Director: | george lucas | Runtime: 2 hrs 1 min (121 min) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
luke skywalker | ..... | mark hamill | ||||
han solo | ..... | harrison ford | ||||
princess leia organa | ..... | carrie fisher | ||||
grand moff tarkin | ..... | peter cushing | ||||
‘ben’ obi-Wan kenobi | ..... | alec guinness | ||||
C-3PO | ..... | anthony daniels | ||||
r2-D2 | ..... | kenny baker | ||||
chewbacca | ..... | peter mayhew | ||||
darth vader | ..... | david prowse | ||||
uncle owen | ..... | phil brown | ||||
aunt beru | ..... | shelagh fraser | ||||
general dodonna | ..... | alex mcCrindle | ||||
general willard | ..... | eddie burn | ||||
general taggi | ..... | don henderson | ||||
general motti | ..... | richard leParmentier | ||||
commander #1 | ..... | leslie schofield |
storm trooper #1 (voice) | ..... | scott beach | storm trooper #8 | ..... | frank henson | |
storm trooper #2 | ..... | lightning bear | storm trooper #9 | ..... | arthur howell | |
storm trooper #3 | ..... | tin condren | storm trooper #10 | ..... | colin michael kitchens | |
storm trooper #4 | ..... | peter diamond | storm trooper #11 | ..... | rick mcCallum | |
storm trooper #5 (with binoculars) | ..... | ted gagliano | storm trooper #12 | ..... | morgan upton | |
storm trooper #6 | ..... | nelson hall | storm trooper #13 | ..... | jerry walter | |
storm trooper #7 | ..... | reg harding | storm trooper #14 | ..... | bill weston |
red leader | ..... | drew hemley | red four (John d.) | ..... | jack klaff | |
red two (Wedge) | ..... | dennis lawson | red six (Porkins) | ..... | williams hootkins | |
red two (voice) | ..... | david ankrum | red twelve (Drifter) | ..... | john chapman | |
red three (Biggs) | ..... | garric hagon |
gold leader | ..... | angus mcInnis | gold five | ..... | graham ashley | |
gold two | ..... | jeremy sinden |
gilda cohen | solo gardner | geoffrey moon | roy straight | |||
robert davies | isaac grand | george stock | fred wood | |||
robert davies | isaac grand | john sylla (voices) |
chief…Jack purvis | warwick diamond | melissa kurtzi | mahjoub | |||
frazier diamond | rusty goffe | tiffany kurtz | hal wamsley |
boba fett | ..... | mark austin | darth vader (voice) | ..... | james earl jones | |
cantina alien #1 | ..... | john berg | chall bekan | ..... | linda jones | |
cantina alien #2 | ..... | doug beswick | solomohal | ..... | jon kaye | |
cantina alien #3 | ..... | phil tippett | daine jir | ..... | al lampert | |
greedo #1 | ..... | paul blake | bo shek | ..... | anthony lang | |
greedo #2 | ..... | maria de aragon | muftak/Cantina band member | ..... | laine liska | |
greedo #3 (voice) | ..... | larry ward | temple guard/Medal bearer | ..... | derek lyons | |
nubrun leids | ..... | janice burchette | death star gunner | ..... | grant mcCune | |
wuher | ..... | ted burnett | swilla corey | ..... | mandy morton | |
wioslea | ..... | barry copping | massassi base rebel scout | ..... | lorne peterson | |
dr. evazan | ..... | alfie curtis | rycar ryjerd | ..... | marcus powell | |
hrchek kal fas | ..... | robert a. denham | inCon engineer | ..... | shane rimmer | |
garindan | ..... | sadie eden | leesub sirlin | ..... | pam rose | |
djas puhr | ..... | kim falkinburg | cmdr. praji (Imperial officer on rebel ship) | ..... | george roubicek | |
death star trooper #1 | ..... | peter diamond | twass khaa | ..... | erica simmons | |
death star trooper #2 | ..... | harry fielder | senni tonnika | ..... | angela stains | |
death star trooper #3 | ..... | steve gawley | sai'torr kal fas | ..... | peter sturgeon | |
death star trooper #4 | ..... | joe johnston | lieutenant pol treidum | ..... | peter sumner | |
kabe #1 | ..... | barry gnome | massassi outpost announcer/Various voices (voice) | ..... | tom sylla | |
kabe #2/GONK droid | ..... | rusty goffe | lieutenant shann childsen | ..... | malcolm tierney | |
leia's rebel escort | ..... | alan harris | del goren | ..... | burnell tucker | |
brea tonnika | ..... | christina hewett | thuku | ..... | diana sadley way | |
ponda baba | ..... | tommy ilsley | ketwol/Melas | ..... | harold weed | |
mosep | ..... | annette jones | mos eisley citizen | ..... | steve "spaz" williams | |
takeel | ..... | alf mansan |
A New Hope
"It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.
