FILM REVIEW: Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope
For years, nobody in the world has been able to motivate me to watch anything having to do with “Star Wars.” Friends of the family when I was little couldn’t do it. When I was with the church, my youth pastor couldn’t do it. My father couldn’t do it. None of my friends who were fans could do it. Then, along comes my boyfriend, and he tells me, “we need to watch ‘Star Wars’ together.” He is the first person to ever successfully get me to agree to sit and watch “Star Wars” since I was first asked at around the age of eight.
So, we started out this last weekend by watching Episode IV. He tells me that the movie was not always entitled “A New Hope,” but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to refer to it either by Episode IV or “A New Hope.” There will be a few categories rated on a scale of one through ten: one being abysmal, and ten being awesome. At the very end, the movie will get a “thumbs-up” or a “thumbs-down,” along with a final numerical rating.
Well, let’s get going:
~STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE~
-COSTUMES/MODELS/SPECIAL EFFECTS:
The first thing I noticed in this movie was the models of the spacecraft and the awesome outfits that many of the characters wear. My boyfriend tells me that this movie had a somewhat lower budget, so I can immediately see where Lucas spent his money. Seeing outfits like Darth Vader’s and those of the Storm Troopers are fascinating, but what I have a hard time wrapping my head around are the outfits for the droids. How does the actor playing C-3PO make his outfit work so realistically? He looks like an actual droid! As for the models of the spacecraft, one can hardly tell they are models at all; for the 1970s, this was impressive stuff. In other parts of the movie, we see aliens and characters dressed in outlandish, crazy outfits that almost appear realistic. I was very impressed with all the costumes. For a lower-budget movie made in the 1970s, the movie had really good special effects as well. The way the models flew through the air, and the way that various events played out (like the trash compactor scene and all computer interactions) were really well-done. It’s amazing how well Lucas’ team was able to make weapons that were based on light (laser blasters and light sabers) work so fluidly. I was very impressed with this.
RATING: 9/10
-CINEMATOGRAPHY:
I think the way they used the camera was very good. You could always see what was going on, and things flowed very smoothly. The lighting was just right, and I could tell Lucas had a talented team. I was disappointed with one thing, though: all the scene switching was done with some form of wipe, and this didn’t always fit the situation very well. Oh, well…Lucas had to cut costs somewhere, I guess.
RATING: 8/10
-PLOT:
This is where this movie really shines. They couple great deals of action along with a very deep plot that obviously needs a great deal of time to play out (there were two more movies, and then the three prequels). The plot kept me interested even when the action got way too intense.
RATING: 8/10
-CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Not all the characters got great development in this movie, but that’s to be expected with the first movie in any production of a series. The characters that did get great development really stood out, though: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 got the most, from what I could see. Starting with Han Solo, you can immediately tell he’s somebody that takes nonsense from nobody and orders only from himself. He’s a mercenary, and works for the highest bidder. Towards the end of the movie, he begins to develop a conscience, which is a nice twist. Luke Skywalker isn’t developed as much, but you can see seeds of development planted everywhere with how he learns The Force and learns to fight under the Alliance. He seems to be just starting to find himself in this film, and that makes me really want to see the other movies. C-3PO and R2-D2 have their personalities set from the get-go: C-3PO is a chronic complainer, and R2-D2 is a steadfast loyalist. While C-3PO speaks English eloquently, it can be hard to understand his intent at times. However, R2-D2 speaks in a series of beeps and whirrs, and even though I couldn’t understand his speech, it was easy to see his intent. Some other characters that got nominal development included Princess Leia, who had some shining moments later in the movie when she ordered Han Solo around. Obi-Wan Kenobi was seen sacrificing himself for Luke at the hands of Darth Vader, which shows where his own priorities lay. So, even though not everyone got strong development, there was an overall sense of how things might eventually turn out. Overall, this was not the strongest part of the movie, but it was just enough for the first in the series.
