Star Wars (1977) - Review
Originally published March 2016While its name may have changed to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, in 1977 it just had the name of Star Wars with no sequels on the horizon yet. Its universe has since exploded and expanded infinitely, but many film studio executives weren't convinced it was going to be anywhere near the hit that it was, at the time. Fox Studios thought it was going to flop so hard that they were willing to give George Lucas the rights and profits for toys and merchandise to the movie. What a mistake that was for them!
But I digress as usual.
Image: 20th Century Fox
It's the first time in over 5 years since I've watched any Star Wars movie and having gone back to the original again with a more mature perspective, a mild disinterest in the Star Wars franchise, and a couple of cases of beer for my drinking game, I figured it time to finally write my thoughts about the movies, starting with the one that started it all.
Of course, since I no longer own a VHS, and I'm not even sure if there's a recent Blu-Ray or DVD release that has the original cuts of the movies, I thought I was stuck with the "Enhanced" editions. However, I learned that the "Bonus Discs" I had on the DVDs I've owned for years were actually the original theatrical versions; I never knew. So if there's any good that has come from doing these reviews, it's that I know I can watch the movies as I originally remembered them. It also allows me to judge them more appropriately. Let's get started with Star Wars aka Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.
Pros
Still a classic universe-creating movie
Music score is as good as ever
Good actors salvage a cheesy script and help in creating a more believable world
Plethora of creature and ship designs shows a wealth of creativity
Great sets all add to the universe-crafting
The trench run sequence is still exciting; well-shot
Once it starts moving it keeps its momentum and tension
Still moments of genuine humor that prove Lucas didn't always have trouble with comedy, such as Jar-Jar
Cons
Pretty basic script with some of the same writing tropes and clichés that would be less acceptable in modern movies, but gets more of a pass here
If all you have is the Enhanced editions, most of the "enhanced" content has not aged well
Slow start with the droids as our primary focus for a while
Characters are mostly one-note with only a few exceptions
Lightsaber duel is about as exciting as you expect from an old man and a guy who can barely move in a big plastic suit
Plot & Thoughts
It's been a long time since I watched it and I still think it's a fun movie, but I can definitely see it for what it is. For one thing, while I don't think the original Star Wars movie is a masterpiece worthy of an Academy Award other than special effects and music, I know it should not have lost to Annie Hall that year, of all things.
Image: 20th Century Fox
I wrestled with the idea of doing a full-length review for this movie like I will for the prequel trilogy films and Episode VII, but the story and character archetypes are so typical and familiar, that there's not much to discuss there. Besides, there's no need to talk about a plot that is in fact recycled in its own franchise, right? I figure for this review, I'd talk about what makes it stand out from the others and the reasons why I consider it to be the second-best in the film franchise.
It's better than the prequel films, and I doubt anyone will argue, simply because of the charisma on the screen. Even though I don't hate all the prequels, they have the tendency to drag. It also rarely mattered who was on screen—be it Neeson, McGregor, or Christianson—there just wasn't enough energy to carry those films and their awful dialogue. In Episode IV, you have cheese in the dialogue, but it isn't overreaching itself and trying to do anything more than build a universe and tell us an adventure story within it. We don't have a forced love story, or politics without any of the interesting details, or a tragedy that is supposed to be on par with Shakespeare. It's when the Star Wars movies try to accomplish deeper stories and themes, or just romance, that Lucas' writing becomes more apparently awful.
Image: 20th Century Fox
The plot of Episode IV is simple and self-contained and the script is written in a way that perfectly builds a universe without telling us everything. Much like the dialogue between characters of different species that don't speak English, but the people can still understand them, we are constantly told only half the story so our imagination can fill in the gaps and immediately create a much bigger world in our heads than the movie tries to. In that regard, it's using the "less is more" method of storytelling superbly. As a result, the movie gets away with its simplicity.
