TWENTY YEARS AGO, the film maker George Lucas expanded everybody's notion of how fast a movie could really move with the first installment of his ''Star Wars'' trilogy. A new generation of moviegoers will be introduced to ''Star Wars'' on Friday, when the film returns to the big screen with a digitally remastered soundtrack, new scenes (including a meeting between Han Solo and the gelatinous Jabba the Hutt) and some visually enhanced effects.

Part of what makes the ''Star Wars'' universe such fun is that the characters seem to emerge from their own complex cultures. Then there is the ear-tickling felicity of the names. It's hard to resist saying Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter, out loud just to try it on the lips. Just where did George Lucas come up with all these weird names?

''Basically, I developed the names for the characters phonetically,'' Mr. Lucas said. ''I obviously wanted to telegraph a bit of the character in the name. The names needed to sound unusual but not spacey. I wanted to stay away from the kind of science fiction names like Zenon and Zorba. They had to sound indigenous and have consistency between their names and their culture.''

Much has been made of the director's use of world myths from Joseph Campbell's ''Hero With a Thousand Faces,'' but ''Star Wars'' is also a synthesis of the treasure trove of American pop culture -- everything from comic strips, pulp fiction and films ranging from John Ford's ''Searchers'' to Victor Fleming's ''Wizard of Oz'' to Akira Kurosawa's ''Hidden Fortress.''