Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

Maybe it's something about being in a foreign country, but I have been craving Star Wars, mostly for its familiarity and lightsaber battles. Luckily a fellow American and temporary expatriate has been feeling the same and we've been making our way through the original trilogy. These are the kinds of movies that I have just seen so so so many times, and though they're always entertaining, I'm constantly finding new ways to watch them. It was easy for me to watch A New Hope and just pick apart so many little irrelevant things, just for the fun of it. Or talk over all of Luke's lines with WAH WAH WAH WAH or C-3PO's with WHINE WHINE WHINE. This is fun for someone like me, but I won't do it to you since of course at heart I really love this movie. And I know there's so much that can be said about this series, and it's already been said by scores of people, so here are just a few thoughts.

Since I know there are those of you who haven't seen any Star Wars movie (lamentable, but it's your prerogative), here's the breakdown for Episode IV: A New Hope: It's space, and the evil Empire has taken over most of the galaxy under the leadership of an unseen but greatly feared Emperor and his second-in-command, Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones), a cyborg with an array of telekinetic and telepathic powers arising from The Force, a universal energy that a few special people can manipulate. He is currently overseeing construction of an all-powerful battle station, the Death Star, that can hell of pulverize a planet. He's also kidnapped Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), a leader in the rebellion who is believed to be holding secret plans that could defeat the empire. She gives the plans to her droids R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) who escape to the desert planet Tatooine, where they are picked up by young and feathered-haired Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).

He enlists elderly recluse Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (Alec Guinness) to unlock the plans inside, and soon enough the group is off on an adventure to save the Princess. They hire the cocky but capable Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookie co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to transport them. Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father, who was a Jedi (someone who uses the Force for good), and teaches him some ways to hone his own powers. They hap-hazardly stage a rescue for Leia, who ends up being more proactive and level-headed than her so-called saviors once she's out of her cell. Now they've got to make it to the Rebel base so they can team up to destroy the Death Star. Woooo.

Yeah so I am totally aware of what a dick George Lucas is, and I don't like what he's done with the series since the original trilogy, and yes he's pretty bad at dialogue and direction. But really, I am still totally impressed with him when I watch this movie. The next two are better-written and better-made in general (Lucas did not direct or write the scripts), but A New Hope is still a kickass movie loaded with imagination and vision. He didn't have much, and everyone around him thought it was a stupid idea that wouldn't be successful, but he proved them wrong and that's pretty cool. I'm not sure why this franchise has the incredible staying power and influence that it does, but it's well-deserved. It takes elements of samurai lore and mythology and classic storytelling and mixes them together in spaaaaace, making it instantly better.

Lucas has created some excellent, memorable characters and it's always great to be re-introduced to them in this movie. They are all made infinitely better by the marvelous cast. Of course Harrison Ford stands out (as he does in anything) and his Han Solo is so perfect. He has just the right amount of self-confidence, self-absorption, and underlying tenderness to make a classic role. Plus he has all the best one-liners, and knows what to do with them. Carrie Fisher is badass and condescending in the best way. Though Leia needs saving at first, she can take care of herself. She even stands up to Darth Vader, who could force-choke her in a second. Mark Hamill is whiiiiiiney but it's in a lovable, I-can't-wait-for-him-to-be-an-awesome-Jedi kind of way, and appropriate for someone so young and naive. R2 is absolutely adorable despite its lack of speech, and C-3PO is a good foil for him, though inanely talkative. Obviously we've got one of the best villains ever in Darth Vader. He can choke you with his mind for goodness sake! His mind. I think the skeletal General Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) is great too- perfect mix of cowardice and merciless self-preservation.

There are of course so many other aspects of this movie that help make it such a big deal. John Williams' score fits each scene so perfectly, making the dramatic more dramatic and the exciting more exciting. Music is always important in a film, but I feel it has a bigger effect than usual in these movies. We watched the non-CGI'ed version, which was nice, as I hadn't seen that since I was a kid. It still looks great, and appropriately grittier. The landscapes and interior sets are lovingly detailed and fully imagined. The puppetry/makeup/animation for the aliens is good enough to not need CGI. It feels more real, actually, because it is more substantial. The digital effects don't feel solid enough to me.

All in all A New Hope is a fun, action-packed, creative movie, but mostly it's there to set the stage for the awesomeness of the next two films. Taken on its own it's still a great time, but not amazing. The stilted dialogue and at times poorly-paced plot structure keep it from excelling, as well as a host of little errors or continuity issues now that the prequels have been made. Luckily we can all sit back down and watch The Empire Strikes Back immediately after, and try to forget what George Lucas has been doing for the past decade.

4/5