Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope - 1977

May the Fourth (or Force) be with you!  It's Star Wars Day around the world and here on the blog, too.  So, with that in mind, 1977's "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope", the film that launched an empire (literally), a world at Disneyland, and a franchise that's produced billions of dollars worth of merchandise, is what we're bringing to you today.

The film's cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Cushing.

It all started like this...a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Darth Vader has boarded a Rebel ship that has retrieved plans of the Empire's weapon, the Death Star.

Before he can get them, Princess Leia uploads the plans to R2-D2 along with a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

R2-D2 and C-3PO, a protocol droid, leave in one of the escape pods and land on the planet Tatooine.

Princess Leia is placed under arrest by Darth Vader and brought to the Death Star, where she is placed in a holding cell.

Meanwhile, the two droids have crash landed on Tatooine.  After wandering in the desert for a while, the two have a disagreement and separate.

C-3PO flags a passing transport.  (My question here is: what animal does that long skeleton belong to?)

It turns out that the transport is actually a group of Jawa traders, who capture C-3PO and R2-D2.

The Jawas bring the droids to the moisture farm of Owen Lars, who lives there with his wife and nephew, Luke Skywalker.

The two droids are bought by them and Luke cleans them up.  While working on R2-D2, he stumbles upon the message from Princess Leia.  "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope," comes her cry.  Luke wonders if she means Ben Kenobi, a hermit who lives in the area.

R2 runs away.  Luke and C-3PO go after him, but they end up running into some sand people who fight them.

They are rescued by Ben Kenobi, who takes them to his residence for shelter.

While there, it is revealed that Ben is in fact Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi knight who fought with Luke's father.  He tells Luke that Darth Vader betrayed and murdered his father.  He gives Luke his father's lightsaber, the weapon of a Jedi.

On board the Death Star, Darth Vader and company use every method available to make Princess Leia reveal the location of the hidden rebel base.

Luke's aunt and uncle are killed by stormtroopers who are searching for the two droids.  With nothing keeping him on Tatooine, he agrees to accompany Obi-Wan to help Princess Leia in the fight against the Empire.

They head to Mos Eisley so they can search for a star pilot who can help transport them to Alderaan, the princess's home planet.

They meet up with Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbacca, who agrees to transport them for a large sum of money.

It seems that Han has a bounty on his head.  Jabba the Hutt has issued it, and an assortment of characters seem to be on Han's tail.

Han meets with Jabba and tells him that he's going to make this transport and then he will pay him the money he owes him, in fact, much more.

When Luke sees the Millennium Falcon, he's supremely unimpressed.  They leave Tatooine after a bit of a battle.

Meanwhile, Governor Tarkin (in charge of the Death Star) wants to test the battle station's strength.  He targets Princess Leia's planet of Alderaan.  He threatens to obliterate it if she doesn't reveal the location of the rebel base.  When she gives him a name, he still orders its destruction.

With just one hit of the Death Star's laser beam, the planet is instantly destroyed.

Obi-Wan can feel the destruction of the planet by way of the Force.  Luke has begun his Jedi training.

When they arrive at where Alderaan is supposed to be, they find nothing but fragments of the planet.  They are being pulled toward what appears to be a small moon.  "That's no moon.  That's a space station," says Obi-Wan.

When the ship lands, Darth Vader comes out to view it.  He says he can sense something.  "A presence I haven't felt since..." he walks off pondering the meaning of his sensitivity.

Luke and Han disguise themselves as stormtroopers so they can get to a computer and find out what they need to do to leave.  They need to power down a reactor so that the ship can pull away from the Death Star.  Obi-Wan says to leave it to him.

When it's discovered that Princess Leia is onboard, Luke wants to rescue her.  Han is reluctant to do it without a reward.  On behalf of the Princess, Luke promises Han a large amount of money.  "More wealth than you can imagine," he says.  "I don't know," says Han, "I can imagine quite a bit."

After a battle with some stormtroopers (and still wearing his own stormtrooper disguise), Luke opens the Princess's cell.  "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" she asks incredulously.  He tells her who he is and that he's brought Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the two of them hightail it out of there.

They head straight into a battle with more stormtroopers.  Princess Leia finds a garbage shoot and everyone goes in.  Unfortunately, there is something alive down there that takes Luke under all of the garbage.  It releases him when the walls start to close in on everything.  Luckily, C-3PO and R2-D2 rescue them and release the lock on the door just in time.

Obi-Wan finds one of the reactors and he is able to power it down so that the Millennium Falcon can leave.

Once Princess Leia gets a chance to better know Han, she is far from impressed.  "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way?" she asks as she tries to take control of the situation and lead the escape.

Darth Vader and Obi-Wan find each other and begin to duel with their lightsabers.  It's revealed that Darth Vader was a former apprentice of Obi-Wan.  "You can't win, Darth," says Obi-Wan.  "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca wait for the right moment to board the Millennium Falcon.  Once the coast is clear, they head straight for it, along with the two droids.

When Obi-Wan knows that Luke can see what's going on, he allows Darth Vader to strike him down, and he vanishes without a trace.

Once they make contact with the rebel forces, the plans for the Death Star are studied so they can find a weakness.  A team of pilots is sent out to destroy it once they discover how.

Luke is disappointed when Han collects his reward and prepares to leave without helping them.

In space, the going is not easy.  Every one of the X-wing fighters seems to get picked off by Darth Vader and his gang.  Luke is the only one left.

Just when it seems that Luke's luck has run out, Han appears with the Millennium Falcon to finish off the fighters that are against Luke.

He even manages to knock Darth Vader's ship out of commission.  Previously, while he was pursuing Luke, Vader said, "The force is strong with this one."

After hearing Obi-Wan's voice in his head telling him to trust his feelings and use the Force, Luke is able to fire the shots that destroy the Death Star completely.

Our heroes are given a medal by Princess Leia as a way of thanks.  She smiles at Luke and winks at Han.  The first step in defeating the evil Empire has been achieved with the destruction of the Death Star.

Cast rundown:

   Mark Hamill....................................Luke Skywalker

   Harrison Ford..................................Han Solo

   Carrie Fisher...................................Princess Leia

   Alec Guinness.................................Obi-Wan Kenobi

   James Earl Jones.............................Darth Vader

   Anthony Daniels..............................C-3PO

   Kenny Baker....................................R2-D2

   Peter Cushing..................................Governor Tarkin

And that's it for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.  George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, began writing this film four years before it was made.  He worked on it eight hours a day, five days a week.  His hard work paid off.  It was thought that the film wouldn't do well considering it's galactic subject matter, but the critics were wrong.  Audiences loved it and we continue to enjoy the world of Star Wars today.

As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.