George Lucas’ Empire Gets Its Revenge N.R. Archive. Boston -- May 2005. The final act in the Star Wars cycle, titled Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, has laid bare creator George Lucas’ underlying left-wing critique of American Empire. For many Americans, the original Star Wars (1977), was an exhilarating portrayal of courage and heroic struggle against tyranny and an evil galactic empire (in that age, generally perceived as against Soviet imperialism). Indeed, for most of the 1980s the political discourse in our country over how America would meet the challenge of confronting a dying and desperate...