
The two movies I have chosen to do my comparative essay on is Harry Potter and Star Wars. In both movies characters have magical powers that they possess and can do remarkable things with. Also both movies contain characters that have more powers than other ones. These characters are usually the main ones for example in Harry Potter its Dumbledore, Harry, and Lord Voldemort. And in Star Wars Darth Vader, Luke, Obi Wan, and Yoda are some of the most powerful characters. One difference between these movies is the landscape in which they take place. In Star Wars the landscape stretches from galaxies apart while in Harry Potter most scenes take place at Hogwarts or around its premises. Also in Star Wars there is a lot more technology involved while in Harry Potter they travel and do things all through magic.

The landscapes between these movies create a different feel for each one. In harry Potter most of the scenes are in or around Hogwarts. This makes you get very used to the surroundings and where the characters are all the time. Learning the ins and outs of the school and its grounds. While in Star Wars the Characters travel many places going from planet to planet all the time and discovering new places in almost every movie. This keeps the audience engaged learning about the places they travel and what the landscape is like on different planets. In Star Wars the way they travel is a lot different than in Harry Potter. In Star Wars the way they travel is based on technology. They use star ships and other smaller space vessels to battle, and travel through space. This gives it a futuristic sense to the movies because their technology is so far past ours. But in harry potter they travel through magic. Using Magic brooms, spells, port keys, and many other magical ways. This is something that gives the audience a sense of a different world unlike star wars does. The futuristic technology makes it seem like we could be doing these things one day in the future. Like the space battles and traveling from planet to planet on star ships. But magic brooms, and spells is something out of the ordinary that creates a sense of something totally different in Harry Potter. 

One of the similarities in these movies is that they both use some type of mystical force that sets people apart from others. In Star Wars Jedi can use the force to do mystical things. This is a power only few out of the many could control and the best Jedi were the ones who could master this power. As for Harry Potter all wizards could use magic but not all were at the same skill level as others. And there are muggles which are normal people who do not even know about magic and are just everyday people. The Force was a power that everyone in the Galaxies knew about and respected. The Jedi were there to keep the peace between planets and nations not to be an army to fight other armies. They used their powers for good but as always there were a couple that did not see it this way and joined the dark side and began to corrupt the government and fight against the Jedi. We see some of this in Harry Potter. Not all wizards are good and use their magic how it should be used. Lord Voldemort began to use dark magic and go against the Ministry of Magic. He was one of the most powerful wizards and set out to corrupt the world. 

Both movies also contain a hero. One is Luke Skywalker and the other is Harry Potter. Harry has known that he was special since he was born. He was able to do special things that he could not explain, but was never told what he was because of his aunt and uncle. Luke however had no idea that he held the force and Jedi ways in his blood. His aunt and uncle withheld this information from him in hope to keep him safe from the Empire and its hold on the Galaxy at this time. Parent type figure in both movies withhold information about the kids from each of them about their lives because they think it will help them. In Luke’s case Obi Wan does not tell him that Darth Vader who he is fighting is actually his father. And for Harry, Dumbledore never tells him until the very end that to defeat Lord Voldemort he must die as well because the final Horecrux is inside of him.

These two movies are fantastic series in my mind and contain many things to compare and contrast. Both have a type of mystical power that makes people stronger and able to do miraculous things. But you see in both that these powers are not always used for good and can become dangerous in the wrong hands. 