Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
"Star Wars" (original title)

Luke Skywalker, a spirited farm boy, joins rebel forces to save Princess Leia from the evil Darth Vader, and the galaxy from the Empire's planet-destroying Death Star.

Director:

George Lucas

Writer:

George Lucas

Stars:

Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher

Top 250 #16 | Won 6 Oscars. Another 33 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing	...	Grand Moff Tarkin
Alec Guinness	...	Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
Phil Brown	...	Uncle Owen
Shelagh Fraser	...	Aunt Beru
Jack Purvis	...	Chief Jawa
Alex McCrindle	...	General Dodonna
Eddie Byrne	...	General Willard
Drewe Henley	...	Red Leader (as Drewe Hemley)

Storyline

Part IV in George Lucas' epic, Star Wars: A New Hope opens with a Rebel ship being boarded by the tyrannical Darth Vader. The plot then follows the life of a simple farm boy, Luke Skywalker, as he and his newly met allies (Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2) attempt to rescue a Rebel leader, Princess Leia, from the clutches of the Empire. The conclusion is culminated as the Rebels, including Skywalker and flying ace Wedge Antilles make an attack on the Empire's most powerful and ominous weapon, the Death Star.

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Plot Keywords:

empire | galaxy | planet | princess | farm | 

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Taglines:

It's Back! (re-release)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi violence and brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Adventures of the Starkiller: Episode 1 - The Star Wars

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£6,032,329 (UK) (21 March 1997)

Gross:

ESP 1,366,116,825 (Spain) (13 July 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min 125 min (special edition)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original editor for the film was John Jympson. Richard Chew was Lucas' first choice of the editor but budgetary reasons will not allow him to do so. After the first assembly, which was absolutely disastrous, Lucas fired Jympson, asked his then wife Marcia (while editing) New York, New York who in turn brought in Chew and Paul Hirsch to finish.

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Goofs

When Princess Leia grabs the bar to stop the compactor, her hand puts a dent in the bar itself.

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Quotes

[first lines]
C-3PO: Did you hear that? They shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness.

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Crazy Credits

When first released theatrically, prior to the film, a generic screen reading in green letters "A Lucasfilm Limited Production" appeared. In all versions from the Special Edition onward, this is replaced with a more elaborate Lucasfilm logo that shines and glows.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Richard Pryor Show: Episode #1.1 (1977)

User Reviews

An adventure story, replacing six-shooters or swords with laser guns and horses with rockers…

The film turn on the endlessly renewed battle between good and evil, the former represented by the Jedi knights and the mystical Force which they are in touch with, and the latter by the Galactic Empire with its Nazi-like storm-troopers…

Luke Skywalker's simple farming life on a remote planet is dramatically changed when he intercepts a distress call from rebel leader Princess Leia Organa… The message leads him to Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi and with the two droids C3PO and R2D2, and later Chewbacca and Han Solo, their journey to release the princess from the evil Empire begins…

Now a quarter of a century old, Lucas' project has benefited from improvements in special effects technology, but his vision has remained the same: a naive, even childlike belief in absolute good and evil, a preference for action over character and spectacle over everything…