Some of the characters:

Internet links:

Star Wars
The official site. A good place to start, well made and informative site.

Lucasfilm Ltd
George Lucas' production company. A rather boring site.

JediNet
For the fans, by the fans. Very good, has lots of pictures and background info.

Star Warz
Home of T'Bone Fenders SW universe, the "Legacy"-project and more.

TheForce.net
Feel the Force (of the fans).

TROOPS
This SW-parody is a mix of SW and COPS! Highly recommend!

Ewans SW cinema
This guy has made three funny animated films. One of them is: Godzilla vs. Disco Lando.

Trooper Clerks
SW meets Clerks.

StarLego
If you like LEGO, this one is for you.

MacBeth
Shakespeare meets George Lucas.

The Mos Eisley Multiplex
Information and links to all the SW-parodies on the net. Very good.

I hate Star Wars
This guy has had enough of SW, and I can understand him, sort of...

Jar Jar sucks
A lot of people thinks this computer-animated character ruins Episode I. Here they gather to share hate.

Jar Jar Must Die
Another hate page. Submit your way of killing Jar Jar. Has 400 ways of killing JJ so far.

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Older features:

April-99: Kosovo

The dark lord also surfs the net.

In a galaxy far, far away, a long, long time ago...

After sixteen year Star Wars is back, and it is a huge success this time as well. What is it that makes people flock into the cinemas to watch something that is just another adventure-film? The answer is: It is not another adventure-film, it is Star Wars!. Lucasfilm and Hollywood has been working with this since the 70's and knows how to do it. Star Wars is just simply the best managed, commercialized and well-working film-formula ever developed. After four films the hype is bigger than ever, and George Lucas is becoming the richest man in Hollywood. And that is all that matters over there.

It all started in 1974. After the huge success with his second full-length feature "American graffiti", George Lucas started working with his dream project: Star Wars (SW). The year after he started the groundbreaking special effects company Industrial light and magic (ILM). He needed they to make the effects for Star Wars. In 1976 the shooting of SW could start in Tunisia. He had a lot of problems during the shooting, but the 25. May 1977 the film opens for full cinemas all over USA. SW makes more money than any other film ever before, and the audience is completely baffled by the story and the special effects. It even got seven Oscars. The rest is history.

In 1980 the sequel is released: The Empire Strikes Back. This time Lucas is not directing himself, he has hired the experienced action-film director Irvin Kerschner. He makes the film darker with more defined characters and the story is told with an intensity that the other films lacks. A lot of critics has this film as their favorite. I agree with them. A funny couriosa is that the opening sequence (from the snowplanet "Hoth") is shot at Finse, Norway...
With this film a new aspect is introduced: Merchandising. This means that you also sell a lot of related products like toys etc. George Lucas sees the potential of this and makes sure he keeps the rights of this as well (smart guy). The year after the company Lucas Arts is started. They will make computer-games and other electronic merchandise. Another smart move, by just a few years they're one of the biggest in the business.

After three years (in 1983), it is time for the last film of the trilogy to be released: The Return of the Jedi. Director this time is Richard Marquand. With this film he aims for a younger audience. The film is a sweet sentimental story introducing the teddy-bear like characters "Ewoks". This don't please the hard-core fans, but the film is a success, if not as big as the two first. The computer animation company Pixar is founded the same year. This was later sold to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and they have released groundbreaking animation films like "Toy story"(1995) and "A bugs life"(1999).

In the years that follow Lucas is involved in projects like the Indiana Jones films, "Howard the duck" and "Tucker". Indiana Jones was a huge success, but except that not much exiting is coming from Lucas' hand.
In 1995 the three SW films is released on video again. In 1997 the films are shown on the big screen again, this time with some new scenes and special effects (computer-animation mostly). This is the buildup for what's to come: George Lucas finally announces that three new films is to be made! The fans can't believe what they are told, and the hype is bigger than ever. To make it even more spectacular it is announced that the the three previous films was number 4,5 and 6 in a row of 9 episodes, and that the new films will be number 1, 2 and 3. The sales of toys, cartoons and computergames is skyrocketing. Even before Episode I opened, it has been sold merchandise for almost a billion dollars!!!

So, in May 1999 the film: "Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace" opens in America. The film it set 32 years before episode IV and has some new characters like the stupid computer-animated Jar-Jars Binks. But you'll meet the young Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker), Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, the little Jedi-master with the big ears. Of course the special effects are once again groundbreaking, but the story is weak and the question is: was it so smart of Lucas himself to direct the film after over 20 years out from the directors-chair... The critics are not so happy, but the audience love it as they always has. And the money is rolling in. So today there is one happy man sitting on his farm, the Skywalker ranch: George Lucas. The story of Star Wars is also the story of a very smart businessman.