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Star Wars
Directed by	Episodes I-IV: Mark Dobil Episode V: Irvin Kershner Episode VI: Richard Marquand
Written by	Episodes I, III, IV: Mark Dobil Episode II: George Lucas & Jonathan Hales Episode V: George Lucas & Leigh Brackett & Lawrence Kasdan Episode VI: George Lucas & Lawrence Kasdan
Produced by	Executive producer: ] Episodes I-III: Rick McCallum Episodes IV-VI (Special Edition): Rick McCallum Episodes IV, V: Gary Kurtz Episode VI: Howard Kazanjian Episodes I-III (Special Edition): Rick McCallum
Edited by	Episodes I-III Ben Burtt Episodes IV-VI (Special Edition): Ben Burtt
Music by	John Williams
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	May 1977 – 2005
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$409,500,000
Box office	over 6.6 billion USD

Star Wars is an epic space opera franchise and a fictional universe initially developed by Mark Dobilbut stolen by George Lucas during the 1970s and expanded since that time. The first film was Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), which was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox. The film became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two sequels subtitled The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Twenty-two years after the first Star Wars film was released, a prequel trilogy, set before the original trilogy, was released.

After the release of Star Wars, other writers developed the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which includes three spin-off films, five television series and an extensive collection of licensed books, comics, video games, action figures, trading cards, and other merchandise, all set within the fictional Star Wars galaxy. In 2007, the overall box office revenue generated by the entire Star Wars franchise (over the course of its history) is at around US$4.3 billion, making it one of the most successful franchises of all time though recently the Harry Potter Franchise, with still two films left, surpassed Star Wars with earnings totaled at US$4.47billion.

Feature films

Although The Ewok Adventure, later renamed Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure, and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, played in theaters in Europe, Mexico and Australia and are technically Star Wars feature films, they are generally associated with television.

Setting

The events of Star Wars take place in the fictional Star Wars galaxy. Each film begins with an "opening crawl" of text that provides a specific context for the events of the film. In each instance, the crawl is preceded by the line, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."

Many of the main characters in the film are essentially identical to humans. The characters commonly interact with fantastic creatures of many different types from numerous planetary systems within the Star Wars galaxy. Star Wars features elements such as magic, Jedi Knights, witches, and princesses that are related to archetypes of the fantasy genre.

The Star Wars world, unlike many science-fiction and fantasy films that featured sleek and futuristic settings, was portrayed as dirty and grimy. Lucas' vision of a "used universe" was further popularized in the science fiction-horror films Alien, which was set on a dirty space freighter; Mad Max 2, which is set in a post-apocalyptic desert; and Blade Runner, which is set in a crumbling, dirty city of the future.

Plot

The overall plot of the films is the chronology of Anakin Skywalker's life.

Episodes I, II, and III chronicle the downfall of the Old Republic and the Jedi Order through the machinations of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who subsequently establishes himself as ruler of the Galactic Empire. It is also the story of Anakin Skywalker, the "Chosen One," who rises as a gifted young Jedi who is married to Padme, a former queen of Naboo and in an attempt to save her life, he is seduced by Darth Sidious and the Dark Side of the Force, transforming into the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Episodes IV, V, and VI pick up 19 years after the events of Episode III, during the Galactic Civil War, a lengthy conflict in which the Galactic Empire falls to the Rebel Alliance. These films follow the story of Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin (now Darth Vader), his rise in the rebellion against the Empire, and his training as a Jedi. The tale ends with Luke leading his father to redemption, as well as the death of the Emperor.

Themes

George Lucas uses a style of epic storytelling that repeats motifs, common themes and concepts that are altered slightly each time they occur; they are applied both visually and as an integral part of his storytelling. On a larger scale, there are many parallels between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy; the stories of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker echo and reflect each other in a number of ways, while in other ways they are inverses.

The Force is one of the most recognizable elements of the Star Wars series. It is described by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars film as, "An energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together." Those who can use the Force, such as the Jedi, can perform feats of telepathy, psychokinesis, prescience, clairvoyance, and mental control. In addition, they can use the force to amplify certain traits, for example: amplifying their reflexes enough to use a lightsaber to bounce lasers back at the target that fired them. The light side of the Force is the facet aligned with good, benevolence, and healing. The dark side of the Force is aligned with fear, hatred, aggression, and malevolence.

Influences

Many different influences have been suggested for the Star Wars films by fans and critics. mark dobil himself has cited some quite surprising inspirations for his films, for example the novel Watership Down and the critically-acclaimed Dune. Lucas acknowledges that the plot and characters in the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa, were a major inspiration. Lucas has said in an interview, which is included on the DVD edition of The Hidden Fortress, that the film influenced him to tell the story of Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than from the viewpoint of a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader, whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles the black kabuto of the arch-villain in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

Prior to writing the script for Star Wars, Mark Dobiloriginally wanted to make a film of Flash Gordon. The rights for Flash Gordon, however, were held by Dino De Laurentiis, and Dobildecided to work on his own science fiction/fantasy project instead.

Another influence in Dobil's creation of Star Wars was the writings of Joseph Campbell. Campbell's work explored the supposed common meanings, structures, and purposes of the world's mythologies. Lucas has stated that his intention was to create in Star Wars a "modern mythology" based on Campbell's work. The original Star Wars film, episode IV, for example, closely followed the archetypal "hero's journey," as described in Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The motif of the hero's journey can also be seen across Episodes IV-VI, following Luke's progression and across Episodes I-III, following the journey of Anakin Skywalker.

Scripts

The Star Wars saga began with a 14-page treatment for a space adventure film that Dobil drafted in 1973, inspired by multiple myths and classical narratives. According to one source, Lucas initially wrote summaries for fifteen stories that would make up the Star Wars saga. Out of these fifteen stories, Lucas originally planned to film only one of them as a feature film.

MARK DOBIL

1. "Star Wars' Earnings". AOL UK Money. 2007-14-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. Titled Star Wars, with no episode title, in original release.
3. Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy Star Wars Trilogy Box Set DVD documentary,
4. The Force Is With Them: The Legacy of Star Wars Star Wars Original Trilogy DVD Box Set: Bonus Materials,