Saving a Princess: A Movie Review of George Lucas' Academy Award-nominated "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope"

Original 1977 poster

1997 special edition poster

An evil Empire has enslaved a galaxy. A "farm boy" may be a rebellion's only hope of rescuing their leader from a space station and then destroying it. This is the basic plot outline of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (originally simply called Star Wars until the 1990's).

Upon it's release in 1977, Star Wars was the highest-grossing film of all time, quickly passing the popular Jaws, until it was passed in 1982 by E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The movie is ranked among the best films of all time and has truly made the "galaxy far, far away" a cultural hit. The film stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as pilot Han Solo, and Carrie Fisher as rebel leader Princess Leia.

SUMMARY

   After an introduction to the storyline, A New Hope opens with a giant Imperial starship chasing a small rebel transport. Why? It is carrying plans to the Empire's space station weapon: the Death Star. 

   The rebels are boarded and lose the battle. The plans are in the hands of Princess Leia until she places them in a droid named R2-D2. He and another droid named C-3PO get in a small escape pod and make their way to a desert planet.

   There they are captured by little aliens and sold to a farmer and his nephew. That night, though, R2-D2 escapes and heads for what C-3PO says is his "mission." Early the next morning, Luke and C-3PO go searching for the little droid. Soon after finding him, they are attacked by vicious people known as Sand People. They are rescued by an old man named Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi.

   Ben takes Luke and the droids back to his house and tells the young man of his father who was a Jedi leader in the Clone War. He then tries to convince Luke to come with him, help Princess Leia, and learn to become a Jedi.

   It is only after deaths in his family (at the hands of the Empire) that Luke decides to go with Ben and learn to be a Jedi. The two and Luke's droids travel to a "spaceport" where they eventually meet a smuggler/captain named Han Solo and his furry alien companion Chewbacca.
   They all head for the Princess' home planet Alderaan. When they arrive, though, they find it has been blown apart by a giant space station. Yeah, an entire planet!
   The group's ship is pulled into the Death Star station and, after making it to a control room, Ben leaves the others with the instruction to stay put. Soon, upon discovering Leia is locked up in prison there, Luke decides that they should try to find and rescue her. So, disguised as stormtrooper soldiers, Luke and Han pretend to take Chewbacca prisoner.
   Eventually, the group escapes the Death Star, but a friend is killed at the hands of the evil Sith lord Darth Vader.
   They make it to the secret rebel planet Yavin IV. Luke joins the rebels as a pilot and it is soon up to him to destroy the Death Star, or else the rebel planet will be blown up with all those people there.
   Of course, he does it and the film ends with a medal-awarding celebration...until the Empire strikes back. But that's another story!

CONTENT

   There is an amount of violence in A New Hope, though appropriate for a PG film. Soldiers fire laser guns, and we see people shot and fall down, but the audience is not shown the specific wounds. There are three scenes which I think to be the most frightening for young children. The first scene: two skeletons are seen burning in fire, set by Imperial soldiers, though only briefly. The second scene is in a dim, shady bar. Ben uses his lightsaber to defend Luke and cuts off the arm of an attacking alien. The audience sees his arm laying on the floor with blood splattered around (though older kids and adults could probably tell it is fake). The third and final scene is when Vader slashes someone with his lightsaber. The victim disappears and their clothes are left on the ground (thus no wounds), but this in itself might scare younger kids.

   I don't recall any inappropriate content. There is one scene where Leia kisses Luke, saying, "For luck."

   The language is pretty sparse, but there is one use of h**l and two uses of d**n.

   I liked Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It is exciting, funny at parts, and has a good storyline. Unfortunately, the Force energy field is used and meditation is involved in this ("feel, don't think" and all of that Buddhist-like philosophy). Though set in a fictional galaxy, this still poses an anti-Christian view.

   So I would say this is a good family film, but perhaps not for the youngest of family. Parents will want to beware of the language (however sparse it may be) and also the meditation/trusting your feelings philosophy. A New Hope is a great movie, but it has some drawbacks to be on the lookout for.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 121 minutes (original 1977 film), 125 minutes (1997 special edition)

Rating: PG 

Director: George Lucas

Producer: Gary Kurtz

Music: John Williams

Year of release: 1977 (original), 1997 (special edition) 

Primary audience: Pre-teens, teens, adults