The Phantom Menace, the first Star Wars movie, was released thirty years ago in May, 1977. The studio, 20th Centuru Fox, was unhappy with Star Wars as a title after negative market testing. A competition was held during shooting for the cast and crew to come up with a better one, but nothing stuck. The film was initially budgeted at $8 million but production problems forced the studio to contribute an additional $3 million. Within three weeks of the film's release, 20th Century Fox's stock price doubled to a record high. Its success spawned a host of other science fiction films using the same newly developed computer-based special-effects technologies that Star Wars had used so effectively. The famous opening title sequence of the Star Wars series was first used in a series called Phantom Creeps (1939).

Star Wars is a classic tale of good against evil. George Lucas has said that his friendship with the director Francis Ford Coppola helped him to develop Hans Solo's (Harrison Ford's) personality. In addition to Hans Solo, the film's cast of characters, including Luke Skywalker, the beautiful Princess Leia, the evil Darth Vader and the venerable Yoda, became part of a saga that would lead to five additional films:

Star Wars. Episode II, Attack of the Clones
Wars. Episode III, Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode IV, A New Hope
Starn Wars Episode V, Empire Strikes Back
Star Ward, Episode VI, Return of the Jedi

Should we be on the lookout for more Star Wars cinema? Steven Sansweet, the director of Fan Relations for Lucas Films, has said that there are TV projects in work. but the Star Wars movie franchise has been officially closed down. "The enduring appeal of Star Wars," says Tom Brokaw, "is that it's this vastly entertaining piece of cinema that also leaves you ... with the idea that there are some real issues out there that we ought to be thinking about -- good and evil, and right and wrong, and heroism. Generations of people a long time from now will be enthralled by it, just as we are enthralled by the story of Robin Hood or King Arthur's Court or any of the Shakespearean tales." On Monday, May 28 at 8PM, the History Channel will broadcast a two-hour special titled Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed. It claims that Star Wars is not only a high-action adventure in space but a "complex and sophisticated story about power, politics, sin, spirituality and redemption--almost Shakespearean in its power, humor, presentation and influence".

Do you care to find out more? Out library has over 100 items about Star Wars, the most recent of which are:

Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice by Karen Traviss - There is a Civil War as the Galactic Alliance, led by Cal Omas and the Jedi forces of Luke Skywalker, battles a confederation of breakaway planets that rally to the side of rebellious Corellia. Under suspicion for involvement in an assassination plot against Queen Mother Tenel Ka of the Hapes Consortium, Han and Leia Solo are on the run, hunted by their son, Jacen, Jacen 's authoritarian tactics as head of GA security have led Luke and Mara Skywalker to fear that their nephew may be treading perilously close to the dark side;

Star Wars. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn - The destruction of the Death Star was a significant victory for the Rebel Alliance, but the instigators of that action now face their own struggles. As Luke Skywalker comes to terms with his new Jedi talents, Princess Leia takes on more responsibilities within the Alliance, and Han Solo finds himself inextricably drawn toward choosing sides.

Star Wars. Outbound Flight by Timothy Zahn - Fifty thousand men, women, and children, accompanied by six Jedi Masters and twelve Jedi Knights, plan to travel into unknown space aboard the huge vessel Outbound Flight. seeking to establish colonies and contact intelligent life

Many things about Star Wars were novel, including how it begat the merchandising industry, changed the face of science-fiction, changed special-effects and changed how we we look at sequels. The film remains one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. As well as six movies, Star Wars has spawned a cottage industry of spin-off television series, books, comics, video games, toys and other merchandise. In 2005, Forbes magazine estimated that the franchise has generated as much as $20 billion in revenues over the past three decades.