…IV—A New Hope (originally titled Star Wars), the towering, black-clad Darth Vader is a menacing villain. His head is covered by a signature black helmet, and the sound of his breathing is an eerie, mechanical hiss. Star Wars creator George Lucas conceived Vader’s character, while designer Ralph McQuarrie contributed some…

However, with Star Wars (1977), which he also wrote, Lucas eschewed the high-tech dystopian allegory then current in science-fiction films in favor of space opera synthesized with vintage Hollywood swashbucklers and frontier adventures.

Some scholars, citing the original Star Wars trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983) as an example, have argued that in the 1970s the mutation went so far as to leap across the boundary of subject matter toward science fiction. Although some science-fiction films may share properties with the western, it is unlikely…

George Lucas’s Star Wars, 1977) produced enormous profits and stimulated a wildcat mentality within the industry. In this environment, it was not uncommon for the major companies to invest their working capital in the production of only five or six films a year, hoping that one or…

…for his work on numerous Star Wars films.

>Star Wars (1977), which launched the film series of the same name. At a time when many scores were largely compilations of popular music from the film’s period, Williams crafted a grand orchestral score in the tradition of Erich Korngold’s scores of the 1930s and…

Moments after viewing Star Wars in 1977, he ordered 25,000 shares in the film’s sponsoring studio, 20th Century Fox.

…of which the film cycle Star Wars (1977, 1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2015–17) is the best-known exemplar. It presents a unique type of “widescreen baroque,” with all the riches of pulp fiction in a single package. For example, Star Wars offers not only advanced scientific technology—presumably necessary to build…

…SF cinema, the blockbuster movies Star Wars (1977), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) proved that science fiction had finally moved beyond its drive-in B-film status. In fact, U.S. box-office receipts for science fiction, fantasy, and horror films jumped from 5 percent in 1971…

…released on May 25, 1977, Star Wars met with runaway success. The movie was retitled Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope in 1981.

…opportunistic Han Solo in Lucas’s Star Wars (1977). The space-fantasy film became one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time. Ford’s fame was cemented with the Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) and with the Indiana Jones series, in which he…

…warrior Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi in Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983). Despite this newfound popularity, however, Guinness hated his role in these movies, later stating in an interview that he had encouraged George Lucas to kill off his character: “I just couldn’t…

Darth Vader in the Star Wars series of movies, which began in 1977. In 1994 he provided the voice of the wise Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King. He was the only cast member to reprise his role in the 2019 remake. In addition, in 1977 he won a…