1977, the year when TJC was founded.
On the other side of the planet, there was an even greater event which many around the world would remember the year 1977 for.
The beginning of an epic saga, set in "a galaxy far far away" -- Star Wars!
The special effects company, ILM (Industrial Light + Magic) was founded at that time for the sole purpose of creating all the special effects needed in SW. Later, of course, it helped other movies with their visual effects too.
It was said that George Lucas, the guy who concieved the idea of this movie, wanted to depict a scenario of war between a technological superpower and an army less advanced in millitary technologies -- an analogy of the Vietnam War.
I read somewhere too, that Lucas did this movie to illustrate this principle: that there's a God, and there's a good and bad side in the society.
Whatever the reason behind this film series, it was the first of its kind (its appealing visual effects and its influence on later movies).
When the first SW film was finished near 1977, it was said that it would actually be the 4th episode of an entire saga which would consist of 6 episodes (2 trilogies).
Sounds puzzling to some...
The so-called "Original trilogy" (Ep. 4 to 6) was about how Luke Skywalker joined the rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire and later became a key character in galactic history. Also, in this trilogy, Luke would strive to redeem his father who became a servant of the evil Emperor.
The prequels (Ep. 1 to 3), which began in the late 1990s, were to give an elaboration of the events that shaped the stories in Ep. 4 to 6, including the rise and fall of Luke's father, Anakin.
In my opinion, the addition of the prequels to the sequel trilogy changed the focus of the story altogether... the story, seemingly centered on Luke (if you look only at 4 to 6) , would now have Anakin as its central character, whose rise, fall and redemption would take place throughout the span of the 2 trilogies.
That's what the makers of this film wanted too: that viewers would now watch this series from the episodes 1 to 6, instead of watching from 4 to 6, then 1 to 3.
Here are a few classic scenes throughout the trilogies...
Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
The Queen and Governer Bibble were captured by Trade Federation droid troopers.
Boss Nass of the Gungans (a Naboo swamp community) refused to help the Naboo people during the invasion of the Trade federation as there had been a cold war between the 2 communities.
When Anakin first met Padme (Queen of planet Naboo in disguise as a handmaiden), he fell in love with her and declared that he's going to marry her.
The Boonta Eve Podrace: Anakin Vs Sebulba
The first Sith sighting in thousands of years after the Sith were thought to be wiped out.
Anakin Skywalker meets Obi-wan for the first time.
Anakin was being tested by the Jedi council.
In a request for help from the Gungans, Padme (who revealed herself as the real Queen), knelt before the Gungans to show her sincerity.
Naboo fighters attack the Trade Federation flagship.
Duel of the fates.
Episode 2: Attack of the Clones(10 years after Ep. 1)
Obi-wan and Anakin (now a young adult) meet Padme ten years after they parted
Obi and Ani pursue a bounty hunter who atttempted to assasinate Padme.
Anakin and Padme in the fields of Lake Country. Padme is on a retreat for safety reasons.
Anakin confessed his love to Padme, despite the fact that Jedi couildn't marry at that time. Padme had to reject Ani's love even though she did have feelings for Ani.
Obi-wan attempted to capture bounty hunter Jango Fett for further interrogation regarding Padme's case. A battle started.
Anakin, back in Tatooine, rides a speeder-bike in search for his mother who was captured by the sadistic Tusken raiders.
Ani found his mother, Shmi, being tortured in the Tusken camp. Shmi died from the tortures.
Ani and Padme got arrested by Separatists while trying to save Obi-wan. Padme decided that it's time to be honest with each other about their feelings since they're about to perish anyway.
What Anakin would call "agressive negotiations".
A few of the thousands of Jedi present to fight Separatist forces.
Yoda shows Dooku that pushover he was not.
Dooku, the head of the Separatists and a Sith lord, reports the "good" news that "war has begun" to his master, Darth Sidious.
Chancellor and Senators watched as ship after ship took off, carrying millions of clone troopers to war.
Padme and Anakin married in the Lake Country on Naboo.
Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith(2 years after Ep. 2)
The spectacular space battle over the capital planet, Coruscant.
