The Influences Behind George Lucas's Star Wars Trilogies
The Unemployed Writer
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Like all good writers, artists, and film makers George Lucas borrowed liberally from his heroes and contemporaries when writing the original outlines for his Star Wars films. Some would like to 
claim Star Wars was an attempt to steal from other artists, but in the world of narrative the best products tend to be collections of previous ideas with a fresh new take - and that's exactly what Star Wars was.
There are dozens of theories postulated by fans of where and how George Lucas compiled his epic Star Wars trilogies. However, Lucas has actually cited specific influences himself in interviews. One would think that the majority of his influence would have been in the science fiction works of Asimov or Herbert but according to Lucas much of his inspiration came from less obvious sources like "Watership Down" or Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress.
In fact, a lot of the form and execution of Star Wars can be traced to the Samurai film. The figures of Darth Vader and the mysterious Jedi Knights are mystical, high tech allusions to the Samurai himself, quiet, noble yielder of a sword in protection of ironclad beliefs. Some have even pointed to the garb of Vader as a nod to the helmets of arch villain samurai in Kurosawa's films like Seven Samurai. As for Hidden Fortress, Lucas has stated that the narrative structure of Star Wars was inspired by the film, by telling the story through the perspective of the droids (in Kurosawa's film they are two bumbling ronin) instead of the major characters. Also in Hidden Fortress is the noble general leading a princess to safety, a familiar theme in Star Wars.
There are dozens of theories postulated by fans of where and how George Lucas compiled his epic Star Wars trilogies. However, Lucas has actually cited specific influences himself in interviews. One would think that the majority of his influence would have been in the science fiction works of Asimov or Herbert but according to Lucas much of his inspiration came from less obvious sources like "Watership Down" or Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress.
In fact, a lot of the form and execution of Star Wars can be traced to the Samurai film. The figures of Darth Vader and the mysterious Jedi Knights are mystical, high tech allusions to the Samurai himself, quiet, noble yielder of a sword in protection of ironclad beliefs. Some have even pointed to the garb of Vader as a nod to the helmets of arch villain samurai in Kurosawa's films like Seven Samurai. As for Hidden Fortress, Lucas has stated that the narrative structure of Star Wars was inspired by the film, by telling the story through the perspective of the droids (in Kurosawa's film they are two bumbling ronin) instead of the major characters. Also in Hidden Fortress is the noble general leading a princess to safety, a familiar theme in Star Wars.