The original Star Wars film won seven Academy Awards. Released in 1977, the film dominated the 50th Academy Awards, winning six competitive Oscars and a Special Achievement Award for Ben Burtt’s alien, creature, and robot voices.
Its six competitive wins covered film editing, original score, art direction, costume design, sound, and visual effects. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness, and Best Original Screenplay, but did not win those categories.
Some references list only six Oscars because they count competitive awards separately from the special achievement honor. For a general-trivia question asking how many Academy Awards the film won, seven is the accepted total when that special award is included.
The success helped establish Star Wars as a landmark modern blockbuster. Its sound and visual-effects achievements were especially influential: Industrial Light & Magic created many of the film’s effects, while Burtt developed its distinctive soundscape, including iconic voices and mechanical effects.