The one that started it all

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2006)

If any film has a claim to the greatest film of all time it is surely this. It spawned probably the greatest movie saga to ever grace the big screen...STAR WARS! It invigorated what was basically a dying film industry; it opened the door for countless more sci-fi and fantasy films that have been ambitiously created over the years. Peter Jackson himself said that he was inspired to taking on a task as large as Lord of the Rings after seeing how George Lucas had dealt with Star Wars. More immediate inspirations would be Alien and the Star Trek Movie; sci-fi successes inspired by Star Wars. But moreover it is the ultimate cult classic; it influenced the lives of an entire generation in 1977 and when it was re-released in 1997 it did a similar job, as I am part of that generation. It is not only a critical part of the film industry and critical part of western society. I truly believe that an epic like Star Wars is good for the world in every way. It symbolises hope or a NEW HOPE as the case may be. It is a modern fairy tale that delivers all the right messages. Or if you're just in it for the entertainment then there's isn't anything to complain about there either.
What is brilliant about it now of course is how it fits into the brilliant Hexilogy that is Star Wars...seamlessly I might add. It picks up right off where Return of the Sith lets off and continues those magnificent adventure. Surely ones first reaction after Return of the Sith would be to immediately re-watch Star Wars. But despite its integral part of the Star Wars Saga, what makes this film stand out of all six for me is how it stands on its own. Even though I wasn't alive then I really sense how it captured the mood of the time that '77 feeling. I love it.
You can watch this film and see it as part of the bigger picture in which case you get that extra depth from it; but you can also watch it as if you are a little kid back when you first saw it and it was the only film you ever watched. Thats the beauty of this film...thats why its the one and only Star Wars.