Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally titled Star Wars, was the first Star Wars film released and the fourth movie in chronological order. It was released on May 25, 1977 on a budget of $11,000,000. and was re-released, sometimes with significant changes, in 1979, 1981, 1982, 1997 (all cinema), 2000 (VHS), and 2004 (DVD). A 3-D release is planned for 2007. As of 2005, A New Hope has grossed $461M in the United States and $314.4M in the rest of the world for a grand total worldwide boxoffice sales of 775.4 million dollars. A New Hope can be considered a popular success as it is currently 17th on the All Time Worldwide Box Office Chart and second in the All Time US Box Office Chart for total gross sales.

The movie is nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived for years in seclusion on the desert planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan begins Luke's Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the beautiful Rebel leader Princess Leia from the clutches of the evil Galactic Empire

Opening Crawl

 * Episode IV


 * A NEW HOPE


 * 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 Galaxy's Most Desperate Hour
Nineteen years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, the Galactic Empire under Emperor Palpatine controls the Galaxy with an iron fist. The Empire is not without resistance, though. The Tantive IV is carrying precious information, vital to the Rebel Alliance. But Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and his master have long suspected Princess Leia of being a Rebel, and her starship is intercepted by his Imperial Star Destroyer, the Devastator, and boarded by Vader's stormtroopers. Before her capture, Princess Leia stores the vital information inside R2-D2's databank. R2-D2 and C-3PO escape in an escape pod, and land on the remote desert planet of Tatooine. R2-D2 and C-3PO are "recovered" by Jawas after being separated from each other.

Luke's Destiny


The droids are bought by moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. R2-D2 escapes from the Lars' homestead in search of an Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom the droid claims to be the property of. Luke and C-3PO find R2 the next day just before they are 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.

Luke receives his father's lightsaber, as Obi-Wan recalls his own friendship with Luke's father. Luke is told that a Jedi named Darth Vader betrayed and murdered his father. After discovering Princess Leia's message carried by R2-D2, Obi-Wan attempts to persuade Luke to accompany him to Alderaan. Luke refuses to go until he discovers that his aunt and uncle brutally murdered by Imperial stormtroopers searching for the droids. Luke, Obi-Wan, and the two droids travel to Mos Eisley to find passage to Alderaan, Princess Leia's home planet.

For 17,000 credits, smuggler Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca agree to take the foursome to Alderaan aboard their ship, the Millennium Falcon. After brief scuffles with the Empire and Jabba the Hutt, the Falcon escapes Mos Eisley and Han sets a course for Alderaan.

Rescue of the Princess
Instead of Alderaan they find what seems to be an asteroid field. The planet was destroyed by the dreaded Death Star, at the orders 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.

From hidden smuggling compartments, the crew of the Millennium Falcon ambushes an Imperial scanning crew and two stormtroopers. With Han and Luke disguised as the two stormtroopers, the group begins to figure out how to escape. Obi-Wan Kenobi separates from the group to disable the tractor beam, leaving the others alone. While connected to the Imperial Network, R2-D2 discovers Princess Leia is aboard the station. Luke convinces Han and Chewbacca to rescue her with the vague promise of a grand reward. Han and Chewie reluctantly agree. Luke plans to march into Detention Block AA 23 claiming that Chewie is part of a prisoner transfer. C3PO and R2-D2 are instructed to remain behind, and the trio set off on their rescue attempt. Luke's plan works flawlessly in that they are quick to subdue the officers and guards in the Princess's cellblock. Unfortunately, no one thought to plan for their escape and Leia takes charge when she blasts a hole in a nearby grate and jumps through while Han and Luke hold off a squad of stormtroopers. Chewie, Luke and Han all dive after the princess into the unknown.

Unfortunately, the grate covers a chute that leads to a garbage compactor that is also home to a resident dianoga. The creature pulls Luke under the surface, but releases him and is scared away when the Imperials realize where our heroes escaped to and activate the compactor. As the walls close in on the foursome, Luke desperately calls to C3PO over his comlink asking for the compactor to be shut down. R2-D2 manages to shut down the compactor just in time, although C3PO is briefly convinced that his master and friends have been crushed.