Anakin battles Dooku while the captured Chancellor Palpatine was watching.
Anakin told Padme about his premonition that she'll die at childbirth.
Mace Windu led a group of Jedi to arrest Chancellor Palpatine, whom they discovered was the secret Sith lord, Darth Sidious.
Anakin cut off Windu's hand just when Windu was about to slay Palpatine. Palpatine got the upper hand in the fight and killed Windu.
Anakin was guilty of causing Windu's death, but, thinking about saving Padme, he bowed down to Palpatine (who claimed to be able to do so) and called him Master. Palpatine named Anakin as Darth Vader.
"Vader" carried out Palpatine's orders to wipe out the Jedi on Coruscant, under the excuse that the Jedi were rebelling against the Chancellor.
Obi-wan watched Anakin's slaughtering of Jedi recorded on security camera.
"Vader" disposed of the remaining Separatist members as Palpatine's ordered.
Anakin wept at what he had done, but he thought that was the only way to attain enough power to save Padme.
Padme, who was visibly pregnant, tired to dissuade Anakin from continuing to serve Palpatine, who declared himself Emperor after wiping out the Jedi.
Yoda confronted and fought Palpatine in the Senate building. He later lost and exiled himself to swamp planet Dagobah.
Obi-wan and Anakin battled in the lava planet Mustafar.
Anakin was severely burnt after the lava battle. Palpatine put Anakin in a bio-mechanical suit and Anakin assumed his full identity as Darth Vader. He was dismayed to learn from Palpatine that Padme was killed by he himself. Luke and Leia, his twin children, were transported to Tatooine and Alderaan respectively, while Vader thought that the "child" died with Padme.
Episode 4: A New Hope(20 years after Ep.3)
An Imperial Star Destroyer chasing Tantive 4, a ship belonging to the Rebel Alliance which sought to bring democracy to the galaxy by crushing the Empire
Vader enters the captured Tantive 4.
Strangling -- one of Vader's hobbies.
Luke Skywalker watches as the 2 suns (which make Tatooine a desert planet) set together. Luke did not know the true history of his father then.
Luke was mesmerized by the beautiful girl in the hologram who was actually Princess Leia.
Obi-wan, who lived on Tatooine ever since Anakin turned to evil, planned to train Luke to be a Jedi. He merely said that Darth Vader "betrayed and murdered" Luke's father.
The Death Star approaches planet Alderaan. The "Superlaser" generator disc is visible in this picture.
Moff Tarkin and Vader tried to extract vital information from Leia (Alderaan's princess by virtue), a key member of the Rebel Alliance.
A "superlaser" beam generated by the Death Star strikes planet Alderaan, blowing it up.
"These are not the droids you're looking for." Obi-wan does a mind-trick on the Imperial troopers who almost found the androids carrying tactical information of the Death Star.
Swing to Freedom 1: Luke at the Death Star, trying to rescue Leia.
Vader and Obi-wan met for the first time in 20 years in a lightsaber duel. Obi-wan was slain in this fight.
Rabel fighters approaching the thermal exhaust port to fire torpedoes into the main reactor, in what became famously known as the "Trench run".
Rebels succeeded in blowing up the Death Star before it destroyed Yavin, where the Rebels were based.
The victory parade.
Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back(3 years after Ep. 4)
Leia kissed Luke to spite Han.
Vader Force-strangled Admiral Ozzel and ordered Captain Piett to replace him.
Imperial walkers attacking the Rebel base at ice planet Hoth.
Luke arrived at Dagobah at the instruction of Obi-wan's ghost, to be trained by Yoda. Yoda (literally) tested the patience of Luke, who did not know who Yoda was at that time.
Luke watched in disbelief as Yoda Force-lifted his sunken X-wing fighter.
Imperial Captain Needa apologized to Vader for not being able to locate the Millenium Falcon. He was Force-strangled to death.
A glimpse of Vader's bare head as he took a break from wearing breathing aid in a pressurised chamber.
Han tries to find out whether Leia has feelings for him.
The Millenium Falcon escaped from the mouth of a space slug, which they thought was a cave in the asteroid.
