Opening crawl The " Star Wars " opening crawl is the famous opening to the " Star Wars " saga . Description . Each of the eight episodic " Star Wars " films begin with nearly identical openings , in which the text " A long time ago in a galaxy far , far away . . . " is displayed , followed by the " Star Wars " logo over a field of stars . A subsequent downward tilt reveals the film ' s episode number , the subtitle in all - capital letters , and a three - paragraph summary of events immediately prior to the events of the film . Two typefaces were used in the crawl : In current releases of episodes I - III and VI , News Gothic bold is used for the main body of the crawl and Episode number , and Univers light ultra condensed for the titles of the films . In the current releases of Episodes IV - V and VII , News Gothic bold is used for the main body of the crawl and Episode number , but varied versions of the News Gothic font are also used for the titles of the films . In the widescreen ( or letterbox ) versions of the " Star Wars " films , each line of the opening crawl text appears directly in its entirety from the bottom of the screen . In the fullscreen ( or pan and scan ) versions , the sides of each line of opening crawl text are visible only after that line reaches the center of the screen . Differences . Though each crawl is roughly similar , the individual films contain some differences in their presentation . For instance , in " Episode II : Attack of the Clones " , the camera tilts upwards after the text finishes , rather than downwards as seen in all of the seven other films . Some words or names are in all - capital letters to stress their importance to the story ( such as " DEATH STAR " in " " , " GALACTIC EMPIRE " in " " , " ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC " in " " , " FIRST ORDER , " " REPUBLIC , " and " RESISTANCE " in " " , and " FIRST ORDER " and " RESISTANCE " in " The Last Jedi " ) . The text is in simple , yellow , sans - serif type , and it is pitched at a sharp angle . The text scrolls upward into the distance , toward a horizon located just below the top of the screen . In a trademark of the film series , each title crawl ends with a four - dot ellipsis except for Episode VI , which ends with a three - dot ellipsis . When originally released in 1977 , the first film was simply titled " Star Wars " , as Lucas was not certain if he would follow the film with a sequel ( and 20th Century Fox felt that alluding to a non - existent ' previous episode ' would be too confusing ) . Following " The Empire Strikes Back " , the film was re - released on April 10 , 1981 with the subtitle " Episode IV A New Hope " . The original version , without the subtitle , was not released on home video until the 2006 limited - edition DVDs . The content of the opening crawl itself , as originally written by George Lucas , was initially different during production of the first film , and contained the following : " It is a period of civil wars in the galaxy . A brave alliance of underground freedom fighters has challenged the tyranny and oppression of the awesome GALACTIC EMPIRE . Striking from a fortress hidden among the billion stars of the galaxy , rebel spaceships have won their first victory in a battle with the powerful Imperial starfleet . The EMPIRE fears that another defeat could bring a thousand more solar systems into the rebellion , and Imperial control over the galaxy would be lost forever . To crush the rebellion once and for all , the EMPIRE is constructing a sinister new battle station . Powerful enough to destroy an entire planet , its completion spells certain doom for the champions of freedom . " The crawl used in the film itself was a revised version by Brian DePalma and then - film critic Jay Cocks . However , in 2016 , Rogue One : A Star Wars Story was released into theaters without an opening crawl . Origins . The roll - up ( alternatively called the " crawl " ) is an homage to " Flash Gordon " serials of the 1930s and 1940s , which " Star Wars " creator George Lucas enjoyed as a child . It is also for this reason that many of the subtitles of the seven films have a " pulpy " sound to them or are reminiscent of the " Gordon " serials . In a 2005 interview , George Lucas described how the final phrasing of the roll - up in " Star Wars " came about : " The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you ' re not using too many words that people don ' t understand . It ' s like a poem . I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the 1970s . It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each . Brian De Palma was there , and he threw his hands up in the air and said , ' George , you ' re out of your mind ! Let me sit down and write this for you . ' He helped me chop it down into the form that exists today . " Lucas has openly admitted that the opening crawl is inspired by the same opening crawl that can be seen at the beginning of each episode of the original " Flash Gordon " film serial that inspired Lucas to write much of the Star Wars saga . According to Dennis Muren ( who worked Episodes I - V ) , on the audio commentary track of the 2004 original trilogy DVD release , the roll - ups on the original trilogy films — " " , " " , and " " — were accomplished with physical models laid out on the floor . Muren says the models were approximately two feet wide and six feet long . The crawl effect was accomplished with the camera moving longitudinally along the model . It was , says Muren , difficult and time - consuming to achieve a smooth scrolling effect . With the advent of computer - generated graphics , the roll - ups for the prequel trilogy films — " " , " " , and " " — were achieved much more quickly . However , because nobody had taken notes on how the original ones were accomplished , the design team had to rewatch and piece together the elements to make the new opening crawl . After Disney took over LucasFilm , the style of the opening crawls for the sequel trilogy ( so far ) — " The Force Awakens " and " The Last Jedi " — were pretty much the same . However , the spinoff " Rogue One : A Star Wars Story " does not have an opening crawl , jumping straight into the action after the Star Wars logo fades from the screen . In other " Star Wars " media . The West End Games roleplaying game supplement " " suggests that the opening crawl from " A New Hope " was actually written by Rebel Alliance historian Voren Na ' al to end his account of the events surrounding the Battle of Yavin . The account includes the phrase , " A long time ago , in a galaxy far , far away . . . " A large number of LucasArts computer and video games feature an opening crawl . Games based on one of the films usually include the same crawl as the movie , while other games have original crawls . Some of the games ' crawls differ from the traditional film versions . " " plays " The Imperial March " over the crawl , while " " uses a spoken version , starting with the first paragraph from " A New Hope " and differing afterward . " " has an unused spoken version in its cutscene data . " The Phantom Menace " video game begins with the film ' s crawl , but features a second , original one part way through the game . The LEGO " Star Wars " games include an opening crawl at the beginning of each chapter , with five to six chapters per movie . An opening crawl plays when a character is loaded for the first time in " " . A shortened variation plays every subsequent time a character is loaded , recapping the story so far . A number of Dark Horse ' s " Star Wars " comics have used the same format as the opening crawl to serve as a recap of the previous events in the series . These series include " Dark Empire " , " " and many others . Opening crawls also appear in the post - 2014 Marvel Comics " Star Wars " comics , serving to either introduce a story arc or recap events as in the Dark Horse comics . The original edition of the novel " Heir to the Empire " included a still - image version on its back cover . Jeffrey Brown ' s non - canon " " , " Darth Vader and Son " and " Vader ' s Little Princess " book series both use the opening crawl . All of the sourcebooks and adventure books written for Fantasy Flight Games ' s " " , " " and " " roleplaying games include an introductory crawl at the beginning . With a few exceptions , most canon novels published since April 25 , 2014 include a page before the beginning of the novel with a passage providing background or contextual information , written in similar style to the opening crawl .