by sunliz
Part 1. Do or do not. There is no try.
The father of the famous Star Wars film epic, George Lucas, likes to repeat in lectures to his students: “The easiest job of your life is your first film, the film that you are going to make yourself. If only because no one knows what you are going to make and, therefore, will not push you or give you advice.” However, for Lucas himself, the preparation and filming of the first Star Wars episode, subtitled A New Hope, in 1977 was a serious test of faith in his own abilities. The thing is that no one took Lucas' ideas seriously at the time: his first film, the science fiction dystopia THX 1138 about humanity in the 25th century, shot in 1971, was a huge box office failure. He began working on star wars in January 1973, but despite a huge projects potential, the director couldn`t find a studio for a long time. According to Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, Universal executives "They just didn't think about science fiction at the time, didn't think the genre had a future with that particular audience." Later, in 1977, Lucas said that his film was not about the future, not about science fiction, and was rather " a fantasy close to the Brothers Grimm, rather than 2001: A Space Odyssey [Stanley Kubrick's film, which was shot in 1968 and became a milestone in the development of world science fiction]." It's hard to disagree with the director. Finally, 20th Century Fox took on the task of making Lucas`s film.
Part 2.”Never tell me the odds.”
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) is a classic phenomenal, the first and probably one of the best film in Skywalker saga, and arguably changed the face of cinema forever. New Hope is starring Mark Hamill as vivid Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as evocative Princess Leia and Harrison Ford portraying hot Han Solo. The plot is actually more about Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia , and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empire's space station, the Death Star. Luke Skywalker stays with his aunt and uncle on a farm on Tatooine. He is desperate to get off this planet and get to the Academy like his friends, but his uncle needs him for the next harvest. Princess Leia, a leader in the resistance movement, acquires plans of the Death Star, places them in R2-D2, a droid, and sends him off to find Obi-wan Kenobi. Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Episode 5: Empire strikes back: the legendary saga continues as the Rebel Alliance faces increasing challenges from the mighty Galactic Empire. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa confront new trials that test their courage, friendships, and beliefs. Empire Strikes Back has one of the greatest plot twists in movie history. “I am your father” has easily become one of the most shocking and well-known plot twists of all time. The comical lines, such as Leia’s “scruffy-looking nerf herder,” help buoy the movie from becoming too dark. At the same time, the audience sees Han and Leia's secret romance bubble beneath their constant arguing. Every line in The Empire Strikes Back feels like it belongs. The Empire Strikes Back is the perfect example of a screenplay polished to perfection. The movie opens with a literal “Star War” as the Empire tries to snuff out the remaining rebels on Hoth. Afterward, it beautifully juxtaposes Luke’s downbeat training with Yoda on Dagobah with Han, Leia, and Chewie’s high-stakes asteroid escape. All the while, Empire Strikes Back grows its characters through meaningful hardships. Then, it brings the cast back together for a climactic finale in the clouds of Bespin. While Darth Vader’s “I am your father” line was certainly iconic, Han Solo’s carbonite freezing was arguably even more shocking. Empire Strikes Back subverted all “happy ending” expectations the audience had coming off of A New Hope. Instead, the movie punished Luke for leaving his training with Yoda early, and it punished Han for trusting Lando. The darker ending of Empire Strikes Back helped set the standard for middle franchise films to come. It seemed almost impossible to follow up the cultural phenomenon of A New Hope with something better, yet Empire Strikes Back managed to set the bar even higher with its fantastic character dialogue, dynamic locales, and nail-biting action. The movie has a range of color from the white snows of Hoth, the dark greens of Dagobah, and the soft orange sky of Bespin, all of which improve on the stark, colorless Death Star and sepia sands of Tatooine that make up A New Hope.
