Infographic: The Influence Of 'Star Wars' On Film & TV

There's no doubt that one of the most influential films ever made is Star Wars, not just in the genre of sci-fi, but in filmmaking in general. From special effects to storytelling to hero/villain archetypes and more, the entire original Star Wars trilogy made waves in the entertainment industry that are still felt to this day.

Now a new infographic takes a somewhat closer look at the many ways Star Wars has influenced film and television, from popularizing the film trilogy format to featuring humanoid robots with unique personalities and everything in between. Some of them are questionable and vague, but it's a nice little infographic nonetheless. See how Star Wars changed film and television below!

Here's the infographic from Shutterstock and Pop Chart Lab (click to see it up close):

While Star Wars popularized the film trilogy format, The Godfather was the first movie on the scene that would actually be the first in what would become a trilogy. But with The Godfather, the third installment of the series didn't come until long after the first two films, so Star Wars is a much better example of the first major set of movies to make a big impact as a trilogy.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure Star Wars can be given full credit for the "future imperfect design aesthetic" featured in the movies that this infographic claims it influenced. First of all, Star Wars takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, so that's not exactly the future, despite the advanced technology.

Secondly, the rest of those movies have merely created a futuristic world that either destroys or advances Earth as it existed during the time of those movies. So while Star Wars may have had some influence in how those sets and effects bringing those worlds to life were created, the aesthetic choices in those movies don't seem to have many ties to Star Wars, at least from my perspective.

But one of the areas that you can't argue with at all is the creation of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects company which has had a hand in countless major blockbusters that require visual effects. That's undoubtedly one of the best things George Lucas gave the film industry outside of Star Wars, but without the film trilogy, it may never have come to be.

What do you think of how the influences of Star Wars are broken down here?