One of the best movies ever made

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 1999)

Star Wars: A New Hope is one of the best movies ever made. Not since 2001: A Space Odyssey have audiences been astonished by fantastic special effects and a terrific storyline. The plot is relatively simple: Princess Leia, working for the Rebellion, is kidnapped and held hostage by the Empire on their armored battle station Death Star. Luke Skywalker lives on Tatooine, a desert planet, when he encounters a message from the Princess that she put into R2-D2. He teams up with Ben Kenobi, Han Solo, Chewbacca and the 2 droids, R2 and C-3PO to help rescue her. This is the best in the trilogy in my opinion. The acting is a little raw in stages, especially coming from Luke, but the interaction between Han and Leia is entertaining, as it fortells their eventual relationship in the other 2 films. Alec Guinness is great as Obi-Wan Kenobi, he has the best line in the film (The Force will be with you....always." and his fight with Vader was good too, but it's boring when you think of how Luke and Vader fought. Darth Vader wasn't as evil in this film as he was in ESB, that trait fell to Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star. Prime example: when he orders Princess Leia's home planet, Alderaan, destroyed to show the Death Star's capabilities. The battle scene at the end is awesome, lots of special effects and Vader even pilots his own special TIE fighter! As you know, the Death Star gets blown to bits and the good guys win, that is until ESB. This film is a lot lighter compared to the darkness the next installment has, but it has some of the best scenes, best acting and best music to make this the best of the trilogy. If you haven't seen it, rent it, you won't regret it.