Lucasfilm

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2004)

When Star Wars was shown in 1977, it changed film history and people. It was a huge success, and it wasn't long before fans started to wear costumes and watching the movie for the 50th time in theaters. 20 years later, George Lucas made Special Editions of the trilogy, and it disappointed many fans. They said that Lucas butchered the films and "raped their childhood." I wouldn't know how to feel, since I wasn't there when Star Wars was first released. I didn't care for Star Wars when I first watched it as a kid, but upon second viewing, I liked it a lot more. Lucas' changes to the films never really bothered me that much (I couldn't really understand why many people hated that Greedo shot first. Nor who or what the hell is Greedo).
The film starts with a gigantic Star Destroyer chasing a small ship and finally capturing them. 2 droids go to an escape pod and gets sold to Luke Skywalker with his aunt and uncle, while Princess Leia is captured by Darth Vader, a heavy breathing man wearing a mask throughout the whole film. The plot is pretty simple, but it's surrounded by the world of Star Wars that George Lucas made (with much inspiration from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress). The Star Warsverse impressed a lot of people with how it was created and how vast and many different planets present in the galaxy.
I thought that the film started off so slowly and some parts were uninteresting and just goes on and on. So much unnecessary cuteness was put in the first 30-40 minutes of the film. Yes, it's the most light-hearted film in the trilogy, but it just couldn't avoid being too childish. The costumes and make-up are quite impressive, and the visuals still hold up to this day, where blowing up planets won't consist of sparks and a ring to it. Too bad that Lucas couldn't appreciate the time that the film was made.
We are then introduced to one of the best characters in the Star Wars Trilogy, Han Solo, with a "walking carpet" Wookie named Chewbacca. Luke Skywalker, along with Obi-Wan Kenobi gets Han Solo and Chewbacca to rescue the Princess. Rescuing the Princess and getting out of the Death Star is one of the most enjoyable and hilarious parts of the film. The Lightsaber fights aren't as fast-paced or 'complicated' compared to the Prequels, but that doesn't become a problem at all. The chemistry between Luke, Han and Leia become a treat to watch and often times hilarious. Getting stuck with these hilarious characters that you care for 2 more films isn't a problem. That's one of the magic of Star Wars: quirky, delightful characters, which is certainly lacking in the Prequels (okay, I'll stop it with the comparison to the prequels right now)
I love model ships that are put into a blue background and get destroyed. And because of the lack of technology back then, Lucas puts into good use this technique and does it well. He may have added some CGI in the Special Editions to make it more exciting, but I'm happy with the result. With great characters, exciting action scenes and such a rich, vast galaxy as their surroundings, it's no wonder that Star Wars became such a huge success and is still loved by many people up to this day.
8.5