One of the Most Iconic, and Best, Films Ever Made

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2016)

Star Wars is directed by George Lucas and is the story of a young man named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) that lives on the desert planet of Tatooine with his Uncle and Aunt. As he reaches his late teenage years, he begins wanting to leave the planet and live his own life, away from the desolate wasteland of a planet. However, as soon as he begins to become passionate about leaving, he meets an old hermit named Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness), that tells Luke that he knew his father, who was a Jedi Knight, before the Empire had taken over. This information leads Luke on an adventure, pitting himself against the Empire and the dark side of a mysterious energy called The Force.
Near everyone knows the impact that Star Wars had on the film industry. After the massive hit that Star Wars was, filmmaking had changed forever, and for the good. George Lucas had simply revolutionized a new era of film, bringing to life many sequels, and prequels, and an entire new generation of filmmakers and fans. Not only is Star Wars legendary, it's amazing as well. A film can be remembered, and not that great, but Star Wars is, simply put, fantastic.
The best thing about Star Wars, if there is one, is the groundbreaking special effects. Even now, almost 40 years later, the special effects don't look fake. All of them look completely believable and great at the same time. This is mostly due to George Lucas' use of models. Rather than making everything out of CGI (cough, prequels), Lucas used small models of the Death Star, the Tie Fighters, The Millennium Falcon, etc. He filmed these models shot for shot, and it payed off, due to just how great the effects look all this time later.
Not a single soul can talk about Star Wars without mentioning its score. As most know, John Williams composed the music for Star Wars, and did a fantastic job with it. The iconic opening theme is one of the most memorable songs ever composed, both for a film, and of all time. Near everyone can remember the tune of the song, and it's heard everywhere. In fact, I heard the opening theme being whistled by a worker in my local grocery store a couple days ago. The memorableness of this score is incredible, and deserves all of the praise that it gets.
The acting is also great. Mark Hamill does a great job as Luke, and plays the character like nobody else could. Harrison Ford is literally perfect at playing Han Solo, and brought to life one of the coolest movie characters of all time. Princess Leia, played by Carrie Fisher, is a great character, and is portrayed very well by Fisher. Alec Guinness is absolutely amazing as Ben Kenobi, and so is the actors that portrayed C-3PO and R2D2, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker. All of the actors in Star Wars are very talented, and did great in their roles.
Also, the script, written by George Lucas, is astounding. Before this movie was made, none of the cast or crew expected it to do well, especially with the outlandish script. However, nobody could even imagine the vastness that is the Star Wars universe today. The script propelled this film in every way possible, and is the biggest reason, aside from the special effects, that Star Wars was such a success.
The last thing about Star Wars that I'll mention is the villain, Darth Vader. Not only is Darth Vader the most iconic movie villain of all time, he's the best as well. Without knowing anything about his past yet, Darth Vader is still a very compelling and fantastic villain. He's menacing, intimidating, and likable all at the same time. Darth Vader is perfectly acted, both physically and in voice (credit: Peter Cushing and James Earl Jones). He's the perfect villain, and did so much for the Star Wars franchise.
Overall, Star Wars is easily one of the most iconic films ever made, and, in my opinion, one of the best. Anyone and everyone should watch Star Wars; it's highly likely that you'll enjoy it.