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Which one was a bigger influence on the final tone of the movies and series in general? I'd like the opinion of the forum, for the benefit of a friend who's never heard of Lensman.

Replies that break it down into periods of influence will get e-cookies.

Lucas has basically admitted the influence of Flash Gordon for a while now, but how much evidence is there that he's even heard of Lensman? Dune would make more sense.

The influence doesn't have to be conscious or direct-if Lucas included things that entered the gestalt of sci-fi via the Lensman series, then that counts as well.

Lensmen, a series about two alien races locked in perpetual war that throw bigger and bigger weapons at each other until they regularly pulverize planets. Eventually one side breeds a race of artificial superbeings which then destroy the other race utterly. The similarities to Star Wars are rather superficial.

Star Wars/Flash Gordon, the struggle of a small band of freedom fighters against a mighty oppressor with the help of one uniquely gifted individual. Now that's congruent.

The greater setting is decidedly more Lensman-like, as is most space opera. Flash Gordon was more planetary romance. But the story themes of the films are more Flash Gordon-esque. Lensman had none of the mysticism of the original trilogy, for example.