George Lucas defied doctor's odds to make a full recovery after a severe car accident almost claimed his life in high school.

The Star Wars creator was driving home from school in the middle of his senior year when a car slammed into the side of his vehicle - causing it to flip more than seven times. The filmmaker was left with several broken ribs and two collapsed lungs.

Lucas is convinced the accident had a profound effect on his life, revealing the experience prompted him to reconsider his dreams and change the course of his career.

In a candid new TV chat with Oprah Winfrey for her Next Chapter series, he says, "In high school, I lived to be a race car driver. I was in a very bad accident and so then I reevaluated all that. I said maybe there's something else for me. Maybe there's a reason I survived this accident, that nobody should have survived...

"I was hit, broadsided, by a car that was going about 90 miles per hour. I should be dead... It did give me this perspective on life that said, you know, basically, I'm operating on extra credit... Let's just go for it. I'm never afraid of dying. I feel like what I'm getting is bonus material."

