#13 STAR WARS (1977)

 "I find your lack of faith disturbing."
---Darth Vader 


   Like potato chips, it is hard to watch just one of George Lucas' Star Wars movies.  To review the first Star Wars movie, I watched all six Episodes in sequential order.  Consequently, it is difficult to see the first one, also known as Star Wars: Episode 4 A New Hope, as its own separate film for review.  Nevertheless, this first one, considered worthy of being in the top 20 best movies ever made, is an amazing film on its own for its breakthroughs and innovations in technology and special effects.
   The first Star Wars movies centers on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his initiation into the war between the evil Empire and the Rebel leaders who are fighting on the side of good.  He is brought into this world by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), known to Luke as hermit Ben Kenobi, and is thrust into a search for Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), a Rebel leader who holds the key needed to destroy the Empire's evil reign.  Luke's companions and fellow Rebels are Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker); his ultimate adversary is Darth Vader (acted by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones).  All of these characters add to the richness of the story and interest the audience maintains throughout the complex sags.  The real star of this film is the special effects, which keep the audience fascinated even when they lose sight of the characters' motivations in the story.
   While Episodes I-III are known for the romance between Padme (Natalie Portman) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christiansen), there is just a small romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia in the later Episodes.  This romance is only a flirtation in the original Star Wars, so the real love story is about one's love for their people and their homeland.  Luke joins the fight with the Rebel Alliance because he wants to be on the side of good, the side the aunt and uncle who raised him would have wanted him to be on.  He is fighting on behalf of his homeland and so is Princess Leia, who seeks to avenge her destroyed home planet.  The whole Star Wars saga returns to this theme of duty and honor and the fight for good.  It is the journey through this fight that makes Star Wars on the best series of movies ever made.


FUN FACT: The giant Banthas on the planet Tatooine are actually elephants covered in fake hair and tusks! George Lucas has said that it would have been to costly and time-consuming to create real Banthas with clay animation, as some of the other creatures are in the film.


FAVORITE QUOTE: "We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"
---Han Solo, Star Wars