Star wars rebel alliance ranks
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By the time Luke Skywalker joins the rebellion it has already grown to assume the trappings of a traditional military force, complete with regular ranks, insignia, and significant military capabilities of its own. Its character is clearly that of an armed insurgency. Indeed, parallel to Luke Skywalker’s personal journey is that of the Rebel Alliance – an aspiring insurgent movement, formed with the goal of toppling an authoritarian central government. Scratch beneath the series’ science fiction trappings, however, and what soon emerges is a story with far greater worldly significance. That one may seek to draw parallels between the world inhabited by Luke Skywalker and our own history may appear far-fetched, therefore not least with the insurgency fought by Mao in mainland China between 19. Through the course of the original trilogy we are introduced to aliens, epic space battles, and characters empowered with effectively magical capabilities. What are the strategic underpinnings of the Star Wars universe, and how do the films sit alongside other cinematic depictions of revolutionary war?Īs its opening text famously declares, Star Wars is set both a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away. Before this occurs, however, it is worth revisiting the trilogy that inspired the phenomenon, and the popular insurgency it depicts. Soon a new trilogy of films will arrive, ready for fans to over-analyse. Whether consciously or not, the films thus reflected their origins in revolutionary war as much as the Flash Gordon serials that set their tone. Not least, the war appeared to demonstrate how a relatively small band of insurgents could hold at bay the much larger and better-provisioned forces of a superpower, despite the latter’s best efforts to eradicate them.
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Equally, after spending years preparing to direct Apocalypse Now, Lucas was by all accounts personally affected by the Vietnam War, then still raging in the Far East. Much has already been written about the ways in which the films were shaped by the politics of the Nixon era White House – particularly their depiction of a centralised authority abusing state power. Authors of science fiction typically reflect the concerns of the society in which they live and, writing in 1973, George Lucas was no exception. That Star Wars contains such similarities is not entirely surprising. Specifically, the manner by which the Rebel Alliance challenges the dominance of the Galactic Empire follows an essentially Maoist model of insurgency, beginning with political infiltration at the local level before proceeding through to guerrilla warfare and, ultimately, direct mobile engagement. What is striking, however, is the extent to which the rebellion depicted in the original trilogy of films resembles, in both its form and its underlying strategy, the Maoist model of insurgency, as developed and popularised by Mao Zedong. Sadly, there are no recorded examples of Jedi knights in the annals of history. While these cinematic comparisons are well known, perhaps more interesting are the ways in which the films also parallel real life historical events. So striking are these similarities that shot for shot comparisons demonstrate how Lucas took raids by Mosquito and Lancaster bombers, in essence replacing the World War II aircraft with X-Wings and the Millennium Falcon – to undeniably thrilling effect. Entire set pieces in A New Hope, such as the attack on the Death Star, serve essentially as science fiction remakes of World War II epics, most notably The Dambusters, 663 Squadron, and The Bridges at Toko-Ri. Indeed, its cinematic ‘inspirations’ extend even to the way individual scenes are framed and shot.
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Its plot, themes, and even individual characters were significantly influenced by the Flash Gordon serials, as well as the films of Kurosawa.
#Star wars rebel alliance ranks series#
As fans of the series well know, in its origins, George Lucas’s original trilogy of films drew heavily from preceding works. Star Wars has been a cultural behemoth for over forty years.