Countdown to "The Rise of Skywalker" - Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we've covered every film that was set before this one in the official Star Wars timeline. Now, let's continue the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker with a review of the one that started it all: Star Wars - A New Hope, or just simply Star Wars. Released in 1977, Star Wars was a massive hit at the box office. The film was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, losing to the Woody Allen film Annie Hall. George Lucas, with this one film, his third overall, made a pop culture phenomenon, all the while reshaping the Hollywood blockbuster in the process.
The film opens with an opening text crawl, that establishes that Rebel spies have stolen the plans for the Galactic Empire's new super weapon: the Death Star. Above the desert planet of Tatooine, we see the Rebel blockade runner Tantive IV in a firefight with an Imperial Star Destroyer, which captures the Tantive IV, and Stormtroopers board the ship and a firefight between the troopers and the Rebel soldiers ensues. Meanwhile, Princess Leia downloads the Death Star plans into the Astromech droid R2-D2, who along with protocol droid C-3PO heads down to the surface of Tatooine, after which they are both captured by Jawas, who sell them to moisture farmer Owen Lars. Owen's nephew, Luke, cleans up both droids, and looks out into the sunset, dreaming of great adventures among the stars.
Princess Leia, meanwhile, is taken prisoner by Darth Vader to the Death Star, where she is interrogated regarding the location of the Rebel Base. After resisting a mind probe, Grand Moff Tarkin suggests another form of getting the information the Empire seeks, and immediately has the Death Star set course for Leia's homeworld of Alderaan. After she gives them a false location, Dantooine, Tarkin orders the destruction of Alderaan anyways, as a demonstration of the Death Star's true destructive capabilities.
Back on Tatooine, Luke, 3PO, and R2 find Ben Kenobi, who was once known as Obi-Wan, and deliver him a recorded message from Leia. After seeing the dead bodies of his aunt and uncle, Beru and Owen, Luke agrees to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan. After arriving at the spaceport of Mos Eisley, Luke and Obi-Wan enlist the services of Han Solo and Chewbacca, who agree to transport them to Alderaan. After blasting their way out of Mos Eisley, Han, Chewie, Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids, aboard the Millennium Falcon, jump to hyperspace en route to Alderaan. They arrive too late, however, as Alderaan is gone. The ship is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam, and they split off into three groups: Obi-Wan heads off on his own to disable the tractor beam, Luke, Han and Chewie head to detention block AA-23 to rescue Leia, and the droids stay behind to keep a look out for any Stormtroopers. All parties are successful, but Obi-Wan, in a lightsaber duel with Vader, makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives up his life, becoming one with the Force.
Escaping aboard the Falcon, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids arrive at the Rebel Base on Yavin IV. Tracking the homing beacon placed on the Falcon, the Death Star arrives at Yavin. The Rebel's fleet of X-Wings and Y-Wings head out for an attack on the Death Star's weak spot. While the Empire sends a battalion of TIE Fighters to destroy the Rebels, with Darth Vader joining the fight in his own personal TIE Fighter. After suffering casualties, and Han arriving to help out, Luke, in his X-Wing, eventually hits the target, destroying the Death Star. Han and Luke are hailed as heroes, and the movie comes to an end.
The original Star Wars is still hailed as a masterpiece of cinema, a turning point in the field of visual effects, and a landmark achievement in blockbuster filmmaking. Fans the world over love everything about this movie, and it's not hard to see why. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are still seen as icons, and both Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing were incredible in their roles, giving the film some credibility at the same time. David Prowse and James Earl Jones were both menacing in the shared role of Darth Vader (David Prowse wore the Vader suit, and James Earl Jones provided the voice), and the costuming work done for the aliens and the droids was incredible.
It is also known that George Lucas has gone back several times and added new material to the film, updating certain visual effects to look more cinematic (such as creating a panning shot of the X-Wings and Y-Wings, as opposed to a front and back shot cut together), but also changing things that were fine as they were (i.e. making Greedo shoot first. Sorry, but Han shot first.), or adding CGI shots were they weren't needed. While I personally don't mind these new additions, as I find they add more life and vibrancy to the movie, I understand why some fans don't like these changes.
