Star Wars

The quick version

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... the tyrannical Empire has most of the planets in the galaxy under it's control.  A small group of under-resourced rebels are battling to end this reign of fear and dictatorship while the Empire attempts to wipe them out in return.  In particular we focus on three of them; Princess Leia Organa, whose family has a long involvement in the Rebellion, Han Solo, a mercenary who gets involved by accident, and Luke Skywalker, an eager and talented young pilot from a backwater planet.

As well as fighting for the Rebllion, Luke learns from an enigmatic old man that he, like the fabled Jedi, has the ability to connect with and use the Force.  This is a mystical energy or life force that permeates the fabric of the universe and ties everything in it together.  Certain people are hyper-sensitive to this energy and can tap into the Force and use it to give them almost supernatural awareness and abilities, including Luke, the Emporer himself, and his sinister lacky Darth Vader.  We follow Luke and the others on their adventures as they fight to restore freedom to the galaxy.

Original Trilogy Drinking Game

Take a swig when:

• Anyone turns a lightsaber on or off
• C-3PO complains about something
• Anyone does something suicidal... and lives!
• A villain underestimates our heroes.
• The Force is mentioned/used
• Yoda speaks with his words in the wrong order
• A bad guy wears black and a hero wears white.  Twice if vice versa (for uniforms, only the first person on screen counts)
• A large object explodes in a single blast.
• A family member of Luke's is mentioned.
• A stormtrooper dies from an apparent flesh wound
• Anyone insults or boasts about the Millenium Falcon.

You ought to know that...

• There is a LOT of extra material, which would take you years to get through.  As well as the obligatory games and cartoons that support the franchise, there are scores of books which fill in the gaps between the films and carry on tracking the lives of our heroes and their descendants for several generations.  No one expects you to know any of it.
• There are aliens in the films, but not too many.  The only ones you really need to recognise are:  Small frog creature, big frog creature, small bears, giant bears, enormous slug crime lord, and a squid-person who is a military General (because the Rebels are all about diversity and equality despite having almost no human pilots who aren't white.  Hooray!)  Most of these are puppets made by the same studio that made The Muppets - the amazing Jim Henson Creature Shop.

• The 'original' Star Wars movies are films 4, 5 and 6 in an imagined series of nine, and these are required viewing for any Star Wars fan.  Now here's where it gets complicated.  There is also a 'Prequel series' (films 1, 2 and 3) explaining the origins of Darth Vader and a few of other characters.  The prequel trilogy, while it has it's merits, is generally considered to have sub-par storytelling in comparison to the original trilogy.  If you feel the need to watch them all you can do it in story order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), order of movie release (4, 5 ,6 ,1 ,2 ,3) or use the prequels as flashbacks (4, 5, 1 , 2, 3, 6).  This final order is often recommended for newbies wanting to see all six films together as it keeps a lot more of the plot twists intact and sets up all your characters from the past and present before pitching them all into the final movie together.  

Jedi vs dark lord.  Just remembering this scene gives me the shivers.

• Star Wars is a great example of the past mixing with the future in that special way that geeks seem to love.  Despite being set in deep space within minutes of the opening we have an evil overlord, a damsel in distress, a naive farmboy leaving home in search of adventure, a wise old mystic, a loose cannon becoming downright heroic thanks to the power of friendship and a bunch of (Jedi) knights with (laser) swords!  All your essential fairytale ingredients!  It's practically Arthurian, yet technological enough to be a true sci-fi.

It's everywhere!

Star Wars is hugely quotable and well embedded in popular culture.  Many of it's plot points have become so commonly repeated that they are now cliches or 'tropes' in themselves (e.g. key characters revealed as being related).  The characters are so universally known, even by people who haven't seen the movies, that they can be used in advertising.  Who doesn't love taking the mick out of an evil dark lord?

Star Wars is also responsible for all of the following quotes, most of which you've probably heard at some point:

• "No [insert name here], I am your father!" 
• "It's a Trap!"
• "May the Force be with you" 
• "These aren't the droids you're looking for." 
• Darth Vader's "hoh-per" breathing noise. 
• The hum of a lightsaber being swung around. 
• Absolutely anything said in Yoda-speak. 

In conversation with a fan...

• DO say "Han shot first".  This refers to a scene that was changed when creator George Lucas had the original movies remastered, but it was better the first time round.  Years have passed and we're still not happy about it.
• DO NOT mention the Christmas Special, or a character named Jar Jar Binks.  Don't even ask me to explain why because I can't talk about it.

Rebel and Empire ships do battle in space.