An Incredible Start

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2015)

Way back in 1977, this film literally blew the entire world of cinema out of the water. My Mum once told me how when she saw this film new at a cinema in Leicester Square, the first image of a Star Destroyer sweeping overhead was the most unbelievable sight, and to that I can agree. This film is truly spectacular, even today it looks good!
So where do we start? As a war rages between the oppressive evil of the Galactic Empire and the forces of the Rebel Alliance, a ship carrying Princess Leia is captured by the Dark Lord Darth Vader, but not before she is able to safely stow plans to their new and ultimate weapon, the Death Star, into the memory banks of Droid R2D2, who escapes with his counterpart C-3PO. On the nearby desert planet of Tatooine, they come under the ownership of Luke Skywalker, a teenage boy who's no doubt bored senseless of his mundane life in the desert, and aspires to leave the toils of his remote world. This dream comes true when he bumps into ageing Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, who, after receiving a message for help from the Princess, takes Luke with him as his apprentice aboard the Millennium Falcon with smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca, destined to seek out the Rebellion and deliver the plans before the Empire's ultimate weapon of destruction is completed.
There's really nothing I can say that hasn't been said before, the story is a classic adventure story, with an intimidating villain, a strong hero who's easy to relate to, being both wide eyed and naive, a wise old master, comedic sidekick robots, a cool and collected partner in crime, and of course the damsel in distress.
The acting is fantastic, all actors and characters being memorable. The special effects, which even though were only done with scale models and a few post-production animations and enhancements, still look incredible today, I dare say even better than modern CGI in some instances. I will say that the fight scene above the Death Star at the end of the movie does go on for a little bit too long, with a lot of repeated swooping and diving and swooping and diving, etc.
But, other than that, I have absolutely no complains, it's a smart film for adults and a gripping adventure for children. There's nothing not to like!