Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

4/4

Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and the voice of James Earl Jones

Rated PG for Sci-Fi Violence and Brief Mild Language

"Star Wars," or more appropriately, "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," is the definition of a phenomenon.  It was also, surprisingly, a sleeper hit.  No one had any confidence in it.  Most theaters had to be threatened with the loss of "The Other Side of Midnight," which was predicted to be a blockbuster, if they didn't show "Star Wars" ("The Other Side of Midnight" ended up being a major flop).  But George Lucas's space opera defied all expectations and cemented a place in the hearts and minds of filmgoers for all time.

I'm sure that everyone knows the story, but for those of you who haven't seen it in a while (or seen the hilarious "Family Guy" spoof), here's a refresher.

The Empire has control over the majority of the galaxy, and it holds its power like a vice.  There are those that rebel, but the tide has gone to the Empire now that they have built a space station with the capability of destroying an entire planet with one blow.  But the plans for the station have been stolen by Princess Leia (Fisher) who has stored them in a droid called R2-D2 (Baker).  R2-D2 and his tightly wound companion, C-3PO (Daniels) narrowly escape being caught by the Empire and land on the planet Tattooine, where they end up in the hands of young Luke Skywalker (Hamill), a young farmers boy who longs to escape his home planet.  In no short order, he has teamed up with a mysterious old man, Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi (Guinness), a mercenary named Han Solo (Ford) and his Wookiee companion Chewbacca (Mayhew), taking the Empire head on.

George Lucas has been one thing: a master storyteller with an unrivaled imagination and visual sense.  With a small budget ($11 million, not adjusted for inflation), he created a whole new universe that instantly captures the imagination.  Although in this film we only see a small part of it, we can sense that there is more out there waiting to be explored.  Lucas directs the film as a grand tapestry.  It has all the requisite elements: a noble hero, an evil villain, a spunky girl, a wise teacher and a mercenary who grows a heart.  And also a large scale that befits a space opera.

The acting is terrific.  Mark Hamill, an actor who hasn't had much of a career outside the Star Wars movies and celebrity appearances, is great as the starry-eyed adventurer.  Luke is an enthusiastic idealist, no matter the circumstances.  He's a nice guy, if a little naiive.  Carrie Fisher makes for a very sassy Princess Leia, and she has some great one-liners.  Harrison Ford shot to fame as the money-obsessed rascal Han Solo (who was based on Lucas' friend, Francis Ford Coppola).  Alec Guinness is great as the much beloved character Obi-Wan Kenobi, although sources are divided as to whether or not the classical British actor liked playing the role.  Interviews said Guinness hated being on set and asked to be killed off early, while Lucas said the actor enjoyed his time there and asked to be in more of the film.

The film holds up well, except that some of the costumes (like the stormtroopers outfits) look fake.  It's still a visually dazzling epic, especially on Blu Ray.  But like "Avatar," "Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings" movies, it needs to be seen on as big of a screen as possible.  It's still an amazing movie on a small screen, but it loses a lot of its luster without a big presentation.  I hope the local theater that does late night movies shows this movie on the big screen one of these days.

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