Star Wars IV: A New Hope
1977 | Dir. George Lucas | three and three-quarter stars
Review by Jae Jerkins · The Star Wars Countdown, #2 of 12
Iconic. This is the word that springs to mind when the blue News Gothic typeface spills across the screen.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Then BAM! STAR WARS. The movie opens in the cold depths of space. And if you assume no previous knowledge of Star Wars, it starts you right in the middle of the action. With dynamic efficiency, the film explains through color, design, and music who the good guys and bad guys are. You know from the opening crawl of text that Princess Leia carries stolen secret plans to the “Death Star.” And brutal monochromatic soldiers have now boarded her vessel in a violent attempt to retrieve them.
Within the first 5 minutes, you’re given a visual hierarchy. The droids are afraid of the Rebel soldiers. The soldiers are afraid of the invading Imperial stormtroopers. But the stormtroopers push both their dead and the dead of their enemies aside so that a looming, dark caped figure can stride through the hole in the Rebel ship. They dutifully snap to attention as he/it passes by without comment.
Now if we, the 21st century audience, are following the canon from the standpoint of this 1977 film retroactively serving as a sequel to 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, then we are burdened by the knowledge that this terrifying figure is the fallen Jedi Anakin Skywalker. So we know a little bit about his motivation. Namely, he is on an unholy crusade to bring totalitarian order to the galaxy. The Shakespearean tragedy here is that Anakin (long since bereft of family) has unknowingly boarded his own daughter’s renegade vessel.
Princess Leia is not a soldier. She’s not dressed like a soldier. But she holds a gun and has steel in her eyes like one of the soldiers. And she shoots to kill. You gather from this that she did not seek out being a soldier, but even as a princess she will stand among them and lead them with skillful authority.
In terms of her powerful resolve, we just saw Darth Vader choke her captain to death and yet Princess Leia speaks to Vader as if she is his equal — despite the fact she is literally half his size. Here, the hierarchy reaches its zenith. Above the droids, rebels, stormtroopers, and the bionic menace Darth Vader is the capable and fearless Princess Leia, played with legendary appeal by the charismatic Carrie Fisher.
After the impressive battle scenes and father–daughter chats come the droids. I’m of two minds when it comes to the droids. C-3PO and R2-D2, played by Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, are both wonderfully drawn and charmingly brought to life. Their odd couple, Laurel-and-Hardy personas are fun and accessible.
Having said that, I feel like presenting A New Hope through the perspective of the droids is clunky and ultimately unnecessary. I realize it is an artistic choice director George Lucas made (cf. 1958’s The Hidden Fortress). But it feels like this choice holds something back from the story. When watching the variety of droids aboard the Jawa sandcrawler, I can’t help but believe today’s children and the generations to follow who are accustomed to smart phones, networked devices, and flying drones are going to find these droid-heavy scenes particularly dated. It’s just not impressive anymore to see a talking trashcan.
The shot of Luke Skywalker watching the twin suns of Tatooine with John Williams’ rousing leitmotif playing in the background is one of the most iconic moments in cinema history. The wanderlust-filled farmboy is played by newcomer Mark Hamill. And this is the last night Luke will be a nobody farmboy. The next day a lifetime of adventure begins! For many boys of the Xennial generation, myself included, this image represented something of a personal calling. In that moment we were all Luke Skywalker, being called to greater things. I can’t help but feel nostalgic about it.
I also find Alec Guinness’ portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi remarkable. After just watching Revenge, I’m surprised by how lighthearted Obi-Wan turns out to be. He’s actually clever and even funny in moments. If you’re not careful, you can pigeonhole Obi-Wan as an over-serious, dotty old mentor. But his character is more well-rounded than all that. Guinness plays the opening scenes with a loose and easy charm. This is a guy you could enjoy a pint with.
At 40 minutes, you get the image of Luke standing in front of his Tatooine home staring in shock at the corpses of the family that raised him. This is the counterpoint to the wistful shot a few scenes earlier where Luke watches the sunset. In the earlier image, he can’t wait to see what’s beyond the horizon. In the latter image, the next day, he has to look away. The same leitmotif is playing in the background. Destiny has called him from the farm at a terrible price. At 32, the young director George Lucas was indeed a master storyteller.
