A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

So begins the greatest story told in our times. The 'Maker' George Lucas may never have imagined back in 1977, that his tale of a brave princess chased by a villainous empire who beats them with the help of two unlikely heroes would spiral into this epic saga that has spawned over three decades. But with the success of what would eventually be called 'Episode IV: A New Hope', Lucas began work on expanding the Star Wars universe. 'Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Episode VI: Return of the Jedi' followed completing a trilogy that would become the most influential films ever made. Followed 16 years later by the prequel trilogy ('Episode I: The Phantom Menace', 'Episode II: Attack of the Clones', 'Episode III: Revenge of the Sith',) and associated TV series chronicling events built around the main story, the 'Star Wars Expanded Universe(EU)' as it is called, continues to inspire awe. Also included in this EU are stories by other authors that tell of events preceding the old Republic of the prequels, and also of the New Republic formed at the conclusion of the original trilogy.

My first tryst with 'Star Wars' began with the mammoth advertising campaign that had begun prior to the release of 'Episode I' in 1999. Lays Chips (my fave!) had these little info-bits along with them that gave descriptions of characters and small background tidbits from Star Wars. Being in love with the Universe as long as I remember, I was naturally drawn to it, and managed to watch the original Trilogy before going to see Episode I in a movie theater. And I was hooked! I didn't get all the parallels to real-world politics (references to the Vietnam & Korean wars in the original trilogy, and modern conflicts in the prequel trilogy) at that time. But as time passed with the release of Episode II in 2002 and Episode III in 2005, I grew up and could appreciate the magnificent universe that Lucas had created. Through the story of a Galactic Republic that gets overtaken by greed and fear to become the evil Empire, of a hero who is betrayed by his pride in his own abilities to become cinema's greatest villain, Lucas has in fact mirrored the real world we live in. And that, I believe, is what makes Star Wars far more superior to any other so-called 'sagas'. George Lucas has created a splendid painting, but he has also created a canvas on which he himself and others can keep on adding and making it far grander. There are many other wonderful, imaginatively created stories of witches & wizards, knights and warriors but they all are limited to the bounds of their little worlds. The Star Wars universe, on the other hand, is vast, for it is the Universe itself. The Jedi Knights, the Sith, the Republic, the Empire, the Wookies and everyone else are all projections of our own past, present & future. This is furthered by the new Clone Wars series that follows in the same vein and keeps weaving stories based on current socio-political scenarios.

For all the brickbats George Lucas received for 'messing' with his own works during the digital re-mastering of his films, he should be commended for preventing the Star Wars saga from going astray even after so many years. It still retains the original spirit. Apart from what we see in the films and TV series that are his own creations, he also maintains strict measures to ensure that other authors who write novels, comics that contribute to the EU, do not get carried away by their artistic liberties. All such material should satisfy the canonic levels of his Star Wars database that he rigorously maintains.

I am continuing to be enthralled by the brand new CG series 'Clone Wars' currently in progress. If you haven't seen Star Wars yet, do yourself a favor and watch the films in this order: IV-V-VI-I-II-III. Then you have the whole universe to yourself: 'Clone Wars' series, 'Knights of the Old Republic' novels etc. And to truly appreciate the awesomeness that is Star Wars, check this wiki article out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Expanded_Universe