The History of Star Wars

The History of Star Wars

Lucas is a great politician. He likes people to think he has a plan and he's always stuck to it. That is why some people claim he originally had plans for 12 films, or 9, or 6. It depends on which interview you read at what point in his life. But let's examine how Star Wars really came to be.

In the early 70's Lucas wanted to make Flash Gordon the movie, but the rights were too expensive for him. Since he didn't get to do "Flash Gordon" he wrote his own script. Because of his success with "American Graffiti" he convinced a studio to let him film it. The film was originally called "The Star Wars". Though it had some familiar characters the original script bares little resemblance to any of the Star Wars films we know. It was confusing and the studios told him so, he was forced to rewrite...

So a couple drafts later he ended up with this:

"Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars"

The REPUBLIC GALACTICA is dead. 

Ruthless trader barons, 

driven by greed and the 

lust for power, have replaced 

enlightenment with oppression, 

and "rule by the people" 

with the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE.

Until the tragic Holy Rebellion of "06", 

the respected JEDI BENDU OF ASHLA 

were the most powerful warriors 

in the Universe. 

For a hundred thousand years, 

generations of Jedi Bendu knights 

learned the ways of the mysterious 

FORCE OF OTHERS, and acted as the 

guardians of peace and justice 

in the REPUBLIC. Now these legendary 

warriors are all but extinct. 

One by one they have been hunted down 

and destroyed by a ferocious 

rival sect of mercenary warriors: 

THE BLACK KNIGHTS OF THE SITH.

(Note the episode I. When Star Wars did release it did not say "Episode IV: A New Hope", contrary to popular belief. It just said STAR WARS but this script proves that there never was meant to be a prequel trilogy. In fact Lucas never thought to make Vader Luke's Father until much later.)

So now it's 1975 and we have a film-able script. But it does not resemble much the final film. Here are some big differences.

-A guy named Deak Starkiller (Luke's older brother) gives the message to "Artwo"

Droids on planet Utapau

-Luke's Aunt & Uncle are training him to be a Jedi
-Leia is Luke's cousin who lives with him

-Han Solo was originally a green-monster-thing

-Luke's father is called "The Starkiller"
(and is a separate character from Darth Vader)

-Vader Dies during the Death Star Attack

-Threepio fires the missile that blows up the death star

-There is no Obi-Wan Kenobi anywhere in sight

Deak battles Vader in the opening scene

Alright so obviously some major things are going to change in the few months before filming begins on  this movie. In fact (as you will see in my future posts) major things change throughout the filming and editing process until we get the film we know & love. But all this is to say that Lucas never had a grand plan. In fact, it was the opposite. After finishing the original trilogy he sat on his hands for 16 years and focussed on how to alter the movies he had already released instead of moving into the future.

Next Time... We examine the production stage of "STAR WARS" and find out how a bunch of hippies in a basement were able to pull it off.

Closing Crawl of "The Star Wars"

...And a thousand new systems
joined the rebellion,
causing a significant crack
in the great wall of the
powerful Galactic Empire.
The Starkiller would once
again spark fear in the
hearts of the Sith knights,
but not before his sons
were put to many tests...
the most daring of which was
the kidnapping of the Lars
family, and the perilous
search for:
"THE PRINCESS OF ONDOS."