As Han was about to be frozen in carbonite and delivered to Jabba the Hutt, Leia confessed her love for him. Han's reply was a simple "I know".
Luke meets Vader face to face for the first time.
Luke was devastated to know that Vader was his father.
Episode 6: Return of the Jedi
The second Death Star in construction.
Leia was captured by Jabba while trying to save Han... and was forced into this trademark metal bikini. Luke arrives to negotiate his friends' release.
Swing to freedom 2: Rescuing Leia at Jabba's sail barge.
Obi-wan's ghost explained to Luke what actually happened to Anakin. Luke believed that there's still good in his father, but Obi-wan doubted so. Luke also found out that Leia was his twin sister.
Luke tells Leia that they're twins.
Luke and Vader before the Emperor, who wanted to turn Luke to the dark side too.
The Death Star fires a superlaser beam at a Rebel ship.
In his anger over the slaughter of Rebels, Luke fights Vader, and it was obvious that Luke had the upper hand.
Luke severed Vader's mechanical right hand and was struggling to keep himself in control from slaying Vader. He decided that there was still hope for his father to repent.
Palpatine wanted to kill Luke with Force-lightning when Luke refused to kill Vader and turn to the dark side. Luke pleaded with Vader to save him.
Vader grabbed the Emperor, threw him down a reactor shaft, and saved Luke. His life-support system's circuits got fried by the Emperor's lightning.
Vader told Luke to unmask him as he wanted to see his son with his own eyes (that is, without visors) before he died.
Febel fighters managed to travel down the Death Star's exhaust port (which was wider this time) and destroyed the main reactor. Now they had to get out before the Death Star blew up. Luke managed to get out in time, by the way.
Luke saw the ghosts of Obi-wan, Yoda and Anakin.
Famous lines
Chewbacca (Han's trusty co-pilot), a Wookie.
"I have a bad feeling about this" -- You can hear that in almost every episode.
"I find your lack of (faith) disturbing" -- A line that appears quite frequently in the StarWars.com caption contest. Ask any Vader fan and he/she'll definitely remember this line!
"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie!" What Leia said when Han suggested a good-bye kiss.
Palpatine's power play
"I love democracy. I love the Republic." -- Palpatine
The first 3 episodes give us the events that contribute to Palpatine's rise to power.
In the beginning, he was a Senator in the Galactic government who suggested a restriction on trade routes, and behind the scenes, ubder the identity of Darth Sidious, he instigated the Trade Federation to impose a blockade on planet Naboo (Palpatine's home planet).
The Senate then was inefficient in taking urgent action against this blockade, so the Queen of Naboo (Padme) suggested that a new Chancellor should take over the government.
Due to public sympathy, Palpatine was then elected as Chancellor.
Ten years later, he instigated a Separatist movement against the government (as Darth Sidious), and negotiations between the Separatists and the government wasn't working, so the Senate finally voted to give Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers, with which he used to create an army of cloned humans to fight the Separatists.
Palpatine became the first Chancellor with a galaxy-wide millitary force.
Once his motive (gaining military strength) was achieved, he orchestrated the rest of the war (he's in charge of both sides, remember?) and finally, after he gained a new apprentice (Darth Vader), he moved the whole Separatist force to planet Mustafar and ordered Vader to dispose of them on that planet.
With Order 66 (a pre-programmed order to the Republic's clone troopers), Palpatine made the Clones turn against their Jedi generals and kill them all.
With no more political opposition, Palpatine declared himself Emperor in an urgent Senate session. His control over the galaxy was complete.
Sounds Korean to me
"I guess you don't know everything about women yet." -- Leia to Han
Luke and Leia, who did not know that they're siblings, first met on the Death Star in Episode 4. Luke joined Obi-wan for his mission to rescue Leia mainly because he was mesmerised by this hologram of Leia he saw back on his planet Tatooine, and wanted to know more about her.
Later during the movies, Leia sort of developed feelings for Luke. Reminds you of some typical Korean drama right?
Han also wanted to court Leia, and suggested more than once that Leia might have feelings for him. In an attempt to dispel Han's myth, she kissed Luke directly in front of Han and friends.
