Today I wanted to quickly dive into the planet bring Star Wars to life. These planets are some of the elegant creations in all of science fiction.

They are bold, iconic, and most importantly help tell the story. Now in order to identify

what makes these planets special, we need to lay out the restructions put upon all of their designs.

The obvious restruction is the complete lack of realism.

very few of these planets resemble functioning ecosystems, let alone that every character can breathe on every planet.

Contrast this, let's say James Cameron's Avatar which has a fully flashed up world that would be explored and for upcoming sequels.

Pandora is a planet that has multiple diverse landmarks locations and weather patterns much like a row

Star Wars planets, on the other hand, are far more singular in their identity and they are often an extension of the sets are characters visit

These planets typically have a central theme or distinct color palette that makes them instantly identifiable

The most memorable planets have themes that reflect an important idea or character, an example to this would be Mustafar whose violent

warrant volcanoes echo Anakin's in a rage. Every Star Wars planet from its weather to its culture is designed specifically

for the character's adventure there. So with all that out of the way let's take a look at how these planets find their purpose

and how they evolved throughout the series starting with

[BACKGROUND NOISE]

In the New Hope, we visit three brand new planets with two of them being the series most iconic locations Tatooine is where are story begins

as R2-D2 and C3-PO escaped to this desolate sand planet that structures as far as the eye can see

this planet is specifically catered to set these two back. It's cruel, dangerous, endure us heavy inspiration from the iconography

as Sir G-Alley on his westerns. Star Wars planets having different themes it's how the series transitions from so many contrasting genres.

Tatooine is a prisoning planet. It's where themes come to die and it's the last place for either Luke Skywalker to be

so much of how Luke Skywalker is characterized can be found in how he is contrasted with his home planet.

His wide-eyed wonder doesn't fit with the weathered look of Tatooine's other citizens. Luke is destined for something more.

The other iconic planet here is the Death Star. Though kinda it's not really a planet that's no Moon it's a space station.

but still, in the function of the plot and the way it's visually presented to us, it's absolutely a planet. The Death Star is obviously

the source of all the film's conflict. It's a death trap. The billy the beast that is here is to find themselves.

I think what separates it from other generic doomsday devices is how it presents itself as a planet. One of the underlying teams of the original

trilogy is that if technology versus nature. And here we see how the enemy's home has become

consumed by technology, the void of all life, joy, or freedom.

The last planet we visit in the New Hope is Yavin 4 the hiding place of the rebels. And what I think is one of the series greatest set designs.

The film cleverly shows the rebels living in the remains of an older civilization. Not only does this cement the power dynamic, the rebels

living in an abandoned planet and the Empire having built their own, but it also shows how our heroes value history

living in an older, more civilized age. Now, if you notice, A New Hope featuring three central planets,

completely coincides with the film's typical three act structure. With each planet symboling the transition to the next act,

you can identify the act break in a film by a character making a decision that they can't turn back from and in Star Wars

that means traveling from one planet to another. This becomes the Star Wars templates. You'll find this in every single one of these films

and where A New Hope introduced the format. Empire was the one who perfected it. This time, our adventure begins

on Hoth where our heroes are hiding as the Empire hunts for them throughout the Galaxy.

Even though we get a fancy text crawl that spells out exactly what is happening to our characters, the choice of location

and its hostile inhabitants communicate their situation beautifully. I need long term goals of victory are being beaten out by

the primary goal of survival. Their strength is in arms. A lonely will perish. Before the Empire is struck back,

our heroes are already on the ropes. The next planet we visit is Degobah. The whole planet to Jedi Master Yoda.

The thing I love the most about this planet is how it's an extension of our little green friend to the point where he blends into the terrain.

Degobah too is a subversion of what we expect a great warrior to look like. In my older video on Empire Strikes Back, I learned?

that film is deliberately paste for us to feel annoyed. The film heightens?