After escaping from the trash compactor, they hurry back to the Millennium Falcon and hope that Obi-Wan has shut down the tractor beam. They encounter stormtroopers on their way to the ship.

Sacrifice and Victory


Obi-Wan on the other hand, must meet with Darth Vader. Obi-Wan battles his former Padawan, but this time Obi-Wan sacrifices himself (actually, it was later revealed that Obi-Wan did not let Vader to kill him, rather joined the Force before being killed to avoid death) as Luke watches in terror. Horrified and angered, Luke takes his final blasts at the stormtroopers and dashes onto the Millennium Falcon.

After fighting a squadron of TIE fighters, the Millennium Falcon meets the Rebel Alliance on Yavin 4, and the information in R2-D2 is turned over. General Dodonna plans the attack on the Death Star, an attack so audacious as to receive an unenthusiastic reaction from the pilots, notably Wedge Antilles. To add to Luke's dismay, Han leaves after receiving his reward.

The Rebel strike force 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 from his personal TIE Advanced Fighter, Han returns on the Millennium Falcon and clears away the attacking Imperial fighters. Luke fires the proton torpedo into the exhaust port target and the Death Star is destroyed.

The few remaining ships return to Yavin 4 and a victory celebration commences, complete with awards for the heroes, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

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 (uncredited)
 * Uncle Owen .... Phil Brown
 * Aunt Beru .... Shelagh Fraser
 * Chief Jawa .... Jack Purvis
 * General Dodonna .... Alex McCrindle
 * General 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
 * General Motti .... Richard Le Parmentier
 * Commander #1 .... Leslie Schofield

Overview


Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope remains one of the most financially successful films of all time. Adjusted for inflation, the US gross profit is second only to Gone with the Wind and in terms of cumulative gross is second only to the movie Titanic. Considering the distributor, and to some degree the producers, had little confidence in the potential of the film, it was a word-of-mouth hit, having opened only on 37 movie screens in theaters that were persuaded to show it. However, there was immediate impressive business upon release that wildly surpassed the highest hopes of the producers. Furthermore, the revenue increased dramatically as 20th Century Fox acted to capitalize on the spectacular popularity and moved to make the film a profitable success. Some theaters showed the file continuously for over a year.

The American Film Institute listed it 15th on a list of the top 100 films of the 20th century; in the UK, a poll created by Channel Four named A New Hope (together with its successor, The Empire Strikes Back) the greatest film of all time. However, the film is not universally admired. Some blame it for accelerating a trend towards special effects-driven movies targeting teenagers. Others claim that the trend is a natural consequence of economic and technological forces in the film industry.

When originally released in 1977, it was released simply as "Star Wars", both on promotional material and during the opening crawl of the film itself. For this reason, this film, more than its sequels, is often referred to as "Star Wars", instead of by "Episode IV" number or the subtitle "A New Hope". In 1980, the sequel, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, was released with the episode number and title in the opening crawl. In a re-released version a year later, "Episode IV: A New Hope" replaced the original opening title of "Star Wars" above the opening crawl.

The film became the first chronologically and fourth in the series of six released to date. While producer Lucas claims that only six films were ever planned, many fans disagree, asserting that they had heard of plans for three trilogies for a total of nine films.

The music
Lucas's intentions for Star Wars involved a grand musical sound, with leitmotifs for different characters and important objects, an approach used to great effect, for instance, in the operas of Richard Wagner. Toward this end, Lucas put together a collection of classical pieces for the composer John Williams to review, as an idea of what effects Lucas desired for the films. The music Williams composed was often distinctly reminiscent of the original classical pieces. In particular:


