Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
Transcendental
James - wrote on 11/29/2019
What makes this film so special is that it was transcendental for cinema. This at the time was the biggest film ever made, following Gone With the Wind. I'd imagine that no one living for both would have imagined that technology could out do what people considered one of the best effects driven scenes in the burning of Atlanta. To further wax poetic I would have to praise the fact that it doesn't feel date. One of the things that matter when making cinema, or at least defining the legacy of it, is how well your film will be embraced by generations to come. Through practical effects and the use of a hero's story, Lucas was able to craft a film which elevated the idea of what genre oriented films could be all while creating a new genre, the space opera, of his own.
Rating of
3.5/4
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Movie Review
John - wrote on 03/24/2018
Plot: The Film Focuses On A Farmboy Named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) On Tatooine Who Lives With His Foster Aunt And Uncle. Luke Is Bored With Life And Hopes To Become Part Of The Rebel Alliance Against The Galactic Empire To Bring Peace And Justice To The Galaxy. One Day He Discovers That His Aunt And Uncle Have Been Murdered. He Meets A Jedi Knight Named Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) Who Tells Him His Father Was A Jedi Murdered By The Evil Sith Lord Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse) And Trains Luke In The Ways Of The Force And One Day Become A Jedi Like His Father. Along They Way He Meets A Smuggler Named Han Solo (Harrison Ford), A Wookie Named Chewbacca And Two Droids Named C-3P0 And R2-D2 To Rescue Princess Leia (Carrie Fischer) From The Clutches From The Empire. As The …
Rating of
3.5/4
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is the best! Why?
Pat - wrote on 10/13/2016
Don't get me wrong, empire strikes back is one of the most impactful and deep and greatest films ever made. I like return of the Jedi too! However, if you look at each movie as a whole, Star Wars 1977 has the most coherent closure, direction, and sensibility. While every Star Wars movie has flaws, a new hope has the least while Jedi has the most (out of the OT of course). I will begin with Star Wars 1977's biggest flaw, which is the design of the Death Star. That design makes no sense at all, however the rebellion would not have been able to achieve victory for the first time against the empire. Now in empire, the largest flaws, I am afraid to say, are the teachings of Yoda. I love Yoda as a character, but not as a mentor to Luke. To explain, Yoda tells Luke in degobah that if you let …
Rating of
4/4
Star Wars
Bryce - wrote on 11/05/2015
"Star Wars" practically invented the blockbuster film and is, to this day, one of the finest examples of escapist entertainment ever made. It's the perfect conglomeration of a multitude of genres, blended together to make something completely original and groundbreaking.
George Lucas and his team created an entirely new universe that feels authentic and lived-in, full of history and compelling characters who have become icons in the history of film. "Star Wars" is as fun and light-hearted as any film in the action/adventure genre but it's the underlying depth, which permeates the story, that turns it into something more - something transcendent.
The imagination behind the film's visuals (which hold up remarkably well today) is unprecedented and the legendary score by John …
Rating of
4/4
I've already said too much
Gabe - wrote on 06/29/2015
I'm not going to spend a bunch of time opining about this film. Already too much ink has been spilled about this fan favorite.
Just a few things, this film was really the end of an era for American film that started in roughly 1967 (The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Bonnie and Clyde) and ended here. It also was the beginning of the "Blockbuster" era. Which I believe to not necessarily be a good thing. In fact, if you've read my reviews about recent films, I'm pretty sick of them at this point. Some might point to Jaws in 1975 but this was much bigger.
Secondly, this film along with a few others (Ghosbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Return of the Jedi [yes I purposefully am leaving out Empire, it was years later before I saw that one], and others) that …
Rating of
4/4
Que the scrowling text and loud music please!
Indyfreak - wrote on 07/23/2014
From the opening shot of a rebel ship fleeing a massive Star Destroyer to the titanic space battle against the fearsome Death Star, Star Wars (aka A New Hope) delivers the sweeping action and adventure one associates with the once popular Space Opera genre of sci-fi cinema.
Aside from the action and the spectacle, the best part about it is that virtually the entire cast is comprised of memorable characters, both good and evil. The wise Obi-Wan, the naive Luke Skywalker, the daring Han Solo, the feisty Princess Leia, and of course, the iconic villain Darth Vader!
What I especially love about Star Wars is how it looked to upon previous movies and earlier genres that were no longer in style to craft something entirely new and highly imaginative as well as enormously entertaining. I …
Rating of
3/4
Fun, but overrated
Looneymanthegreat - wrote on 04/15/2013
Star Wars and I have a past. When I was a young lad I absolutely loved Star Wars, not just the films but the phenomenon. I owned the Star Wars toys; I read the Star Wars books and, of course, saw all of the prequels in the theater.
I loved, and still love, Star Wars the world. It is a fun and all encompassing world filled with alien’s history and action, and it is always fun to totally immerse you in a world. That is part of the appeal of many of the most famous movie series (and video game series as well), they are more then just movies they are worlds all unto themselves.
Now that out of the way, here comes the punch; the part you aren’t going to like: the original Star Wars trilogy is not only one of the most overrated film series of all time, but one of the most …
Rating of
4/4
"Star Wars" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 12/25/2011
There are three Star Wars films. Star Wars is a magical rollercoaster ride of fun and excitement, populated with charming characters you actually CARE about, who have believable relationships in a fairytale universe of good and evil. Star Wars is my first movie love, and no matter how many times I see it (surely a dozen by now) I am still transformed into an eight year old boy for it's two hour duration. Star Wars is NOT a bloated, computer generated toy commercial vomited onto the screen by a beardy old fat bloke's ego. The "updated" version actually points to where the prequels were going to go so horribly wrong. The added fancy CGI is distracting and unnecessary, and Lucas manages to neuter Han Solo nearly as soon as he appears by making a couple of amendments that completely miss the …
Rating of
4/4
The Force Will Be With You... Always
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/19/2011
I am an unabashed Star Wars fan - who knew that when you mix science fiction, mythological archetypes and Akira Kurosawa into one film, you can spawn an entire legion of geeks to your side?
Now is Star Wars perfect? No. Luke whines like a five-year-old who doesn't get any candy, the lightsaber effects are still in their infancy and dialogue (never a strong point for George Lucas) isn't exactly Shakespeare - however, despite the faults, there is absolutely no doubt this is one of the best sci-fi films out there.
Lucas took a gamble, but it paid off. The effects (the original, not the CGI extras they added) look amazing even though most of it is models and costumes. The Death Star trench run became an instant classic and is probably the most iconic image from the film. The casting, …
Rating of
4/4
Star Wars review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/05/2011
Star Wars IV: A New Hope (1977) review
One of the major influences of my addiction to movies is Star Wars (aside from my very first viewing of Stand By Me on theaters). I have seen this film on Betamax format when I was a kid. In this digital/Blu-ray/HD age, Star Wars a film released in 1977, was ahead of its time in terms of special effects. There has been much criticism about the Star Wars franchise because of poor dialogue, cheesy scenes and off beat irritating characters like Jar-Jar. Where did this come from? Why the hate on the prequels? How come there are lots of forums analyzing the films? It all boils down to the origin.
Episode I,II,III,V and VI all began with A New Hope (IV).
A local farm boy from Tatooine (with 2 suns, one of many memorable scenery’s) named …