Luke's sense of impatience as these lessons in the jury act are countered by Han and Leia's whiplash of action,

the things that Luke fight for or it prevent him from fighting well.

this training with Yoda is a test when that Luke fails repeatedly. Degobah itself is the test not only in

its Dark Force caverns, but in how its swampy foundations sink all hope of Luke ever leaving.

If he's going to become a Jedi and make a dent in this war, he needs to become something more.

Lastly, all part is converged on Cloud City as Han has finally found refuge from an old friend.

They're protected high above. the Sky within these beautiful white walls,

and oh oops it's a trap.

Cloud City provides our heroes with a false sense of comfort. But once the rug has been pulled from under us,

the film travels deeper into its industrialized horrors.

Technology is a weapon.

Vader feels so much at home within this electronic hellscape.

From the lowest cave to the highest mountain the Empire's reach knows no bounds.

This peak and the safety is now another death trap.

You could learn everything you need to know about set design from this film alone. It is a masterpiece, obviously.

Lastly, we have returned to Jedi, which is easily the least ambitious of this trio,

with two of it's three central planets being retreads of Tatooine and the Death Star.

However, I am a fan of Endor and its cute little fluff balls,

especially as it takes the underlying theme of nature versus technology that's been suddenly

developed throughout these movies and makes it literal.

The rebels claim their victory, and a force in Paradise, one that gives us

a very warm reminder of home.

I could do a whole other video on the Prequel planets, but Let's

just say things get a lot more Avatar'y. Take Naboo, which has a gorgeous European self exterior

along with the primitive aquatic interior. Or there's Coruscant, which is a planet-sized city that serves

as the hub world for the entire trilogy. I can go more into its imaginative planets and what they

represent, but the Spark Oats version is that we start here and we end here. Good(?)... good.

Now, to be honest, I've been rather disappointed with the planet roster for the newer films, especially with this Venos,

where we get 15 alterations on Gray and Murky. There are touches that I adore, like Jakku housing the remains of destroyed Empire ships,

or how Starkiller Base echoes Hoth as a way to visually flipped the power dynamic, but this

is not enough to make up for them being Tatooine at Death Star clones, respectively. The bolder visual ideas are the ones that

got the most attraction, like Scarif being a Tropical Paradise as a not specific iconography of World War II

Crait in particular uses the full extent of its red salt foundations beautifully,using it as a

PG 13 representation for blood. And you know, I can't say I'm truly disappointed with the

new era Star Wars planets as they've actually given me my favorite one, and that would be Ahch-to.

Never before in this series has a planet works better at being an extension of its character.

Luke's existence in the sequel trilogy lives entirely on this island

and with that come all the questions surrounding his character.

If every Star Wars planet is the personification of a larger idea. Then consider how isolating Luke's location is.

He's living in an Island on an Island. Luke has barooned himself here after being disgraced as a

Jedi, and much of the plot line of The Last Jedi centers around Rey, attempting to understand Luke

and bring him back to the fight. The island then brings to life the issues that prevent him from doing so.

It is the manifestation of all the guilt and pain that he lives with. Luke has cut himself off from -

the Force and once the Jedi to end. And so the Island is the birth place of the Jedi and easily

the most four sensitive the location we've seen in one of these movies. For both Luke and Rey,

the force confronts and challenges them, poking at their deepest insecurities. The Island is almost like a crime scene.

Rey comes in looking for answers, investigating each and every one of its corners. Those answers come in

the form of her visions and her conversations with Luke and Ben, but also in smaller details, like the lighting and the weather

The weather, in particular, serves as its own separate character. When the characters are energetic and hopeful,

it's sunny outside, when they're confronting with their darkest moments it pours. And it's not Yoda who burns down the sacred text.

It's the weather. These planets don't only reflect on what's going on and who

our characters are, but they are also the things pushing our heroes forward to move on.

These planets live and breathe they are ideas and characters themselves. And while they

may not make literal sense, they still give a very strong and emotional truth.