RATING: 7/10
-OVERALL:
Episode IV is a very good movie, and showed a strong effort by Lucas and his team. The plot was in good balance with the action, and neither overpowered the other. There was just enough character development, and the special effects were really great! I loved the realism of the costumes, and the cinematography flowed smoothly. I would love to watch more from the series, and if any of them are as good as this one, I have a lot to look forward to.
RATING: 8.5/10
~THUMBS-UP~
So, we started out this last weekend by watching Episode IV. He tells me that the movie was not always entitled “A New Hope,” but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to refer to it either by Episode IV or “A New Hope.” There will be a few categories rated on a scale of one through ten: one being abysmal, and ten being awesome. At the very end, the movie will get a “thumbs-up” or a “thumbs-down,” along with a final numerical rating.
Well, let’s get going:
~STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE~
-COSTUMES/MODELS/SPECIAL EFFECTS:
The first thing I noticed in this movie was the models of the spacecraft and the awesome outfits that many of the characters wear. My boyfriend tells me that this movie had a somewhat lower budget, so I can immediately see where Lucas spent his money. Seeing outfits like Darth Vader’s and those of the Storm Troopers are fascinating, but what I have a hard time wrapping my head around are the outfits for the droids. How does the actor playing C-3PO make his outfit work so realistically? He looks like an actual droid! As for the models of the spacecraft, one can hardly tell they are models at all; for the 1970s, this was impressive stuff. In other parts of the movie, we see aliens and characters dressed in outlandish, crazy outfits that almost appear realistic. I was very impressed with all the costumes. For a lower-budget movie made in the 1970s, the movie had really good special effects as well. The way the models flew through the air, and the way that various events played out (like the trash compactor scene and all computer interactions) were really well-done. It’s amazing how well Lucas’ team was able to make weapons that were based on light (laser blasters and light sabers) work so fluidly. I was very impressed with this.
RATING: 9/10
-CINEMATOGRAPHY:
I think the way they used the camera was very good. You could always see what was going on, and things flowed very smoothly. The lighting was just right, and I could tell Lucas had a talented team. I was disappointed with one thing, though: all the scene switching was done with some form of wipe, and this didn’t always fit the situation very well. Oh, well…Lucas had to cut costs somewhere, I guess.
RATING: 8/10
-PLOT:
This is where this movie really shines. They couple great deals of action along with a very deep plot that obviously needs a great deal of time to play out (there were two more movies, and then the three prequels). The plot kept me interested even when the action got way too intense.
RATING: 8/10
-CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
Not all the characters got great development in this movie, but that’s to be expected with the first movie in any production of a series. The characters that did get great development really stood out, though: Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 got the most, from what I could see. Starting with Han Solo, you can immediately tell he’s somebody that takes nonsense from nobody and orders only from himself. He’s a mercenary, and works for the highest bidder. Towards the end of the movie, he begins to develop a conscience, which is a nice twist. Luke Skywalker isn’t developed as much, but you can see seeds of development planted everywhere with how he learns The Force and learns to fight under the Alliance. He seems to be just starting to find himself in this film, and that makes me really want to see the other movies. C-3PO and R2-D2 have their personalities set from the get-go: C-3PO is a chronic complainer, and R2-D2 is a steadfast loyalist. While C-3PO speaks English eloquently, it can be hard to understand his intent at times. However, R2-D2 speaks in a series of beeps and whirrs, and even though I couldn’t understand his speech, it was easy to see his intent. Some other characters that got nominal development included Princess Leia, who had some shining moments later in the movie when she ordered Han Solo around. Obi-Wan Kenobi was seen sacrificing himself for Luke at the hands of Darth Vader, which shows where his own priorities lay. So, even though not everyone got strong development, there was an overall sense of how things might eventually turn out. Overall, this was not the strongest part of the movie, but it was just enough for the first in the series.
RATING: 7/10
-OVERALL:
Episode IV is a very good movie, and showed a strong effort by Lucas and his team. The plot was in good balance with the action, and neither overpowered the other. There was just enough character development, and the special effects were really great! I loved the realism of the costumes, and the cinematography flowed smoothly. I would love to watch more from the series, and if any of them are as good as this one, I have a lot to look forward to.
RATING: 8.5/10
~THUMBS-UP~