Star Wars

About

Star Wars is an American space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25th, 1977, under the title Star Wars and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals, in 1980 and 1983. Three other movies, the prequels, were released in 1999, 2002 and 2005 respectively.

History

The original Star Wars trilogy contained only the latter three parts of the saga. The first three movies were a prequel trilogy which lead towards the start of the original trilogy. The episodes are placed in a chronological order to follow the time line of the saga, but the order of release starts with part IV, V and VI, to be followed by part I, II and III.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace^[9] was released in 1999. It was the start of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. It was named episode to follow the saga in terms of story chronology.

The film follows the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. While escorting and protecting Queen Amidala they meet Anakin Skywalker, a young slave boy who seems to be unusually strong with The Force. Along the way they must contend with the mysterious return of the Sith and the Sith apprentice Darth Maul.

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones^[10] was released in 2002 as part two of the prequel trilogy. The film is set ten years after the events in Episode I, when the galaxy is on the brink of civil war. The film follows Anakin Skywalker, who has become an adult, and his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith^[11] was released in 2005 and is the third part in the prequel trilogy, but the final film that was released of the saga. The film takes place three years after the onset of the Clone Wars. It connects the prequel trilogy with the start of the original trilogy, showing the the rise of the Sith and the defeat of the Jedi. This film features the creation of Darth Vader and birth of the Skywalker twins, Luke and Leia

Memes Created: Darth Vader’s Noooo! and Do Not Want

Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope^[12] was originally released in 1977 under the title Star Wars is a space opera that followed the adventures of Luke Skywalker and his quest to escape from his home-world and join the Rebel Alliance, becoming a Jedi and mastering the force in the process.

Memes Created: Red Leader

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back^[13] was originally released in 1980 under the title The Empire Strikes Back. It is set 3 years after the events after A New Hope and again follows the story of Luke Skywalker.

Memes Created: I Am Your Father

Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi

Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi^[14] was originally released in 1984 under the title Return of the Jedi. The plot revolves around Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance defeating the Galactic Empire. It is set one year after the events of The Empire Strikes Back.

Memes Created: It’s A Trap

Reception

As of June 2008, the overall box office revenue generated by the six Star Wars films has totalled approximately $4.49 billion,^[1] making it the third-highest-grossing film series behind only the Harry Potter and James Bond films. Aside from the box office revenue, the franchise has generated about $33 billion, nearly half of which comes from the Star Wars toy lines.

The Star Wars film series has spawned a media franchise including books, 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, in addition to keeping the franchise going in the interim between the film trilogies.

In 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in theaters as the first-ever worldwide theatrical Star Wars film outside of the main trilogies. The first animated film in the franchise, it was intended as an introduction to the Expanded Universe series of the same name, a 3D CGI animated series based on a previous 2D-animated series of a similar name.

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. This included various other films^[2], animated series^[3], books^[4], games^[5] and action figures.

Most importantly, The Star Wars saga has inspired many fans to create their own non-canon material set in the Star Wars galaxy. In recent years, this has ranged from writing fan-fiction to creating fan films. The fan-driven expansion of the original canon also encouraged by Lucasfilm when, in 2002, it sponsored the first annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, officially recognizing filmmakers and the genre. Because of concerns over potential copyright and trademark issues, however, the contest was initially open only to parodies, mockumentaries, and documentaries. Fan-fiction films set in the Star Wars universe were initially ineligible for competition, but in 2007 Lucasfilm changed the submission standards to allow in-universe fiction entries.^[6]

While many fan films have used elements from the licensed Expanded Universe to tell their story, they are not considered an official part of the Star Wars canon. However, the lead character from the Pink Five series was incorporated into Timothy Zahn’s 2007 novel Allegiance, marking the first time a fan-created Star Wars character has ever crossed into the official canon.^[7] Lucasfilm, for the most part, has allowed but not endorsed the creation of these derivative fan-fiction works, so long as no such work attempts to make a profit from or tarnish the Star Wars franchise in any way.^[8]

Impact

The franchise is crammed with cult one-liners that are still abused as pop culture references up to these days. It also found its place on Internet as a generator of many famous memes. These pop culture impacts have shown up on commercials as well as forums and television. It is one of the primary sources for parody reference when referring to cliches in the television and movie landscape. The other impact that it has had is the expanded universe which has spawned multiple fan novella.

Related Memes

It’s a Trap!

Originally quoted by Admiral Ackbar in The Return of the Jedi, “It’s a Trap” is often used as a reaction to photos of people or things that have a deceptive appearance. The snowclone “It’s a X!” is also used to caption image macros (sometimes accompanied by a picture of Admiral Ackar ) in which the name of subject rhymes with “trap.”

Red Leader Standing By

A popular game on forums and image-boards coming from a scene in Episode IV: A New Hope. it involves relay-posting images that are explicitly red, or more ambiguous items associated with the word “red”. It comes from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where the rebel alliance is launching their assault on the Death Star.

Star Wars Kid

Star Wars Kid is a viral video featuring Ghyslain Razaa, a Canadian teenager who filmed himself fighting against imaginary sentries with a golf-ball retriever, as though it were a double-sided light saber such as the one Darth Maul uses in Star Wars: Episode I.

Darth Vader’s Nooooooo / Do Not Want

A scene from Episode III: Revenge of the Siths where Darth Vader finds out that his wife, Padme, has been killed has become a widespread phenomenon both for its anti-climactic shout and because of a Chinese mistranslation.

Do Not Want and Do Want are catchphrases typically used in image macros to express ones displeasure, or yearning. It spawned from a poorly translated copy of Episode 3: Revenge Of The Sith blogger Jeremy Winterson purchased in Shanghai. The scene where Darth Vader shouts “Nooo!” has been translated in the subtitles as “Do Not Want”. In addition, Darth Vader’s Noooo! is used to emphasize a situation where other cries of regret or distaste.

I Am Your Father

I Am Your Father (Often misquoted as “Luke, I Am Your Father”) is quote from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader Informs Luke that he is his son. The quote is subject to much parody and use in 4panes.

I Find Your Lack Of Faith Disturbing

I find your lack of faith disturbing is a response phrase originally used by Darth Vader, in Star Wars: A New Hope, to denote disapproval, with a sinister edge and implications.

Lightsaber Duels

The first lightsaber duel ever made appeared on Star Wars (a new hope, 1977) between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi and fans of Star Wars have been creating their own ever since. Many of these fan duels use video effects to achieve the visuals needed to resemble the originals found in the movies.