STAR WARS is one of the largest media franchises ever created, all based on the 1977 epic space opera film of the same name from writer/director George Lucas. Star Wars has since become a world-wide pop culture phenomenon and needs little introduction. In the first chapter of the multi-film saga, seemingly simple farmboy, Luke Skywalker, is swept up in a galactic civil war when Princess Leia's fugitive droids cause him to encounter the last, old Jedi Knight, Obi-wan Kenobi. Kenobi teaches Luke the ways of the 'Force'--a universal power which certain sensitives can use to 'magically' manipulate their surroundings--before the mentor is killed by the sinister Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Lord Vader is a powerful and evil Force user who had previously wiped out the Jedi Order. In their most desperate hour, Luke is able use his fledgling Jedi abilities to exploit a weakness in the evil Empire's massive battlestation, the Death Star, and destroy it, winning a major victory for the underdog Alliance to Restore the Republic. Future films would reveal dramatic secrets as the Rebel Alliance seeks to finally overthrow the Empire. But the Force itself has two sides: the Light Side and the Dark Side, and they--like the galaxy--will be locked in perpetual conflict for a franchise which appears will live in perpetuity.