 * The music associated to the opening capture of the blockade runner is very similar to Mars, from Holst's The Planets. In the liner notes to the original sound track recording, Williams implicitly acknowledged the connection by explaining why he didn't simply use Holst's The Planets. He said that he felt he could give the music a more unified feel if he wrote it all himself.
 * The "Force Theme" (or "Ben's Theme") has been compared to parts of the ballet Swan Lake.
 * The music for the awards ceremony at the end of the movie begins with the Force/Ben's Theme, and then transitions into a theme that, in the liner notes, Williams says is reminiscent of "The Coronation", which probably refers to Elgar's, or, more likely, William Walton's Coronation March.
 * The opening title (the "theme from Star Wars", or "Luke's Theme") has been said to resemble the theme from Born Free, but has a similar facade to the opening strains of the 1942 film, King's Row, scored by Eric Wolfgang Korngold. Later John Williams themes, such as those from Chariots of Fire and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial have been said to bear a resemblance to it. Listening to them together, one observes that none is identical to any of the others, but they use many of the same musical intervals to achieve similar, or at least related, emotional effects.
 * The music for C-3PO's and R2-D2's arrival on Tatooine is very similar to the beginning of the second part titled The Sacrifice of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

Sound
A New Hope was originally presented in monaural sound in many theatres, though the first-run 70mm prints were some of the earliest wide-release examples of surround sound--something not seen in the commercial cinema since the Cinerama and Cinemascope experiments of the early 50's.

Re-releases
In 1997, the movie was digitally remastered as the so-called Special Edition for a 20th anniversary re-release. The controversial (amongst fans) Special Edition contains scenes not in the original release, most notably a conversation between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt and the infamous Greedo scene change (see below), as well as numerous other small changes and visual additions. Some of the added scenes were intended for the original version of the movie, but were not feasible without newer advances in special effects technology, particularly in the area of computer generated imagery.

The Special Edition also had several scenes in which the events depicted were changed from those depicted in the original version; these changes are controversial as well, with many dedicated fans feeling the changes weaken the movie. One of the more notorious changes involves a scene in which Han Solo defeats a bounty hunter named Greedo. Greedo was holding Solo at gunpoint in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Their conversation reveals that Greedo is after the bounty Jabba the Hutt put on Solo. During the conversation, Solo is discretely removing his blaster from its holster under the table. Toward the end of the conversation, Greedo suggests that Jabba might be content to take only Solo's ship (the Millennium Falcon) to cover Solo's debt. Han then says "Over my dead body," to which Greedo replies, "That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time." In the original version, Solo says "Yes, I bet you have," and then shoots and kills Greedo, who never takes a shot. In the Special Edition, the scene is altered so that Greedo shoots first, somehow missing Solo at point-blank range as Solo fires. This change has been criticized/ridiculed in popular culture, most notably in the films of Kevin Smith.

Lucas was apparently concerned that having Solo shoot first portrayed him as an aggressor who takes life in cold blood, which is inconsistent with the heroic persona that Solo is supposed to exemplify. Greedo still shoots first in the revised DVD release in 2004, but the effect has been redone to be more convincing so both shoot almost at the exact same moment. Further changes have been made in 2004 for the film's debut on the DVD format. With a few exceptions, most of these are minor or cosmetic in nature.

Sources and inspirations
See also: Star Wars sources and analogues

The film drew inspiration from a number of sources. This was conscious and has been acknowledged by George Lucas in interviews. It is characteristic of much myth-building.

The Hidden Fortress
Lucas has stated that Akira Kurosawa's 1958 film The Hidden Fortress (USA release 1962) was a strong influence. The resemblance between the two buffoon farmers in The Hidden Fortress and the two talkative droids in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is apparent. Indeed, when the droids find themselves alone on Tatooine, even the music and the style of "wipe" cuts are a clear homage to Hidden Fortress.

The Dam Busters
The climactic scene in which the Death Star is assaulted was modeled after the 1950s movie The Dam Busters, in which RAF Lancaster bombers fly along heavily defended reservoirs and aim "bouncing bombs" at their manmade dams in a bid to cripple the heavy industry of the Ruhr. Some of the dialogue in The Dam Busters is repeated in the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope climax and in fact the cinematographer for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Gilbert Taylor, also filmed the Special Effects sequences in The Dam Busters.

Battle of Britain
Scenes from the Death Star assault are also reminiscent of the film Battle of Britain, particularly in showing the face of the pilot in the cockpit, and the radio dialogue between teams named after colours. Another inspiration comes from Battle of Britain's long combat scene near the end of the movie which is presented without dialogue or sound effects, but with a classical movie background. The parallel between the use of classical-style music, rather than popular orchestral or even more recent rock, blues, swing, or jazz soundtracks, is notable.

