With the first new Star Wars film in ten years – The Force Awakens – opening on 17th December, there’s really no way you escape the hype about the most anticipated film since, well, the universe was created. But what if you’re not much of a Star Wars fan? If you’re feeling a bit alienated by all this Star Wars hoopla and want to get up-to-speed in time for the new movie, here’s your need-to-know guide to the most successful film franchise of all time...
1) The films
There have been six Star Wars films so far, excluding The Force Awakens. The six are made up of two trilogies, the first of which was released between 1977 and 1983 and the second between 1999 and 2005. The Force Awakens is kicking off a third trilogy that will take us up to 2019.
Confusing, Star Wars creator George Lucas subtitled his first Star Wars film Episode IV: A New Hope, with the next two films being Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The next trilogy (1999-2005) went back in time with Episodes I–III, and now The Force Awakens is Episode VII. Got it?
2) The story
Essentially the Star Wars movies are the story of the Skywalker family, the Jedi Knights (good) and the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire (bad). Episodes I-III tell the story of Anakin Skywalker, the child prodigy who is gifted with “the Force” (see glossary below).
Anakin eventually succumbs to “the Dark Side of the Force” and, after a near-fatal duel with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, is disfigured, given a new life-support suit (in super-cool black) and handed the name Darth Vader.
Set 20-odd years after the events of Episodes I-III, Episode VI (otherwise known simply as Star Wars, seeing as it was the first film released) picks up the story of Anakin’s son, Luke Skywalker, who joins an elderly Obi-Wan Kenobi to save Princess Leia (whom he doesn’t know is his twin sister) from the clutches of Darth Vader (whom he doesn’t know is his father) before training as a Jedi and eventually helping destroy the Empire.
3) The characters
Episodes I-III
The lead characters in the prequel trilogy are Anakin Skywalker, whom we first meet as a precocious nine-year-old, then as a moody teen and eventual scruffy-haired twentysomething; Padmé Amidala, who ends up in a relationship with Anakin; and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin’s Jedi mentor. There’s also Yoda, the frog-like Jedi master and the two ‘droids’, the fussy, gold-plated C-3PO and his shortarse buddy R2-D2.
Episodes IV-VI
At the end of Episode III, Padmé dies in childbirth, shortly after giving birth to twins, whom she names Luke and Leia, while Anakin, burned and limbless after his fight with Obi-Wan, becomes Darth Vader with no knowledge that Padme was even pregnant. In Episode IV, the now grown-up Luke Skywalker is a farmer living with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, who leaves his home planet after meeting Obi-Wan Kenobi and enlisting the assistance of space rogue Han Solo and his “walking carpet” co-pilot Chewbacca, in an attempt to save the life of Princess Leia (who had been adopted by the royal family of Alderaan after the death of her mother at the end of Episode III). Oh, and C-3PO and R2-D2 are still around and Yoda makes another appearance as Luke’s Jedi teacher.
Glossary
The Force: The mysterious energy force that gives the Jedi – and the Sith – their power. According to Obi-Wan Kenobi, “it's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” So there you go.
The Millennium Falcon: Han Solo’s spaceship. Known as “the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy”.
Jedi Knights: Long-time guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, the Jedi Knights were virtually wiped out when the Empire came to power.
Lightsaber: A laser sword that is the weapon of the Jedi Knights.
Sith: The name of a group of Force-sensitive types who have gone over to the “Dark Side of the Force”. Imagine the Nazis with superpowers and you’ve got it.
Death Star: A moon-sized weapon constructed by the Empire with the power to destroy entire planets.
Rebel Alliance: The name for the collection of groups who fought back against the Galactic Empire.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on 17th December.
