Fellman's Movie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope is the fourth chapter in the Star Wars franchise. It is the first film in the original trilogy, and the very first Star Wars movie ever made. Fun fact, it was originally only titled “Star Wars” and was only later given the title of “A New Hope” when George Lucas started giving the sequels their own chapter names in the movie titles. It stars Mark Hamil, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, and Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin. And of course, the voice of James Earl Jones as the iconic voice of Darth Vader. 

George Lucas created Industrial Lights and Magic, his own special effects production company, to make Star Wars so he could be in control of the visuals of the picture. Because back in 1977, when the movie came out, special effects weren’t what they are today. So, what may seem like choppy looking cuts and weak laser blasts, were actually out of this world special effects when the movie hit theaters in the spring of ‘77.  

It wasn’t expected to do well because of its lack of known actors and the genre that it was in. But Star Wars turned out to be the film that we all know Star Wars to be, breeding countless sequels, tv shows, video games, books, and entire universes of fan fiction and merchandise, making it the fourth highest grossing film of all time. 

But what about the movie itself? Well, you should already know the story. A lonely farmboy longs for something more, until he gets mixed up in a crazy space war that his long lost father just happens to be the leader of the evil side. But he doesn’t know that he’s his father yet. Nobody does. It’s amazing to think about something that you’ve known all your life, and then realize that when this movie came out, that that wasn’t common knowledge.  

But it’s a classic knight tale. The evil king and the young prince. Two warring factions. The princess in danger. The smooth-talking anti-hero who turns into a good guy. And you put it all in space. It has all of the elements that we take for granted now. These are all tropes that we assume are going to happen. But they weren’t just tropes when Star Wars came out. This was all fresh and new almost 50 years ago. This was cutting edge story telling. Add onto that some of the best special effects of its time, and you get one of the greatest movies ever made.  

So, yeah. Go and see Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope. I mean, if you haven’t already. Because, if you haven’t already seen Star Wars, what have you been waiting for your entire life? “Did you know the Death Star blows up?” “Get out of here… Are you kidding me?!?!” But you still need to watch it, because you’re going to watch the next movie anyway. And as always, may the force be with you…