10 Films That Wanted To Be Star Trek
2. Star Wars A New Hope
When George Lucas was writing his space opera, Star Trek had been around for almost a decade. The galaxy far, far away takes inspiration from some of the more militaristic elements of Star Trek, while still forging an entire universe of its own. In a strange case of a snake eating its own tail, Star Wars followed on from Gene Roddenberry's works, while also inspiring Paramount to scramble to get The Motion Picture up and running.
Lucas himself stated that Star Wars stood on the shoulders of Star Trek, as the latter had softened the audience to the idea of fantasy in outer space. While Trek had stumbled through a second life with the arrival of The Animated Series, its fans had kept the franchise alive enough for other attempts at SciFi fantasy to make a name for themselves - including the tale of young Master Skywalker.
To say that there has been a rivalry between Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans is an understatement, but the original creators both saw the merit of each others' franchises. No matter which side of the debate one comes down on, it's clear that they both owe a debt of gratitude to each other.