Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Director: George Lucas George Lucas

Overview

George Lucas' mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farm boy named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader (David Prowse, with the voice of James Earl Jones). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars, particularly Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford's The Searchers, as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totalling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/22/2019
UPC:	0786936866421
Original Release:	1977
Rating:	PG
Source:	Walt Disney Video

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mark Hamill	Luke Skywalker
Anthony Daniels	C-3PO
Harrison Ford	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	Princess Leia
Peter Cushing	Grand Moff Tarkin
Alec Guinness	Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi
Kenny Baker	R2-D2
Peter Mayhew	Chewbacca
David Prowse	Darth Vader
Phil Brown	Uncle Owen Lars
Shelagh Fraser	Aunt Beru Lars
Jack Purvis	Chief Jawa
Eddie Byrne	Gen. Willard
Don Henderson	Gen. Taggi
Jack Klaff	Red Four (John "D")
Drewe Henley	Red Leader
Jeremy Sinden	Gold Two
Garick Hagon	Red Three (Biggs)
Denis Lawson	Red Two (Wedge)
Alex McCrindle	Gen. Dodonna
William Hootkins	Red Six (Porkins)
Angus MacInnes	Gold Leader
Graham Ashley	Gold Five
Richard Le Parmentier	Gen. Motti
Leslie Schofield	Commander No. 1
James Earl Jones	Darth Vader
Malcolm Tierney	Officer in Detention Area (uncredited)
Sadie Corré	Actor

Technical Credits

George Lucas

George Lucas	Director,Screenwriter
Richard Baker	Makeup Special Effects
Derek Ball	Sound/Sound Designer
John Barry	Production Designer
Ron Beck	Costumes/Costume Designer
Adam Beckett	Animator
Jon Berg	Animator
Doug Beswick	Makeup
Robert Blalock	Special Effects
Ben Burtt	Sound/Sound Designer
Chris Casady	Animator
Richard Chew	Editor
Roger Christian	Set Decoration/Design
Gene Corso	Sound Editor
Dianne Crittenden	Casting
Gordon Davidson	Sound Editor
Leslie Dilley	Art Director
John Dykstra	Special Effects
Richard Edlund	Special Effects
Stuart Freeborn	Makeup
Les Fresholtz	Sound/Sound Designer
Anton Furst	Production Designer
Peter V. Herald	Production Manager
Paul Hirsch	Editor
Stephen Katz	Sound/Sound Designer
Peter Kuran	Animator
Gary Kurtz	Producer
Irene Lamb	Casting
Harry Lange	Production Designer
Marcia Lucas	Editor
Don MacDougall	Musical Direction/Supervision
Grant McCune	Special Effects
Michael Minkler	Sound/Sound Designer
Bob Minkler	Sound/Sound Designer
John Mollo	Costumes/Costume Designer
Angela Morley	Musical Arrangement
Richard Portman	Sound/Sound Designer
Vic Ramos	Casting
Norman Reynolds	Art Director
Rotoscope	Animator
Robert R. Rutledge	Sound Editor
Bruce Sharman	Production Manager
Sam Shaw	Sound Editor
Bob Shepherd	Production Manager
John Stears	Special Effects
Gilbert Taylor	Cinematographer
Ronnie Taylor	Camera Operator
Phil Tippett	Animator
Ray West	Sound/Sound Designer
John Williams [composer]	Score Composer

Editorial Reviews

Bursting with excitement, and throwing in one wild chase, life-threatening dilemma, and dazzling effect after another, George Lucas' Star Wars packs a remarkable amount of story into 121 minutes; if the characters and dialogue sometimes lack depth, they have plenty of flash and boundless energy, and the film keeps just enough of its tongue in cheek to acknowledge an undercurrent of sly, low-key wit without snickering at either the characters or the audience. In a decade in which cynicism was the order of the day in the film industry (and American culture), Star Wars dared to be hokey. With its wise old men, dashing young pilots, spunky but virtuous princesses, and bad guys who were either deliciously evil or downright slimy, the movie had the courage to take a truckload of Hollywood archetypes, present them with smarts, humor, and no apologies, and make them work for a new generation of filmgoers. The movie in this way forged a totally original amalgam of myth, marketing, and movie serials to become one of the biggest cultural phenomena in movie history. Commercially, Star Wars opened new vistas in merchandizing toys and other movie tie-ins, as it helped transform science fiction from a fringe market into one of Hollywood's dominant genres.

All Movie Guide - Mark Deming