In STAR WARS, George Lucas uses dialogue to imply a larger world and previous adventures for the characters, giving the impression this really is episode 4 of a wider saga. He does this by having characters say "this time" 3 times in the first 8 minutes. Let's take a look.

1. Threepio says to Artoo: "There will be no escape for the princess this time." That implies Princess Leia has defied the "Evil" (according to the opening crawl) Empire before. And the droids have been along for that ride. So she's already a bold hero with a successful past.

2. Vader says to Leia, "You weren't on any mercy mission this time." So these two have tangled before. And Leia has escaped every time. We already saw her blast a Stormtrooper, now we learn she regularly stands up to this 7-foot tall evil robot knight in black. She's a bad-ass!

3. Vader says to his officer, "There will be no one to stop us this time." Implying Vader has been after the Rebels for some time, but something -- maybe their cleverness, maybe Leia's defiance -- keeps stopping him, even though the Empire's ships totally outgun the Rebels, as we just saw. But all that ends now. Vader's on the rampage. His past failures motivate him to hunt down the stolen plans at all costs, propelling the whole movie.

You probably didn't notice this. I certainly didn't the first 10 or so times I saw the film. Lucas is not considered a genius for dialogue. But he sure is for storytelling. And here he uses "this time" to make us imagine a universe far bigger, with more history, than he could show us on screen.

Jason Ginsburg is a screenwriter in New York City. He graduated from USC, as did George Lucas.

Jason Ginsburg

How George Lucas Creates the World of STAR WARS in the First 8 Minutes