So, what is the magic that makes this game so popular for a while, even overshadowing "Elden's Ring", "Sonic Frontier", "Horizon 2: Forbidden West", etc. What about the blockbusters? The answer is simple - IP. Yes, "Star Wars", an IP that was born in 1977 and continues to this day, has unprecedented influence around the world. It can be said that in the entire West, Star Wars is a national IP. It can be said that the 44-year-old Star Wars series is a living legend.

The "Star Wars" series is now 44 years old.

Speaking of the author's Star Wars enlightenment, it is quite a coincidence. I still remember that around 1998, when I was not yet in primary school, I grabbed my grandfather’s clothes in a small bookstore and begged him to buy me a few colorful books that were very attractive to children of that age. picture book. After returning home, the author couldn't wait to dive into the book: the book depicts a world full of spaceships, fighter planes, robots, lightsabers and superpowers. Although looking back now, the story is fragmented and the painting is rough, but for me at that time, it was like opening the door to a new world. It was probably from then on that the author began to have all kinds of science fiction dreams in his mind.

Light sabers, spaceships, robots, and the Force, this is the author’s first impression of Star Wars

After this first experience, until junior high school, the author never came into contact with Star Wars again. War-related content. After entering junior high school, as the Internet gradually became more popular, watching movies online became a common pastime. So one day after clicking on the movie "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" because of its cool title, the author couldn't help but exclaimed: "Isn't this something from the picture books I read when I was a kid?" < /p>

From that day on, I knew its name - "Star Wars".

The IP of Star Wars can be said to be a perfect real-life example of Shirou Emiya’s classic saying when facing Jin Shining: "Fake products may not be able to defeat the genuine products."

In "Star Wars: A New Hope", you can see many shadows of Akira Kurosawa's classic "Heroes of the Warring States"

Seeing this, you may think: "Copycat" But "New Hope" uses its own achievements to tell us: if the "localization" is done well and the "reference" is done properly, it can become a "New Hope".

The premiere box office was US$1.554 million.

Within three weeks of its release, the stock price of distribution company 20th Century Fox doubled. Before 1977, the company's highest annual profit was US$37 million, and in 1977, the profit reached US$79 million.

The U.S. box office was US$460,998,007, the overseas box office was US$337,000,000, and the total box office was US$775,398,007. Adjusted for inflation, it remains the highest-grossing science fiction film to date.

Won 6 awards at the 50th Oscar in 1977 for Best Art Direction - Set Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Music, and was awarded Sound Special Achievement Award for Effects Production.

A blockbuster, fame and fortune. It can be said that from the debut of the series, "Star Wars" has already shown its potential as a "national IP".

"Star Wars: A New Hope" has achieved great success, and the potential of the national Star Wars IP has begun to emerge.

With such great success as a driving force, the second game in the series—— Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was born. Nearly three years after "A New Hope" was released, "The Empire Strikes Back", just like its name, launched a beautiful "counterattack" against the various doubts and controversies caused by the "plagiarism" of the first game.

As its name suggests, "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" plays a beautiful "fight back"

If "A New Hope" still relies on imitation and reference A child learning to speak, then "The Empire Strikes Back" is already a sane adult.

Compared with the facial character images in the first film, which were slightly thin and lacked personality and depth in the historical background, in the second work, the proportion of love, hatred and hatred between different characters in the film has increased significantly: regardless of Whether it was the growth and maturity of the protagonist Luke, or the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia, they all left a deep impression on the audience.

In the film, a major secret was not revealed until the classic showdown near the end - the number one villain, Darth Vader, is actually the father of the protagonist Luke, which further adds to the conflict and drama of the film. Pushed to the top. This outstanding plot arrangement and character design also paved the way for Darth Vader to become the most successful villain in history in the third part of the series.

One of the most successful villains of all time—Darth Vader

The next third work, which is the end of the Star Wars trilogy— — "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi." Although compared to the previous two films, the excessive pursuit of special effects technology makes the film a bit top-heavy as a whole, and even its ending is a bit sudden and hasty and is often criticized, but as a commercial film, "Return of the Jedi" is undoubtedly successful, exceeding 4.7 The box office of 100 million US dollars is the best evidence.

Although there are some problems in the plot and character portrayal, "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" still achieved great success

Apart from the huge commercial success, "Return of the Jedi" is the biggest The achievement is to complete the creation of the most successful villain in history - Darth Vader. In the film, the director used Master Yoda's last words to tell the audience that Darth Vader was actually the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, once known as the "Fearless Hero" (later revealed in "Star Wars Episode III: Episode II"). Detailed in "The Revenge of St."), he was seduced by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious into the dark side of the Force. After learning the truth of all this, Luke chose to sneak into the Sith Lord's ship alone to find his father, Darth Vader, and was finally inspired in a life-and-death duel with Vader and the Sith Lord. Vader, arousing the good side of the Jedi that he retained in his heart. So at the critical moment when Luke was about to be attacked by Darth Sidious with Force lightning, Anakin turned against him and used the Force to throw Sidious into the reactor abyss of the Death Star, and then left peacefully. In the human world, he turned into a Jedi hero.

Darth Vader is the former Anakin Skywalker

It can be said that the complex entanglements in the character of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) With multiple reversals, his popularity even exceeds that of Luke, the protagonist of the series. After all, compared to perfect superheroes, people always have more empathy for "people" full of emotions and desires.

With the completion of the main trilogy, "Star Wars" has become a phenomenon-level IP in the entire Western world, and various peripheral products related to it can be said to have sprung up and become popular. For a while. It can be said that "Star Wars" has relied on its excellent story content and groundbreaking special effects to deeply imprint this science fiction world intertwined with lightsabers, the Force, spaceships and robots into the hearts of countless audiences.

Figures, lightsabers... various Star Wars peripherals still have a huge market today

From imitation to transcendence, the story of Star Wars becoming a national IP tells us that imitation It’s not shameful. As long as you can finally complete the transformation from imitation to creation and produce truly outstanding works, you can open up a new path of your own.