The same trilogy?

-"Run Luke.." | "Run you fools"
-"Dark lord" of the sith | "Dark lord" of Mordor
-Imperial walkers | Oliphants
-Ben Kenobi | Gandalf the Grey
-Ben Kenobi (Ghost form) | Gandalf the white
-Darth Vader | Saruman the White
-Lukes Temptation to the dark side | Frodo's temptation for the ring
-The power of the dark side | The power of the one ring
-The stormtroopers | The Orcs
-The garbage compactor creature | The watcher in the water
-RD-D2 and C3PO | Merry and Pippin (movie versions)
-The return of the Jedi | The return of the king
-"Crush the rebellion with one swift stroke"| "Destroy the world of Men."
-Palpatine/ D. Sidious | Sauron the deceiver
-The size of Ewoks | The size of Hobbits
-The fall and redemption of Anakin | The fall and redemption of Boromir
-Vader's attempt to convince Luke to join him, after being corrupted by the Emperor | Saurman's attempt to convince Gandalf to join him, after being corrupted by Sauron

 

Wait a second...

Are you telling me that this one series had a head bad guy leading an army of bad guys, a hero tempted by evil, monsters, comical sidekicks, villains bent on world destruction and a mystical mentor for the hero and then another movie series came out with the same ideas? Wow. I'd be surprised if you can only find two films with these qualities.

Oh and wasn't it "Fly, you fools"?

 

Yeah I think it was "Fly, you fools.." I guess that sinks my whole analogy...

 

Wait a second...

Are you telling me that this one series had a head bad guy leading an army of bad guys, a hero tempted by evil, monsters, comical sidekicks, villains bent on world destruction and a mystical mentor for the hero and then another movie series came out with the same ideas? Wow. I'd be surprised if you can only find two films with these qualities.



sounds like the Scooby Doo films to me. Or Austin Powers.

 

And just about every other sci-fi/fantasy movie ever made.

 

It's a basic formula. It's not only sci-fi, but most every movie and book ever.

 

It's "Run, you fools".

 

I just think sometimes George "borrowed" a little too much from Tolkien, whether its a common formula or not. Everytime I watch it I think that, and now that the rings movies are out, everyone I know understands what I mean.

 

-Darth Vader | Saruman the White
-The fall and redemption of Anakin | The fall and redemption of Boromir

How can Anakin/Vader correspond to both Saruman and Boromir?

And if the Ewoks are Hobbits, why is Luke/Frodo not one of them?

Obviously you didn't mean for these parallels to be taken that literally. But I am making a serious point. I think that one of the big fallacies of such comparisons, and of the whole monomyth idea, is that they typically overlook the important structural, fundamental differences between various myths. If two myths are really essentially the same story, then we have a right to expect the critical events as well as the relations among them, and among the characters, to match up straightforwardly.

I have never been able to think of another myth that has the same basic structure as the story of Anakin Skywalker:

1. Character discovered; is a prophesized "chosen one".
2. Character becomes a great hero.
3. Character falls and becomes evil.
4. Character becomes the epitome of evil.
5. Character is redeemed at the vital moment.

Certainly there are many stories that share some or most of these points; but for a story to be in any way "the same story" as Star Wars, it needs to share all of them.

 

I think we are talking about 2 different things.

When I watch star wars, I think "Oh...so that's where George got that idea"...Obviously they are not the same story by any means. There are just so many similarities that cannot be ignored, and I can't think of any movie put out before Star Wars that has so many of these paralells.

Take the simple "watcher in the water" example:

An underwater creature who grabs our leading man Frodo out of anyone else in the fellowship.

Take the garbage compactor creature:

an underwanter creature who grabs our leading man Luke out of any of the other 3 characters.
There are TONS of similarities throughout the movies in comparison to the books, and its probably the main reason why I love both trilogies so much.

 

Lucas may have been inspired by some elements of Tolkein. Tolkein wasn't the one who came up with the ideas of good vs. evil, temptation, redemption, etc...he was just as inspired by classical mythology as modern writers are inspired by Tolkein. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all...

 

Right. Do you watch/read Tolken and say "hey, he ripped off Homer!

I doubt it. Adventure shares a comon theme.

 

Also, all the main characters have two eyes and a mouth. And feet.

How much more evidence of plagiarism do you need?

 

Obviously there are many similarities, some more superficial than others. It's like if you watch The Wizard of Oz not long after watching ANH, there are loads of parallels. I wish there were more. I mean honestly, couldn't every movie use more flying goddamn monkeys?!

Lucas never claimed that he was creating a wholly original story, he was just presenting it in a way no one had ever done before.

 

mean honestly, couldn't every movie use more flying goddamn monkeys?!


Yes. Yes, they could.

 

<i>I mean honestly, couldn't every movie use more flying goddamn monkeys?! </i>

Hell yes!!!

 

and more cowbell, too!

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