The Cantina scene back on Tatooine, with its use of props and masks holds up surprisingly well, even from the 1970s. The whole mise-en-scène feels like a moment from Douglas Adams — it’s the cantina at the end of the universe. What I love about this scene is that the creatures here are way more developed than they had to be for 1977. By my count, Stuart Freeborn and his makeup team produced 38 different hand-made alien species for this scene — not counting the human patrons.
The first scene between Luke and Han Solo is a gleeful thrill. The naïve farmboy meets the world-weary scoundrel. Here Harrison Ford, a relative unknown in 1977, absolutely steals the show. He’s handsome, affable, cocky, and just the right mix of dangerous and aloof. His performance created the “Han Solo” archetype that many Hollywood actors have imitated but none have successfully duplicated (Nathan Fillion’s Mal Reynolds in 2002’s Firefly comes closest). The American Film Institute calls Han Solo the 14th greatest movie hero of all time. It should be higher.
Thematically, the film is supposed to belong to Luke Skywalker. But I would argue that the greatest character arc we see (from skeptical loner to selfless hero) is found in Han Solo. Throughout the film, young Luke grows into something he always dreamed of becoming. But Han’s friends reveal a side of himself he never thought possible — his return to humanity. It’s still a thrill to see him come flying in at the end to wingman Luke into galactic history.
But we’re not there yet. We’re still on Planet Sand at the moment. Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker are attempting to find passage to Alderaan. And Han Solo looks to be just the smuggler to do it. Space cowboy Han Solo has two loves: his dog and his truck. The “dog” in this case is a 7’2 Wookiee named Chewbacca. Chewie is Han’s tireless companion. He steers the ship. He looks after Han. And he does NOT like to be chained up.
Oh, and Han shot first. That is all.
After some lessons in the ways of the Jedi (and some eye-rolling from our smuggler), our crew finally makes it to Alderaan. Except, there is no Alderaan. Obi-Wan informs them that Planet Hippies has been destroyed by the Space Nazis empire. Again Han doesn’t believe him, while Luke will seemingly believe anything that comes out of the old Jedi’s mouth. I mean, he literally just learned about the Force that morning! As a boy, I found Luke’s earnestness alluring. But as a grown man, I now find his zealotry cheaply won and even a little off-putting.
And really, for many adults, Luke in A New Hope is a bit of an annoying character. I remember sitting through a screening of A New Hope decades later and hearing the audience burst out laughing when Luke whines, “But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!” In retrospect, it is a cringy line. And I get it. I get that Mark Hamill’s Luke has to play as young and inexperienced so that when the story develops, we witness his growth. Still, Luke could be a little less whiny.
An hour into the film, the Millennium Falcon is pulled by tractor beam into the Death Star. All the main characters are now finally in the same place. And Obi-Wan and Anakin sense each other’s presence for the first time in 20 years.
The Death Star, designed by Colin Cantwell, is stunning. Its cold, brutalist architecture is gorgeously efficient — exuding a sense of timeless power and lethal purpose. And its great, unblinking, cycloptic eye threatens entire worlds with a superlaser that no one (neither Imperial nor Rebel) can believe until they see its destructive power firsthand.
Obi-Wan heads off alone before Luke, Han, and Chewie go to rescue the princess. For the two wielders of the Force, there’s an old score to settle. For Anakin/Vader, Obi-Wan is the last remnant of an archaic Order that was chiefly responsible for the galactic Civil War. More directly, he also blames Obi-Wan for his wife’s death and his own disfigurement. While for Obi-Wan, Anakin remains the “very great threat” that he failed to finish off 20 years ago. Each now plans to end the other — or do they?
While our beautiful young heroes are shooting their way out of the detention center, escaping the slithering fauna and caving walls of the trash compactor, and tarzaning their way over a great chasm (with a kiss for good luck), the master and former pupil of the Force somberly meet again. “When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master,” Lord Vader boasts. The voice of Darth Vader (perhaps the most famous voice performance in modern history) is executed to sonorous excellence by James Earl Jones. The physicality of Vader is performed by English bodybuilder David Prowse. (Actor Hayden Christensen wouldn’t be born for another four years.)
