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"THE STAR WARS"
May, 1973
Story Synopsis
BY
GEORGE LUCAS
A
LUCASFILM LTD.
FILM
THE STAR WARS
by
George Lucas
LUCASFILM LIMITED
May, 1973
Deep Space.
The eerie blue-green planet of Aquilae
slowly drifts
into view. A small speck, orbiting
the planet, glints
in the light of a near by star.
Suddenly a sleek fighter-type spacecraft
settles ominously
into the foreground moving swiftly toward
the orbiting
speck. Two more fighters silently
maneuver into battle
formation behind the first and then three
more craft
glide into view. The orbiting speck
is actually a
gargantuan space fortress which dwarfs
the approaching
fighters. Fuel pods are jettisoned.
The six fighters
break off into a power dive attack on
the huge fortress.
Lazer bolts streak from the fighters creating
small
explosions on the complex surface of the
fort. Return
fire catches one of the fighters and it
bursts into a
million pieces. Another of the craft
plows into a gun
emplacement jutting from the fortress
causing a hideous
series of chain reaction explosions.
The chaos of
battle echoes through the vastness of
space.
It is the thirty-third century, a period
of civil wars
in the galaxy. A rebel princess,
with her family,
her retainers, and the clan treasure,
is being pursued.
If they can cross territory controlled
by the Empire
and reach a friendly planet, they will
be saved. The
Sovereign knows this, and posts a reward
for the capture
of the princess.
She is being guarded by one of her generals,
(Luke
Skywalker) and it is he who leads her
on the long and
dangerous journey that follows.
They take along with
them two hundred pounds of the greatly
treasured "aura
spice", and also two Imperial bureaucrats,
whom the
general has captured.
The two terrified, bickering bureaucrats
crash land
on Aquilae while trying to flee the battle
of the
space fortress. They accidently
discover a small
container of the priceless "aura spice"
and are rummaging
around the rocks pushing and pulling each
other trying
to find more when they are discovered
by Luke Skywalker
and taken to his camp.
The princess and the general are disguised
as farmers,
and the bureaucrats join their party with
the intention
of stealing their "land speeder" and "aura
spice".
It doesn't take them too long to realize
the general
isn't a farmer and that they are captives
about to
embark on a dangerous mission. The
two bureaucrats
are essentially comic relief inserted
among the general
seriousness of the adventure.
The small group in their sleek, white,
two-man "land
speeders" travel across the wastelands
of Aquilae,
headed for the space port city of Gordon,
where they
hope to get a spacecraft that will take
them to the
friendly planet of Ophuchi.
At a desolate rest stop, the rebels are
stopped and
questioned by an Imperial patrol.
Apparently satisfied,
the captian lets the group continue on
their way, but
a short distance into the wilderness,
they are attacked
by the patrol. The Imperial patrol
of twelve men is no
match for the incredibly skilled and powerful
general,
who makes short work of the enemy.
One of the two-man "speeders" is destroyed
in the fight
and the bureaucrats must ride on the back
of the remaining
one, which slows the group down considerably.
They
drive into a storm, run low on food and
water, but
eventually make it to the ruin of a religious
temple.
In the temple they discover a rebel band
of ten boys
(aged 15 to 18) who are planning an attack
on one of
the Imperial outposts. The boys
laugh in anticipation
of the blow they will strike the Empire
in the name of
the princess. They all stop laughing,
but the laughing
continues and they look around in consternation.
Into
the sanctuary ambles Skywalker, scratching
himself,
amused at the idealism of the youths.
He barely
glances at them. The contrast between
the boy rebels
with their terse nods, their meaningful
glances, and
Skywalker, a real general, a real man
could not be
greater. The boys plead to join
the party to protect
the princess, but the general refuses,
and insists
they all return to their homes.
They say they have
no place to go and begin to follow the
party across
the wasteland.
One night the party is attacked by one
of the large
beasts that roam the plains, and is eventually
killed
by the boy rebels. The general reluctantly
accepts
the presence of the boys, and allows them
to join
the group.
The general, one of the bureaucrats, and
one of the
boys, venture into a shabby cantina on
the outskirts
of the space port, looking for the rebel
contact who
will help them get a spacecraft.
The murky little
den is filled with a startling array of
weird and
erotic Aliens laughing and drinking at
the bar. The
bureaucrat and the boy are both terrified
as the general
orders two drinks and questions the bartender
about
the rebel contact man. A group of
bullies begin to
taunt and ridicule the boy. Skywalker
attempts to avoid
a confrontation, but worse comes to worse,
and he is
forced to fight. With a flash of
light, his lazer
sword is out. An are lies on the
ground, one of the
bullies lies double, slashed from chin
to groin and
Skywalker, with quiet dignity, replaces
his sword in
its sheath. The entire fight has
lasted a matter of
seconds.
Skywalker, the princess, and their party
make contact
with the rebel underground, but not before
an Imperial
spy, who followed them from the cantina,
reports their
plans to the city governor. The
rebels enter the
space port to board a trader's ship, whose
captain
is friendly toward the rebels. The
group doesn't
realize until it is too late, that it
is a trap. Guards
pounce on them from everywhere.
The princess, the
bureaucrats, and the boys run for a ship
while Skywalker
holds off the guards. They narrowly
escape in a stolen
space fighter and lose themselves among
the giant
Imperial fleet looking for the rebels.
The general orbits his ship further and
further away
from the planet, until he feels it is
safe to head out
into deep space toward Ophuchi.