The original Star Wars is really just a big-budget B-movie with some solid actors. Surprisingly enough, this is something that can still work in modern movies. An example of a recent big-budget B-movie that did well and that I personally liked is Pacific Rim. It does the same thing as Star Wars by taking inspiration from earlier material, slapping it together into a cheesy film with cool special effects and a basic script, and creating its own universe in the process. It has some significantly worse performances than Star Wars does, but that ends up playing into its own strengths, considering the Pacific Rim's source material. Star Wars seems to know its own strengths just as well and plays into them.
Image: 20th Century Fox
As for how it compares to the original trilogy, Episode IV is not better than The Empire Strikes Back because Empire manages to add much more complexity to its characters and their situations, with a more realized vision of the universe and some wittier dialogue. However, I think it's better than Return of the Jedi because it doesn't take such hard turns in its tone. Return is all over the place with its emotional baggage and some of the characters are altered a little bit too much to fit the story that George Lucas was writing. Episode IV feels like a complete product and doesn't feel like arbitrary changes were made to it to accommodate anyone.
I also think it's better than its 2015 remake-sequel for only a few reasons, but significant ones—I'll go into more detail in The Force Awakens review. For now, I'll say that the 2015 Star Wars movie has better dialogue, more complex characters, better graphics, and a perfectly well-rounded cast that includes several of the original actors.
Image: 20th Century Fox
Why doesn't it overtake the original movie in preference? I think part of it is that it's cheesy fun with actors who manage to add some class and quality to what is said. Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi explains the Force to us and how it works with earnestness and charisma that it makes me want to believe in his space-religion. Peter Cushing, as an evil military commander, brings special eloquence to his role that he brought to every role he was ever in, including the schlock from the Hammer horror movies. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fischer add humor and bite to the dialogue that help make the script more tolerable and funny than George Lucas could have accomplished on his own. The new movie has perfectly good actors playing more complex roles, but none of them ever captivated me as much. It also feels like The Force Awakens is trying to elevate itself out of the cheesy inspiration that is so deeply ingrained in Star Wars as a whole. In all honesty, I got the feeling that everyone involved in the new one was concerned about screwing it up and making a movie that everyone hated, which may have prevented them from fully embracing the universe.
However, I think the main reason I like Episode IV more than most of the other Star Wars movies is simply because of the time at which it was released. It gets a lot of free passes for its clichés, its simplicity, and its dated effects because not all of the clichés were clichés yet, and it was intentionally referencing old sci-fi serials that were loaded with their own cheesy tropes. Besides, there wasn't another movie like it at the time of its release.
Image: 20th Century Fox
Nonetheless, when I meet people who didn't watch any of the Star Wars movies as a kid, or as an adult back in the ‘70s, it's no surprise to me that they find nothing special about Episode IV when they finally do watch it. Today, there are plenty of other movies out there that have more and better qualities than Star Wars. In the ‘70s, it was much more unique and, if you were a child in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it was still an amazing spectacle with little competition. There weren't the Marvel superhero movies, the Harry Potter films, or the Lord of the Rings films, to name a few. If The Force Awakens was the first Star Wars movie to try to start a franchise, it would have been quickly forgotten amidst the sea of other sci-fi action movies; much like what happened to Jupiter Ascending or John Carter, for instance. Without the 1977 film, the 2015 Star Wars doesn't have a leg to stand on.
With a much deeper sea of spectacular movies, and without the skewed perspective of a child, what does the original Star Wars have to offer to anyone new to the series? It's certainly a fun ride, but perhaps not as classic as people remember.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
Approaching the original Star Wars film for the first time with the expectation of an amazing classic worthy of endless praise and groundbreaking cinematic genius is a quick trip down the road to disappointment. Some of the other films in the franchise certainly have the qualities of a better movie, and some strive for it but don't quite achieve it. Nonetheless, it has more passion and inspiration than the 2015 remake-sequel that followed a formula established by it. It successfully achieved the story it was trying to tell without overreaching or missing the mark as some of the other Star Wars films would. Perhaps I'm just a sucker for my 5-year-old self's view of this movie, but I still find it fun and entertaining as an adult as a big-budget B-movie.