Sources of the Star Wars-trilogy
George Lucas was inspired by a lot whilst writing the story of Star Wars. He was influenced by books, mythology, religion, his personal life and of course the movies. This list gives an overview of films and television series that have left their prints in this story.
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- DirectorFord BeebeSaul A. GoodkindStarsBuster CrabbeConstance MooreJackie MoranA 20th Century pilot named Buck Rogers and his young friend Buddy Wade awake from 500 years in suspended animation to find that the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane.Flash Gordon borrowed images and ideas from world's first science fiction comicstrip, Buck Rogers (launched in 1929). They both featured very similar spaceships, laser pistols, costume styles, gadgets, hairstyles, creatures, etc. Also influenced by the John Carter, Warlord of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsBuster CrabbeCarol HughesCharles MiddletonA ravaging plague has struck the Earth threatening no less than global extinction. This alien disease is believed to be the evil spawn of Ming, the merciless Emperor of Planet Mongo. The world's only hope now rests with Flash Gordon.A New Hope includes many elements derived from the 1936 Universal serial Flash Gordon—the original property George Lucas had sought to license before making the first Star Wars film—and its sequel, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. The basic plot involving the infiltration of a megalomaniacal outer-space Emperor's fortress by two heroes disguised in uniforms of soldiers of his army is drawn from Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo filling the roles of Flash Gordon and Prince Barin, respectively, and Ming the Merciless the Emperor. The Emperor's deadly, hostile planet (the Death Star/Mongo), a sexy, sometimes scantily-clad brunette space Princess whom the hero defends (Princess Leia/Princess Aura), a big, strong, hairy, animal-like ally (Chewbacca/Prince Thun of the Lion Men), a fearsome monster found underground and/or fought in an arena by the hero (the Rancor/the Gocko or Orangopoid) a city in the sky ruled by someone who originally works with the villains but later joins the heroes, ray-guns, and dogfighting spaceships were all elements retained from the first Universal Flash Gordon serial. The opening text crawl of Star Wars is in the same style as the text openings of each chapter of the Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe serial.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.The realistic spacecraft from Star Wars were influenced by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and the television program Space: 1999, both of which used techniques developed for the television program Thunderbirds.
- DirectorGeorge LucasStarsRobert DuvallDonald PleasenceDon Pedro ColleyIn the 25th century, a time when people have designations instead of names, a man, THX 1138, and a woman, LUH 3417, rebel against their rigidly controlled society.Luke Skywalker gives the fictitious location of the cell block from which he is transferring Chewbacca as "one-one-three-eight".
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.The overall story is Robin Hood. The kingdom is oppressed by tyranny, cruelty and greed. A young man of noble birth but straightened circumstances is forced out of his home, lives with rebels and outlaws, and leads them to victory. And then, instead of becoming king, he hands the kingdom over to its rightful ruler, King Richard / Princess Leia. It's a feel-good legend.
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie NielsenA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.Star Wars seems to borrow strongly from Forbidden Planet, including the Energy Monster burning through a Krell door (Qui-Gon burning through the Trade Federation door) and Robbie's red force-screen (the red force-screen in Phantom Menace).
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRichard ToddMichael RedgraveUrsula JeansDrama based on the attempt by the RAF to destroy six dams in Germany during World War II.The attack on the "Death Star" in the climax of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is similar in many respects to the strategy of Operation Chastise from the 1954 British film, The Dam Busters. Rebel pilots have to fly through a trench while evading enemy fire and drop a single special weapon at a precise distance from the target in order to destroy the entire base with a single explosion; if one run fails another run must be made by a different pilot. Some scenes from the A New Hope climax are very similar to those in The Dam Busters and some of the dialogue is nearly identical in the two films.
- DirectorWalter GraumanStarsCliff RobertsonGeorge ChakirisMaria PerschyA RAF squadron is assigned to knock out a German rocket fuel factory in Norway. The factory supplies fuel for the Nazi effort to launch rockets on England during D-Day.The scene where the "Death Star" is attacked is heavily influenced by the action scenes from the fictional wartime film 633 Squadron. That film's finale shows the squadron's planes flying down a deep fjord while being fired at along the way by anti-aircraft guns lining its sides. George Lucas has stated in interviews that this sequence inspired the 'trench run' sequence in A New Hope.
