Kyler’s Classic Movie Review- Star Wars, A New Hope

By Kyler Maynes

Star Wars: A New Hope was released in 1977 on May 25, and was the start of the now very popular and somewhat controversial Star Wars franchise. Being the  very beginning of the franchise, this movie carries a lot of weight, so I knew it’d be perfect to take a closer look at. And I swear it was not intentional that both movies I’ve looked at star Harrison Ford (see Indiana Jones in previous edition), this will not be a trend.

Since this review is primarily focused on A New Hope as the start of Star Wars, I want to first talk about how well the world building is done.

 A majority of the things we think of as Star Wars are present in this movie. The obvious stuff such as the Jedi, the Sith, and Force is present but it’s important to remember all the other types of world building done throughout this first movie. Such as the ships, weapons, terminology, droids, species, even important characters such as Jaba the Hutt who defines the workings of all of Tatooine. A New Hope builds a very believable world which other movies and shows would have to add relatively little to. Even the Clone Wars were set up in this movie, something that wouldn’t begin to be explored for 22 years.

Although, there are some things commonly associated with Star Wars that aren’t present at all. One scene I found notable was Darth Vader getting sealed off from the bay where the Millenium Falcon was being held, with his Lightsaber ignited, and we don’t see him even attempting to cut a hole in the door, which became one of the most common tactics of Jedi and Sith in expanded media. Another notably absent thing is the Mandalorians, which are arguably the third most iconic group behind the Jedi and Sith. However, they don’t appear at all in the original trilogy. While they would later be built off the appearance of Boba Fett they weren’t even mentioned by name, and Boba Fett’s only presence in A New Hope was in scenes added on after the original release.

I also experienced a strange Mandela effect while watching the movie, as I always remember narration over the opening text crawl. Likely due to more comedic releases such as Lego Star Wars and the Phineas and Ferb crossover doing exactly that.

As for the story, A New Hope is perhaps even more iconic than the movie itself. Elements of the story have been reused in a number of movies and shows. Star Wars’ place among fantasy or sci-fi is still debated within the fandom today, as the movie perfectly mixes elements from both. The final battle, being a desperate fight for the survival of Rebels, always keeps me on the edge of my seat, especially due to the earlier demonstration of what the Death Star can do. Although looking at it in isolation can make the story feel a bit underwhelming, as a good portion of the movie’s run time is spent setting up things that wouldn’t happen in this movie. However, I would consider this to be another strong point of the movie, rather than a weakness.

A New Hope definitely deserves its iconic status and the start of one of the most well-known franchises of all time, and it definitely holds up. In all honesty the only thing in this movie that feels really dated are some of the effect, which makes sense for a sci-fi movie released nearly 50 years ago.