THRILL SCALE 1-10
9
HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?
Yes, several times. The first time I was probably age 10 or so. I'm not entirely sure when the last time was, though. It might have been about 20 years ago
BEST SEQUENCE
I'll go with the trench run and the climactic attack on the Death Star, but there are a lot of good options. Runner-up is probably the Mos Eisley cantina and the introduction of Han Solo (and yes, I choose to believe that Han shot first)
BEST LINE
"Use the Force, Luke"
Close second: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
WORST LINE
- It's not the line that's bad, it's the delivery. I love you, Mark Hamill, but GOD you sound whiny here
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE
93%
ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS
"A legendarily expansive and ambitious start to the sci-fi saga, George Lucas opened our eyes to the possibilities of blockbuster filmmaking and things have never been the same."
IMDB SYNOPSIS
"A farmboy joins forces with various allies to save their galaxy from the evil Empire's planet-destroying battle station, while also rescuing the princess leading the rebellion against them."
DIRECTOR
George Lucas
MAIN CAST
Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew
THOUGHTS
- Welcome to Star Wars, everybody! Before we get into the review, I have an announcement. The AFI decided to place only the first Star Wars on the list, which I think is a very sensible choice. However, as we all know, this was just the beginning (despite the first movie eventually becoming Episode IV). The Star Wars franchise has now spanned very close to 50 years, including books, video games, TV shows, comics, and yes, movies. 12 official movies, to be precise, including spin-offs. So what the hell, let's watch them all! We shall now embark on my longest side quest so far, reviewing every live-action theatrical Star Wars release
- I've seen every Star Wars movie except for The Mandalorian and Grogu, and I think they're fun, and fine, but I wouldn't really consider myself a Star Wars fan. If anything, during the rest of my reviews I've kind of come to realize that sci-fi just doesn't always do it for me. With that said, before going into this rewatch, I wasn't really expecting to rate it as highly as I did. But then the movie started, and John Williams' incredible music kicked in, and I have to admit it totally got me! I sat back and just enjoyed the ride
- I love the cast, and they're all completely selling this cheesy, fantastical space opera. The main trio is wonderful, give or take a whiny Luke line delivery (but whatever, it's part of the character). Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia is a total badass, and I absolutely love that she's not just a damsel in distress, she can grab a blaster and kick up some shit with the best of them. And Harrison Ford as Han Solo is unforgettable, an instant star-making performance
- Alec Guinness didn't have a whole lot of respect for Star Wars, calling it "fairy tale rubbish" at times, but I still think he's really quite good as Obi-Wan, and I even think it seemed like he had some fun in the role. We talked about Guinness a long time ago, when I thought he was incredible in The Bridge on the River Kwai, and I really think it's quite impressive that he can put in such good performances in such different movies. I also think it's kind of hilarious that when Obi-Wan went into hiding, he did so by slightly changing his first name to Old Ben, and not even changing his last name (but hey, it's a big galaxy)
- I have to admit, the only character that I actively disliked on this viewing was C-3PO. What an irritating prig. I don't remember having such strongly negative feelings about him before, so maybe he'll grow on me
- Considering where the Star Wars saga goes, I was kind of surprised that Darth Vader didn't make a bigger impression in this movie. He's certainly visually distinctive and stands out in a crowd, and the force choke is an extremely cool early demonstration of the Force, but he's actually a bit of a secondary antagonist in this movie. Remember, it's Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) who obliterates Alderaan, not Vader, and I would say that this certainly qualifies as the most evil, villainous, destructive act in the whole movie
- I do love the way this movie sets us up for a big plot twist in the next one, however, including all of Obi-Wan's talk about Darth Vader's past (even if he's using some creative license with the actual events)
- At this stage, it will be pretty impossible to talk about each movie in a vacuum as if the rest of the franchise doesn't exist, so I'm not really going to try. I'm pretty sure that by the time I watched The Empire Strikes Back I knew about the famous plot twist, and the famous line, so I was ready for it. But I can only imagine how hard the Vader reveal would hit if you had no idea about it, especially after all the setup in A New Hope
- George Lucas was a visionary director, one of the most influential of all time. And yet, as we all know, he went a little CGI crazy and decided to touch up his original trilogy, releasing the Special Editions in 1997. Given the nature of streaming these days, the Special Edition was all I had the option of watching. The added CGI is completely unnecessary, and distracting, and I wish it wasn't there. The nice thing is that the later parts of the movie weren't really impacted as far as I could tell, at least not in an obvious way, and there are still a lot of charming, convincing practical effects, but that just makes the silly digital effects stand out all the more. The scene between Han and a CGI Jabba the Hutt is a travesty, though
- Something Han Solo-related that isn't a travesty: when he's on the communicator, trying to convince the Stormtroopers that they don't need to investigate. "Boring conversation, anyway". HILARIOUS
- Star Wars was a box office smash, megahit, genre-defining, era-defining cultural phenomenon. It set the record for the highest-grossing movie of all time, taking the spot from a movie we'll talk about eventually (Jaws), and keeping the title for 5 years until it was beaten by a movie we've talked about before (E.T.). It also won a ton of Oscars, and it was nominated for some big ones as well, including nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Alec Guinness for Best Supporting Actor. With all that said it's crazy to think that at one time it was not a sure thing, and in an alternate reality the first Star Wars movie might have been all we got. It even could have worked pretty well as a one-off. Obviously there was a lot of set up about Darth Vader, and the biggest hanging plot thread is the fact that Vader survives the Death Star attack, but aside from that it was fairly self-contained without too much need for a sequel
- Finally, a couple of points of order. You may have noticed that I added a new category above. George Lucas may have been a visionary director, but his screenwriting has been pretty laughable on occasion. So, with each movie, we'll have not just a best line, but also a worst line. And lastly, this is a big undertaking. And like I mentioned, I'm not even the world's biggest Star Wars fan. So I'm putting out a call. If you've ever wanted to write a guest review, send me a message! I'd love to have you. And speaking of which...
Up next: Our first guest reviewer gets the distinct honour and privilege of reviewing what many consider to be the best Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. Please look forward to Hank giving us his thoughts next time! And don't worry, he's a much bigger Star Wars fan than I am, so I have no doubt that he'll do it justice
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