On May 25th, 1977, George Lucas' masterpiece Star Wars was released in theatres around the United States, and it changed the world. It was a film that morphed into a trilogy that morphed into both a saga and a Galaxy of stories that have been getting told for over forty years now.
Star Wars was a film both like no other, but also like a few others. The franchise as a whole has pulled inspiration from some exceptional films, and in turn, has inspired generations of pop culture, and we look at examples of each here.
INSPIRED STAR WARS - The Searchers (1956)
Directed by the legendary John Ford, The Searchers is one of the finest Westerns of all time and it in turn helped influence the greatest fantasy space opera of all time.
Throughout the saga's time on Tatooine, there are images and scenes reminiscent of The Searchers, most obviously the burning homestead that was pulled straight from the movie, but also stuff such as Shmi's kidnapping and the subsequent slaughter. The Searchers' hand can be found all over Tatooine.
INSPIRED BY STAR WARS - The Alien Franchise
Ridley Scott's 1979 classic Alien has been credited by the director as being influenced majorly by George Lucas' masterpiece two years earlier. This was seen specifically in terms of the use of sound and visual effects, of which Lucas was an innovator.
The success of Star Wars helped get the project greenlit, with sci-fi being in such high demand at the time. In fact, Scott has noted how Star Wars inspired him to make more films in the franchise in Prometheus and Alien: Covenant.
INSPIRED STAR WARS - Metropolis (1927)
There are a few early sci-fi classics that inspired Star Wars, such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), but even forty years before, that was a film that influenced every piece of sci-fi going forward; Metropolis.
While Star Wars is fantasy, there are sci-fi elements and a lot of pieces that come from Fritz Lang's classic. The inclusion of the main character with a mechanical hand, as well as the battle against the ruling class, and of course, the visual design of Maschinenmensch, which is the direct inspiration for C-3PO.
INSPIRED BY STAR WARS - The Star Trek Franchise
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was initially conceived as a TV show, but the creators saw the success of Star Wars and changed it to be a feature film. They incorporated more of its space opera elements to make the second effort even more successful.
Even more so than the original movies, though, J. J. Abrams' Star Trek is basically what Star Trek would be if it were Star Wars. The comedic beats, the action, the development of the characters, all of this is inspired by the galaxy far, far away.
INSPIRED STAR WARS - Flash Gordon (1936)
George Lucas' affinity for the Flash Gordon film serial is well noted. The filmmaker was even attempting to obtain the rights for an adaptation before Star Wars, which would have prevented it from existing. As luck would have it, Lucas failed to secure the rights to his childhood dream, which led to him creating his own galactic epic instead.
Ultimately, fans are thankful Lucas made Star Wars, but there is still inspiration from the serial. Whether it be things like the opening crawl, soft wipe transitions, or even the characters themselves who have had inspiration drawn from Flash Gordon.
INSPIRED BY STAR WARS - The Dark Knight Trilogy
Christopher Nolan is one of the best working filmmakers, and, like so many, has credited Star Wars as an inspiration. While the influences of the saga can be seen in other parts of his filmography such as Interstellar, the impact on the Dark Knight Trilogy is apparent too.
The structure of the trilogy, from origin to a darker and more challenging story to the finale, is akin to Star Wars. And then there's Bane, who has so many elements of Darth Vader in his character, from the mask to the intimidation, to not being the main big bad who's actually the right hand of a larger threat. Another note is that the trilogy panned out critically in a typically similar way to Star Wars, with 2-1-3 being the general order of preference.
INSPIRED STAR WARS - The Dam Busters (1955)
George Lucas drew inspiration from many war movies, but the 1955 British war epic The Dam Busters is the most important and influential of these on the filmmaker's body of work.
The entire iconic trench run sequence of Star Wars comes from The Dam Busters, with battle tactics, trench bombing, and even direct lines of dialogue such as "Look at the size of that thing!" getting lifted from the war film. Star Wars is often referred to as "World War II in Space" and given Lucas' childhood adoration for this particular film, that claim shouldn't come as a surprise.
INSPIRED BY STAR WARS - The MCU
It is strange to think what cinema would be like today without Star Wars, and at this point, the same can be said about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which has become an iconic phenomenon in its own right.
However, there would not be one without the other. Films like Guardians Of The Galaxy and Captain America trilogy have shown significant inspiration has been drawn from Star Wars, and the MCU as a whole may not have worked or attempted had Star Wars been a complete failure.
INSPIRED STAR WARS - The Hidden Fortress (1958)
The most well known and widely talked about inspiration for Star Wars is not just The Hidden Fortress, but most of Akira Kurosawa's entire filmography. While films like Seven Samurai have massive ties to the franchise, The Hidden Fortress is just more ingrained in its galactic DNA.
A pair of peasants, aiding a scoundrel and a princess behind enemy lines, kinetic action, and other narrative and technical points all told from the point of view from the pair of lowest characters. The similarities are glaring, and Star Wars fans should give thanks to the incomparable filmmaker that was Akira Kurosawa.
INSPIRED BY STAR WARS - Pixar's Movies
By going off of the Pixar Theory's idea that the Pixar films are all connected, observers are left with an animated franchise that does not have massively apparent ties to the galaxy far, far away.
However, alongside many references and Easter Eggs that allude to Star Wars, what many people may not know is that Pixar was initially a part of Lucasfilm. The Pixar movies are all aided by technological influence from Star Wars. On top of that, many stories and character aspects of certain films like Toy Story with its subplot involving the evil emperor Zurg and Buzz Lightyear - who are apparently father and son, respectively - are obviously inspired by Star Wars.