Das Star Wars Archiv. 1977–1983. 40th Ed

Since the magical opening line "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." first flickered across the big screen in 1977, generations of film and sci-fi fans have followed Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, R2-D2, and C-3PO, and of course the most popular villain and worst father in the universe, Darth Vader, on their adventurous journeys through the endless expanses of space. Depending on their individual moral disposition, they have fought on the side of the Rebels or the Stormtroopers, wrecked the Millennium Falcon, mangled syntax with Master Yoda, and made lightsabers dance.

With his star saga, George Lucas created a world of mythical brilliance and the film franchise par excellence in cinematic history. It is now common knowledge that he was inspired by the book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by the American literary scholar and mythologist Joseph Campbell, whom he admired, when conceptualizing Star Wars. This formula, enriched with Western motifs, slapstick elements, popcorn dialogue, and a touch of Eastern spirituality, and presented with an unprecedented level of special effects and trick techniques, truly worked, and he invented an epic of lasting fascination, which was surprising even for Lucas at the time.

This volume, created in close cooperation with George Lucas and Lucasfilm, covers the origin story of the original trilogy: Star Wars (A New Hope), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It is packed with rarely seen documents, script pages, production materials, concept designs, storyboards, and of course a wealth of photos from the films.