Star Wars 4: A New Hope (1977) (Movie Review)

    If there was any one movie that needs no introduction ... it's Star Wars ... and subsequently, no other franchise has lasted as a cultural phenomenon quiet like this. So, throughout the month, I'm finally going to review every theatrical Star Wars movie. 

This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, but I’ve held back on it because the series is so popular, and so many people already talk about them. Well, even if I don’t have anything that original to say about the series, I’m still going to give my honest opinion of how I feel about these films. Having said that, I might just have some personal opinions that differ from the common consensus of both fans and critics ... but I’ll get to all that as we go along. For now, let’s look at the 1977 Star Wars classic that started it all, known today as “Star Wars 4: A New Hope”. This movie is to my love of the "Star Wars" franchise what "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is to my love of Disney animation. 

In both cases, I find myself both loving and respecting these two films for the ground they broke, what they accomplished and what they started ... but that doesn't mean I automatically like either movies more then some of the films that followed in their success. Being honest, if I'd rank all the "Star Wars" movies from least to favorite, "A New Hope" would fit right in the middle. Make no mistake, I love “Star Wars 4: A New Hope” with all my nostalgic heart, but unlike it's first two successors, it never quite peaked into the realms of my all-time favorite movies. Still, this movie was an event, and is a staple of many childhoods ... including my own. 

       The joy of seeing this film as a kid is something that I could never do justice, but then again, I probably don’t need to ... chances are, you’ve already had your own nostalgic experience's watching this movie at a young age. Obviously, I know everyone has a different child hood, so I’ll try to sum this up for anyone else. It’s basically a classic fantasy adventure that just happens to be set in outer-space. When a princess is captured by an evil empire, a regular young farm boy named Luke Skywalker suddenly finds himself going on a quest to rescue her, and help a band of Rebels in their efforts to free the galaxy from the grip of the empire, and their wicked general Darth Vader. Along the way he’s guided by a wise old master who teaches him about the sacred and mystical ways of the universe ... commonly refereed to as "the Force". He also makes friends with a wanted smuggler, and rounding up the team are two droids who act as the figurative herald, setting our hero on his path. That’s obviously the clip note version, and the story gets more detailed with other characters, as well as a final mission to destroy a planet killing weapon called the Death Star. 

     Explaining every detail of the plot isn’t important anyway, what matters is the substance of the experience. The overarching theme of this first Star Wars movie is faith versus secularism. We see those who believe in both technology and weapons as the dominate force in the galaxy, while those people of faith are being reduced to an extinct species. Yet, though the very subtle actions of those with faith, we see that their truly the ones with more power than those with all the big weapons and machines. This is demonstrated best at the very end of the film when our hero has to make a choice to either rely on technology or faith, and it’s his faith is something spiritual that ultimately saves the day. The spiritual element of the film is simply referred to as “the Force”, and it’s like a combination of something magical, but also religious. Mush like the “The Lord of the Rings” series, I always admired “Star Wars” for incorporating thoughtful biblical references into its storytelling, without preaching a message to the audience. 

   Those who believe in the force are called Jedi, and I really like that the force doesn’t just give them straight forward super powers (at least not in this film). It allows them to accomplish great things, but there’s always that spiritual element that’s always in check. Their designs also complement this, as they wear heavy robs like monks, but they carry swords like Samurai, emphasizing that their spirituality comes first, but they’ll take action when needed. The light sabers of course are the coolest fictional weapons of all time, even though the actual sword duel in this film is nothing particularly special. The light-saber duel between Vader and Obi-Wan was absolutely an impressive accomplishment for it's time, but things have admittedly come a long way sense this.    

      Best of all are the characters themselves, who over all these years are at the center of why “Star Wars” remains so timeless. Our hero is Luke Skywalker, and he’s the classic every day person who learns that has a greater destiny that has yet to be realized. Once his real obligation to the universe is complete, he’ll arise as a great champion, and a different person then he was at the star of his journey. 

