the films themselves and as such receives a special mention right here.
  • In all of George Lucas' films the number 1138, the partial title of one of his early films THX 1138, appears, so when watching Star Wars, look out for it. Obviously, this is a real fan thing though.
  • Budget for Episode IV17 - US$11m.
  • Box-Office Gross in US for the original release of Episode IV - US$322.74m.
  • Budget for Episode I - US$115m.
  • Box-Office Gross in US for the original release of Episode I - US$431.065m.
  • Episode IV made 30.249 times budget in US, Episode I made 3.748 times budget in US.
  • The studios in England where the majority of the Original Trilogy, and some of the new Trilogy, was filmed, Elstree (Borehamwood) Studios, has named a new sound stage after Lucas in honour of his work there, The George Lucas Stage.
  • In 1999 Lego begun to release a series of Themed Lego Star Wars pieces
  • In the 1970's/1980's, Dave Prowse, the body of Darth Vader in the original three films (James Earl Jones, uncredited until Return of the Jedi, was the voice of Vader), was the Green Cross Code Man in a series of adverts that ran on UK TV. Ironically, in the adverts he was also dubbed over. After his success in Star Wars he was allowed to speak for himself and have a little R2-D2-esque droid on screen.
  • The name Anakin is the accusative of the greek noun Anax, meaning "lord."18

If you're a bit confused about any of the terms in this entry which haven't been explained, a good place to visit would be The Star Wars Databank.

May the Force be with you... Always.

1Though even this isn't conclusive. A Time magazine article dated 6th March, 1978, even said that Lucas was planning 12 episodes in all2This date differs depending on who you ask. One archivist at Lucasfilm puts it at 19813The Death Star run was filmed in the car park of Elstree (Borehamwood) Studios4There is a section devoted to Yoda later, don't worry5He's 800 apparently6The puppet-master/voice of Fozzie Bear and assorted Muppets7See section 'Special Edition' further down the page8although the third one made9A lot of people thought this anyway, as in Empire Strikes Back, Luke spoke to her through telepathy, only something Jedi's can do.10Or Anakin on his return to the Light Side of the Force11Though they were shown theatrically outside the US12In later films she becomes Senator Amidala as, on her planet Naboo, Queen is an elected post13Technically it wasn't filmed at all, it was recorded with digital cameras from Sony that don't use any celluloid film at all.14Industry term for rough film footage.15The final scene was even called 'The Widowmaker' where ILM had to redo it so many times to meet Lucas' vision16Chewbacca has been confirmed as one that will be returning and some others are looking likely17Source: IMDB18Once again, thanks to IMDB for this

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