Star Wars
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Star Wars is an epic space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded since that time. The first film in the franchise was simply titled Star Wars, but later had the subtitle A New Hope added to distinguish it from its sequels and prequels. Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, initially spawning two sequels. Twenty-two years after Star Wars was released, Lucas began the release of a second trilogy as a prequel to the original trilogy.
The franchise has spawned other media including novels, television series, video games, and comic books. These supplements to the film trilogies comprise the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and have resulted in significant development of the series' fictional universe. As of 2008, the overall box office revenue generated by the six Star Wars films has totalled approximately $4.3 billion, making it the third-highest grossing film series.
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Setting
The events depicted in Star Wars media take place in a fictional galaxy. Many of the species depicted are essentially physically identical to humans. Many species of alien creatures, many of them humanoid, are also commonplace, as are robotic droids, generally built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, with many planets in the galaxy members of a Galactic Republic, later reorganized as the Galactic Empire.
One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the "Force" — an omnipresent form of energy which can be harnessed by those with that ability. It is described in the first produced film as, "an energy field created by all living things [that] surrounds us, penetrates us, [and] binds the galaxy together. The Force allows users to perform a variety of supernatural feats, such as telekinesis, clairvoyance, precognition, and mind control, and also can amplify certain physical traits, such as speed and reflexes; the abilities can vary from user to user and can be improved through training. While the Force can be used for good, it has a dark side which, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression, and malevolence. The six films feature the Jedi Knights, who use the Force for good, and the Sith Lords, who use the dark side for evil in an attempt to take over the galaxy.
Relevant Local Pages
Below are links to pages contained in this wiki that relate to Star Wars.
Feature Films
The Star Wars franchise began as a film series. The initial trilogy comprised three films: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21, 1980, and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. The opening crawl of the sequels disclosed that they were numbered as "Episode V" and "Episode VI" respectively, though the films were generally advertised solely under their subtitles. Once Star Wars became a success and sequels were realized, Lucas numbered the initial film as the fourth episode in his series, and gave it the subtitle A New Hope when the film was re-released in 1981.
In 1997, to correspond with the twentieth anniversary of the release of Star Wars, Lucas released "Special Editions" of the three films to theaters. The re-releases featured alterations to the original films, primarily motivated by the improvement of CGI and other special effects technologies, which allowed visuals that were not possible to achieve at the time of the original filmmaking. Lucas continued to make changes to the original trilogy for subsequent releases, such as the first ever DVD release of the trilogy on September 21, 2004.
On May 19, 1999, Lucas released the first of the long-awaited prequel trilogy, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This was followed Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2005. On February 12, 2008, the official Star Wars website announced that a new film will be released in theaters on August 15, 2008. The CGI animated film will be about the clone wars.
Plot Overview
The prequel trilogy follows the upbringing of Anakin Skywalker, a child of parthenogenesis who is discovered by Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn. He is believed to be the "Chosen One" foretold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force. The Jedi Council, led by Yoda and Mace Windu, sense that his future is clouded with fear, but reluctantly allow Jinn's apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Skywalker after Jinn is killed. At the same time, the planet Naboo is under attack, and its queen, Padmé Amidala, seeks the assistance of the Jedi to repel the attack. Sith Lord Darth Sidious secretly planned the attack to give his alias, Naboo Senator Palpatine, a pretense to overthrow the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate. The remainder of the prequel trilogy chronicles Skywalker's fall to the dark side, as Sidious attempts to create an army to defeat the Jedi and lure Skywalker to be his apprentice. Amidala and Skywalker fall in love and eventually she becomes pregnant with twins. Skywalker soon succumbs to his anger, culminating in a lightsaber battle between him and Kenobi. Kenobi leaves Skywalker for dead, but Sidious arrives shortly after to save him and put him in to a suit of black armor that keeps him alive.
The original trilogy begins nearly 20 years later as Anakin Skywalker, now Darth Vader, nears completion of the massive Death Star space station which will allow him to crush the rebellion which has formed against his evil empire. He captures Princess Leia Organa who has stolen the plans to the Death Star and hidden them in droid R2-D2. R2-D2, along with his counterpart C-3PO, escape to the planet Tatooine. There, the droids are purchased by Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin, and his step-uncle and aunt. While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers a message put into the robot by Princess Leia, who asks for assistance from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke knows of a Ben Kenobi and asks his uncle if there is any relationship between the two. His uncle dismisses the idea, but leads Skywalker to Ben Kenobi who confirms that he is Obi-Wan. Kenobi tells Luke of his father's greatness, but says that he was killed by Vader.[11] Kenobi and Skywalker hire pilot Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to take them to the rebels. Kenobi begins to teach Skywalker about the Force, but allows himself to be killed in a showdown with Vader during the rescue of Princess Leia. His sacrifice allows the group to escape with the plans that allow the rebels to destroy the Death Star.
Vader continues to hunt down the rebels, and begins building a second Death Star. Skywalker travels to find Jedi master Yoda to become trained as a Jedi, but is interrupted when Vader lures him into a trap by capturing Solo and the others. Vader reveals that he is Skywalker's father and attempts to turn him to the dark side. He escapes, and returns to his training with Yoda. He learns that he must face his father before he can become a Jedi, and that Leia is his twin sister. As the rebels attack the new Death Star, Skywalker confronts Vader under the watch of Emperor Palpatine. Instead of convincing Skywalker to join the dark side, Skywalker defeats Vader and is able to convince him that there is still some good in him. Vader kills Palpatine before succumbing to his own injuries, and the second Death Star is destroyed.
Expanded Universe
The term Expanded Universe (EU) is an umbrella term for officially licensed Star Wars material outside of the six feature films. The material expands 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.
Lucas retains artistic 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 efforts to ensure continuity between the works of various authors across companies. Elements of the Expanded Universe have been adopted by Lucas for use in the films, such as the name of capital planet Coruscant, which first appeared in Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire before being used in The Phantom Menace. A character introduced in Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars series, a blue Twi'lek Jedi Knight named Aayla Secura, was liked enough by Lucas to be included as a character in Attack of the Clones.
To date, six films and three animated series have been produced for television, with a live-action series and a 3D CGI animated series in pre-production. Lucas has played a large role in the production of the television projects, usually serving as storywriter or executive producer. Star Wars has had numerous radio adaptations. 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.
