George Lucas created the Star Wars saga, but he’s not the only director who contributed a movie to it. No one has helmed more Star Wars movies than Lucas; he’s also the only one to have directed an entire Star Wars trilogy from start to finish. But he recruited a few fellow filmmakers to help carry the load during the original trilogy, and Disney has since taken the baton and hired their own people for the sequel trilogy. It takes a steady directorial hand to balance the saga’s disparate influences and strike a consistent tone. Each Star Wars movie is a western, a samurai film, and a fairy tale all rolled into one. It’s a daunting task to balance all those tones and genres, and an even more daunting task to try to satisfy the demanding Star Wars fan base.
George Lucas Directed A New Hope And The Entire Prequel Trilogy
The Star Wars phenomenon started when George Lucas wrote and directed the original 1977 movie, later dubbed A New Hope. Lucas conceived Star Wars as a pulpy throwback to the space adventure serials he grew up with, like Flash Gordon, and created one of the earliest summer blockbusters. Star Wars surpassed Jaws to become the highest-grossing movie ever made. It was more than a big enough hit to launch the sprawling, interconnected franchise that Lucas had envisioned. After Lucas delegated the second and third chapters of the original trilogy to other filmmakers, he returned to the director’s chair to helm the entire prequel trilogy. Some of his clunky dialogue was criticized, but Lucas pioneered groundbreaking CGI techniques to bring the prequels to life. The movies also deal with some deeply complex themes, like the morality of war and the transition from a democracy into a dictatorship.
Irvin Kershner Directed The Empire Strikes Back
After launching the Star Wars saga with A New Hope, Lucas handed the directing duties over to Irvin Kershner for The Empire Strikes Back. Empire is widely regarded to be the best Star Wars movie, and Kershner ably recaptured the escapist magic of the original film while exploring darker themes and storylines. He was responsible for staging and filming some of Star Wars’ most iconic moments, like Han and Leia’s first kiss and the “I am your father” twist. Kershner had previously helmed the neo-noir mystery thriller Eyes of Laura Mars and was nominated for the Palme d’Or for his breakout film Hoodlum Priest. He went on to direct several other big-budget blockbuster sequels, like RoboCop 2 and the unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery.
Richard Marquand Directed Return Of The Jedi
After David Lynch, Steven Spielberg, and David Cronenberg all turned down the job (according to CBR), Lucas hired Richard Marquand to conclude the original Star Wars trilogy with Return of the Jedi. After the dark turn taken in Empire, Jedi marked a return to the familiar lighthearted tone of the original movie. There are rumors that Marquand was required to shoot master shots of each scene in Return of the Jedi so that Lucas could cut the film how he saw fit in the editing room. Marquand is also known for directing the Fab Four biopic Birth of the Beatles, the spy film Eye of the Needle, and the legal thriller Jagged Edge.
J.J. Abrams Directed The Force Awakens And The Rise Of Skywalker
When Disney acquired Lucasfilm and announced the development of a Star Wars sequel trilogy, the Mouse House hired J.J. Abrams to kick it off with Episode VII. Abrams had previously rebooted the Star Trek franchise with the “Kelvin Timeline.” In continuing the Skywalker saga with The Force Awakens, Abrams leaned heavily into fans’ nostalgia for the Star Wars iconography. After emptying his “mystery box” all over the first sequel movie – teasing Rey’s mysterious parents, introducing the Knights of Ren, placing Luke’s long-lost lightsaber in Maz Kanata’s basement, etc. – Abrams unexpectedly ended up having to figure out a way to tie it all together when he was hired to conclude the sequel trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker received some of the worst reviews of any Star Wars movie as it struggled to wrap up a narrative that wasn’t planned from the beginning.
Rian Johnson Directed The Last Jedi
In between Abrams’ sequel trilogy book-ends, Rian Johnson directed The Last Jedi. Johnson had previously helmed the twisty sci-fi thriller Looper and the subversive neo-noir gem Brick, and later created the Knives Out franchise. In stark contrast to Abrams’ nostalgia-baiting, Johnson set out to deconstruct the Star Wars myth. He turned Luke Skywalker from a legendary hero into a bitter, cynical hermit who gave up the fight against evil. He revealed that the Resistance and the First Order buy their weapons and war machines from the same people, so maybe they’re not so different. The Last Jedi is undeniably a visually stunning movie, but Johnson’s insistence on taking the mythical elements out of Star Wars rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way.