As he maneuvers to
break out of orbit, a patrol craft hails
the ship and
requests to board and search her.
Skywalker trys to
discourage them, but the patrol becomes
suspicious.
Skywalker makes a run for it and the patrol
craft
fires on them. The rebels return
the fire and destroy
the patrol craft. The stolen Imperial
ship races toward
the safety of deep space as twelve fighter
craft converge
on the destroyed patrol and give chase.
A raging air-to-air battle and chase begins
which
continues halfway across the galaxy.
The rebel boys
shoot down many Imperial ships under the
harsh and
uncompromising instructions of the general.
A few of
the boys are angered at his cold and relentless
directions,
although they grow to respect him when
they begin to
see the results of his training.
Their ship is hit
several times and begins to break up,
causing them
to slow down. They maneuver the
crippled fighter to
an asteroid in an attempt to hide from
their pursuers.
The trick works, but as they resume their
trek across
the galaxy, the ship is rocked by a series
of explosions
and plummets toward the forbidden planet
of Yavin.
Everyone jettisons safely away from the
doomed craft
before it explodes, and using rocket pack,
slowly
drift to the foreboding surface.
The general, the princess,
the two bureaucrats with the "aura spice",
and one of
the rebel boys regroup and set up camp.
When only
one other boy shows up, the group decides
to split up.
The general, princess, and bureaucrats
head for what
appears to be a city, while the two boys
go off looking
for their comrades. They are watched
by a giant furry
Alien, who quietly disappears into the
foliage.
Skywalker and his party race along a narrow
pathway
riding "jet-sticks" fashioned from their
rescue packs.
They round a bend and see the way is blocked
by three
or four Aliens, riding large bird-like
creatures. The
general instantly changes direction on
to a side path,
the others follow close behind, chased
by the Aliens.
Skywalker drops behind the others and
begins shooting
at the Aliens with his lazer gun.
The Aliens sling a
dart-like object at Skywalker as they
rush along the
road. The general kills the last
Alien just as he
reaches the gate to the Alien camp.
Skywalker cannot
curb his "jet-stick" in time and the momentum
carries
him directly into the enemies' hands.
The group is surrounded by Aliens.
Skywalker jumps
off his "jet-stick" and takes a defense
stance. The
Aliens give him room. They seem
puzzled by these
intruders and jabber to themselves.
Two leaders carry
on a heated argument. Finally one
storms off in disgust
and the other summons a guard who steps
forward with
a large spear in his hand. Skywalker
and the Alien
stand surveying each other. The
Alien makes a lunge,
the general counters, and the fight begins.
A desperate
fight ensues, but eventually Skywalker
wins by cutting
the Alien in half with his lazer sword.
At this, all
the Aliens worked into a frenzy mob, carry
the general
off and throw him over a thousand foot
crevasse into
a boiling lake.
The general's sure death, terrifies the
bureaucrats
and moves the princess. The Aliens
lead them to a
small hut where they are imprisoned.
Unknown to everyone,
the general grabs an overhanging vine
on his descent
and swings to safety. He starts
back to rescue the
others when he encounters an Alien.
Skywalker starts
to attack, but the Alien drops to the
ground jabbering
and carrying on. The general recognizes
the Alien as
the one who argued with the leader, who
ordered his death.
The general trys to communicate with the
Alien, but
all he can make out is that the creature
worships him
and wants to take him some place urgently.
The Alien leads Skywalker to a clearing
where a platoon
of the Imperial guard is lounging, obviously
waiting
for someone or something. The general
jumps undercover
as a herd of Aliens arrive with the princess
and
bureaucrats in tow. A trade is made
and the platoon
leaves in a "speed tank" with the three
captives. The
general tries to follow, but is unable
to keep up.
The Alien leads Skywalker to a small farm
where he discovers
the boy rebels are waiting for him.
The farm is owned
by a cantankerous old farmer who is married
to an Alien.
He tells the group that he hates the Empire
and shows them the
location of an outpost where they might
have
taken the princess.
The general and his army of youthful warriors
plan
an attack on the small Imperial outpost.
They use
surprise and the general's rigorous training
to overcome
the enemy and capture the outpost.
they discover the
princess has been taken to Alderaan, the
capitol of
the Empire. They make plans to rescue
the princess
from right under the nose of the Emperor.
The only
craft at the outpost capable of intergalactic
travel
is a squadron of one-man devil fighters,
which the
general trains the kids to use.
When they feel they
are ready, they strike out toward the
center of the
galaxy and the heart of the Empire.
Disguised as Imperial rangers, the small
armada flies
right through the gates of the impressive
city-planet
of Alderaan and stops at the prison complex.
After
overcoming a series of difficult barriers
and traps
they find the princess and free her.
An alarm sounds. The rebels are forced
to fight their
way out of the prison with "multiple lazer
guns" and
swords. A few of the boys are killed,
but most of
them make it to their spacecraft followed
by Skywalker
and the princess. They break through
a ring of Imperial
ships attempting to stop them and escape
into deep
space.
The princess' arrival on Ophuchi is celebrated
by
a huge parade, honoring the general and
his small band.
The princess' uncle, ruler of Ophuchi,
rewards the
bureaucrats, who for the first time see
the princess
revealed as her true goddess-like self.
The general
commissions the "boy rebels" into the
princess' special
guard. After the ceremony is over,
and the festivities
have ended, the drunken bureaucrats stagger
down an
empty street arm in arm realizing that
they have been
adventuring with demigods.
THE END ?
MAY 25, 1973 |