[1]Once, when a movie was successful there used to be a "sequel", a follow-up film destined to build on the popularity of its predecessor and extend the life of the story at the box office.
[2] Now there is the "prequel". After the success of the great Star Wars trilogy--Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983)--producer George Lucas has come up with the movie which preceded the famous story of good and evil forces battling it out across the galaxy.
[3] This preceding movie, or prequel, Star Wars: Episode 1----The Phantom Menace (1999) sets the scene for the Star Wars trilogy, with the introduction of characters such as the all-seeing old man of wisdom, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the evil Darth Vader.
[4] When Star Wars was introduced in 1977, it set new standards. Writes film critic Colin Hogg: "'A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away,' begins 'Star Wars', the 'Gone With the Wind' of science fiction movies, the epic that made the stars in the sky the stars of the movie screen and did more than any other film to bring that 'other world' out there in the darkness into the hearts and minds of a generation.
本文簡介：由喬治·盧卡斯創造的、耗巨資拍攝的最宏大的電影系列之壹《星球大戰》故事又回到了銀幕上。這部“前傳”名叫《星球大戰：第壹集----幽靈的威脅》。----編者
壹旦壹部影片成功了，往往就會有壹部“續集”出現，這部緊隨其後的電影註定是建立在前壹部影片的名氣之上並在票房收入方面延續該故事生命的。
現在則有了“前傳”。在了不起的《星球大戰》三部曲----《星球大戰》（1977），《帝國反擊戰》（1980）和《傑迪的歸來》（又譯：《武士的歸來》（1983）----成功之後，制作人喬治·盧卡斯又推出了壹部新片，講述的是銀河系善惡力量決壹勝負的這個著名故事之前的故事。
這個之前的故事，或稱前傳，《星球大戰：第壹集----幽靈的威脅》（1999）以介紹諸如洞悉壹切的智慧老人、奧比溫·肯諾比和惡魔達思·威德等人物為《星球大戰》三部曲作了鋪墊與銜接。
當《星球大戰》在1977年初次面世的時候，它樹立了壹些新標準。電影評論家科林·霍格寫道：“‘很久很久以前，在遙遠的銀河系上開始的‘星球大戰’，是科幻電影中的‘飄’，是使太空中的群星成為銀幕上明星的史詩，沒有任何壹部電影像它這樣將那個在黑暗中的‘另壹個世界’帶進壹代人的心裏和意識中。”