X
- 1977
- TV-PG
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- 2 h 1 m
- 1977
- TV-PG
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- 2 h 1 m
Summary A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to quell the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) team together with the lovable droid duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to rescue the beautiful pri...
Directed By: George Lucas
Written By: George Lucas
- 1977
- TV-PG
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- 2 h 1 m
- 1977
- TV-PG
- Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
- 2 h 1 m
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
8.9
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Summary A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to quell the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) team together with the lovable droid duo, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to rescue the beautiful pri...
Directed By: George Lucas
Written By: George Lucas
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
90
92% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 24 Critic Reviews
90
92% Positive
22 Reviews
22 Reviews
4% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
I loved Star Wars and so will you, unless you're . . . oh well, I hope you're not...Star Wars is a hell of a lot of fun and Lucas makes fun a sparkling pop metaphor for the sheer joy of goodness that could even make friends out of men, mutations and machines.
Star Wars is the most entertaining sci-fi movie of the decade.
By Robert Martin
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 2,720 User Ratings
8.9
96% Positive
2600 Ratings
2600 Ratings
3% Mixed
84 Ratings
84 Ratings
1% Negative
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim
Based on 2,720 User Ratings
8.9
96% Positive
2600 Ratings
2600 Ratings
3% Mixed
84 Ratings
84 Ratings
1% Negative
36 Ratings
36 Ratings
I managed to get ahold of an HD rip from the original Laserdisc set over the weekend, and immediately commenced with my first non-Special Edition viewing in about fifteen years. In a roundabout way, George Lucas's tweaks and reworkings in later versions of this film actually make the original practical effects that much more impressive. Of course, in the twenty-first century, anyone with a large enough processor can film their own outer-space dogfight, but for ILM to have produced something during the mid '70s that still seems competitive today is a truly gargantuan achievement. Even with the veneer of post-production and extra CGI stripped away, it's a miraculously good looking picture, intricately detailed and fully functional; a thorough realization of Lucas's vivid imagination. In many instances, the old school special effects that were replaced in later revisions and the subsequent prequels make the film more lifelike and tangible. Take Vader and company's infamous debut appearance, for instance: marching through soot and smoke after blasting a hole in Leia's overtaken cruiser, the boarding party seems more imposing and threatening with a thick haze still obscuring much of the screen. That would've been digitally omitted or altered in a modern LucasFilm release, to ill effect.
Naturally, though, there's more to this film than just effects work. While its plot is fairly straightforward and restrained, especially compared to the increasingly tangled, coincidence-laden plots of the follow-ups, there's a certain infectious, youthful energy at play here. Despite its laughably scripted dialogue and rough, amateurish editing, a giddy sense of adventure and delight makes the whole thing somehow, perhaps miraculously, come together and work as a brilliant, cohesive, thoroughly befuddling ball of wax.
As further sequels were anything but a given at its release, it's also the most self-inclusive film of the Star Wars canon, with a clear progression for each cast member and a sound, rewarding genesis, apex and conclusion. This has no right to still be so good, but it is, and I'll be watching it with my kids for decades to come.
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a new hope and revenge of the sith are the greatest star wars content of all time
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A magnificent film. George Lucas set out to make the biggest possible adventure fantasy out of his memories of serials and older action epics, and he succeeded brilliantly.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
If I were asked to say with certainty which movies will still be widely known a century or two from now, I would list "2001,'' "The Wizard of Oz,'' Keaton and Chaplin, Astaire and Rogers, and probably "Casablanca'' ... and "Star Wars,'' for sure.
Star Wars is somewhat grounded by a malfunctioning script and hopelessly infantile dialogue, but from a technical standpoint, it is an absolutely breathtaking achievement.
By Kathleen Carroll
FULL REVIEW
Everyone treats his material with the proper combination of solemnity and good humor that avoids condescension. One of Mr. Lucas's particular achievements is the manner in which he is able to recall the tackiness of the old comic strips and serials he loves without making a movie that is, itself, tacky.
Strip Star Wars of its often striking images and its highfalutin scientific jargon, and you get a story, characters, and dialogue of overwhelming banality, without even a “future” cast to them: Human beings, anthropoids, or robots, you could probably find them all, more or less like that, in downtown Los Angeles today. Certainly the mentality and values of the movie can be duplicated in third-rate non-science of any place or period.
By John Simon
FULL REVIEW
As the one that started it all, they really started it with a bang. Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. This film is gold, utter gold.
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A New hope may have started the franchise, but it is in no way close to the best film in it. Almost insultingly simplistic and very boring in many places, this is clearly from a time where people expected much less from cinema (not surprising, it comes from cinema's worst decade). The acting is pretty awful throughout and the plot is basic. Still, it's a decent chapter in the Saga.
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A New hope may have started the franchise, but it is in no way close to the best film in it. Almost insultingly simplistic and very boring in many places, this is clearly from a time where people expected much less from cinema (not surprising, it comes from cinema's worst decade). The acting is pretty awful throughout and the plot is basic. Still, it's a decent chapter in the Saga
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Production Company
Lucasfilm,
Twentieth Century Fox
Release Date May 25, 1977
Duration 2 h 1 m
Rating TV-PG
Tagline It's Back! The Force will be with you for three weeks only. (1979 Reissue Poster)
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 7 Wins & 11 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
• 15 Wins & 20 Nominations