Star Wars and The Lord of the RingsStar Wars (1977) directed by George Lucas and The Lord of the Rings (2001) directed by Peter Jackson are two films of the fantasy genre. Star Wars is one of the AFI’s top picks for greatest classic films. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is a modern popular fantasy film. This paper will provide a narrative analysis, cultural and historical analysis, and close film analysis of these two films by comparing and contrasting them.
Narrative Analysis
Star Wars was released in 1977, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The Lord of the Rings was released in 2001, produced by WingNut Films and the Saul Zaentz Company and distributed by New Line Cinema. George Lucas directed the former, Peter Jackson the latter. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Alec Guinness stared in Star Wars. Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom starred in The Lord of the Rings. Each is the first film in a trilogy.
Both films are epics that explore themes of duty, team work, vocation, honor, the heroics of the underdog, and the evil of the totalitarian regime which the underdogs oppose. The underdogs in both films represent life, virtuous characters, while the evil antagonists represent greed, selfishness, mercilessness, oppression, and death. The plot of Star Wars focuses on Luke Skywalker (played by Hamill), who receive a message from a princess and sets off to deliver the message only to get wrapped up in an intergalactic battle that he eventually helps to win for the underdogs. The plot of The Lord of the Rings is similar in that it focuses on Frodo, who receives a magic ring that is sought by an evil sorcerer; Frodo must deliver the ring to Mt. Doom in order to crush the evil and save his friends and all existence. The main characters are divided between good, evil and uncertain. In Star Wars, Han Solo (played by Ford) is the character of uncertain moral qualities who proves himself good in the end by helping Luke to blow up the Death Star. In The Lord of the Rings, the character arcs of the main characters plays out more dramatically over the course of...
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