Star Wars Month - Mini review: Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope

Guess what, it's Star Wars Month

And we start where it all began (production-wise anyway) with Star Wars, later re-branded Episode IV: A new hope

Before we begin, let's tackle spoilers, for the purposes of the mini-reviews, I may draw reference to the continuity of all star wars films, so episodes I-III and V and VI may also be referred to in this review.

Last chance to back out, I'll be spoiling...







































I did warn you

So Star Wars Episode IV- A new hope, it's a very good movie. It's story and script are excellent, it introduces us to likeable characters and manages to develop them without it feeling boring, and without the extensive overuse of CGI the prequels are known for.

Part of that is of course this was on an $11 million budget, while it's prequels had a budget of over $100 million (wiki source - if you trust it) but we'll save visual effects for later.

I don't think all the seeds for the sequels were properly planted here, particularly Darth Vader being Luke's father, there is one notable problem. The dialogue between Obi Wan and Darth Vader didn't really feel personal, at all. Adding to that problem, Obi-Wan addressed him as 'Darth' which is a name given to all sith-lords (Darth Maul, Darth Siddeous, Darth Tyrannus, Darth Vader) also the way he mentioned his father had died had to be bullsh*tted with the excuse "I was right, but not in the way you were thinking" yeah, I believe you har har har. Also, what the hell was all that business of his uncle not wanting Anakin to go, that's never brought up in the prequels, in fact, the uncle, if I'm not mistaken wasn't even an uncle till later on. The only real hint about Anakin being Darth Vader. "He has too much of his father in him" "That's what I'm afraid of"

But enough about continuity clashes with future movies, all it demonstrates is a sequel may not have been originally planned. Whilst there's no major violence to offset it too much, C3PO and R2-D2 are the comedic relief of the group (R2-D2 doesn't seem to have all the skills his younger counterpart had, but I digress) their banter and chatter, even if you could only understand one was fun to watch.

Han Solo is played by Harrison ford is played well. It's understood quickly that he's interesting in saving his own skin by acquiring money to pay off the ugly but intimidating Jabba the Hut (by the way, those scenes in the bar on Tatooine were pretty funny) his relationship with the group, including his co-pilot Chewbacca (let's keep it to one wookie per film, please - yes I'm talking to you Star Wars Holiday special, and no I'm not reviewing it) was joyous to watch.

Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher, is presented as someone who has experience, clever, and strong willed, able to resist Darth Vader's mind probe, to trick the general who threatened her planet (who really cares what his name was) and was leading the escape pretty much the entire way, despite being the one who was being rescued. If there was one thing I didn't like it was the 'I love her but I hate her' thing Han Solo had, they had not shared enough screen-time for a relationship to form

Then of course we come to Luke Skywalker, played by the clown prince of crime himself, Mark Hamill (yes, I do, and always will know him as the Joker) my issue is the way he reacted to grief. His aunt and uncle were killed and he has almost no reaction at all (which rather contrasts with his worry for them earlier) but Obi-Wan, who bare in mind he'd only just met, died, he was extremely upset about it. Luke's eventual rise to the rank of jedi is slow, he does not use a lightsaber in any battle in this movie, preferring to use a blaster, which he has more experience, but you can see his training, and his piloting skills, eventually leading to him using the force at the critical point at the end

It's not particularly impressive visually, but that's to be expected given it's low budget and the fact it was made in 1977. The lightsaber duels whilst certainly engaging lacked the fast paced tension of those from the prequels, and Obi-Wan's death seemed somewhat forced, not to mention he didn't die as much disappear into nothingness - not something a lightsaber is usually known for. (Also, odd green flashes with every hit) anyway the dogfights were OK, nothing extra-ordinary there either. (A lot of characters introduced just for that battle only to be killed off)

I also must mention Darth Vader as a villain, it's puzzling to see him taking orders from someone other than the Emperor himself. Though it's nice to see a few seeds planted on his end, as the council of the old republic is disbanded here. Darth Vader is equal parts diabolical (as he uses the mind probe on Leia) and threatening ('I find your lack of faith disturbing') it's also shown he's an excellent pilot, taking down most of the rebellions ships during their attack on the Death Star, also he's the only one of the antagonists to make it out alive.

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Images used in this review are from Star Wars Episode IV and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.