Star Wars (1977)

Director:

George Lucas

Writer:

George Lucas (written by)

Release Date:

25 May 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's Back! (re-release)

Plot:

Luke Skywalker leaves his home planet, teams up with other rebels, and tries to save Princess Leia from the evil clutches of Darth Vader.

Plot Keywords:

Death Star | Empire | Planet | Galaxy | Princess

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing	...	Grand Moff Tarkin
Alec Guinness	...	Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
James Earl Jones	...	Darth Vader (voice)
Phil Brown	...	Uncle Owen
Shelagh Fraser	...	Aunt Beru
Jack Purvis	...	Chief Jawa
Alex McCrindle	...	General Dodonna
Eddie Byrne	...	General Willard

Also Known As:

Adventures of the Starkiller: Episode 1 - The Star Wars (USA) (working title)
La guerra de las estrellas (USA: Spanish title)
Star Wars IV: A New Hope (USA) (video box title)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (USA) (reissue title (new title))
The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as Taken from the 'Journal of the Whills': Saga I - Star Wars (USA) (working title)
The Star Wars (USA) (original script title)
The Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi violence and brief mild language. (special edition, DVD version)

Runtime:

121 min | 125 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS 70 mm (special edition) (70 mm prints) (Europe) | DTS (special edition) | Dolby Digital (special edition) | Dolby (35 mm prints) | SDDS (special edition)

Certification:

Iceland:L (special edition) | Iceland:LH (original version) (video re-rating) | Malaysia:U | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | South Africa:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (special edition) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 (special edition) | Denmark:12 | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | Finland:K-8 (special edition) | France:U | Germany:6 (special edition) | Hong Kong:I | Iceland:L (original rating) | Ireland:G | Mexico:AA | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 (special edition) | Norway:12 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (special edition) | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:PG (certificate #24925) | West Germany:12 (original rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

Normally 20th Century-Fox released about 20 films per year, but the long-running success of Star Wars (1977) resulted in the studio issuing only seven new films in the entire year of 1978.

Goofs:

Continuity: Footage of R2-D2 turning his head skeptically during the Jawa auction is used twice.

Quotes:

[first lines]
C-3PO: Did you hear that? They shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Scarlett Johansson/Death Cab for Cutie (#31.10)" (2006)

Could this BE any better? (Har. Har.)

When you ask casual movie fans (read: any of my friends) what their favorite movie is, you might get an answer like this: "Uh..I dunno...Jurassic Park 2 was cooler than the first... but Gladiator had people getting their heads cut off... and Scary Movie rocked, man... that movie is so funny." So what the hell do they mean? Well, beats me. Not too long ago, we were having a "philosophical" conversation about movies, when the subject came to Star Wars and the quels. (Pre and se.) We were arguing which one was the best. One of my friends said, "Well, I gotta admit, the first one is a classic, but the prequel has its moments." I swear a tear came to my eye. I never thought I'd have this kind of conversation with one of my friends.

My point here is that Star Wars is a classic even to people who don't know Casablanca from Scooby Doo. It has everything you could possibly want: action, romance, midgets, cool creatures, quotable dialogue, midgets in bear suits, a great score and many more midgets. (Seriously, though, I don't mind midgets.) All this in a non-violent, non-racy, perfect-for-your-wee-ones package.

For those of you who haven't seen this movie (yes, all 20 of you. I'm watching you.) I'll describe the plot. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is a young man who lives with his uncle and aunt on a desert planet. See. Luke's parents are dead. One day, as Luke is... outside, something crashes and he checks it out. It turns out there were two robots in there, namely C-3P0 and R2-D2. They have a message to give to some guy named Obi-Wan Kenobi (which turns out to be Alec Guiness!) from Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Luke goes off to find old Ben, who lives close to his uncle. Old Ben gives Luke a long story about how his father was a Jedi and he will be one too, etc. When they come back, Luke's uncle and aunt are dead and now, he's not safe. So Luke and Ben and the robots head to Nar Shadaa, a hole, basically. There they meet up with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his big, uh, ape-like thing called a Wookie.

There's a lot more plot to this movie, and I would pass the limit of 1000 word before I could explain it all. The fact of the matter is, there'S a lot of backstory to this movie. There's probably more backstory to this movie than there is to your LIFE. (Don't feel bad...) I used to be a fanatic. I used to know everything there was to know about Star Wars. And you will notice that I didn't start my review by saying I was blah blah blah in 1977. Why is that? Because, I wasn't at all in 1977. I saw every movie in its special edition form, in 1997. I had seen the movies on TV before, but they never held my attention. Until they were re-released. Just type in Star Wars in a search engine. You'll see that this movie has a rabid following and a detailed history to boot.

The acting here is not what's important. It's about on the same level as old adventure films of the 30's and 40's except for a few notable exceptions (Guiness, Ford and a few supporting actors). What makes this movie exceptional is the whole spectacle that unfolds. This is never boring, rarely violent and always a treat to watch. All the creatures, all the characters, all the action scenes, all of this movie is basically perfect. People criticize it as being a kids' movie, as being just stupid mindless action. Well, you guys are right. But that's what this movie was set out to be, that's what it is and that's why I like it.

Lucas borrowed from Kurosawa and Ford to make this movie, and consequently, many have borrowed from his work. This movie deserves to be borrowed from. It shaped American cinema, it shaped the way people think about "action-adventure" movies, it spawned dozens of books, two sequels, one prequel, two TV movies, comic books, action figures and legions of fans. If you haven't already seen this... Well ,you probably haven't seen much anyway, so rent this. If you have seen this, watch it again. I think I will. 10/10