“I must face him alone,” Vader informs Tarkin. This is a sacred duty for both men. Soft brown cloak versus bionic black suit. Aged human face versus raspy steel mask. Blue saber strikes red saber. Red saber pushes back. Physically, it’s a slow and unremarkable fight. But emotionally, for fans of the canon, this is the fateful rematch after their tragic fight on Mustafar. Anakin is still full of rage. And Obi-Wan is now even more committed to stopping him. Obi-Wan knows now that he has come to the Death Star to die.
The scene is quite moving. Vader has everything and yet nothing. He is the dark prince of a galactic empire, but he is a joyless, friendless, cybernetic mess. Obi-Wan, on the other hand, has nothing and yet everything. He is a hermit in the desert. But he still bears the noble robes of the Jedi. He has companions — most notably his youthful charge, Luke Skywalker. And he has joy. Not the joy of a thrilling moment, but the joy of a well-lived life.
Having spent a lifetime serving peace and justice, Obi-Wan lifts his saber in serene resolution. No. He will not kill his old friend, Anakin. It turns out he doesn’t have to, because there’s no way Vader can win. Once Obi-Wan is struck down, he will join with the Force and become more powerful than an evil creature like Vader could possibly imagine. In his final moment, he looks over to Luke (the boy he loved for so long from afar) and smiles. Though Vader strikes the killer blow, he has still lost. Because Anakin’s grown children, Leia and Luke, are together at last.
And the Force is with them.
I won’t belabor the final dogfight scenes of X-Wings and TIE fighters battling for the trenches of the Death Star. The concept, cinematography, and even the radio chatter come principally from 1955’s The Dam Busters — when RAF pilots flew into enemy territory in an attempt to destroy key Nazi positions. And it’s the first time we really see Luke Skywalker use the Force. Darth Vader, in a neighboring fighter, takes notice of Luke’s power before getting knocked out of the fight by Han Solo’s heroic return. The Death Star explodes (don’t worry, there’ll be two more similar structures to blow up over the next three films because why not beat us to death with nostalgia?). And our two male heroes get a medal from the princess. Sorry, Chewie.
In the end Star Wars: A New Hope is a great movie. It does, however, rely too heavily on standard mythic elements — the prince raised by the wizard Merlin, the gift of Thor’s hammer, Perseus saving the chained princess, the Minotaur in the maze, etc. In fact, it is an almost shot-by-shot reenactment of what anthropologists call the “Monomyth.” That is, it tells a very well-worn story about a masculine hero, guided by an aging mentor, overcoming three acts of increasingly difficult obstacles, so that he may return a better person.
This reliance on formula is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, its mythic themes give it a timeless quality that speaks to people across many cultures. But on the other hand it means that there’s nothing new in this story. The hero, his guide, the nemesis, the skeptic, and the damsel in distress. So A New Hope is formula done well, but formula nonetheless. The strain this put on the franchise can most easily be seen in the primary criticism of 2015’s The Force Awakens. Namely that TFA relied too heavily on A New Hope’s formula in an attempt to rediscover the magic of the Original Trilogy.
But then again, the fact that A New Hope follows a paint-by-numbers formula also gives it great pacing (something the Prequels lack), and archetypal characters that stay with us decades later. It also happens to be a very funny film. It somehow strikes the perfect balance between being silly and brooding. But it is, in the end, a fun movie and a wild ride.
Most significantly, A New Hope lived up to its name. In the post-Watergate, post-Vietnam era, 1970s American film had become a dour enterprise. Our faith in humanity and in each other had eroded. The good guys often did bad things. What America needed in 1977 was a fun romp through outer space — where magic Buddhist warriors fight monochrome Space Nazis in an effort to save not just the princess but the entire galaxy! As corny as that sounds, this is the gift George Lucas gave us. It was exactly what we needed. And he did it masterfully.
The Star Wars Countdown ranks the Star Wars films from worst to best, one review at a time.
Next in the Countdown: Episode I: The Phantom Menace →
The full ranking, best to worst:
The Empire Strikes Back
A New Hope
Rogue One
Revenge of the Sith
Return of the Jedi
Solo
The Last Jedi
Attack of the Clones
The Force Awakens
The Phantom Menace
The Rise of Skywalker