The Star Wars franchise began with A New Hope. However, when it first released it was only branded as Star Wars and then later renamed A New Hope. It introduces the world to Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker who wants nothing more than to leave his mundane life behind. Soon, Luke gets more than he bargains for when he’s wrapped up in a mission to help Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) save Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher).
It also introduces Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader and David Prowse under Darth Vader’s mask.
The Good
A New Hope has a lot to do: it needs to create a whole new world, it needs to introduce characters and far out there concepts. Thankfully, world-building is something George Lucas does well with the Original Trilogy. This is especially seen in A New Hope.
The music in Star Wars is always amazing, but John Williams’ score for A New Hope is leaps and bounds compared to anything that came next. The opening title music is known by everyone and the Mos Eisley Cantina song is still played to this day. The score gives a sense of foreboding whenever the Empire is near, and it’s yet to be rivaled.
It gives up one of the greatest villains in cinematic history. From the moment he comes on screen audiences know this is not a being to be trifled with. The stature of Dave Prowse and the voice of James Earl Jones are a fantastic combination that creates a menacing foe.
A New Hope introduces the world to Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford. It brings together a threesome that are much-loved by fans of Pop Culture. It’s rare to find a trio so beloved but George Lucas managed to bring them together and the world is a better place for it.
The Bad
Death is flat. By that, I mean there isn’t much care about death in this movie. Luke loses his uncle, his aunt, and his mentor. Leia loses her whole planet. Neither of them seems affected though. There’s a second of grieving and then they move on and things are suddenly fine again. Leia is also tortured yet she’s fine throughout.
Grand Moff Tarkin is given a lame send-off. The last we see of him is a close-up shot of him staring and then the Death Star explodes. A character like Tarkin deserves a better death, even if it means sacrificing a Rebel to do so.
The lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. While the effects weren’t as good as they are now, it could have been more exciting. Seeing two formidable opponents do basically nothing gives no sense of their past. Bringing in more urgency to the battle would have improved it. Even if it’s the case of Vader trying to destroy Obi-Wan with rage while the latter refused could have been more emotive.
There’s a lot of tell, don’t show in this one. We’re told Luke is a great pilot until Act 3. We’re told about his friendship with Biggs, who turns up at the end only to die. It seems a problem with Star Wars, especially the Original Trilogy is the audience is told things rather than seeing them in action. Because of this, it’s hard to trust a character is what they say they are. We’re given no real indication of their ability until it’s needed in the story.
