Rated PG (Sci-Fi Violence and Brief Mild
Language)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 5 Minutes
Cast:
Mark Hamill-Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher-Princess Leia Organa
Harrison Ford-Han Solo
Alec Guinness-Obi-Wan Kenobi
Peter Mayhew-Chewbacca
James Earl Jones (voice)-Darth Vader
Peter Cushing-Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin
Anthony Daniels-C-3PO
Kenny Baker-R2-D2
Phil Brown-Owen Lars
Shelagh Fraser-Beru Whitesun Lars
Alex McCrindle-General Jan Dodonna
Denis Lawson-Wedge Antilles/Red Two
Garrick Hagon-Biggs Darklighter/Red Three
Directed by George Lucas
 |
| One word: iconic. |
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far
away…” With this simple tagline, George Lucas created one of the greatest
science fiction films ever to be released, a film that has been unmatched even
after thirty-three years and numerous re-releases. Yes, I’m talking about 1977's
“Star Wars,” as it was originally known but the more complete title nowadays is
“Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.” The original film was a simple tale of
good vs. evil but the specifics of the characters were slowly revealed over the
next two films, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.” Of course,
we all knew that wasn’t the end of the story as Lucas decided to go back to the
beginning with the release of the prequel trilogy in 1999 to 2005. The original
trilogy has gone through several changes since then, some welcome, others
highly controversial. For its twentieth anniversary, all three films were
re-released in theaters as “Special Editions.” Even more changes were
introduced when they finally debuted on DVD in 2004, along with the original,
unaltered theatrical versions that older fans are so fond of. Despite many of
the special effects looking archaic, “A New Hope” is a perfect space opera in
every way with likable characters and a compelling story. For many, including
myself, THIS was the film that forever changed their lives and turned them into
lifelong fans.
Nineteen years after the events of
“Revenge of the Sith” which saw the birth of Darth Vader and the Galactic
Empire, a new civil war has engulfed the galaxy in the form of the Rebel
Alliance. Aboard the Tantive IV,
Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) stores the information regarding the
Empire’s super weapon known as the Death Star into R2-D2’s (Kenny Baker)
memory. Her ship is soon intercepted by a Star Destroyer and she is captured by
Darth Vader (voice of James Earl Jones) and his legion of Stormtroopers.
Meanwhile, R2-D2 and his companion, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) board an escape pod
and crash-land on the Outer Rim planet Tatooine. After wandering in the desert
for some time, they are captured by Jawas and are sold to a moisture farmer
named Owen Lars (Phil Brown), whose nephew is Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).
While cleaning R2-D2, Luke stumbles upon a message from Leia pleading for help
from an Obi-Wan Kenobi. The droid later runs off looking for Kenobi and Luke
has to go after him. When he does find him, he is attacked by Tusken Raiders
but is rescued by Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness), or as Luke knows him, Ben. One of
the last few remaining Jedi, Obi-Wan now lives alone in the Dune Sea. At his
home, he listens to Leia’s message and gives Luke his father’s lightsaber. He
also tries to persuade him to come along with him and learn the ways of the
Force but Luke refuses. When he discovers that Stormtroopers had brutally
murdered his aunt and uncle, he changes his mind and asks to be trained as a
Jedi to follow in his father’s footsteps. At the Mos Eisley spaceport, Obi-Wan
gets passage to Alderaan by promising 17,000 credits to a smuggler named Han
Solo (Harrison Ford), whose first mate is a Wookie named Chewbacca (Peter
Mayhew). After narrowly escaping from two Star Destroyers, Solo’s ship, the
Millennium Falcon, makes it to Alderaan but finds nothing but an asteroid
field. Under the orders of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), the Death
Star was used to destroy the planet to set an example of the power of the
Empire. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star and Obi-Wan decides to go alone
to deactivate the tractor beam. R2-D2 manages to locate Leia at Detention Block
AA-23, prompting Luke and Han (after some prodding) to attempt a rescue.
Despite numerous Stormtroopers impeding their progress, they are successful but
when they try to escape, Luke sees Obi-Wan locked in a lightsaber duel with
Darth Vader. To buy him time to escape, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself. The Falcon
travels to Yavin 4, where the ragtag Rebel Alliance makes a desperate attempt
to destroy the Death Star.
