Star Wars films aren’t always thought of as Academy Award winners, but they are. When Star Wars was released in 1977, it was not just a hit with moviegoers; it also received strong critical reviews, earning Star Wars ten nominations and seven wins during the Oscar season. Yes, A New Hope won seven Academy Awards, an astounding feat for a science fiction film. George Lucas was nominated for a director’s gong nod, while Alec Guinness was nominated for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the fatherly Obi-Wan Kenobi. It goes without saying that this amazing series continues to inspire a lot of modern films, so let us take a look at how many awards the original Star Wars trilogy received.
The Original Star Wars Trilogy: How Many Awards Did It Actually Win?
A New Hope
A New Hope is the first installment of the Star Wars series, and it’s arguably one of the most influential and one of the greatest films to ever come out of the science fiction genre. This film showed amazing world-building and introduced us to a lot of beloved characters who we still know and love today.
- Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
- Best Costume Design
- Best Sound
- Best Film Editing
- Best Effects, Visual Effects
- Best Music, Original Score by composer John Williams
- Best Supporting Role (Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi)
Empire Strikes Back
The second installment of the series introduced us to our beloved little green master, Yoda, as well as being the same movie where Han Solo was frozen by Darth Vader. The second film was made due to the unexpected financial success of the first film, leading Lucas to consider selling the project to 20th Century Fox in return for a profit portion, knowing that the sequel needed to be bigger than the original and that his production effects business Lucasfilm was tiny and working out of a temporary office. He had made a lot of money from Star Wars and didn’t need to work, but he was too attached to it to trust it to others.
- Best Sound Mixing
- Special Achievement Academy Award
- Best Original Score
- Best Production Design
Return Of Jedi
The third movie gave us a satisfying conclusion to the original trilogy, showing how Luke Skywalker managed to bring back Anakin Skywalker to the light side of the Force. There is no doubt that this film managed to exceed everyone’s expectations, especially with how amazing the final fight between Palpatine and the Skywalkers played out. The film was put into development after Lucas and Kasdan discussed producing Return of the Jedi. Before Marquand came up as director, the film was considered by Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg. During pre-production, the production crew relied on Lucas’ storyboards. Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks discussing ideas for the shooting screenplay as it was being written. Due to Kazanjian’s schedule, filming began a few weeks early to give Industrial Light & Magic additional time in post-production to work on the film’s effects. From January to May 1982, filming took conducted in England, California, and Arizona.
- Special Achievement Academy Award
- Best Original Score
- Best Production Design
- Best Sound Mixing
- Best Sound Editing