The real-life battle provided inspiration also, with World War II providing a heavy influence on the look and feel of the films. While the dogfighting between the "Allied" X-wings and "Axis" TIE Fighters, the ships were based more on the Pacific Theatre, with the larger sturdier Rebel fighters based on the United States Navy carrier-borne aircraft, and the smaller but faster and more manoeuvrable enemy TIEs based on the famous Japanese Zero.

The costumes of the pilots reflect this, with the characteristic orange flight suits of the rebels, which are very similar to the flight suits worn by American fighter pilots in the Pacific War. The cockpit design of the Millennium Falcon is also heavily based on the design used in the famous B-29 Superfortress, such as the Enola Gay.

The helmets worn by the TIE Fighter pilots are reminiscent to those of the Japanese during the Pacific campaign, though this is not as blatant as the "Samurai style" helmet of Darth Vader. Lastly, the uniforms of the Imperial officers are quite similar to those worn by the Germans in World War II.

The battles were copied from film of WWII dogfights, replacing the British and German aircraft by Star Wars spacecraft.

633 Squadron
Lucas has made mention of the film "633 Squadron" directed by Walter Grauman when citing movies that inspired themes or elements in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The "trench run" in A New Hope wherein Luke flies his X-wing through a "trench" on the Death Star and destroys the ship was inspired, at least in small part, by the finale of 633 Squadron, which involves several Royal Air Force planes flying at low level up a fjord against heavy, ground-based anti-aircraft fire, to attack a factory located at the base of a cliff at the canyon's end.

Dune
The planet Tatooine is similar to Arrakis from Frank Herbert's book Dune, although desert worlds were not original to Herbert. The planet Mongo from the Flash Gordon comics was also a desert world. In general, the Star Wars movies have followed the convention, common in space opera, in which planets stand in for regions of the Earth, so that there would be a desert planet, a jungle planet, and so on.

In addition, the planet Arrakis is the only known source of a hallucinatory drug called the Spice Melange. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Han Solo is a spice smuggler.

Also, the original treatment submitted by Lucas early on dealt heavily with the transport of spice, though the nature of the material remained unexplored.

Triumph of the Will
The scene where Princess Leia gives Han and Luke medals is very reminiscent of a long scene in Leni Riefenstahl's 1934 film Triumph of the Will. Both scenes have large and enthusiastic crowds seated in a shallow amphitheatre bounded by columns, with a low dais where the leader stands. (Of course, in Triumph Of The Will, Adolf Hitler was the leader in question.)

Novelization
A book version of the movie was credited to have been written by George Lucas himself, but in reality was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster.

Radio drama
A radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley and was produced for and broadcast on the National Public Radio in 1981.

Errors

 * Red Leader's helmet microphone switches sides several times before he is shot down.
 * Lukes and Wedges helmet microphone switches once during the death star battle.
 * Red 6 (Porkins) is the first Rebel pilot killed in the Battle of Yavin. Yet when Red Leader asks, "Red 6, can you see Red 5?" a voice answers, leading to the impression that he (Red 6) "returned from the dead."
 * In the first cockpit view of the Millennium Falcon, a pair of gold dice can be seen hanging from the ceiling. After the jump to hyperspace, the dice are missing.
 * As Princess Leia is shown the interrogation droid, the needle used to inject drugs bears the words "Made in England".
 * When leaving Yavin base, many of the Rebel pilots are wearing brand-new helmets. However, in later scenes, the helmets are old and battered.
 * Stormtroopers invade the room where Luke and Han were when they first came to the Death Star. The door doesn't open all the way, and the Stormtrooper on the right hits his head on the door. A few scenes later, the trooper shrinks and his head is no longer in the way of the door.
 * Luke sounds like he accidentally yells out "Carrie!" (Carrie Fisher is the actress that plays Princess Leia in the films) instead of "Leia!" after he gets out of his X-wing on Yavin after destroying the Death Star. Other sources report he's just yelling "Hey!", but the scene is noisy and the sound can be interpreted either way.
 * In the ending credits, Denis Lawson's first name is misspelled "Dennis." The same mistake is made in the credits of The Empire Strikes Back.
 * Even though R5-D4 blows his motivator, he is still shown in the droid line-up a few seconds later.
 * While Uncle Owen is saying "He died about the same time as your father," Luke is taking a sip of blue milk and lowers his cup. In the very next shot, he is still taking a sip when he says "He knew my father?".
 * When Obi-Wan chops off Ponda Baba's arm off in the cantina,you can see blood on the arm but that shouldn't be there because the intense heat would cauterize the wound like in every other Star Wars film.

