Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is the original installment in the
Star Wars series of movies by
George Lucas. It was released on
May 25,
1977 under the title of
Star Wars, and was re-released in
1979,
1981,
1982,
1997, and
2000. The designation "Episode IV: A New Hope" comes from the heading of the introductory text of the opening title, but it appeared only with the 1981 re-release, in order to be consistent with
The Empire Strikes Back.
The movie was one of the most financially successful of all time. Adjusted for inflation, its US gross profit is second only to
Gone With the Wind. It was a
word-of-mouth hit, having opened only on 35 screens.
The
American Film Institute listed it 15th on a list of the top 100 films of the 20th century, but the film is not universally admired. Some blame it for accelerating a trend towards special-effects-driven movies targeted at teenagers. Others claim that the trend is a natural consequence of economic and technological forces in the film industry.
In 1997, the movie was digitally remastered as the so-called
Special Edition or
SE for a 20th anniversary re-release. The Special Edition contains scenes not in the original release, most notably a conversation between
Han Solo and
Jabba the Hutt, as well as numerous other small additions and visual enhancements. Some of the added scenes were intended for the original version of the movie, but were not feasible without more recent advances in
special effects technology, particularly in the area of
computer generated imagery. The Special Edition also had several scenes in which the events depicted were changed from those depicted in the original version. These changes have proven to be controversial among dedicated fans, some of whom feel they weaken the movie.
A
radio adaptation was produced for
National Public Radio in
1981.
Plot summary
\nTwo droidss, the effeminate C-3PO and the feisty R2-D2, come into the possession of Luke Skywalker, a young, frustrated resident of a remote settlement on the planet Tatooine. The planet is on the largely ignored frontier regions of the tyrannical Galactic Empire, led by Emperor Palpatine. Luke discovers that the droid contains a video message from a mysterious, attractive woman Princess Leia, and plans for a huge terror weapon, the Death Star. A sequence of events leads to the droid, and Luke, meeting up with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who asks for Luke's assistance to take the droid and the plans to the planet Alderaan as requested by Leia. Luke is reluctant at first, but after returning home to find his family murdered and his house destroyed by Imperial Stormtroopers, decides to join Obi-Wan.
Meanwhile, Darth Vader, on the Death Star where Leia is imprisoned, attempts to use the ways of The Force to extract the location of the Rebel Base from her. She has managed to resist the interrogation thus far. The commanding officer of the station, Grand Moff Tarkin, decides on a different approach and threatens Alderaan with destruction if she will not reveal the location. Leia gives in and reveals the base's location. The admiral blows up Alderaan anyway, as a public display of the Death Star's power.
The scene then shifts back to Obi-Wan, Luke, and the droids. As they arrive at a seedy spaceport bar, Obi-Wan mysteriously convinces Imperial Stormtroopers that the droids accompanying him "''are not the droids you're looking for'\'". They then meet up with boastful smuggler Han Solo. He agrees to take them to Alderaan on the promise of a large financial reward. However, the Storm Troopers return in numbers and the party just makes it to Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, in time to escape.
En route to Alderaan, Kenobi begins instructing Luke on the ways of the Force. Solo is sceptical, but a blindfolded Luke is able to sense the location of an attacker whilst practising with a light saber.
Arriving at Alderaan, or, at least, where Alderaan should be, the crew of the Falcon are surprised to discover there's nothing there except a hail of debris. They are even more surprised to be hauled by tractor beams aboard a moon-sized space station — the Death Star. Hiding in secret smuggling compartments of their ship, they manage to evade capture, and decide to attempt to disable the tractor beams holding them there. In the process, they discover Leia is being held in a nearby cell. Kenobi volunteers to disable the tractor beam, whilst Luke (and Han, after some persuasion) go to rescue Leia.
After switching off the tractor beams, Kenobi encounters Vader, who attacks him. It is clear that they have met before, but not how. Kenobi tells Vader in the clash that "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine". When Kenobi sees that he has distracted the guard around the Falcon which allows his friends to board it and his own escape is cut off; he allows himself to be cut down by Vader, only to mysteriously disappear at the fatal instant.