Episode 6: Return of the Jedi: Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, and the Empire are building a new Death Star. Meanwhile, Han Solo has been imprisoned, and Luke Skywalker has sent R2-D2 and C-3PO to try and free him. Princess Leia, disguised as a bounty hunter, and Chewbacca go along as well. The final battle takes place on the Forest Moon of Endor, with its natural inhabitants, the Ewoks, lending a hand to the rebels. Now, Luke knows the truth-Darth Vader is his father, and at the times of Old Republic and Clone Wars was the best jedi knight-Anakin Skywalker. He is planning to bring him back to the light side of theForce, but it`s not that easy due to the evil Emperor Palpatines intervention. In that movie, Luke was fully trained and had a green-bladed lightsaber, and he had complete mastery of the Force, too. He was also athletic and resourceful while being clever enough to conserve his true strength to make Jabba the Hutt underestimate him. The imposing Darth Vader felt like evil personified in Episodes IV and V, but Episode VI proved that there really was a redeemable man under all that machinery. Darth Vader himself thought he was beyond hope, but Luke's stubborn faith in him convinced Vader to become Anakin Skywalker once again. For real, there is so much to enjoy this moving ending of original trilogy: the most important and emotional lightsaber duel, introducing Leia’s force powers, showing Palpatine at his scariest, best settings, e.t.c. By the way, in Return of the Jedi we can see Princess Leia’s exceptional gold bikini, which is very different from her other outfits.
The Star Wars Holiday Special, which reunited most of the main cast — including Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew and Anthony Daniels — was so poorly received by fans and critics, it remains a punchline today. It ranks No. 1 in the book What Were They Thinking?: The 100 Dumbest Events in Television History by David Hofstede, and is practically disowned by Lucas and the cast. One simple reason why this is too bad is that most of the film wookies were just roaring, without subtitles. Not including awful makeup and costumes, making something star wars without George Lucas`s help.
Part 3: Hello there!
Episode 1: the Phantom Menace: While the ruthless Trade Federation and evil viceroy Nute Gunray is about to take over peaceful planet Naboo, two Jedi masters Qui Gon Jinn(Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi(Ewan McGregor) are sent to rescue and protect young queen Amidala. Under unusual circumstances and ship’s breakage they share adventure with queen, funny Gungan outcast Jar-Jar Binks and travel to run-down planet Tatooine, where they are going to meet with a chosen one, a boy named Anakin Skywalker, with dark future. Also, travelling to Coruscant leads to futile attempt to save the world from mysterious Darth Sidious and Darth Maul, the strongest Dark Lord of the Sith to ever wield a lightsaber. The previous film was released in 1983, the start of prequels was so desirable and long-awaited, the fans could stand in line for hours to get a ticket, the same how it was in 1977, when journey across the galaxy has just started. Here are 5 facts about Phantom Menace:
1. Michael Jackson wanted a role in the film.
The world-famous pop singer reportedly wanted nothing more than to portray the role of Jar-Jar Binks in the film. He envisioned portraying the character in all prosthetics and makeup, but Lucas wanted Jar-Jar as a CGI creation, and it didn't work out.
Instead, the role went to Ahmed Best, and personally, I think he gives the best performance in the movie. Just saying.
2. Many sets in the film weren't completely built.
To make the environments in this film, sets were only built as high as the actors' heads reached. The space above their heads were filled in with computer graphics in order to save money.
Given that Liam Neeson was much taller than the rest of the cast, his height ended up costing the crew an extra $150,000 in construction.
3. Keira Knightley makes one of her first film appearances in this film.
Knightley's parents did not want her to audition, but given that she was a huge Star Wars fan, she auditioned anyway and won the role of Sabé, Queen Amidala's double in the film.
When Portman and Knightley were dressed and in their queen makeup, the two ended up resembling each other so much that Knightley's mother had difficulty recognizing which one was her own daughter.
4. Jake Lloyd retired from acting because of the role.
After the release of this film, child actor Jake Lloyd(young Anakin Skywalker) was bullied and teased constantly for his performance. Other children would make lightsaber noises at him when he walked by, and his performance was panned, causing him to retire from acting.
However, he still reprised his role in a few video games, and has made appearances in Star Wars conventions.
5. Lucas thought he had set aside 'Star Wars' for good
Lucas was burnt out directing Star Wars so much that he didn’t direct the next two movies in the original trilogy. He had planned for a sequel trilogy, but he nixed those plans before Return of the Jedi had even come out. Lucas was done with Star Wars, but he had a lot of backstory left from writing the first Star Wars script, and so he began to think about prequels. Once he felt CGI was good enough to help him tell the story, he decided to get back in the swing of things.
Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
Set ten years after the events of "The Phantom Menace," the Republic continues to be mired in strife and chaos. Former queen and now Senator Padmé Amidala travels to Coruscant to vote on a project to create an army to help the Jedi to protect the Republic. Upon arrival, she escapes from an attempt to kill her, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker are assigned to protect her. The Jedi Council dispatch Obi-Wan Kenobi to launch an investigation in who's behind Senator Amidala's assassination while his apprentice, a now grown Anakin Skywalker is assigned to keep watch over Amidala, while falling into a secret romance with her which goes against his vows as a Jedi. Meanwhile, renegade Jedi Count Dooku is preparing to go to war against the Jedi with a united droid army that could bring the Republic to it's knees. These moves, long planned by an as yet unrevealed and powerful force, lead to the beginning of the Clone Wars and the beginning of the end of the Republic.
This film was hardly criticized, because of bad acting, stretched plot and unnecessary dialogues at one time. But, nowadays, Attack of the Clones is more about nostalgia, fans childhood, and very good CGI for 2002. Most of the people say that’s why George Lucas left directing original trilogy after New Hope.
Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
Honestly, this is one of my favourite episodes in Star Wars franchise, because of the best lightsaber duel ever, the most memeable lines(Obi-Wan’s “Hello there”), the most heartbreaking ending and has so many rude and terrifying scenes(order 66, Anakin murdering younglings).
Three years after the events of Episode II, a new threat emerges. The Republic, with the help of the Jedi, take on Count Dooku and the Separatists. Anakin Skywalker(Hayden Christensen) and chancellor Palpatine become very close, but for the Jedi masters this seems suspicious, because they think that chancellor is not who he pretends to be-Darth Sidious, lord of the dark side of the Force. In a stunning chain of events, Padme tells Anakin she’s pregnant with twins, this means their secret marriage can be revealed in a couple of months. One clear night, Anakin is having a vision, where Padme dies in childbirth, so he began to look for ways to save his wife at any cost, even with the help of Dark Side, which will lead to terrible consequences …While The Empire Strikes Back has a shocking and emotionally charged ending, Revenge of the Sith has a visually stunning one. Order 66, Yoda versus Palpatine, and Anakin versus Obi-Wan are all breathtaking spectacles that round out the prequel trilogy with panache. Here, Lucas really goes all out in bringing his grandiose vision to life. With the creation of Darth Vader and the birth of Leia and Luke, Lucas beautifully sets up A New Hope and the rest of the original trilogy.
Part 4: "Great leaders inspire greatness in others."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars –this my favorite project after 6 basic films. It contains 7 seasons, 133 episodes and many different stories with triumphs and defeats. This show chronicles the events that took place between the second and the third episodes. It follows the wartime days of Anakin Skywalker , Obi-wan Kenobi , and Yoda. The show also brings new characters to the forefront of Star Wars canon, including Anakin's apprentice Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex . The first two seasons of The Clone Wars are rather decent, but all of your interest will be completely captured once you begin season 3 and onwards. The action is spectacular, the animation gets much better, the characters develop extremely well, and the story itself fits perfectly into the Star Wars story as a whole. The storytelling manages to totally transcend an animated 'kids show'. It becomes way more than that. There are heart poundingly exciting episodes and heartbreakingly moving stories as well as deepening and strengthening of the whole saga by the clever and wonderful storytelling of this show.
Part 5: “It’s a trap!”
In 2012 the world was shocked with strange deal- George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney for $4.05 billion dollars. During an interview at Cannes, George Lucas explained why he sold Star Wars in 2012. Lucas explains that troubles with theatrical distribution and the rise of streaming led him to retire. Lucas admits that he felt he didn't know much about where the industry was going as part of this major transition.
Nowadays, new 3 sequels are very awful, have really bad rating and aren’t recognized by all the die-hard Star Wars fans(me too).