During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.
Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy…"
Once again a fleeing spaceship introduces us to the planet of Tatooine. Darth Vader (David Prowse) and his troops are boarding the Rebel ship looking for the above mentioned plans. In the commotion, two take an escape pod and jettison to the surface of the planet below to escape. Vader, assuming the Death Star plans are in the escape pod, sends troops down to retrieve them. Upon landing on Tatooine, the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO (Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels) are picked up by scavenger merchant Jawas, who in turn sell them to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While fixing him up, R2 reveals that he is carrying a cryptic message from the Princess addressed to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness). Luke knows of a "Ben" Kenobi, and wonders if the two have a connection. Luke's Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) and Uncle Owen (Phil Brown) deny any knowledge of "Obi-Wan."
Luke and the droids are attacked by "Sandpeople" , and Obi-Wan comes to their rescue.
As Obi-Wan and Luke sit down for a talk, Obi-Wan hints at the history of Luke's dead father. It is also discovered that R2's "mission" is to take his message to Alderaan. The Sandpeople return, attacking the merchant Jawas who sold the droids to Luke; they also attack Luke's home and kill his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan agrees to take Luke and the droids to Alderaan with him and teach him the ways of the Force.
As they'll be needing a ship, they travel to Mos Eisley and pick up a pilot named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his first-mate Wookie, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). Han is the captain of the ‘Millenium Falcon.’ He is in debt to a Hutt named Jabba, and is willing to take them for a price that would pay his debt.
The Imperial Forces have Leia in custody, and are threatening her to get her to tell them the location of the Rebel base. They then destroy her home planet of Alderaan before moving on.
The Millenium Falcon comes upon the Death Star about to destroy the Rebel base. As they approach, they are sucked into the Death Star station by a tractor beam. The group escapes the ‘Falcon’ to snoop around the station. R2 tells them the Princess is there, so they go to save her while Obi-Wan leaves to disengage the tractor beam. After taking out the beam, Obi-Wan faces Darth Vader in a saber fight. Obi-Wan sees that Luke is witnessing this battle, and makes it a point to surrender, allowing Vader to strike him dead. The whole group of Rebels takes this opportunity to reboard the "Millenium Falcon" for escape. Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice telling him to run.
As the ‘Falcon’ escapes, they are persued by Imperial fighters. Unbeknownst to them, a homing device has been planted on the ‘Falcon.’
R2 has the plans for the Death Star, which are given to the Rebels to use to find a weak spot in the station.
Vader follows the &lquo;Falcon’ to the planet Yavin and learn that the Rebel base is on a moon on the far side of the planet.
On the anaysis of the plans, the Rebel team learns of a method to destroy the Death Star, requiring a precise hit at a vulnerable spot on the station. The teams deploy. They all wish each other luck as the Red and Gold fighter teams go in for the attack on the Death Star. An impressive battle ensues. (Details are for watching eyes only.) The Death Star is designed for large-scale battle, not for small fighters. This requires ship-to-ship combat with a band of Imperial fighters. Vader takes pilot of a fighter for himself. In case it's not obvious enough, Vader's ship has a different wing structure than the other fighters.
