5 Great Films Made Possible By the Success of ‘Star Wars’

When Star Wars became a global phenomenon, it did not just redefine the sci-fi genre; it changed how movies were thought about on a very fundamental level. After George Lucas’s film became a sensation, filmmakers began to reevaluate the integration of technology into filmmaking.

You might think, when was technology not a part of the movie business? You’re right, it has always been a huge part of the movie industry. However, Star Wars made us see the potential of high-concept storytelling powered by groundbreaking visual effects.

Companies like Industrial Light & Magic began to push the boundaries of what was technically possible, and storytellers became more curious about how they could better integrate technological progress into their works.

In the years that followed, a wave of ambitious movies emerged. The success of Star Wars proved to these filmmakers that projects like this could be possible and that they could work.

Let’s jump right in and explore five movies that quietly learned from the success of Star Wars and took matters a few steps further.

5 Great Films That Capitalized On The Success Of Star Wars

Here are five movies that brilliantly leveraged technological advancements to tell fascinating stories, following in the footsteps of Star Wars.

1. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Directed by Steven Spielberg

It is no secret that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were close friends and collaborators who traded exciting ideas. In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg took the sense of wonder created by his friend George Lucas in Star Wars and grounded it in something more emotional and empathetic. In a way, the wonder-filled family adventure formula that worked well for Lucas in his cinematic universe was interestingly leveraged by Spielberg in his movie. While Lucas’s film took place in distant galaxies and featured iconic lightsaber duels, Spielberg’s movie brought some of these extravagant ideas home, to suburban areas that audiences could immediately relate to. Both movies blend magic and the extraordinary with real emotional conflicts, interpersonal struggles, and the very concept of self-identity.

2. Tron (1982)

Directed by Steven Lisberger

Released in the same year as E.T., Tron leaned further into the Star Wars trailblazing visual effects by embracing the idea of futuristic spectacle. The movie, however, swapped outer space and galactic conflicts for the inner world of computer grids. In some sense, it used a similar sense of ambition to create something entirely different, enigmatic, and visually novel.

Back in 1982, some critics even compared the two movies for how they aimed to transport viewers into impossible realms. In retrospect, this is precisely what we mean when we talk about Star Wars’s influence on other movies. When there’s so little to compare to, especially on a global scale, comparisons to a majorly successful and iconic movie are bound to happen, regardless of the novelty in the newer film. On the other hand, the impact of Star Wars on every technician involved in creating the complex and revolutionary world of Tron is hard to quantify, but still quite undeniable.

3. The Terminator (1984)

Directed by James Cameron

James Cameron is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of technology. In 1984, though, his epic, Terminator, was built on George Lucas’s convincing sci-fi world. While Cameron’s film flips Lucas’s ideas and takes them into darker territories, its “used-future” aesthetic echoes Star Wars’s grounded galaxy. Cameron was obviously working on a tighter budget, but while making this movie, he used techniques that had been refined and popularized in the wake of Star Wars, such as practical effects and miniatures.

4. Back To The Future (1985)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

The impact of Star Wars is not strictly down to visual effects. It also influenced high-concept storytelling by normalizing it on a large scale. As a filmmaker, when you watch a movie like Star Wars during its release and notice how well audiences adapt to it and revere it, it is bound to influence your own high-concept ideas. Back to the Future is a great example of a boldly entertaining idea that must certainly have benefited from the success of Star Wars, a film that pushed the boundaries of the sci-fi genre. Additionally, advancements in visual effects and editing techniques made the movie’s time travel sequences more visually appealing and convincing.

5. The Matrix (1999)

Directed by Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski

By the time The Matrix was released in 1999, Star Wars had been around for over two decades. The Wachowskis have even cited George Lucas as a major influence. When we look at the two films, it is not impossible to spot similarities between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Neo (Keanu Reeves). Interestingly, Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) plays the wise Obi-Wan-type figure who guides the Chosen One with philosophical advice. While these parallels are more of a story inspiration, the film’s alluring visuals, like many others by 1999, are essentially built on George Lucas’s foundation.

Summing It Up

These five films, great in their own right, are a towering testament to the never-ending influence of George Lucas’s Star Wars. It’s one of those fascinating filmmaking stories about a filmmaker exploring completely uncharted territory but eventually breaking new ground and inspiring countless others who came after him.