Is A New Hope........The Best?

In celebration of the 30th anniversary, I've started a 'gushing' thread for the original 1977 STAR WARS film (sorry for using ANH in the title, I wanted to mirror that other thread here..)

So, this thread is for all Star Wars fans of all ages, genders and creeds, of every walk of life to come here and list and discuss what you love most about STAR WARS. The little moments, music, characters, scenes, memories, experiences, etc etc etc

Just simply everything, and anything that makes Star Wars the greatest film of all time!

Let out your love for this classic, all your thoughts, feelings and everything you wanted to say about Star Wars, post it here!

May the Force be with you forever!

 

Well this is a great thread! While ANH is my faorite SW movie I still must go with ESB. Don't get me wrong. I love everything about ANH. But, in the end it is only a charater introduction film.

 

Are you kidding? It only seems that way in hindsight of the entire saga but if looked at on it's own, it's a beautiful and perfect stand alone movie, with more than just 'character introduction'!!!!

This is not a thread to say which film is best but to praise the original Star Wars film.

 

Is there truly a best? It's all SW and it's so hard to pick a favorite.

While ANH introduces us to the SW universe, the heros and the villians and the force, there are some aspects that just make it boring. But it is the original movie and therefore there is some great appreciation to the movie.

Plus who could ever forget sitting in that theatre, seeing the lightsaber ignited for the first time or better yet Vader's entrance on the Tantive. The celebration on Yavin with the medals. Some of the greatest scenes in the SW trilogy.

 

No I'm not kidding. If you look at how the films were made when ANH came out there was no real plan for the PT. So, ANH is indeed a charater introduction film. There is nothing wrong with that. It's a great movie. I've already said it's my favorite. But, you asked if it was the best. I say ESB.

 

I second that. ESB will always be my favorite in the Saga.

The way the movie is done, it's almost like a beautiful tragedy at the end. Hate to sound all chick'y on a SW bored but it's true.

Plus Vader is so badass in ESB.

But ANH does have some amazing scenes and some great quotes that people have quoted for years.

These aren't the droids your looking for.

 

I really like the orange & blue lighting through out ESB.

 

I don't know if ANH is the best one, but it is the only one that can be watched independently from the rest and it is the one I've seen more than any other movie in the world.


I really love the adventure feel of ANH, the Tusken Raiders, Alec Guiness, Mos Eisley, The Cantina, The supperior opening sequenze and the Battle of Yavin which is the best space battle ever.

 

It all depends on how you want to define "best"..it also depends on whether you want to factor in the massive risks involved in making the first movie. ANH made all 5 other movies possible. ESB is a good movie, provided you have already seen ANH.

ANH had the best chance of winning the Best Oscar title (and it probably should have)

ANH shattered technological barriers and revolutionized special effects.

There are many ways in which the other movies are "better"

In a way it is like arguing who is better: The Beatles or Elvis. In my mind, the argument was settled by John Lennon when he said "Before Elvis, there was nothing"

 

Great thread. Star Wars is hardly a character introduction movie. It was made as a stand alone movie and succeeds in that respect. There was plenty of story to be had in Star Wars. Not everybody really cares for painful detail about characters. Part of the fun is making up the character's past in your own imagination.

The thing that struck me most about Star Wars is the "lived in" look. It was so refreshing and totally made the movie seem real. It was almost like a documentary, where someone grabbed a camera, went to this galaxy far, far away and filmed. Pure genius.

The humor was subtle, but very appropriate. No slapstick stuff here. Star Wars had a maturity about it that was only duplicated once more in Empire.

I can't imagine my life without the best, the original, STAR WARS.

 

Seems to me that thread is asking the question "Is ANH the best?" To that I say no. It's not the best film nor is it my favorite.

 

If you look at SW as a story meaning all 6 films then ANH is most certainly a character intrduction film. I man look how it play's out. I don't know why it bothers people to hear that. I mean look at LOTR. "Felloship of the rings" is a chrater intoduction film. Meaning it sets up who the charaters are and how the story will unfold.

That doesn't take anything away from the movie. It just gives the players involved and what their all about.

 

The title of this thread is about A New Hope, not Star Wars as a saga.

Looking at ONLY Star Wars (A New Hope), I can say it is my personal favorite of them all.


Fellowship Of The Ring ended with Frodo and Sam just beginning their journey. It wasn't a completed story yet.

Star Wars ended and the story could have stopped there. The rebels won, the empire lost, Luke's dreams of adventure came true, everybody is happy. It was written as a stand alone movie in case George couldn't make a sequel. If no other Star Wars movies were made, we'd still have a complete story.

 

The title is "Is A New Hope........The Best?"

I said no and gave reasons. That's all.

 

By 'The Best', it's asking if it is your personal favorite. What's best to one is not always best to another. If you don't like the original Star Wars, that's your business.

 

I don't think ANH is the best.

I am glad that it exists because it's the reason we have other, better SW movies, in my opinion.

