Movie Notes: Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope

September 1st, 2009

= 5 stars

Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness
Directed by George Lucas

Synopsis

Rebel forces are at war with Darth Vader and The Empire who has constructed the Death Star, a space station that can destroy an entire planet. The rebel’s hopes ride on secret plans known by robot R2-D2, who falls into the hands of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), a farm boy on the planet Tatooine. Aged Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) comes out of hiding to escort Luke on an interplanetary adventure.

The Good

• Strikes a mesmerizing balance of low-budget earthiness and epic events, mostly due to the great outer space scenes. The run-down quality of everything works very well with the story, as the galaxy is worn down from years of battle and the opulent glory of the prequels destroyed. The low budget also makes the final Death Star battle all the more tense, because the handful of rebel fighters look like fragile tin cans attacking an entire planet.
• The movie’s achievement is more appreciated when one considers how audacious it was for the time. Lucas excised credits from the opening (which got him into trouble with the screen actor’s guild), cast complete unknowns (save for Guinness), told a story that hinted at a complex, absent back story, and dared to make a fantasy film with a happy ending at a time when hero worship was out of style.
• The plot is most meaningful for the deep archetypes and not the characters themselves — a princess in danger, a young boy who becomes a hero, a wise old wizard, a reluctant rogue, various helpers who aid the heroe’s quest of an epic battle between good and evil. It’s a classic, medieval story told in the new setting of science fiction. While true that Lucas borrowed liberally from other movies (Kurosawa, Kubrick’s 2001), the resultant amalgam of ancient quest story and futuristic sci-fi feels like a cohesive, fresh whole.
• Lucas got very lucky with the casting. James Earl Jones’ voice brings needed menace and drama to a mask that cannot communicate with facial expressions. Hamill is appealingly youthful and confused, Fisher displays the right amount of mystery and pluck (note how she picks up a blaster), Ford the right amount of sarcasm, heroism, and cowardice, and Guinness enough gravitas to keep these surrounding youngsters in awe of his knowledge.
• Many lines are lent greater resonance because of the prequels, in particular, Obi-Wan’s. His brief anecdote of the Clone Wars, Darth Vader, and Luke’s father now evoke a really unique feeling, as Alec Guinness looks like he’s remembering the events of the prequels, which is of course, completely impossible. Most chilling is the blatant lie that Darth Vader killed Anakin, now that we explicitly know Obi-Wan thinks he did. Also lent greater impact are the lines during the Obi-Wan and Vader’s lightsaber duel.
• There’s a sense of humor here, noticeably absent in pretty much all the other installments, save The Empire Strikes Back. Han Solo’s desperate money concerns, C3PO thinking the gang is dying in the compactor, and Han Solo’s improvisation over the prison intercom. The actors play off each other in a very human way, lending heart to the special effects mechanizations, a quality completely suffocated in the prequels.
• An intriguing mix of futuristic technology (lasers, spaceships, robots) and ancient knowledge (The Jedi religion of the Force, swordfighting, prophecy / destiny, life after death). Ultimately, the ancient ways win out when Luke destroys the Death Star on faith alone, telling a rather amusing tale that all the technology in the galaxy can’t beat the optimism of one kid believing in himself with the guidance of a mentor.

The Bad

• Some annoying CGI additions to the special addition: not really a fan of the CGI Jabba that seems a bit too good following the low budget puppets of the cantina, and I definitely do not appreciate Greedo shooting simultaneously (although it was first, for a while, which was even worse). Other similar additions are less egregious but still groan-inducing (Stormtroopers riding creatures, the landspeeder drive through a now-crowded Mos Eisley space port) yet tolerable in tying the film in with the more modern effects of the surrounding movies.

Conclusion

For better or worse, I am completely biased when it comes to the original Star Wars. I’ve probably seen it tens of times over ever since childhood in a variety of formats, and therefore know nearly every scene and line by heart. I can’t give it any less than five stars since it’s one of those movies that is permanently burned into my subconscious when it comes to film.

We say the prequels “raped our childhood” because this film embodies childhood innocence — and such perfect memories should not be messed with.

IMDB: Star Wars: A New Hope
Wikipedia: Star Wars: A New Hope
Rotten Tomatoes: Star Wars: A New Hope 95%