Star Wars

Star Wars. How does one start with such a big topic as Star Wars?

In terms of nerd-dom franchises Star Wars stands in the top tier, challenged only by others of it's level such as Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, etc. The incredibly ardent fandom is spread worldwide and has a strong presense in popular culture, many of the characters of Star Wars, such as Darth Vader and Yoda, becoming ironic to the public.

The rise of the original trilogy

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....etc etc you all know the lines.

A man called George Lucas had the idea to create a series of epic sci-fi space operas that became more successful that Disney took notice and long gave it the franchise fluttering eye lashes, trying to seduce it.

He decided to start with the four movie in the films he had envisioned, for at the time he didn't have the special effects to create the first three to the standard he wanted. So Episode four A New Hope was created and it is not an exaggeration to say it changed the face of sci-fi, bringing a new era of special effects and imagination to cinema and changing the lives of many who would go onto to become dedicated fan boys.

With episode five The Empire Strikes Back and Episode six The Return of the Jedi, the legend of Star Wars and it's place in cultural history was assured.

The coming of the prequel trilogy

With the year 2000 coming, George Lucas felt that special effects technology had reached the level he wanted and began to create the first three movies in the star wars story he had envisioned.

The hype for the movies was immense.

And then the first movie, Episode One the Phantom Menace came out.....and there was nerd rage beyond expectation.

The problem was the immense expectations of the fandom had grown so much anything less then perfect would not do so perhaps that is a bit to blame for the reaction to the prequel trilogy.

But there was nothing to cover the problems that did exist with the first movie. Jar Jar Binks has become such a figure of ire to the star wars fandom mentioning him will incite rage and prayers to Khorne for his swift demise.

Episode Two Attack of the Clones and Episode Three Revenge of the Sith followed after a few years each and there was dissatisfaction by the fandom generally to the movies. Fan complained they didn't match the greatest of the original trilogy and were more action concerned then story line.

What was generally more well received during this time for Star Wars was the Clone Wars animated series, following the war between the Republic and the Confederacy.

Disney and the sequel trilogy

Finally, all the efforts by Disney to woo George Lucas paid off and in 2012 Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise and immediately announced they would produce a new trilogy of films set after the original trilogy.

Expectations for this new trilogy are high.....as are the private fears of the fans about what will happen and what direction Disney will take their beloved franchise in.

Expanded Universe

It can be said what makes a franchise into a long term lasting thing is when a wealth of extra story and background is created that expands on the original story far beyond what there was. It could be argued Star Wars leads the race in this, as the sheer amount of extra novels, graphic novels and games based on Star Wars would overwhelm the ordinary fan.

The background has expanded right into the distance past before the founding of the current jedi and sith orders and into the far future looking at the descendants of Luke Skywalker and other popular characters.

Impact on 1D4Chan and associated games etc

Star Wars has had subtle and clear impacts on a number of other franchises and genres and it can had to gauge the extent of this influence. Certainly it didn't create the concepts of sci-fi, space battles, sweeping storylines and a blending of mystical and scientific ideas but it certainly popularized many sci-fi ideas during the years of the original trilogy and influenced many people that would go on to have interests in sci-fi, fantasy and epic adventure.