Rating: 5/5
Classification: PG
Year of release: 1977
Run-time: (Theatrical version) 2 hours 1 minute
(Special Edition) 2 hours 5 minutes
Director: George Lucas
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Genre: Sci-Fi
This review contains spoilers
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Star Wars also known as Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is the very first Star Wars movie ever made and is about a farm boy on the planet Tatooine named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who teams up an old Jedi Master Obi-Wan (Ben) Kenobi (Alec Guinness), a selfish, strong-willed smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to transport two droids C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) to the Rebel Base. The droids are in possession of the Death Star plans that show how the Death Star, a huge space station for the Empire and with enough firepower capable of destroying entire planets, can be destroyed.
Before I say anything about this movie, I’m going to get my talk out of the way of the controversial special editions of the original trilogy, I do prefer the theatrical versions of the original trilogy which I have on DVD and would love it if they were released on Blu-ray and future formats. However I also don’t hate the special editions as much as many others do, if you have the special editions I don’t want to make you feel like lesser Star Wars fans so this is the only time I’m going to talk about the special editions but if you are having trouble finding the theatrical versions you may be able to find them on EBay on DVD, or if you Googling it would be another option.
The film that launched one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time, it’s very hard to believe that the very first movie was not expected to be a success to say the least. Back in the 1970s science-fiction movies didn’t normally do very well and studio executives at 20th Century Fox were so convinced that Star Wars would flop, they happily gave George Lucas all Star Wars merchandising rights for free. Huge mistake, as Star Wars would lead to sequels, prequels, spin-offs, TV shows, books, video games, highly various forms of merchandise and even food and drinks, so obviously the making of this movie has a very happy ending. I don’t think enough people think about how many hoops George Lucas had to jump through to make this film possible, say what you will about George Lucas’ later films but I feel that some people often take Star Wars for granted and don’t think about how different this movie could’ve been or if it would’ve been possible at all.
Anyway after the release of Star Wars I think it’s definitely safe to say George Lucas has no regrets making this movie, if you do like these movies, I’m sure you know why you like them, have seen these movies hundreds of times and have had very fond Star Wars memories over the years. One of the biggest reasons this movie succeeds is its rich mythology but also an aspect that was unheard of in science-fiction movies in the 1970s, Star Wars felt like a real, lived in, used and abused universe, a world that looked like people had been living there for a very long time. The set pieces are so iconic and were made with such attention to detail and the characters are so richly developed that this genuinely feels like something like this could be happening in space right now.
I love everything about this movie but where George Lucas struck gold in the following aspects, the iconic and unforgettable characters, most notably you have Luke Skywalker, a heroic young farm boy frustrated with his life and wanting to leave to be ‘a somebody’ and to pursue a far greater destiny. Han Solo, an already great movie becomes even better when he appears; when you first see him he is a smuggler with a big ego and is very selfish, even towards the end of the movie he says to Princess Leia “I expect to be well paid, I’m in it for the money.” Han even leaves when Luke and the Rebels go and destroy the Death Star, when Han and Chewbacca come back to save Luke, it becomes very satisfying to see Han do such a selfless act. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) plays someone who is already very much involved in the fight between the Rebels and the Empire at the beginning of the movie; yes she is a bit of a damsel in distress occasionally however she does perform many heroic acts throughout the series and the story would be significantly different without Princess Leia.
Obi-Wan also known as Ben Kenobi who starts off as a recluse on Tatooine in hiding from the Empire and turns out to be one of the very last surviving Jedi, he trains Luke to become a Jedi as well as playing a wise mentor. Last but not least there is Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones) one of the greatest movie villains of all time, thankfully you don’t find out too much about Darth Vader in this film, he is such a menacing villain and is legitimate force to be reckoned with. Some may say that the lightsaber fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader doesn’t hold up anymore but considering this was the first lightsaber fight ever in a Star Wars movie and considering the crew didn’t even know if it would be possible to pull off the special effects it still looks good enough. When we get to the lightsaber fight and this goes for the rest of the movie as well, you know enough about these characters so that you care what’s going on, but at the same time you’re yearning to find out more and keep coming back to these films.
As well as the characters the other main aspect about this movie is John Williams’ score, where to begin, probably the rightest thing George Lucas has said is “Star Wars wouldn’t have worked without John Williams.” As soon as the opening crawl starts and you hear that amazing theme, you know straight away that you’re about to go through a life changing experience, the music during the Binary Sunset scene where Luke looks at the two suns on Tatooine is one of the most powerful scenes in Star Wars. It’s manages to be just as impactful as Dorothy singing over the rainbow in The Wizard of Oz, only without dialogue, the music during the Cantina scene, the attack on the Death Star at the end and the throne room scene are also some of my favourite movie scores of all time.
Star Wars is the perfect beginning to a franchise and made such an explosive cultural impact 40 years ago, and its legacy isn’t likely to fade away anytime soon. Thanks to amazing and perfectly cast characters, ground breaking special effects, iconic costumes and set pieces and an amazing score by John Williams, director Steven Spielberg once said about what George Lucas did with Star Wars “He (George Lucas) put the butter back on popcorn” and for Star Wars fans, I’m sure they’ve never looked back.