Star Wars: A New Hope Review: Reimagining the Sci-Fi Genre

 This weeks blog post will be reviewing Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), directed by George Lucas.  This movie is also one of the first "blockbuster" films to be released, and it helped pave the way for many other blockbuster films to be made.  One thing that makes this film stand out amongst all other films is that it feels like its own unique film, with its many different themes of space empires, jedi, dog-fighting in space, the force, etc.  However, with all these themes being put into one film, it does feel like they all unify to make one big space-themed adventure, which make all the themes of this film work very well together.  The storytelling in the film is also done very well.  Most of the storytelling is done through exposition from the characters, but all of the central characters in the film are very intriguing, especially when the audience slowly learns more about the characters through exposition.  An example of this is when Ben Kenobi talks to Luke about his father and how he knew him very well.  Luke responds by asking him  lot of questions about his father, displaying intrigue for Ben Kenobi, which makes the audience intrigued to learn more about these characters.

Another element of the film that is done very well is the action.  As the film progresses from the opening scene to Tatooine to the Death Star, the film becomes more and more exciting as the action in the film becomes more thrilling.  The CGI in the film is very good for its time, granted that it seems outdated compared to today's standards, but it works for this film.  The dog fighting in space at the end of the film not only has great action and makes for a good final battle, but it was also not done in any film prior to its release, making this film more unique.  The music in this film, composed by John Williams, is also phenomenal as well.  It makes you feel as if you yourself are on a big space adventure while watching the film.

There are, however, a couple of flaws in this film.  This film has pacing issues, especially at the beginning of the film after the opening scene.  However, once the movie gets to its 2nd half, the pacing starts to pick back up as it heads into the 3rd Act.  The technology used in this film also looks dated, especially when visual effects are used in scenes where people are getting shot, or there are arms being cut off.  But all in all, this film still holds up today, and the combination of storytelling, music, action and characterization make this film a classic, and aided future Sci-Fi films to be successful in theaters.