Star Wars is a movie that has had American and international movie fans staring at their TVs for decades now.
This movie is arguably one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, and it has inspired the creation of numerous other films and games.
As more technology is getting adopted in the film industry, we are getting more genres of movies, each being more interesting than the predecessor.
Where, in all these genres, does Star Wars come up, and what is it all about? Let’s break it down;
Is Star Wars Science Fiction?
No, Star Wars is not a Sci-fi movie; instead, it is a modern myth, although it is based on a book categorized as science fiction. In addition to this, most of the scenes and tools in the movie don’t exist in real life, so they are generated using technology.
Thus they are science fictional. However, Star Wars is a fantasy movie in terms of the plot since it is mostly of mythology and supernatural events that cannot occur in our world.
Getting Deeper Into Star Wars’ Categorization
Star Wars has many settings, characters, and stories, all mashed up into one. This complicates its categorization since it can fall under most movie categories depending on the angle you look at it.
Science fiction is speculative; sci-fi movies illustrate what if, in that they make somewhat of an imaginative projection of what humans could be capable of in the future.
Fantasy movies mostly tell of events that already happened but not in the real world. Most elements that makeup science fiction movies avoid the supernatural.
Instead, they focus more on science and technology. This is partly the case for Star Wars since it has robots, spaceships, and futuristic weapons, so in a way, Star Wars is a science fiction movie.
Star Wars is not primarily considered Science fiction because of Isaac Asimov, who is, in essence, the father of Science fiction writing.
According to him, science fiction is concerned mainly with how humanity is affected by science and technology.
Star Wars isn’t any of this; it has nothing to do with the Earth or humans specifically. Humans are never explicitly mentioned in Star Wars; they are just one among many life forms. This, therefore, makes it more mythological.
In a nutshell, fantasy explores what humanity is, and science fiction explores what humanity has the potential to be.
Fantasy often has elements that don’t have to be scientifically possible, such as the Death Star in Star Wars.
Star Wars has futuristic technology, but the script and screenplay do not explain how the technology works.
This makes it more fantasy than science fiction, but the sci-fi sub-genre of space western and space opera are typical in Star Wars.
When looking at the hero’s journey, more facts come to light about this movie. This is an interesting way to look at Star Wars, especially Luke’s journey past episode VIII. George Lucas, the Writer that brought up Star Wars, borrowed from many genres.
There is a heavy genre of western, Han Solo, the cantina scenes are borrowed from the Wild West, and it has elements of a Space Opera since the movie focuses on Luke’s family drama.
Star Wars is also primarily a Samurai film; only it has alterations to make it more realistic in its setting. The name Jedi comes from Samurai concepts, and it also has a pirate theme, with Han Solo being a space pirate.
The directors copied most of the action sequences in Star Wars from events in the real world. For instance, space battles were adopted from the flying patterns of airplanes in World War II documentaries.
Additional themes come in with the spaceships, war, and other details, but they are all aesthetic additions to the hero’s story. So, in the end, you can classify star wars as Mythology, fantasy, and even Science fiction.
The Star Wars Plot And Character Summary
Most people have watched the Star Wars movie, so they have context in the argument of what genre this movie should be placed in.
If you haven’t watched the movie, here is a brief idea to give you a platform to better understand the story.
The Star Wars story starts during a period of great turmoil for the Galactic Republic. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan go to the Planet of Naboo to make peace negotiations.
Things go south, and there is an attack at the negotiations; the two flee to the surface and eventually rescue Naboo’s queen, but their spaceship is damaged in the escape. They are forced to land on Tatooine to make repairs.
On this planet, they meet Anakin Skywalker, a pilot and a slave, but he has an intense amount of The Force in him. Qui-Gon feels that Anakin is the chosen one that will balance the Force, so he takes him under his wing.
The Jedi council is hesitant to train Anakin, but Qui-Gon plans to teach him anyway. Secretly, Senator Palpatine intends to corrupt the boy as the Jedi goes back to Naboo with the queen.
On Naboo, Qui-Gon and Kenobi face off against Darth Maul, Darth Sidious’s apprentice. Darth Maul kills Qui-Gon, but he loses to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who takes Anakin as his ward and starts training with the Force.
A decade later, there was an assassination attempt on Anakin. Obi-Wan Kenobi was sent to hunt down the assassin while Anakin went back to Naboo with the queen. Obi-Wan eventually finds the assassin on Kamino.
Here he finds that the clones of the assassin he was following are getting produced to form an army. Obi would eventually get captured by Count Dooku, a fallen Jedi. On Naboo, Anakin falls in love with Amidala, the queen of Naboo.
Anakin gets visions of his mother’s torture, and they take him back to Tatooine, where he kills several people. They then go to rescue Obi-Wan, but they also end up getting captured by Count Dooku.
Eventually, the Jedi masters would rescue the three characters, but in the final confrontation, Anakin loses a hand. Dooku escapes delivering plans for a weapon to the Emperor, his master.
Anakin’s training continues over the next three years, and the galaxy is ripped apart by war. The Jedi continue the fight against Count Dooku and General Grimace, who is a cyborg. Anakin would eventually kill Dooku then go back to find his love pregnant.
Soon after the pregnancy, Anakin starts to have visions of Amidala’s death during childbirth, and he starts to learn about the dark side of the force in an attempt to save her. He would eventually pledge himself to the evil side and become Darth Vader.
This leads to a series of events, including the eradication of the Jedi Order, and eventually, Anakin goes to fight Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan beats Anakin and leaves him dead, but Darth Sidious rescues him, his final transformation to Darth Vader.
The Hero’s Story
Anakin’s wife gives birth to Luke and Leah, and she dies as he had seen in his visions. The two would become a big part of the Star Wars story. Eventually, Luke Skywalker meets Obi-Wan, and Obi convinces Luke to join the Rebellion.
Rebels would eventually find the plans to the death star, and they use these plans to attack the Empire and destroy the death star. Luke Skywalker would continue with his training along with Yoda.
The Rebellion, later on, finds out that the Empire is building a new Death Star, so they set out to destroy it. Luke confronts the Emperor and Darth Vader in orbit, and he rejects the dark side.
The Emperor begins to torture Luke, and his father, Darth Vader, is touched by his son’s pain.
Darth Vader attacks the Emperor to protect his son, and he kills the Emperor but gets brutally wounded in the fight.
He eventually dies in his son’s arms, correcting his initial mistake of turning to the dark side.
Luke Skywalker manages to get out of the Death Star before the rebels blow it up. With the death of the Emperor and Darth Vader, the Empire is crippled, and their weapons are destroyed. Star Wars is an incomplete story, and more episodes are in production.
Conclusion
Star Wars is not a science fiction movie. It has a vast number of themes and characters, which make it fit in several genres. The plot and the emphasis on the force make it more mythological than scientific.
However, it has elements of space opera and space western which are sub-genres of science fiction.
The Star Wars saga is a fantastic story that has captured millions of fans since its introduction in 1977. Its popularity only grows as the graphics and characters get better.
