We’ve finally made it to the movie that started it all. Star Wars A New Hope. The first fourth SEVENTH movie in our Star Wars history.
A lot of the previous movies and shows we watched have been building up to this. We saw a glimpse of the Death Star in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Ghost Squadron was briefly investigating it in Rebels, and Andor’s entire story in his own show and in Rogue One led to uncovering the secret of it, and then in this movie they go and blow it all up.
Originally titled STAR WARS, later titled STAR WARS: A New Hope, later titled STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A New Hope, this movie originally released in 1977 and spawned countless other movies, books, video games and television shows. And eventually spawned me into writing this series that is still somehow being worked on.
There have been countless discussions and dissections about this film, so I don’t think it’s necessary for me to talk a lot about the plot. Most people have at least heard of Star Wars and Darth Vader. They’re pretty big pop culture icons, and if you really want to know about how the plot goes, read about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
Call to Adventure
Luke Skywalker receives a video from Princess Leia saying she needs help. The message is intended for Obi-Wan Kenoi, who he happens to know
Mentor figure (Obi-Wan)
We talked about Obi-Wan already in previous entries, and he was trying to teach Luke ways of the force to fight the Empire and join him in the journey.
Challenges and Temptations
I don’t think there were many temptations in the movie, but when Luke tries to get Princess Leia he has to go to a town full of criminals to get someone willing to travel past the Empire’s blockade. Another challenge is when the Death Star captures their ship and they need to find a way off it.
Death and Rebirth
Obi Wan is killed by Darth Vader however a body was not left behind. He instead became one with the force and is able to talk to Luke still.
Atonement
This part is when Luke goes to blow up the Death Star. He initially uses the targeting computer and after that fails, he succeeds by trusting in the force.
Return
Everything is now different with the main character, and the world he’s in stays the same. Luke doesn’t go back to Tatooine after he blows up the Death Star, but continues the fight with the Rebels.
Instead of going into the plot more, I want to talk about some of the numerous cultural impacts this movie alone has had.
References in other media
Back to the Future
Marty’s father is visited by “Darth Vader” from the planet Vulcan. In reality it’s Marty who saw movies in his time pretending to be an alien named Vader in his radiation suit.
Indian in the Cupboard
There’s a small scene in the movie where the main character tests his magic cupboard by putting a lot of random toys in to see if they come to life, and Darth Vader is seen fighting a T-Rex.
Fairy Odd Parents
There’s actually quite a bit of references to either the movies or certain characters in this show. One character is basically a complete parody of Darth Vader.
Parodies
Family Guy
Family Guy is one of the bigger parodies I believe. They had the characters recreate each movie in the original trilogy in different seasons of the show.
Space Balls
This is just a parody movie off Star Wars with characters like Pizza the Hutt and Dark Helmet. There’s a new movie coming out soon and it’s supposedly going to reference the sequel trilogy
Final Thoughts
This film was the sci-fi movie for a while and has influenced many more after it. If this was the only Star Wars movie, it would still be a great movie but they went and made a lot more and made the timeline we’re talking about now.
We’ll be continuing next time with my personal favorite Star Wars film: The Empire Strikes Back.
Kristopher K. Online 