Even with all of that, Star Wars: A New Hope is still a landmark film, and worthy of getting my rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time when I take a look at The Empire Strikes Back as the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker continues.
The film opens with an opening text crawl, that establishes that Rebel spies have stolen the plans for the Galactic Empire's new super weapon: the Death Star. Above the desert planet of Tatooine, we see the Rebel blockade runner Tantive IV in a firefight with an Imperial Star Destroyer, which captures the Tantive IV, and Stormtroopers board the ship and a firefight between the troopers and the Rebel soldiers ensues. Meanwhile, Princess Leia downloads the Death Star plans into the Astromech droid R2-D2, who along with protocol droid C-3PO heads down to the surface of Tatooine, after which they are both captured by Jawas, who sell them to moisture farmer Owen Lars. Owen's nephew, Luke, cleans up both droids, and looks out into the sunset, dreaming of great adventures among the stars.
Princess Leia, meanwhile, is taken prisoner by Darth Vader to the Death Star, where she is interrogated regarding the location of the Rebel Base. After resisting a mind probe, Grand Moff Tarkin suggests another form of getting the information the Empire seeks, and immediately has the Death Star set course for Leia's homeworld of Alderaan. After she gives them a false location, Dantooine, Tarkin orders the destruction of Alderaan anyways, as a demonstration of the Death Star's true destructive capabilities.
Back on Tatooine, Luke, 3PO, and R2 find Ben Kenobi, who was once known as Obi-Wan, and deliver him a recorded message from Leia. After seeing the dead bodies of his aunt and uncle, Beru and Owen, Luke agrees to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan. After arriving at the spaceport of Mos Eisley, Luke and Obi-Wan enlist the services of Han Solo and Chewbacca, who agree to transport them to Alderaan. After blasting their way out of Mos Eisley, Han, Chewie, Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids, aboard the Millennium Falcon, jump to hyperspace en route to Alderaan. They arrive too late, however, as Alderaan is gone. The ship is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam, and they split off into three groups: Obi-Wan heads off on his own to disable the tractor beam, Luke, Han and Chewie head to detention block AA-23 to rescue Leia, and the droids stay behind to keep a look out for any Stormtroopers. All parties are successful, but Obi-Wan, in a lightsaber duel with Vader, makes the ultimate sacrifice and gives up his life, becoming one with the Force.
Escaping aboard the Falcon, Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids arrive at the Rebel Base on Yavin IV. Tracking the homing beacon placed on the Falcon, the Death Star arrives at Yavin. The Rebel's fleet of X-Wings and Y-Wings head out for an attack on the Death Star's weak spot. While the Empire sends a battalion of TIE Fighters to destroy the Rebels, with Darth Vader joining the fight in his own personal TIE Fighter. After suffering casualties, and Han arriving to help out, Luke, in his X-Wing, eventually hits the target, destroying the Death Star. Han and Luke are hailed as heroes, and the movie comes to an end.
The original Star Wars is still hailed as a masterpiece of cinema, a turning point in the field of visual effects, and a landmark achievement in blockbuster filmmaking. Fans the world over love everything about this movie, and it's not hard to see why. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher are still seen as icons, and both Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing were incredible in their roles, giving the film some credibility at the same time. David Prowse and James Earl Jones were both menacing in the shared role of Darth Vader (David Prowse wore the Vader suit, and James Earl Jones provided the voice), and the costuming work done for the aliens and the droids was incredible.
It is also known that George Lucas has gone back several times and added new material to the film, updating certain visual effects to look more cinematic (such as creating a panning shot of the X-Wings and Y-Wings, as opposed to a front and back shot cut together), but also changing things that were fine as they were (i.e. making Greedo shoot first. Sorry, but Han shot first.), or adding CGI shots were they weren't needed. While I personally don't mind these new additions, as I find they add more life and vibrancy to the movie, I understand why some fans don't like these changes.
Even with all of that, Star Wars: A New Hope is still a landmark film, and worthy of getting my rating of 5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time when I take a look at The Empire Strikes Back as the Countdown to The Rise of Skywalker continues.
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