Meanwhile, after various acts of derring-do, Leia, Luke, Han and Chewbacca make their way back to the Falcon, and escape, fighting off Imperial Starfighters, finally reaching the Rebel hideout where they pass the plans on to the Rebel leadership. Unknown to them but suspected by Leia, The Empire allowed them to escape in order to track the ship to the Rebel Base, which turns out to be the forest moon of Yavin.
The film then abruptly shifts to a briefing to a group of pilots about the Death Star, and the Rebel plans to attack it by flying along a canyon-size groove in the Death Star's surface, firing a torpedo down a narrow ventilation shaft which will travel down to the reactor and destroy it. Luke is amongst the X-Wing pilots of Red Group; Han, despite Luke's pleadings, decides to leave with his reward.
The rest of the film depicts the attack by the Rebels on the Death Star. Luke and a few others make it down to the canyon, with Darth Vader in an unusual-looking TIE Fighter in pursuit. Instead of using the electronic aiming gear of the others, Luke is advised by the unearthly voice of Kenobi to "use the Force" to aim his torpedoes. With the aid of Solo coming back and attacking Vader's fighter, Luke successfully launches a torpedo down the shaft, destroying the Death Star and striking a huge blow for the Rebellion against the Empire.
Sources and inspirations
\nSee also: Star Wars sources and analogues
The film drew inspiration from a number of sources. This was conscious and has been acknowledged by George Lucas in interviews. It is characteristic of much myth-building.
The Hidden Fortress
\nLucas has stated that Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress (USA release 1962) was a strong influence. The resemblance between the two buffoon farmers in The Hidden Fortress and the two talkative droids in Star Wars is apparent. Indeed, when the droids find themselves alone on Tatooine, even the music and the style of "wipe" cuts are a clear homage to Hidden Fortress.
The Dam Busters
\nThe climactic scene in which the Death Star is assaulted was modeled after the 1950s movie The Dam Busters, in which RAF Lancaster bombers fly along heavily defended reservoirs and aim "bouncing bombs" at their man-made dams in a bid to cripple the heavy industry of the Ruhr.
Dune
\nThe planet Tattooine is similar to Arrakis from Frank Herbert's book Dune, although desert worlds were not original to Herbert. The planet Mongo from the Flash Gordon comics was also a desert world. In general, the Star Wars movies have followed the convention, common in space opera, in which planets stand in for regions of the Earth, so that there would be a desert planet, a jungle planet, and so on.
The music
\nLucas wanted a a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important objects, an apporach used to great effect, for instance, in the operas of Richard Wagner. He put together a collection of classical pieces to give composer John Williams an idea of what he was looking for, and the music Williams composed often was distinctly reminiscent of the original classical pieces. In particular:\n*The music associated to the opening capture of the blockade runner is very similar to Mars, from Holst's The Planets. In the liner notes to the original sound track recording, Williams implicitly acknowledged the connection by explaining why he didn't simply use Holst's The Planets. He said that he felt he could give the music a more unified feel if he wrote it all himself.\n*The "Force Theme" (or "Ben's Theme") has been compared to parts of the ballet Swan Lake.\n*The music for the awards ceremony at the end of the movie begins with the Force/Ben's Theme, and then transitions into a theme that, in the liner notes, Williams says is reminiscent of "the Coronation", which probably refers to Elgar's Coronation March.\n*The opening title (the "theme from Star Wars", or "Luke's Theme") has been said to resemble the theme from Born Free, but is almost certainly taken from the opening strains of the 1942 film, "King's Row," scored by Eric Wolfgang Korngold. Later themes, such as from Chariots of Fire and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (also by Williams) have been said to bear a resemblance to it. Listening to them together, one observes that none is identical to any of the others, but they use many of the same musical intervals to achieve similar, or at least related, emotional effects.\n*The music for the jawas is by Bartok.\n
External links
\n*StarWars.com official Episode IV site\n*The IMDb entry on Star Wars
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A New Hope may also refer to the album by heavy metal band Amboog-A-Lard.
Category:1977 films\nCategory:AFI 100 Movies\nCategory:AFI 100 Thrills\nCategory:Star Wars films\nCategory:US National Film Registry
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