Watching the original “Star Wars” always
makes me excited because Lucas’ ‘space epic has colonized our imaginations, and
it is hard to stand back and see it simply as a motion picture, because it has
so completely become part of our memories’ (Roger Ebert). I remember fondly
when I first came upon the film while channel surfing and saw the fearsome
visage of Darth Vader, so many years ago. At that instant, a “Star Wars” fan
was born. The story of “A New Hope” is classic good vs. evil, heavily inspired
by the serial films of “Flash Gordon,” the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa and
Joseph Campbell's “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” a book that discusses the
archetypal hero found in many world religions and myths. As in the prequels,
Lucas manages to cram as many aliens as he can into one frame and this was
working with only an $11 million production budget! The Mos Eisley cantina has
the Bith playing that familiar tune, the Aqualish that wants to pick a fight
with Luke, the Duros conversing in the corner and finally the smirking
Devaronian. One of the best scenes which I feel defines the entire film is when
Luke looks out to the horizon as the twin suns of Tatooine set while John
Williams’ sweeping score plays in the background. Like his father, Luke does
not want a meager existence on a distant world, he wants to go out and make
something of himself. This opportunity presents itself when the Empire takes
away the only family he’s ever had and it is here that he differs from Anakin,
who would obsess over the fact that he could not save the ones he love.
Although Luke is overcome with grief, he does not dwell on it for long because
in the end, there was nothing he could’ve done, but what he CAN do is make
their deaths mean something. For me, “A New Hope” is about finding your place
in the galaxy and taking that first step toward a larger destiny.
Part of the charm of “Star Wars” is the
characters and it wouldn’t matter if Lucas wrote the greatest script ever if he
picked terrible actors but thankfully he did not. Although Mark Hamill’s career
never took off after “Star Wars,” he makes for an immature yet idealistic
protagonist in Luke Skywalker. He’s a guy you can count on to have your back.
Carrie Fisher is feisty and displays plenty of spunk as Princess Leia Organa,
something that is lacking from Natalie Portman’s Padmé Amidala. Finally,
there’s Harrison Ford as Han Solo, the wise-cracking scoundrel who turns out to
have a heart. Together, these three have become one of the most recognizable
characters in the world. Of course, Darth Vader was the one that stuck out,
with his fearsome armor and distinctive breathing. He has become such a
household name that the American Film Institute named him the third greatest
movie villain in cinema history.
The special effects at the time were
unlike anything anyone had seen before. However, Lucas was never really happy
with them and over time, several alterations were made. The first came in 1997
when the film was re-released into theaters for its twentieth anniversary.
There’s a new sweeping shot of Mos Eisley, Han meeting Jabba the Hutt at
Docking Bay 94 and an added scene showing the Rebel Alliance’s X-Wing and
Y-Wings approaching the Death Star. The most controversial change was the
cantina scene where Han encounters the Rodian Greedo and shoots him. In the
Special Edition, Greedo shoots first but misses and Han fires back with his
blaster, killing him. This caused a great uproar with fans but to be honest,
the outcome is still the same so I never got what the big deal was. For the
2004 DVD release, more changes were done, including a greatly improved CG
version of Jabba (the original looked like he was made out of putty) and the
cantina scene redone (again!) so that both Han and Greedo shoot at the same
time. While I applaud the restoration work, there are still some annoyances,
mostly pertaining to color errors of the lightsabers (Luke’s sometimes show as
green and Darth Vader’s look pinkish rather than full red). Sometimes you can
see the frame differences when lightsabers ignite and when they turn on, it
just pops into thin air rather than extending from the hilt. Despite these
changes, many great action scenes remain such as the explosive opening between
the Tantive IV and the Star Destroyer
Devastator, Luke and his friends
blasting away at numerous Stormtroopers, the more refined lightsaber duel
between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan and finally, the epic space battle at Yavin 4
to destroy the Death Star. All of this is accompanied by John Williams’
now-iconic score.
“Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” was
released on May 25, 1977, thirty-three years ago. As of now, including the
grosses from re-releases, the film has earned $461 million domestic and $775
million worldwide. Not bad for a film that was expected to fail at the box office
and had almost no support from 20th Century Fox! Reception has remained
overwhelmingly positive with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. At the 1978 Academy
Awards, “Star Wars” won for Best Visuals, Sound, Music, Film Editing, Costume
Design and Art Direction. There were additional nominations such as Best
Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness, Best Director and Screenplay for Lucas, and
Best Picture. Whether you like the changes or not, there’s no denying the
impact that “Star Wars” had on movie-making. Unfortunately, directors today
have taken to simply bombarding audiences with visual effects while paying
little attention to actually telling a story. With perfect pacing, a simple yet
effective story, relatable characters, and excellent action scenes, the
original “Star Wars” will always remain as one of my favorite films that I can
watch again and again. George Lucas has created a science fiction masterpiece
that 'will endure long after its creators are gone' (James Berardinelli,
ReelViews) and nothing will ever come close to matching its greatness (with the
exception of its sequel).
Final Rating: 5 out of 5
"Luke, the Force will be with
you...always."
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