*Directed by George Lucas
*Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, James Earl Jones
*SPOILER WARNING*
The Plot: A farm-boy pilot named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) from the desert planet Tatooine leaves home joined by two droids, a cocky smuggler pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), his co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and a wise old Jedi knight named Obi Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness) in order to aid in the Rebellion's mission of destroying the evil Galactic Empire's super weapon The Death Star. However, this results in the group eventually rescuing a princess named Leia (Carrie Fisher) who sets them on this mission to begin with and soon joining the Rebellion in order to cripple the Empire's wrath once and for all.
Everything pretty much said about just this movie has already been said in the history of cinema. Star Wars is most definitely one of the most influential films of all time and it's just amazing to see how it did gain this phenomenon ever since it released back in May of '77. This changed the landscape for movies by having these big blockbuster films soon come off the ground with this movie and Spielberg's Jaws being the first ever blockbusters.
Honestly, what is there not to love about just this first Star Wars film in general and how it just marveled a generation of people youth and adults alike. I first saw this film when I was 9 years old and even though I had watched one of the prequel movies beforehand this movie really blew my mind at a young age. I was never exposed to the series at a really young age for it was one of those things I discovered for myself, but once I saw this specific movie I started to grow a love for this franchise that just hasn't left because Star Wars is still to me one of the greatest movies I've ever seen in my entire life.
I think one of the most important things that this movie did was that in order to pique interest for the landscape of this entire story is that this movie had to do a good job of setting up its entire universe. There's so much mythos and lore to explore in the grand scheme of things and the way George Lucas put this story together and had certain characters factor in to have us gain a perspective and a great feel of this world is still incredibly tremendous to me.
I love that when the film starts and just from the opening crawl and the struggle we're seeing visually between the tiny Rebellion cruiser, the Tantive IV, and the massive and utterly powerful Imperial Star-Destroyer that the film puts us in the middle of the action. We have an understanding of the conflict at large, but the film starts out in a way that makes us more interested about some of the history that lead up to this point.
Also, once we hit Tatooine and we finally have Luke meet Old Ben, it just opens up so much more about the fantasy aspect that this entire world entails and how this terrible Empire with the power of Darth Vader involved came to be. To me this is a good example of how exposition should be done in movies because it's too the point, it's explained like a proper story, it's not extensive and we're like Luke in the scenario trying to get a grasp of this history.
The universe of Star Wars is just so exciting to explore with all the characters that are introduced and even with the worlds we visit that it just makes it so enticing to watch. Not only is something like the Jedi of the Old Republic interesting, but the tension had with Obi Wan and Vader is so amazing and with the way Ben tells that story just gives this history so much weight and depth. Maybe we don't know all about Vader just yet, but the film does such a great job of leaving some mystery and not in a way to make it feel like a set-up movie or to make the Vader character seem shallow. We already start to grow a sort of hatred towards him, but we understand that there might be more layers we as viewers don't know about just yet.
It also bears repeating how incredible each and every character is in this movie since they all have such lovable personalities and all have such a great amount of bravery and purpose. I love the arc that starts to build for Luke Skywalker who's by far my all time favorite character in Star Wars and probably in any form of storytelling. Seeing him growing into something more and tuning into the Force is just always something magical to see on screen. Harrison Ford plays the perfect scoundrel pilot in Han Solo. The late Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia was plain awesome because she proved to be more than just the damsel in distress and actually got in on the action. I freaking love seeing her and the rest of the group trying to blow stormtroopers away.
The late legendary Alec Guiness as Obi Wan also plays the perfect lovable wiseman and I'll never forget how jaw-dropping it was to see him get killed off. Still a very effective scene in my opinion to go off of the history between him and Vader. Darth Vader was also a very menacing presence and props to David Prowse who brought an excellent physicality to that performance with James Earl Jones's voice work being the cream of the crop bringing the character even more to life. I also adore Peter Cushing's performance as Grand Moff Tarkin and the slimy and cold hearted presence he gave throughout.
Anthony Daniels as C3PO, Kenny Baker as R2D2, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca also brought about amazing physical performances to these characters that just make them infectiously enjoyable to watch on screen. It's just so important to say how perfect each actor was cast to bring these characters to life and showcase them in this universe that made me really fall in love this world. All the amazing filmmaking elements can bring me into this world, but if it isn't for a really compelling fantasy adventure and perfectly well utilized characters than Star Wars just wouldn't be as amazing as it is.
However, let's talk about some of the filmmaking elements because from the costuming, the creature designs, the make-up, the set designs, the production designs, and the various models of starships, it is all just so damn amazing how well these design elements stand out. How iconic and memorable every single design of each prop, starship, character and location is in this movie is really unprecedented. Watching something like the scene in Mos Eisely, the Cantina scene, is just unparalleled.
Of course, the special effects in this movie in my opinion are still undoubtedly groundbreaking and I watched the original unaltered version of this movie. I mean it's probably easy to pick apart some of the green screen shots or the way some of the ships move through space, but for its time you have to give every crew member props for putting all this blood, sweat, and tears into bringing all these elements of the spectacle to life. The work paid off because to me everything still holds up and looks just as groundbreaking as it did back in 1977.
The sound for this film is also just utterly brilliant with Ben Burtt's incredible creation of all these iconic sound effects embedded in my skull. All of those sounds blended with John Williams' flawless score is just one of the greatest things on planet Earth. Also, Williams' score is easily one of the best film scores of all time. Definitely in my top 3 favorites, if not my favorite. I haven't done a ranking as of recent, but it's up there. Truly is some of the best, most original, and memorable music ever composed for cinema.
I really can't pinpoint anything I dislike about this movie because the way it just sets up its world and brings you into the story with its rich spectacle, astonishingly strong characters, and beyond enticing fantasy lore, it just makes this movie second to none. Star Wars is one of the single greatest fantasy adventures ever put to film and to say it's an incredible cinematic achievement is a million percent true.
Verdict: A+
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this review! I've been looking forward to bringing you my thoughts on the film that started it all and boy am I excited to see what's in store for the future of this franchise! Also, stay tuned because there will be a few Star Wars reviews coming at you this week with The Last Jedi already coming out in less than two weeks as I'm writing this! Holy crap! So be on the lookout for my reviews of The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens.
I love you and if you want to haven't already check out my other Star Wars reviews with a link to that page down below as well as links to my social media stuff if you want to check back on other updates for my little blog here:
STAR WARS REVIEWS
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Again, thank you all so much for reading! As always see some great freakin' entertainment. Take care and May the Force be with you. Always. :-)
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