Trivia
Shooting began on March 22, 1976 and ended on July 16, 1976.
 * James Earl Jones's name did not originally appear in the ending credits. At the time, Jones felt he hadn't done enough for the film to deserve one.  His name was added for the film's 1997 re-release.
 * Darth Vader's breathing is a recording of sound designer Ben Burtt breathing into a scuba regulator.
 * A New Hope has the most profanity of any type uttered in the Star Wars movies. Obi-Wan and Han Solo both used the term "damn fool" once, and Han in response to Leia's shooting an escape route in the detention block floor, "What the hell are you doing?". Only two other installments featured use of profanity in the series, with Han's "Then I'll see you in Hell!" in The Empire Strikes Back, and Dexter Jettster referring to the cloners of Kamino as "damn good ones" in Attack of the Clones.
 * Originally, if the film did poorly at the box office, Lucas planned to turn the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye into a low-budget sequel to the movie. According to an interview with Alan Dean Foster in Empire magazine, the book was written to be filmed as a low budget sequel if Star Wars was not a huge success. That's why it takes place almost entirely on a fog shrouded planet. Additionally, Harrison Ford was not signed for the sequel as of the writing of the book, which is why Han Solo does not appear in it.
 * The Tusken Raider (played by stuntman Peter Diamond) who attacks Luke was filmed raising his weapon over his head once. Editors Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew moved the reel back and forth so the Raider raised his weapon several times.
 * Murphy's Law frequently plagued the production. One day into filming in Tunisia, the country had its first major rainstorm in fifty years. The storm ruined the salt flats where the Lars Farm was filmed.
 * Kenner Toys was the only company that bought license to sell merchandise for the film; however, the company believed the film would flop and produced only a few toys. When Star Wars became a hit, they were unprepared and were unable to produce more toys for Christmas.
 * The two gunners in the Death Star superlaser shaft are ILM modelmakers Grant McCune and Joe Johnston.
 * Some early promotional material for the film emphasized a romance between Luke and Leia, highlighted by their brief good luck kiss before jumping the chasm on the Death Star. This theme continued on into the comic book spinoff as well as Foster's Splinter of the Mind's Eye sequel. Save for a faux-passionate kiss between Luke and Leia early in Empire Strikes Back, the romantic angle was downplayed when Lucas began developing the relationship between Leia and Han Solo, and was dropped entirely after it was revealed in Return of the Jedi that Luke and Leia were siblings.
 * On May 26, 1977, the New York Times described Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope as "the most beautiful movie serial ever made".
 * The Millennium Falcon was modeled after a hamburger next to an olive.
 * The sound of TIE fighters was created by combining an elephant's scream with the noise of a car driving on wet pavement.
 * Other films that opened in May 1977: Smokey and the Bandit, The Car, and Day of the Animals.
 * Sissy Spacek auditioned for the part of Princess Leia, and Christopher Walken, Kurt Russell and Robbie Benson read for Han Solo. Spacek and Walken would later co-star in the movie Blast From the Past.
 * A New Hope was known by several titles during its screenplay stage, including The Adventures of the Starkiller.
 * Episode IV was not originally known by its current title; rather, it was known as simply Star Wars. The A New Hope subtitle came about during the film's 1980 re-release following the release of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

The DVD release


On September 21, 2004, A New Hope, along with its successors Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, was released in a 4-disc boxset featuring improved visuals and sound effects, as well as some additional minor changes.