In the later missions, however, Luke was always away from the "clique", so Leia was with Han most of the time. Han's unbashed approach towards Leia sort of swept her off her feet and left her confused.
At the critical moment, when Han was about to be carbon-frozen, Leia confessed that she did have feelings for him.
However, Han himself was still unsure of whether Leia still had feelings for Luke. In their mission at Endor moon, after Luke told Leia that they were actually twins, Leia was still registering the truth when Han approached. He thought that she and Luke were sharing secrets that she couldn't tell Han, and that made him frustrated.
Near the end of the mission, however, Leia finally told Han that Luke was her twin brother, so... basically Han's only competition was eliminated!
But I think, even if Luke wasn't her brother, Leia would stll choose Han in the end, because she had been through much more with Han than with Luke (with Luke away to either train as a Jedi or to redeem his Dad).
Darth Redeemed
"Clouded, this boy's future is" -- Yoda
One of the things I like the most in Star Wars is Anakin's redemption and his reconcillation with Obi-wan.
When I first got to know the story of Return of the Jedi (through the novelization of the movie), the return of Anakin to the good side was just another part of the whole story to me. Now, however, after watching Revenge of the Sith I came to sympathize with Anakin, and his return to the good side became much more meaningful.
Originally it was planned that the Emperor's throne room was in a lava planet, and that in the end Vader would save Luke by grabbing the Emperor and tumbling into the lava together with him. Later, however, the throne room was set in the Death Star, and Vader would not fall into the reactor shaft with the Emperor. Instead, the dying Vader would ask Luke to remove his mask, so father and son would have a last look at each other, face to unmasked face. This part, I believe, made the ending much more touching as well.
Anakin Skywalker was a ten-year old kid when he was discovered to have great potential of being a Jedi, but the Jedi council had their reservations against training him because he was too old (at that time, Jedi training starts from infancy) and that his "future was clouded". However, he did get trained eventually.
Anakin sort of fell in love with Padme before he became a Jedi, and ten years after his training began, he and Padme both realized that they had feelings for each other during a safety retreat. Despite the restrictions on marriage among Jedi at that time, the couple married each other.
It was this Jedi restriction on marriage that caused him to keep the marriage a secret even from his own mentor, Obi-wan. Padme soon became pregnant, and Anakin had premonitions of Padme dying at childbirth.
Just when Obi-wan was away on a mission, Chancellor Palpatine, who revealed that he was a Sith lord (enemy of the Jedi, a group which endorsed the use of the dark side of the Force), took advantage of Anakin's fears and promised him a way to save Padme if Anakin became his apprentice. Anakin originally wanted to kill Palpatine upon knowing he was a Sith, but because of Padme, he did not do so. He even impaled Mace Windu when he was about to kill Palpatine, causing Palpatine to have the upper hand in the fight and kill Windu.
Anakin's guilt and his desperation made him unwillingly (it's obvious in Episode 3) become Palpatine's apprentice, with the new name of Darth Vader.
After doing what Palpatine ordered (which was to kill Palpatine's political enemies), Anakin was visibly guilty at what he'd done and he could tell no one else. Obi-wan got to know of Anakin's evil doings and that Anakin was the father of Padme's baby (which turned out to be twins).
Padme went to Mustafar, the lava planet, to dissuade Anakin from continuing in his slaughter, but when he saw Obi-wan in his wife's ship (he sneaked in), he thought his wife had betrayed him, and he even wanted to strangle Padme to death, but was stopped by Obi-wan.
The two had a fight, but eventually Anakin fell down on cooling lava and got burnt to near-death. Palpatine put Anakin in a life support suit and his new life as Vader began. Palpatine told Vader that he himself kiled Padme in his anger, and Vader was in anguish.
In actual fact, Padme died at childbirth (Anakin's turn to dark side seemed to be unable to prevent that...), leaving behind a pair of twins, Luke and Leia.
So it was 20-odd years of serving the Emperor, thinking that his child died with Padme. Vader became a ruthless warlord, killing subordinates for slight errors.
Soon he got to know of the existence of Luke Skywalker (the surname was so damn obvious), and so did the Emperor, who had a premonition that Luke could destroy him. When Vader was ordered to kill Luke, he suggested instead that Luke could be turned to the dark side.