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckHugh MarloweGary MerrillA tough-as-nails general (Gregory Peck as General Savage) takes over a B-17 bomber unit suffering from low morale and whips them into fighting shape.The scene where Han and Luke shoot down the TIE fighters from the Millenium Falcon after they escape from the Death Star.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTakashi ShimuraKeiko TsushimaFarmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.C-3PO's line "It seems we are made to suffer. It's our lot in life" is similar to what the farmers say about themselves. Also Luke Skywalker is similar to Kikuchiyo (raised/born to a farmer family but aspires to be a Jedi/samurai) and Katsushiro (young man who wants to become Obi-wan's/Kambei's disciple).
Yoda scratches the back of his head when thinking, just as Kambei does throughout Seven Samurai. (Lucas has said this was a conscious homage).
The horizon shot of the Trade Federation tanks coming over a hill to attack the Gungan army copies the horizon shot of the bandits attacking the farming village. - DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneTatsuya NakadaiKeiju KobayashiA crafty samurai helps a young man and his fellow clansmen trying to save his uncle, who has been framed and imprisoned by a corrupt superintendent.Mentor/student, warrior, etc. Lucas borrowed the name "Jedi" from "Jidai Geki" (literally "period dramas", movies about samurai).
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneEijirô TônoTatsuya NakadaiA crafty ronin comes to a town divided by two criminal gangs and decides to play them against each other to free the town.Star Wars borrows a lot of great stuff from Yojimbo, including the cantina scene: several men threaten the hero, bragging how wanted they are by authorities. There's a flash of blade and suddenly an arm lies on the ground. Mifune is offered "25 ryo now, 25 when you complete the mission." (A ryo is a gold coin.) Jeremy Bulloch, the actor who played Boba Fett, said the character was based on Clint Eastwood's version of The Man With No Name. You can hear a little cowboy-spur jingle when Fett enters the dining room in The Empire Strikes Back, soft and subtle enough that it's probably meant to trigger our emotional association with the character without our conscious awareness.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMisa UeharaMinoru ChiakiLured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.Star Wars was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope features the exploits of C-3PO and R2-D2, whereas the plot of The Hidden Fortress is told from the point of view of two bickering peasants. The two peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, are first shown escaping a battle, while C-3PO and R2-D2 are first shown fleeing an attack in A New Hope. Additionally, both films feature a battle-tested General – Rokurota Makabe in The Hidden Fortress and Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope – who assist a rebellion led by a princess and engage in a duel with a former rival whom they fought years earlier. Lucas also features many horizontal wipe scene transitions in A New Hope, a technique used thoroughly by Kurosawa in his films. Similarly, the Princess trades places with a slave girl in The Hidden Fortress, with the slave girl acting as a decoy for the real Princess. In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Queen Amidala trades places with one of her handmaidens who acts as a decoy.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsMaksim MunzukYuriy SolominMikhail BychkovThe Russian army sends an explorer on an expedition to the snowy Siberian wilderness where he makes friends with a seasoned local hunter.In the Akira Kurosawa movie Dersu Uzala that came out 1975, just two years before the first Star Wars movie, there are two scenes that bear a striking resemblance to scenes in Star Wars. The first is The Captain and Dersu looking out over the horizon, seeing both the setting sun and the rising moon at the same time. This is very much like when Luke Skywalker stares out on the sky with binary suns in A New Hope. The other scene is when Dersu and the Captain are suddenly caught in a blizzard, and they have to quickly build a shelter to spend the night, to survive the cold. The Captain collapses from the cold and Dersu has to drag and stuff him in to the shelter. This is very similar to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo cuts a tauntaun open and stuffs the unconscious Luke into it, when they get caught in a blizzard on the snow planet Hoth.
- DirectorLeni RiefenstahlStarsAdolf HitlerHermann GöringMax AmannThe infamous propaganda film of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany.Throne Room march from Star Wars.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.Obi-Wan Kenobi disappeared when killed by Darth Vader, leaving only an empty robe (The Wicked Witch of the West disappears when Dorothy spills water on her, leaving only her empty dress), Jawas (Munchkins), Bottomless chasm where Obi-Wan Kenobi disables the tractor beam, actually a matte painting combined with live footage (Bottomless chasm outside the witch's castle, actually a matte painting combined with live footage (This idea was used again in Forbidden Planet). Mechanical sounds whenever C3-PO moves (Clanking metal sounds whenever the Tin Woodsman moves). Guardian of the Gate to the Wizard's palace (Guardian of the Gate to Jabba's palace). The Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman and Cowardly Lion disguise themselves as "Winkies" (the Witch's guards) (Luke and Han disguise themselves as Stormtroopers).
