Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Opening Crawl

 * It is a period of civil war.
 * Rebel spaceships, striking
 * from a hidden base, have won
 * their first victory against
 * the evil Galactic Empire.


 * During the battle, Rebel
 * spies managed to steal secret
 * plans to the Empire's
 * ultimate weapon, the DEATH
 * STAR, an armored space
 * station with enough power
 * to destroy an entire planet.


 * Pursued by the Empire's
 * sinister agents, Princess
 * Leia races home aboard her
 * starship, custodian of the
 * stolen plans that can save her
 * people and restore
 * freedom to the galaxy....

The Great Renaming
Episode IV was not Episode IV from the beginning. Initially, it was only "Star Wars".

Synopsis
The Galactic Republic has fallen. The Galactic Empire, under, of course, The Emperor, controls the Galaxy. The Empire is not without resistance, though. The ship, Tantive IV is carrying precious cargo, vital to the Rebel Alliance. Unfortunately, the Tantive IV is intercepted by the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator, and Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Luckily, before her capture, Princess Leia puts the information inside R2-D2's databank. R2-D2 and C-3PO escape, and land on the remote planet of Tatooine. R2-D2 and C-3PO are "recovered" by Jawa's after being seperated from each other.

The droids are then bought by Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. R2-D2 escapes from the Lars Homestead, in search of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who R2 claims to be the property of. Luke and C-3PO find R2 the next day, just before being attacked by Sandpeople. Luke and his droids are rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi, or as Luke knows him, Ben Kenobi. Obi-Wan takes Luke to his home, and so starts Luke's adventure.

Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father, and his relationship with him. After discovering the message hidden within R2-D2, Obi-Wan tries to persuade Luke to go with him. Luke refuses to go, until he discovers his Aunt and Uncle have been murdered, in search of the droids. Luke, Obi-Wan, and the two droids travel to Mos Eisley to find passage to Alderaan, the home planet of Princess Leia.

They find a ride in the person of the smuggler, Han Solo. For 17,000 credits, Han and his first mate, Chewbacca agree to take the foursome to Alderaan, aboard their ship, the Millennium Falcon. After a brief scuffle with the Empire and Jabba the Hutt, they escape Mos Eisley and set a course for Alderaan.

Instead of Alderaan they find what seems to be an asteroid field. The planet was indeed destroyed by the dreaded Death Star, at the behest of Grand Moff Tarkin, to set an example of the power of the Empire. The Millennium Falcon is pulled aboard the Death Star by its tractor beam.

Hiding where Han usually stores his cargo, the crew of the Millennium Falcon is hidden. They emerge and after a quick deception of the Stormtrooper's sent to scan the ship, the group starts to search for Princess Leia. Obi-Wan Kenobi leaves the group to disable the tractor beam. After another deception of Imperial Officers, Han, Chewie, and Luke attempt to rescue the captive Princess. While she is indeed freed from her holding cell, the group is attacked by Imperial Guards. They dive into the trash compactor. It eventually starts to close in on the group. Mere seconds before death, R2-D2 shuts it down.

After escape from the trash masher, they must get back to the Millennium Falcon and hope that Obi-Wan shut down the tractor beam. Of course, they encounter Stormtroopers on their way to the ship.

Obi-Wan on the other hand, must meet with Darth Vader. Obi-Wan battles his former apprentice, but this time, Darth Vader gets the best of him. As Luke watches, Obi-Wan allows himself to be taken down by Vader. Horrified and angered, Luke takes his final blasts at the Stormtroopers and runs onto the Millennium Falcon.

The Millennium Falcon meets up with the Rebel Alliance, and the information in R2-D2 is turned over. The attack on the Death Star is planned. To add to Luke's dismay, Han leaves, after receiving is reward.

The fleet begins its attack on the Death Star, as the space station approaches the Rebel Base on Yavin 4. The final Rebel ships enter the trench to hit the target that will destroy the Death Star. Most of the ships are destroyed, save for Luke Skywalker's X-Wing. Just before Darth Vader can destroy him, Han returns on the Millennium Falcon and clears away the attacking Imperial Fighters. Luke fires the torpedo and the Death Star is destroyed.

The remaining fleet returns to Yavin 4 and the celebration commences, complete with awards for the heroes, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

Characters and Cast

 * Luke Skywalker - Mark Hamill
 * Han Solo - Harrison Ford
 * Princess Leia Organa - Carrie Fisher
 * Grand Moff Tarkin - Peter Cushing
 * Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi - Alec Guinness
 * See Threepio (C-3PO) - Anthony Daniels
 * Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) - Kenny Baker
 * Chewbacca - Peter Mayhew
 * Darth Vader - David Prowse
 * Voice Of Darth Vader - James Earl Jones
 * Uncle Owen - Phil Brown
 * Aunt Beru - Shelagh Fraser
 * Chief Jawa - Jack Purvis
 * General Dodonna - Alex Mccrindle
 * Commander Willard - Eddie Byrne
 * Red Leader - Drewe Hemley
 * Red Two (Wedge) - Denis Lawson
 * Red Three (Biggs) - Garrick Hagon
 * Red Four (John "D") - Jack Klaff
 * Red Six (Porkins) - William Hootkins
 * Gold Leader - Angus Mcinnis
 * Gold Two - Jeremy Sinden
 * Gold Five - Graham Ashley
 * General Tagge - Don Henderson
 * Admiral Motti - Richard Le Parmentier
 * Commander #1 - Leslie Schofield
 * Ritan           Ritchad Brown

Box Office
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope has grossed $775.4 million dollars worldwide: $461M in the United States and $314.4M in the rest of the world. It currently lies 17th in the All Time Worldwide Box Office Chart and 2nd in the All Time US Box Office Chart. However, when taking inflation into consideration Star Wars is only the second movie to gross over a billion dollars in the US alone - Gone With The Wind being the other.