Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,
originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first film released in the Star Wars saga and is the
fourth in terms of the series' internal chronology. Groundbreaking in its use
of special
effects and science fiction and fantasy
storytelling, the original Star Wars
is regarded as one of the most successful and influential films.
The opening sequence begins with an iconic title crawl explaining the context
of film. A rebel ship is shown trying to escape through space from an enormous
imperial star destroyer. The sequence ends with a battle on the rebel ship in
which the rebels appear to lose. Finally, the main villain, Darth Vader emerges.
With the opening shot of space it shows the visually stunning, for the time the
film was released, as well as the enormity
of the imperial starship, which stretches further and further across the
screen. The pure size of the imperial starship expresses it to be extremely powerful and thus shows the
rebel starship to be an underdog with
massive opposition, creating a David vs Goliath situation.
This one-sided fight onboard the rebel ship
further extends the portrayal of Vader's men as extremely dominant. From the smoke and wreckage of the battle
emerges the villain Darth Vader.
His entry at the end of the fight shows him to be the leading and prevailing antagonist.
Two spaceships are the setting for where the
scenes are unfolding. The rebels are
all equipped with helmets, grey
uniforms and they also all hold small pistols. The Imperial Storm troopers sport
immaculate, futuristic white body suits.
The interior of the rebel ship is exclusively white and grey. Darth Vader is
wearing an all black body suit that
looks like a customized storm trooper uniform, with a cape.
Having the location of space would have stunned
audiences of the time; also it demonstrates that the film is set a long
way in the future. The rebel
uniforms appear far inferior to
the storm troopers full body suits. Moreover, the small rebel guns look insufficient in comparison to the
futuristic storm trooper equipment.
The establishing shot
of the opening sequence is an extreme long shot of the planes of
space. Other shots from distance of the chase follow. The heavy use of medium
and long shots in the ship are used to get the audience a clear view of the
events occurring in the fight. Long and
extreme long shots are prominently used to show the scale of space. This would have
thrilled audiences of the time who wouldn't have seen such ambitious special FX.
The setting of space was exciting, and interested people in 1977. People
caught word of the groundbreaking
special effects and enthralling
story and the film soon spread across the world. The films were
particularly popular with young males
due in part to the plucky male protagonist (Luke Skywalker) who would rise from
humble beginnings to save the day. Furthermore, the action and science fiction
elements interested young people.
Star Wars quickly became and has ever since remained a bona-fide pop culture phenomenon.
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