Saga ANH or TFA

ANH. As much as I love TFA, ANH started it all, and made me the movie nut I am now.

 

Quoted because I would have just said the exact same thing.

 

ANH by far IMO.

 

I would go with ANH. While it would take too long to list out all the reasons, one core reason it shines over TFA for me is the main protagonist. While I found Rey to be likable enough, Luke is just a much more compelling hero in my eyes.

It felt like Luke had to really earn his way as the hero of the movie, whereas everything and everybody seemed to center around Rey. This can be seen in the character interactions throughout the films. Luke isn't the center of the galaxy in A New Hope. Han doesn't respect him or even seem to like him all that much until near the end of the movie, Leia is at first unimpressed by him, and Obi-Wan has to take him under his wing and keep him out of trouble. Luke was just a young, whiny, naive farmboy from a backwater planet. This makes his growth into a hero of the rebellion much more compelling as we see him save the day, gaining new friendships and the respect of others along the way while he grows as a character.

With Rey we have a character that's already very competent. She has prodigious flying skills, is a mechanical genius, and can call on the force with no formal training whatsoever. Other characters seem to further put her on a pedestal. BB-8 immediately bonds with her, she and Finn form a strong friendship within hours, Han wants her as part of his crew, Kylo wants to train her, Snoke wants her, Leia hugs her rather than Chewie though I'm assuming they've never met before. She's even the one tasked with going to meet Luke at the end of the movie.

While Luke had to earn his place in the galaxy, it feels like everything is just handed to Rey. Everyone treats her like she's the main protagonist and at times it can feel a bit distracting. Ultimately it makes her feel too forced as a character. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed TFA as a movie, but it lacked the same heart and soul that the original had.

 

TFA doesn't have a hopeful ending?

To me, it is that ending that comes close to redeeming the whole film, carrying the mythic charge of seven movies and three generations, and promising the world.

No movie can quite live up to the open-ended, anguished, and wonderfully hopeful quality of that end. But that doesn't mean a whole string of 'em can't try.

As for the main question:

Well, let me think about it.

TFA has a lot more thematic depth than ANH, but ANH has a stunning surface.

Sort of a tie, but for originality, and for birthing TFA, it has to be ANH/SW, and there can never be any substitute for its peculiar brand of screen magic.

 

Love TFA but can't possibly go past ANH.

 

I give ANH credit for originality, but that just barely gives it the edge.

 

I love them all, but I actually have to go with TFA. There's just something about it I like more than ANH.

 

I like TFA but ANH gets the vote in a heartbeat. It has all the icon star wars moments but more importantly it's just a plain good movie.

 

Love them both but ANH is a classic and considered one of top 20 films of all-time. It was #12 on AFI top 100 movies of all-time in 2007.

I still think ANH works best watching as a standalone movie where nobody is related. The sequels and prequels have sort of dilluded the 1977 film with contradictions and its best to watch it in its original context.

For the record, I've probably seen the Original SW a 1,000 times!

 

A New Hope is a timeless classic that, like Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and The Godfather, will endure so long as human beings watch movies. It's an exceptional piece of filmmaking on its own.

I also agree it's best viewed that way. It's a huge part of the reason I advocate watching the films in release order over episodic order, as it's not an installment in a Saga more so than a Saga was later built around it.

 

ANH > TFA

That being said I feel like Rey climbing the stairs to meet Luke is probably the second best scene in the saga just behind Vader revealing to Luke he is his father.

 

A New Hope.

 

I agree as its in my top 5 moments too. The ironic thing is when I read that spoiler of Luke only being in the movie for the 30 seconds, my emotions ranged from furious to disbelief at JJ. I'm up to 7 viewings now for TFA, and its pure genius.

 

Please... please don't. We don't need that to be our version Trekkie. Please. Please no.

 

It's powerful and makes waiting for episode 8 excruciating.

 

A New Hope, no doubt about that.

 

Which film is more effective as an opening is hard to say, I think. As others have described, ANH is the introduction to SW. On the other hand, there are people who became fans because of TFA.

That said, I prefer TFA overall. I think it's more engaging -- e.g. with the camerawork, Rey's journey and relatability -- and has a far stronger ending.

 

ANH. TFA is a near exact copy of ANH.

 

ANH FO LIFE!

 

Great analysis as usual Cryo

 

Of course it's A New Hope. It's a classic movie and it started the whole thing.

The Force Awakens is still a great movie, however, and for me only bested by Empire and ANH in that order.

 

Do you really want an answer? Just wondering if this was real...

ANH

While... I would admit that in some ways TFA opening is more modern and seem better made by today's standards, than ANH opening. But I would always be amazed by ANH opening than the one from TFA, since I've always wondered how they could have accomplished that in the late 1970's.