The original Hollywood blockbuster. The original blockbuster masterpiece.

Rating: 10/10 (26 August 2009)

You know this film. You know the characters. You know the music. Why is a review even being written? Star Wars: A New Hope revolutionized and forever changed the game for American cinema back in 1977, and stands tall today as one of the greatest films of all-time. Back in 1977, there was absolutely nothing quite like it: the blend of epic music, incredible sets, spectacular ahead-of-its-time special effects, superb action sequences, and an overall complete package of film-making that before and since has rarely ever been met. You are immersed in a totally different world in a totally different time period, and thanks to George Lucas and the talented staff behind him that obviously gave their all in this movie, Star Wars is one of the 15 best movies you'll ever see guaranteed. For the first time in history, you really felt like you were in an alternate universe in space (Hush 2001: A Space Odyssey fans, Star Wars didn't separate its audience from the subject with ridiculously sublime yet frustrating subtle imagery that never quite explained what was going on).
Based loosely off of The Hidden Fortress (A Akira Kurosawa film) and the Hero's Journey outline of Joseph Campbell, Star Wars follows a simple farmboy (Mark Hamill) rising to become a major threat to a rising evil led by the sinister and heartless Darth Vader (Voiced by James Earl Jones). Along the way, he meets the self-centered yet reliable Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and a feisty Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). Basically, Luke's tale is a hero's journey, copying the same timeline that Campbell laid out for all writers to imitate. Written by George Lucas, it was a script that at the time was presumed to be impossible to imitate because of its lush settings, amount of visual effects needed, and of course, the mammoth sets required (See: Death Star).
Luckily for all of us, they delivered. The biggest part of the movie (and the franchise) is how the special effects not only enhanced a scene and brought it to life, but also blended with the actors, actresses, and sets. The special effects were achieved in a variety of ways; whether it is small models (extensively used for the final battle), tricks with lighting, and motion control photography. Industrial Light and Magic, one of the top special effects studios in history, got its mammoth start here. Of course, you need good acting to bring the effects to life, and our main cast does a decent job even when the dialogue is less than satisfactory. Alec Guinness gives the best performance however as Luke's mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. Last but not least, let's praise David Prowse as the intimidating, powerful, and downright scary Darth Vader. Just imagine having him as your boss.
How many other ways can I praise this movie? John Williams gives us the musical score of a lifetime as he combines soft, lighthearted music, with bizarre tunes (like the one in Cantina) and epic tracks that resemble (and outperform) the best of 18th century classical music like late Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. George Lucas, despite his modern-day reputation, established himself as one of the better directors of the 70s with a combination of epic shots with ever-growing tension and mammoth cinematography. While he didn't take the director's seat in the two accompanying sequels, A New Hope displayed his absolute love towards his creation.
Bottom Line: So where would we rank Star Wars among the best? We have the acting, the talent, the special effects, the music, the sets, the pacing, the tension, the action, the costume design, and even the puppet work as among the best you'll ever see—especially considering the year it was made. Lucas created an entirely new world for everyone to see, and delivered it with amazing craftsmanship, precision, and detail. The techniques of Star Wars has been copied and mimicked ever since. Surely The Empire Strikes Back would practically perfect any insignificant shortcoming this film had to offer, but A New Hope was the beacon for blockbuster cinema. No longer were the movies establishing this higher-class reputation; Star Wars bucked a trend of huge Hollywood blockbusters with full intention of blowing you away quality-wise by any means necessary.
The Annie Halls, Godfathers, Space Odysseys (your pretentious films full of dialogue, symbolism, and feeeeeeeeelings) were now put aside because of your Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Aliens, Terminators, and eventually, your Pirates of the Caribbeans. I rank Star Wars as one of the 15 greatest movies of all-time simply because of its effect on cinema, usage of special effects, and execution of a hero's journey and execution of the handing of a villain. Name a villain that was even close as scary or intimidating as Darth Vader. Now name a movie that has a bigger effect on blockbuster cinema than Star Wars. Can't name one? That's because (aside from Raiders of the Lost Ark) there honesty isn't one. If you haven't seen this movie, it's because you are simply trying to avoid it. If you hate this movie, it's simply because you are trying to hate it. If giving Star Wars a 10 is morally, spiritually, and emotionally wrong, then I shall never want to be right.
May the force be with you.