Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) Review

I realize now just how amazing this film is. Though I think Empire is easily the better film, I can't help but love this one. Star Wars, or Star Wars IV: A New Hope is what began the impossibly expansive series, including video games, books, tv shows, and comics. Star Wars has something to offer to any fan of entertainment. Which can be a detriment and a positive to the franchise.

The story sets the tone for sci-fi as we know it today. Although A Trip to the Moon (1902) could be credited as the birth of the sci-fi genre. And before I go on, I have to acknowledge that Star Wars isn't sci-fi. It's space fantasy. but the impact of Star Wars affected sci-fi. Mark Hamill once said George Lucas's favorite direction was "Faster with more intensity." I think that's what sums up what this film did differently. Although Shows like Star Trek and movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey had existed before this, those had a much slower look on space. But George Lucas wanted to make a space fantasy or a space opera. And he was a young and ambitious filmmaker who had a lot he wanted to do very quickly. And I think that's very well shown through the story itself. And I'll talk more about that in later reviews.

This movie introduces some of the most iconic characters to have ever been put to screen. Especially out of characters that were directly created for the film. George Lucas knew what he was doing when he hired very unheard of actors for this film. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford old had limited filmographies. Harrison Ford having the largest. And it's almost poetic that this film launched them into stardom in the same way Star Wars itself would be. I think all these actors improved since this film for sure. But nonetheless, they were very fun and charming together.

Visually this film also did many things nothing had done before. The number of spaceships they managed to put into space. And how good they looked while doing so is something to commend. This film caused the beginning of a lot of visual effects abilities. It pushed the boundaries of what could be done with special effects. And make them look believably real. And I can't go without mentioning the cinematography. It's beautiful. Some incredible wide shots. And this film existed before action was overrun with shaky cam. Thankfully Star Wars has never fallen into that mishap. The scene of Luke looking into the double sunset will always be iconic and wonderful.

This film is a pioneer. And a welcome pioneering of film. It did so much for modern cinema. And with that, you get bad and the good. But the good is worth the poor parts of modern cinema that will always exist. I would love to watch this film in a movie theater at least once. It is a near-masterpiece of space fantasy in my eyes.