While he may come off as slightly bland, it's necessary so that the audience can relate to him before he becomes a hero. It’s a trait that would be the main inspiration for other leading hero characters like Neo from “The Matrix”, Aang from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” or most notably Harry Potter. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the classic old and wise mentor, who uses smart and quiet tactics, rather than just brute force, and it just makes you respect him more. Most mentor archetypes focus on combat skills, but Obi-Wan is much deeper, and has more substance than that. Alec Guinness delivers an Oscar worthy performance in the role, and brings Obi-Wan to life perfectly. On that note, he's the only actor to date to receive an Oscar nomination for a performance in a "Star Wars" movie. 

    Darth Vader of course is the franchises iconic leading villain, and obviously one of the greatest villains of all time. The look and design of his costume, combined with sharp voice acting of James Earl Jones allows him to steal every scene with ease, but as the film goes on, we learn that there’s more to him than just a threat that our hero’s have to stop. This is a tragic character that fell from grace, and as the series goes on, we see just how deep and complex this character really is. At Darth Vader’s side is Governor Tarkin, who’s played by the always fantastic Peter Cushing. It’s sad that so many people ignore this character, but then again, he doesn’t do that much in the grand scheme of things. I’m just a really big fan of the actor, so seeing him play a villain in the Star Wars series is a small highlight for me, and his performance remains one of the best in the film. I also really like the Storm Troopers, sure there not that threatening, and they suck at hitting their targets, but they still have those classic armored designs that are just so classy.  

       The supporting cast is also fantastic, R2-D2 and C-3PO provide exposition, as well as supply comedic relief, but they never go too far and are always a delight to have on screen. All those cute squeaks and whistles from R2, mixed with C-3PO's bedside manner is just the perfect combination. The millennium Falcon is hands down, one of the greatest space ships in the history of cinema. The look and design is unforgettable, but the ship itself is more then just a transport for our hero's, it's absolutely a character in it's own right, just like the Enterprise from "Star Trek", or Serenity from "Firefly". 

    Harrison Ford is likewise unforgettable as Han Solo, as he's the cool bad-boy I always cheered for, and he’s the perfect offset to Luke. Truthfully, while Luke is the most important character, Han Solo is the one I always wanted to be as a kid, and the guy who brings me back for repeat viewings. Princess Leia takes the classic damsel in distress trope and turns it on it's head. She manages to hold her own, stick up for herself, and never lets the title of Princess keep her from taking action when needed. I admittedly never cared that much for Chewbacca, I mean he’s iconic like all the other characters, but I never felt like he added that much to the experience. Either way, I always felt that the cast of Star Wars has something to offer for everyone. If one character wasn't to your liking, there’s always another that’s bound to win you over.

    Looking back, there are some select moments that don’t hold up very well, but they certainly don’t ruin the movie either. Personally, I think the characters are just a little too excepting of tragic events. For example, there’s the scene in which Luke discovers that his aunt and uncle are horrible killed by the Empire, but that never seems to directly effect his emotions in any way, and he never even talks about them again. It's almost like they didn’t matter, even though they raised him from birth. There’s also that scene when Princess Leia’s home planet is blown up by the Death Star, but the impact of that never seems to stick with her, as she never has a moment to lament that tragedy, and she just goes on her way like it was nothing. To be perfectly honest, the destruction of that planet never really impacted me the way I felt it should have. We never saw the surface of the planet, nor saw a glimpse of the people inhabiting it, and sense Leia's reaction is so minimal, I just never felt anything from what should be a very impact-full moment. 

     The music by John Williams again needs no introduction, as it's about as classic as musical scores get, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and it’s still one of the most triumphant anthems of all time.  The opening is one of the greatest opening segments in film history, and that shot of the massive ship passing over the screen still gets me hyped to this day. The following shoot-out in the hallway is truthfully my favorite laser-gun shootout sequence ever put to film. 