I love the subversive nature it has regarding expectations...it lacks so much of what we'd expect watching the saga straight through, much like TPM does after seeing the OT (although many people don't appreciate either for this reason).

The problem with ANH is its simplicity. It has cheesy lines and all of that other fun stuff, but there's no depth or subtext to almost anything in the movie. As an artistic whole, it isn't self-referential enough to produce solid themes that work on different narrative planes. It has awkward moments and ridiculous continuity and believability problems (Does C-3PO know Leia? Why does Luke almost drown in 10 inches of water?) Now, I think that lots of these things are funny and adorable, but they aren't actually good. I can see how people would enjoy it, and I do too, but to say that it's the best film of all time or the best SW movie is just silly to me.

An interesting aspect of the film is the editing. If one takes a historical approach and looks at what footage existed at the time, what the rough cuts were like, etc., one could say that ANH has some of the best editing ever--it was an initial distaster that the filmmakers SALVAGED incredibly. But if one looks at it from a formalist approach, the editing is often awful. There are giant gaps at the beginnings of several scenes where literally nothing happens, and this isn't a consistently employed technique. Lines of dialogue that are absolutely unneccessary are left in ("We've entered the Alderaan system"--yeah, we saw two shots of that already), the film randomly jumps to the Death Star partway through, and the attack at the end is full of confused call signs (not as bad as ROTJ) and shots that don't flow together.

It's a relatively empty, artistically clumsy movie from my perspective. The first half is more consistent and nuanced than the second half. After the group gets to the Death Star, the movie really falls apart for me. It becomes a chaotic competetion to see who can be the loudest character. Leia wins.

The scene that summarized the film's problems for me has to be the one where the gang flies to the Rebel base and we see some Han/Leia/Luke banter. It is an ATROCIOUS scene, but it's silly and goofy "fun" to a lot of people (I guess). It makes no sense: Leia knows that the ship is being tracked but takes the Empire to Yavin. They "just made the jump into hyperspace," but they actually didn't. The characters are reduced to the most placating levels ("I'm in it for the money"). A thematically unsupported romantic tease floats around just for the heck of it (well, I guess Luke did see the hologram--days ago). The back-and-forth bickering and such is just stupid. It's not clever, complex, or meaningful--it's NOTHING. But if you like it, it's great? No, no, no. It's a poorly shot, inconsistent, and literally retarded mess with no rhyme or reason.

From a perspective outiside the objective merits of the film as art, ANH has TREMENDOUS importance and value.

But even if it's actually a good movie in and of itself (it is an OK movie), that's it. It's no masterpiece, and it only rises above TESB's mundane nonsense because of its originality, imagination, and its attempt to provide a FUN ride with a bit of subtle mythology and character INTERACTION and COMPARISON.

I like it, and I have NO PROBLEM with anybody LIKING it because it is an ENTERTAINING movie. But I have other standards beyond that and I feel obligated to prevent unjustified praise for historically pertinent artistic drivel like ANH. Seriously, there is not an extra layer of meaning throughout most of the film. Perhaps I haven't looked hard enough.

Well, go ahead and start your bashing...If you feel like spending the time to convince me otherwise, FIND SOME THEMES.

I respect ANH and I like a lot of it, but it isn't that great.

 

I think your memory is faulty! Perhaps you should watch it again.

 

Wrong thread!

I'm assuming that you're referring to "head chopped off." I assure you, it is his head that is separated from his body, which in turn disappears. I just watched it again today!

 

No, this is the thread I intedned to post in.

And there is one thing that I am assured of now.

 

GK edit: Nope.

 

I think the fact that A New Hope revolutionized cinema, inspired countless numbers of people, and is still considered a landmark film today says enough. It's certainly the best stand-alone film of the series, but I think Empire may be the best overall.

 

ANH has a freshness, an innocence, a mystery about it that is unique. I think it's due to the relatively low budget, on the fly, give it a go and see what happens nature of it, and also because the story is kind of embryonic at that point. Eventhough I think TESB is overall the best, from the second installment on, the overall story itself and the fact that a saga was being produced, were well entrenched. Innocence and freshness gave way to more complexity and seriousness.

 

It's the original. In some ways, that'll always make it the best...

 

There's no question ANH changed cinema forever. But, that alone doesn't make it the best.

 

Well, from a story point of view ESB, followed by ROTS, are my favourite films. However, in terms of being the original - The movie that started it all off, then I would say ANH probably is the best. It has a real fairytale quality that I don't think all the other episode's have to the same extent. Theres a freshness to it that still holds up today. Yes, there are silly aspects to it as well, but ultimately its the one that started it all off. Its the one I'm most nostalgic about. I adore it in the same way as I would adore a faithful pet or a comfy pair of slippers. And jst like a faithful pet or comfy pair of slippers, I guess I do take it for granted, and I'm sure thats true of a lot of the fans.

Its THE movie of my generation. I can't speak highly enough about it.