Movie #11: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Movie #: 11
Movie Title: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Year Released: 1977

Director: George Lucas
Notable Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Peter Cushing

Short Description: Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee, and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle-station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #13
IMDB.com: #16
Ranker.com: #76
Lifed.com: #18
Empire.com: #22
FilmCrave.com: #20
FlickChart.com: #1



Date Watched: 12/6/2016

Grade: 5 out of 5 (Exceptional)

Rationale: Movies have had a huge impact on my life and no single movie or movie series has had more influence on me than the Star Wars saga, particularly Episode IV: A New Hope. While the acting in A New Hope may not be top notch (I'm looking at you, young Mark Hamill) and the dialog a tad cheesy (I'm looking at you, George Lucas), the Star Wars saga is a multi-generational and genre defining phenomenon that never would have been what it is today without the legendary characters and revolutionary filming advancements introduced in A New Hope. From the moment the iconic opening text crawl appears up until when the credits begin to roll with John William's famous theme playing in the background, there is no movie I find greater joy in watching than A New Hope, regardless of how many times I've seen it.