[Aelden]

Uum yeah, my dad always said that Star Wars was a copy of Dune and just because he was my father... I fought against him. I dont know, he brought up several good points but I dont remember alot of them except him saying "Jabba the Hut" was similar to a "Sand Trout." Han Solo was a spice smuggler (the basis of all food and money on Dune) and that that thing that ate Boba Fett is similar to a sand worm. Does anyone here have any thoughts on this? I dont really know enough about either series to compare the two.

=-=Aelden=-=

(oh yeah, and that Tatooine was too much like Dune for comfort)

[Ouroboros]

Herbert is regarded by some as having influenced 'Star Wars' in terms of setting, although Lucas has more often spoken about the effect that Akira Kurosawa's 1958 movie 'Hidden Fortress' had on him.

Other occassionally cited influences include Isaac Asimov's 'Foundation' series (reaching, I think) and Joseph Campbell's book on the path of the hero, 'The hero with a thousand faces'. In historical terms, Lucas was heavily influenced by the aerial combat of WWI and WWII, and I believe an early cut of 'Star Wars' without SFX included black and white footage of dog fights as stand-in for X-wings and Tie fighters.

[Ropie]

Influenced by, maybe, but certainly not a cheap copy. Especially not considering that the first three Star Wars films are excpetionally good. Anyway, beyond the desert planet of Tatooine I can't really see that the connections between the two stories are very strong.

It's like saying that football is just a cheap copy of rugby because they both have two teams of people and are played on grass. Herbert doesn't have the monopoly on space trading bounty hunters or worm-like aliens. And anyway, Dune is boring (had to get that in, sorry :D )

[Hobbit]

Nice link HERE. (http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/dune.html)

I'm sure 'court' was mentioned soon after Star Wars came out.... but not sure of the outcome other than a vague idea that nothing came of it...

Hobbit

[Aelden]

Heh heh, like I said. I never really believed it, totally his idea :rolleyes: Oh well, thanks for the info on this. As far as this goes, I think its pretty much settled..

=-=Aelden=-=

[Skaidon]

I have no belief either way, but this link may be of interest to you : http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/dune.html

[Hobbit]

(Think you might find that's the same link I used above, Skaidon.) ;)

Hobbit

[Skaidon]

Oh Dear! My apologies, that'll teach me to try and do fifty things at once :D

[Hobbit]

LOL. No problem - Been there, done it myself. :)

Hobbit

[Michael B]

If Star Wars is a cheap copy of Dune, then it is also a rip off of traditional fairy tales where Lucas got some of his ideas from.

Whilst it is interesting to discuss the sources of interest to Star Wars, the film stands on its own historically. After all it was the first film that the merchantising rights were actually worth having. :D