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsClint EastwoodEli WallachLee Van CleefA bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.Through the entire “Man With No Name” trilogy, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the desolate wastelands of the desert is paid much attention. The heat of the desert can be seen in the same oppressive fashion every time Tatooine is shown on-screen, but there are many touchstones to these movies in particular that can be seen in Star Wars. Aside from bits of architecture that are reminiscent of locations like the Lars homestead and Mos Eisley. These films are full of scum and villainy, and it feels like the entirety of Tatooine. You have the benevolent farmers like the Lars, the bandits like the Tusken Raiders, and bounty hunters (Boba Fett) like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneJeffrey HunterVera MilesAn American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.Lucas has cited John Ford's The Searchers as references for the style. A reference to The Searchers occurs in A New Hope, when Luke discovers the burning moisture farm, while the Tusken Raiders sequence in Attack of the Clones recalls the climax of The Searchers. Han's showdown with Greedo in A New Hope resembles a scene in another John Ford movie, Cheyenne Autumn.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsHenry FondaCharles BronsonClaudia CardinaleA mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.Lucas is also a fan of Sergio Leone's film Once Upon a Time in the West, and according to Leone's biographer, Christopher Frayling, he listened to the score from Leone's film while editing The Empire Strikes Back. Many have considered Vader's first appearance in A New Hope as being an "homage" to the introduction of Henry Fonda's villainous Frank in the Leone film.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.A direct homage to Lawrence of Arabia occurs in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, as Padme and Anakin talk while walking around the Theed palace on Naboo. It was filmed at the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain, which in Lawrence of Arabia was the site of the British Army headquarters in Cairo, and was shot in the exact manner as the scene in Lawrence of Arabia where Allenby (Jack Hawkins) and Dryden (Claude Rains) discuss whether to give artillery to Lawrence's Arab troops.
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.One poster for The Empire Strikes Back was specifically modeled after a re-release poster for Gone with the Wind, as per the request of George Lucas. The poster was created by Tom Jung, the same artist who originally designed the 1967 Gone with the Wind poster.
Han Solo, a roguish blockade runner (Rhett Butler, a roguish blockade runner).
Yoda's manner of speaking, in particular his habit of putting the verb at the end of the sentence (Gerald O'Hara's Irish brogue).
Idea of overdubbing actors with different voice actors, used for Darth Vader and Aunt Beru (The actress who played Bonnie was trained to jump horses so she couldn't be replaced, but the director didn't care for her voice so he overdubbed a different actress). - DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.The robot in Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis inspired the look of C-3PO (although C-3PO is golden and male).
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.During Order 66, the slaughter of the Separatists and the declaration of the Galactic Empire are reminiscent of the montage of massacres during the christening scene of The Godfather, a film directed by his friend and mentor Francis Ford Coppola. They are similar in the christening of one (the baby and the Empire) with the death of a group of others (the other dons and the Separatists).
- DirectorOtto BrowerB. Reeves EasonStarsGene AutryFrankie DarroBetsy King RossWhen the ancient continent of Mu sank beneath the ocean, some of its inhabitant survived in caverns beneath the sea. Cowboy singer Gene Autry stumbles upon the civilization, now buried beneath his own Radio Ranch. The Muranians have developed technology and weaponry such as television and ray guns. Their rich supply of radium draws unscrupulous speculators from the surface. The peaceful civilization of the Muranians is corrupted by the greed from above, and it becomes Autry's task to prevent all-out war, ideally without disrupting his regular radio show.Darth Vader's need to wear his helmet to breathe recalls the oxygen helmets of the underground-dwelling Muranians in the 1935 Mascot serial The Phantom Empire, which are required by the caped Thunder Riders to be able to breathe on the surface.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsCharlton HestonJack HawkinsStephen BoydAfter a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace features a pod racing action sequence. This entire sequence is inspired by the famous Chariot Race of Ben Hur. The climactic moment when Sebulba's Pod attaches itself to Anakin's Pod mimicks, almost shot for shot, the climactic moment of the scene in Ben Hur when Messala accidentally locks wheels with Ben Hur.
Pod Race = Chariot Race
Sebulba = Messala
The Emperor's pro-hatred speeches to Luke = Arrius' to Ben-Hur
Theed pageantry = Roman pageantry
Wooden shutters on Jabba's barge = shutters in Ben-Hur's home
Watto = Sheik Ilderim
Long gangplank in Roman ship = bridge of the Star Destroyer