After battling with Luke and revealing that he was Luke's father, I think Vader had sort of wavered in his intentions. For example, he did not kill Admiral Piett when he lost the Rebel ship Millenium Falcon, while he did kill Captain Needa earlier on for a similar reason.
Also, while Luke's intentions regarding Vader had purely been revenge (since Obi-wan lied that Vader "killed" Luke's father), the realization that Vader was his father changed his agenda from revenge to redemption.
Luke believed that there was still good in his father (like Padme did when she was dying), and Vader's reservations against killing Luke was evidence of that, even though Obi-wan doubted so.
When Luke surrendered himself to the Imperial troops and met his father again, he tried to convince his father to turn back, and while his father denied having any trace of Anakin Skywalker in him, he did say "It's too late for me, son".
What I think was that he thought he had nowhere else to go besides serving the Emperor.
In the final battle between father and son, Luke still believed that there's some good in his father, and that he felt a conflict in Vader's mind. He refused to kill Vader even at the moment when he was able to do so. In the end, his persistence did pay off: Vader renounced the evil that's in him, and destroyed the Emperor.
Back to the father-and-son-face-to-face moment again... and then to the very end when Anakin died and returned to the light side of the Force with Obi-wan and Yoda... the reconcilation of old friends whose friendship turned sour unnecessarily.
Ever since this experience, Luke believed a lot in redemption and forgiveness as well. One of his later disciples, Kyp Durron (in the extra-movie novels) sort of kept giving him trouble and criticised his methods (and Kyp did turn to the dark side for a few times), but Luke did not just expel him from the new Jedi order.
The "Chosen one"?
"You were the chosen one!" -- Obi-wan to Anakin, who turned to evil
In Episode 1, Anakin was taken into the Jedi order because it was believed that Anakin was the prophesied "Chosen one" that will "bring balance to the Force".
Anakin did thrive well under the trainings and became a hero in the eyes of many.
But since Anakin turned to the dark side for the latter half of his life, could he still be the "chosen one"?
If you ask me, I would rather say that the "chosen one" is Luke.
I mean... Anakin did do well as a Jedi in the earlier years, but Luke became a Jedi much older than his father and only recieved what the layman would call a "crash course" from Yoda.
And he became a much stronger Jedi.
It's not wrong to say that he brought "balance to the Force" as well... I'm thinking along the lines that in the New Jedi Order that Luke established, Jedi could marry (that's a nice perk, I tell you). Even Luke himself married a fellow Jedi, but that's outside the movies.
But still, those who argue that Anakin is the "chosen one" say that in the end it was him who killed the Emperor.
Valid point.
Anyway, this "chosen one" thing was just part of the plot in Episode 1 which gave us a reason why Anakin was inducted into the Jedi order... this thing was not thought of while they were doing Episodes 4 to 6 in the 70's and 80's.
Or maybe Qui-gon was the chosen one since he was "chosen" to die in Episode "One".
Epilogue
Although the last movie in the series has come to an end, it is already announced (or so I think) that there will be a TV serial on Star Wars.
Also, numerous authors are currently adding on to the huge library of Star Wars novels (these novels made up what the Star Wars people called the "Expanded Universe"). A new novel which describes the events directly after "Revenge of the Sith" is coming up soon.
The launch of Star Wars Special Edition in the 90's delighted fans with enhanced visual effects, and there were several changes made to the movies again in the DVD set launched last year.
In the Episode 5 scene where the Emperor communicated with Darth Vader about Luke Skywalker, the Emperor's hologram was changed into one which looked more like the Emperor we saw in Episode 6. The bottom one is the DVD version.
In the ending scene where Luke saw the ghosts of his mentors and his father, Anakin was originally played by actor Sebastian shaw (above). In the DVD edition (below), Anakin was played by Hayden Christensen (whom we see in the prequels).
P.S.
All in all, this has been an exciting saga filled with not only nice visual effects, but also with a gripping and even touching storyline. Thanks for enduring one of my longest posts ever in this blog, if you read it from top to bottom in the first place.
