Film Review: Star Wars

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

• Publisher: 20th Century Fox
• Production Company: Lucasfilm
• Release: 25 May 1977
• Genre: Action, Science-fiction
• Director: George Lucas
• Producer: Gary Kurtz
• Writer: George Lucas

A new Star Wars movie is soon on its way to theatres as I write this, so you know what that means: more Star Wars reviews!  And to that end, I've got the urge to review the movies themselves.  All of them.  Well, all that matter, anyway.  I've had some personal debate as to whether to review them in order of release, starting with 1977's Episode IV, or in order of story, with 1999's Episode I.  Then I thought, there's still a story to be had by looking at it in terms of release order, as we can see how the crew behind the movies evolved, or devolved, their craft over time.  So, Episode IV it is, then!

The titular "star wars", at least in this particular trilogy, refer to a civil war between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance.  The film starts when an imperial space ship, a Star Destroyer, captures a smaller rebel ship.  The boarding party, led by the general Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones), is in search of blueprints for the Death Star, a giant space-station superweapon, which were stolen by the rebellion.  But just in time, rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) has hidden the plans with two droids named C-3PO and R2-D2, and ejects them to a nearby planet before she gets captured.  Landing on the desert planet Tatooine, the droids are picked up by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill).  He doesn't know what to make of them, until he brings him to his friend, the wise old Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness).  Through Obi-Wan, Luke learns about the war raging across the galaxy, and about the mystical magical force known as... the Force.  After the empire finds and kills Luke's adoptive parents, it's up to them, the smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and his furry first-mate Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to return the Death Star plans back to the rebels, and avert whatever the empire plans to do with it.

Star Wars's universe has copied from many sources, but in a way that still feels original.

There's just something primal and timeless about A New Hope's story; it feels like it's always been with us.  I'm not quite sure what I'm on about, but it may have something to do with the many sources from which it has blatantly borrowed inspiration.  There are parallels, admitted by George Lucas himself, between the Jedi Knights and the samurai of Akira Kurosawa films, between Han Solo and the heroes of various westerns, and between the Death Star battle and movies based on World War II.  There's even a book about how tropes from mythologies, religions, and literature have been repeated over the years, called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which was also claimed as an influence on Luke Skywalker.  And I don't mean that any of that as a knock against Star Wars; it uses its many source materials in ways that feel completely new.  The best parodies are the ones where you don't have to be familiar with any one of its original materials to enjoy much of the humour, and in a sense that is true of more serious works like this.

When all these familiar plot aspects are injected into a new, foreign, science-fiction setting, it makes it easier for the audience to immerse themselves into the new world on the screen.  Breaking from the traditional trends of science-fiction films of the time, Star Wars pioneered the idea of a "used future", where despite the many technological trappings used by the characters, the loose parts and scrap strewn about the place shows, without words, how places like Tatooine are suffering under the empire.  When our heroes land in the empire's Death Star, the cold cleanliness of its set dressings provide effective contrast as well.  Although, one wonders why there have to be so many bottomless pits throughout the darn thing.  And ledges without railings, too!  Man, if OSHA existed in the Star Wars universe, the Empire would never hear the end of it.  And don't get me started on how they can have ship hangars open to the cold of space, but still have breathable, livable climates on the inside.  ...Seriously, don't get me started, because I have more important topics to get to.

Star Wars made astounding innovations in the field of special effects.

The world of Star Wars is brought to life by its special effects.  In 1977, computer-generated imagery was nowhere near the state it is in today; the best they could muster at the time was the wireframe model of the Death Star that the rebel pilots watch before the final battle.  Rather, the spaceships, as well as the world-famous opening text crawl, were "animated" by moving a camera around stationary models, and compositing them onto the backgrounds.  Other effects, like the glowing blaster bolts and Lightsaber blades, were accomplished by rotoscope animation.  Everything else, especially the various alien and droid costumes, was done physically on the set.  I imagine these effects must have been mind-blowing for 1977 audiences, because even today they still look quite good.  It helps that most of the animated objects were simple light blobs or vehicles with few moving parts, which didn't over-extend the reach of special effects from the time, but   Not all the effects stand the test of time today, but those that do hold up better than some of the CGI added for the special editions, although that's a diversion for another day.

To be perfectly honest, Star Wars does not have the strongest of starts, and that can be blamed upon the droid duo of C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker).  The partially prim and proper Threepio is almost constantly bickering with, and belittling the advice of, his robotic partner.   And since there's quite a stretch of film after they leave Leia but before they meet Luke, this nagging wears on the audience quite a bit. Artoo, meanwhile, only responds with a collection of beeps, which at least lends some degree of comedy to their exploits.  The human characters, however, are far more... human.  Luke has his own dreams for his normal life, and is reluctant to join Obi-Wan's mission until he discovers the death of his step-parents.  Han is only in this mission for the money, and even then only to pay off the mobsters on his back.  And Leia shows a tendency for quick-thinking action from time to time.  Even within the opposing forces, there are heated discussions between Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), and other Imperial officers over the effectiveness of the Death Star and of capturing Leia.

And, of course, it all ends with one of the tensest climaxes I've ever seen in cinema.  In the final battle, Rebel fighter-ships must destroy the Death Star, flying through the trenches along its surface to drop a bomb, before it can fire upon the planet of the Rebel base.  Even after all the times I've re-watched this movie, this part always leaves me on pins and needles.  Good thing, too, because Star Wars is worth re-watching, as you never know what new details you'll pick up from its plot or setting each time.  There's a smarmy sort of knowledge to be held once you've seen the later movies, and you go back to this one to find out what little facts were maintained throughout the series, and what eventually got changed.  But it doesn't take knowledge of the other entries to really enjoy Star Wars, and that's what makes this original entry special among all the others.

Positives:
+ A simple but deep story.
+ Brilliant world-building, some of it completely non-verbal.
+ Innovative and still-solid special effects.
+ The pulse-pounding ending battle.

Negatives:
- The early exploits of C-3PO and R2-D2 are long and a bit annoying.

Acting: 4 Death Stars out of 5
Writing: 5 Death Stars out of 5
Special Effects: 5 Death Stars out of 5
Visual Design: 5 Death Stars out of 5
The Call: 95% (A)