I especially love those two scenes in both the alien bar and the robot convoy, because they're just so many creative and imaginative looking creatures, and I can just lose myself looking around at all of them. The pacing of the movie is very good, even though there’s very little action on the surface, it’s the characters and the setting that make the experience so engaging. This was one of the first franchises that really submersed you in its own uniquely creative universe, and few other films could bring its setting to life as well as this one. Best of all, I’ll always remember that scene when Luke watches that double sun-set outside his house, as that was the moment when "Star Wars" was less of a movie, and more of an experience. It's also a great example of visual storytelling, because with no spoken dialogue, this moment tells us everything about our hero, and his hopes of starting a life in that larger life beyond those sunset's. You could even view it as Luke's figurative "Somewhere over the Rainbow" moment.     

    The only scene I never really liked was the climax of the movie, in which the Rebels mount a strike against the Death Star. While the stakes are high, the cinematography inspiring, and the trench run is classic, the battle itself always came off as boring to me. Our hero’s are barely seen throughout the whole battle, and the majority is spent watching a bunch of pilots getting shot-down one at a time. 

Thankfully, this all balances out with a very triumphant ending, and I still get a big cheer from that moment when Han Solo comes back to aid our hero’s at the last second. However, one huge issue I've always had with this resolution was that the Death Star blew-up. Personally, I wish that Luke only destroyed the cannon, and merrily crippled the station. That way, when the Death Star comes back in "Return of the Jedi", it would remove the repetition of a second Death Star, it would also tie-in with the stations in-complete look, and it would feel all the more satisfying when we see it blow-up in that film. Heck, my biggest problem with the special special edition actually has nothing to do with what they added, but what they neglected to change. Making the Death Star the same in both films could have been an easy fix with one or two alterations, and maybe an added scene. 

    On that note, lets talk about the Special edition for a moment. Speaking personally, I saw Star Wars for the very first time in 1997 when the special edition was being released theatrically, and thus, they've always been my favorite versions to watch. Many fans hate these special edition changes, thinking that they tarnish the quality of the films, which is fair for anyone who grew-up with those original versions. In fact, I did eventually see the original cuts of these movies, and while the films were still great, I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing several of my favorite moments. 

The scene that introduces us to the vile space slug Jabba the Hutt for example always felt like a pivotal part of the story, and it makes his involvement in “Return of the Jedi” more meaningful when he was someone present from the start. While the effects on Jabba were pretty bad, I still prefer it to nothing at all, and a short glimpse of Boba Fett is a nice touch. I definitely prefer that polished film quality, with less negative, and especially love that added joke with Han chasing all the troopers into a hanger full of troops. I truthfully don’t care about Han shooting Greedo first, as it's only a second long, and it's not like one little switch is going to spoil my love for the character. In fact, I think the changes to this scene helped make Greedo a house hold name among Star Wars fans in the first place. Some of the added CGI do admittedly look more dated then the original effects, but select new touches hold-up just fine. Even if they seem out of place at times, they still don’t ruin the experience for me. If you prefer the original versions, that’s fine, I just prefer the special editions myself.      

    At the end of the day, "Star Wars: A New Hope" is classic ... just classic. It won the Academy Awards for best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Effects, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Ben Burtt was nominated special achievement in original sound design. The film was also nominated for Best Writing, and George Lucas was nominated for Best Director. At last, "Star Wars: A New Hope" remains the only film in the series to get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Yet, this still isn't my absolute favorite in the franchise. When I think of the original trilogy as a whole, the first and most meaningful thing that always comes to mind is a compelling story between father and son, namely Luke and Vader, which is explored the least in this film. 

Heck, Luke and Vader never even meet face to face in this movie, and without that relationship present, I just can't make as deep a connection with this film as I do with the later two films. regardless, this is a strong start to both a solid trilogy, and an even grater launching pad to a phenomenal franchise. It’s funny that even though this movie is almost 40 years old, it still has a devoted fan base, and continues to excite audience with every new generation that comes to pass. This is what classics are made of, its familiar storytelling done differently, with an unforgettable cast of characters, deep spiritual themes, and a universe that’s so easy to get wrapped up in. This is why "Star Wars: A New Hope" remains to this day, and for all time, a treasured classic that everyone deserves a chance to see.

Thanks for reading my review of "Star Wars 4: A New Hope" ... and may the greatest adventure across the stars live on forever.