R2-D2 rides on the back of Luke's fighter, making minor repairs to keep him flying.
As Vader and his two wingships target Luke, an assault comes from behind. It's…sorry…gotta watch the movie (as if anyone in the world DOESN'T KNOW WHO IT IS).
Finally, Luke, Han, and Chewbacca are honored in a grand celebration of their victory.
It is very difficult to review one of your favorite movies. Either you end up missing some of the bad parts needing to be addressed (there's one in almost every movie), or you go on and on, detailing every bathroom break of every character and decorative plant. I'll try not to do either of those…
In case you didn't catch my drift, this is one of my favorite movies. It is actually strange to compare your reaction to a movie you saw seventeen times when you were 4 years old to your reaction to seeing it again when you are…um…older.
For example, there are several explosions in this movie, namely starfighters, Alderaan, and…another one that is rather iconic. Reaction at 4…Wow! That's cool! Reaction at…several years later…Wow, now that was really impressive, even by today's standards! Yes, that is right. At my age, I refrain from using too many contractions!
Considering this was filmed in 1977, this was like the Jimi Hendrix or Citizen Kane of special effects. Oddly enough, I was more impressed with the original effects than I was by those added or enhanced by the remastered Special Edition.
I'm sorry to say that some of the acting could have been better. Ironically, I think Carrie Fisher is the worst offender (with Mark Hamill coming in a close second). It becomes distracting when Leia has a close-up of her talking to someone she doesn't like (e.g. Vader, Han Solo). She has a tic-like way of constantly shaking her head from side to side.
One other thing that I find disturbing comes as the group is escaping the Death Star aboard the ‘Millenium Falcon.’ Luke has just witnessed Vader killing Obi-Wan, and he is very emotionally distraught (one spot where Mark Hamill shows that he is a decent actor when he wants to be). Before you can say "May the Force be with you," all seems fine and cheery again; remindful of a newscaster who tells camera 2 that there will be sunny skies tomorrow, after announcing to camera 1 that a severed head was found in an alley behind the local preschool.
Name any other aspect of this movie, and I will probably have something good to say. Unlike most series, this one does an exceptional job with continuity and purpose other than profit (which it didn't to too badly with, either).
I would love to read any comments and thoughts from you from those days long, long ago (in a galaxy far, far away…)
Finally, a short list of quotes and verbal exchanges I think are worth repeating. You may recognize some if you've seen the movie, but these are my own picks, not ones that are particularly famous:
- vader :
You are part of the Rebel alliance and a traitor. Take her away!
- aunt beru :
Luke's just not a farmer, Owen. He has too much of his father in him.
uncle owen :That's what I'm afraid of.
- luke :
How did my father die?
obi - wan :A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights. He betrayed and murdered your father. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force.
- vader :
The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
- obi - wan :
The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.
- obi - wan :
Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.
- luke :
I have a very bad feeling about this.
- obi - wan :
Who's the more foolish, the Fool, or the fool who follows him?
- vader :
I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner. Now I am the master.
obi - wan :Only a master of evil, Darth.
- obi - wan :
If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine
- obi - wan :[voice]
Run, Luke, run!
- han solo :
You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!
- obi - wan :[voice]
Remember, the Force will be with you, always.
- obi - wan :
That's no moon.
Here is some interesting trivia from this movie⇒
- When this movie was first released, the title was billed simply as Star Wars. The beginning crawl was the only place where "Episode IV" was seen. It was not until the first three episodes were filmed and released that the subtitle Episode IV: A New Hope was inserted into the title. I have included it here because I based this review on the enhanced version made in 1999, when the extended title was added.
10 /10
A bit of trivia - George Lucas wanted one big star in the show, but budgeted all the money for special effects. He approached Alec Guinness and said he could only pay him scale, but was willing to offer him 20% of the gross. Guinness accepted. It eventually made him the highest paid actor of all time, earning him over 150 million dollars in 1977 dollars. His estate is still making money off of residuals.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
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