HackerTubewatch
Surprise me
Frame from Star Wars Origins: The Dam Busters - Side by Side Scene Comparison Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Star Wars Origins: The Dam Busters - Side by Side Scene Comparison

The Non-Conformist
Commentary
YouTube
Cited on HN 6 times, 2016–2025, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN links it whenever the topic of Star Wars borrowing from WWII films comes up, as direct visual evidence.

A three-minute side-by-side comparison of scenes from Star Wars (1977) and the WWII film The Dam Busters (1955). It shows how closely the Death Star trench run mirrors the earlier film.

“the following youtube [1] shows how much the original Star Wars borrowed from old WW2 movies” (HN, 2018)

6 citations · Commentary

6 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@JoeDaDude Sep 2018 Cites it
on HN thread The aesthetics of science fiction spaceship design
> Star Wars spacecraft fly around as if they were aircraft in an atmosphere, which isn't surprising given that older war movies were an inspiration for its battle scenes. Indeed, the following youtube [1] shows how much the original Star Wars borrowed from old WW2 movies, in particular, from "The Dam Busters" [2], 1955. [1] [this video] [2] [link]
Shows Star Wars borrowing from WWII movies like The Dam Busters.
@krapp Aug 2019 Cites it
on HN thread Was the Death Star assault scene in the original Star Wars based on a true story
The Death Star sequence (specifically the trench run) was based on, and sometimes lifted scene for scene from the 1955 movie "The Dam Busters." [0,1]. Substitute these experimental "bouncing bombs"[2] for Luke force-bending proton torpedoes and you have the end of Star Wars. [0] [link] [1] [this video] [2] [link]
Cited as evidence the trench run was lifted from The Dam Busters.
@buildsjets Nov 2024 Cites it
on HN thread Visualizing World War II
Virtually the entire Battle of Yavin was directly copied from the old WWII movie “The Dambusters”. The dialog, the planning scenes, the special targeting device, the trench run, the sequence of battle, Lucas pretty much ganked it all. [this video]
Comparison showing Battle of Yavin copied from The Dambusters.
@buildsjets Jan 2025 Cites it
on HN thread Battle Scenes depicted in moving pictures before CGI
How about a space battle scene with and without CGI? Compare "The Dam Busters" from 1955 with propeller airplanes to "A New Hope" with X-wings, title says 1977 but I think this is one of the enhanced editions: [this video]
Compares The Dam Busters with A New Hope battle scenes.

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Search
j k
Next / previous video
r
Surprise me
l
Like (video page)
w
Watch later (video page)
?
This help
Esc
Close