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Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope



An original 1977 North American theatrical film poster by Tom Jung[1]
Directed by George Lucas
Produced by Gary Kurtz
Written by George Lucas
Starring
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Gilbert Taylor, BSC
Editing by
Studio Lucasfilm
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)
  • May 25, 1977
Running time 122 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $11 million[2]
Box office $775,398,007



Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally known as Star Wars,[3] is a 1977 American epic space opera film[4] written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the six-film saga. It is the fourth film in terms of the series' internal chronology. Groundbreaking in its use of special effects, unconventional editing, and science fiction/fantasy storytelling, the original Star Wars is one of the most successful and influential films of all time.
Set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", the film follows a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmboy Luke Skywalker when he inadvertently acquires the droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the Empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia, and save the galaxy.
Produced with a budget of $11 million and released on May 25, 1977, the film earned $460 million in the United States and $314 million overseas, surpassing Jaws as the nominal highest-grossing film and remained that way until being surpassed by E.T. the Extra Terrestrial in 1983. When adjusted for inflation, it is the second highest grossing film in the US and Canada and is the third highest-grossing in the world as of 2012. Among the many awards the film received, it gained ten Academy Award nominations, winning six; the nominations included Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness and Best Picture. The film is often ranked among the best films of all time. Lucas has re-released the film on several occasions, sometimes with significant changes; the most notable versions are the 1997 Special Edition, the 2004 DVD release, and the 2011 Blu-ray release, which have modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, and added scenes.

Plot

The film begins with an opening crawl explaining that the galaxy is in a state of civil war and that spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a heavily armed and armored space station capable of annihilating an entire planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is in possession of the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil lord Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones). Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid called R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), along with a holographic recording. The small droid flees to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine with fellow protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).
The droids are quickly captured by Jawa traders, who sell the pair to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars (Phil Brown and Shelagh Fraser) and their nephew, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While Luke is cleaning R2-D2, he accidentally triggers part of Leia's message, in which she requests help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. The only "Kenobi" Luke knows of is an old hermit named Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) who lives in the nearby hills. The next morning, upon finding R2-D2 after he escapes to seek Obi-Wan, Luke meets Ben Kenobi, revealing himself to be Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as a Jedi Knight, one of a faction of former galactic peacekeepers who were wiped out by the Empire. Contrary to his uncle's statements, Luke learns that his father Anakin Skywalker fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight before he was betrayed and killed by Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil who turned to the "dark side of the Force", and gives Luke his father's lightsaber.
Obi-Wan views Leia's complete message in which she begs Obi-Wan to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan for her father to retrieve and analyze. He then asks Luke to accompany him and learn the ways of the Force. Luke initially refuses, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtroopers have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle in search of C-3PO and R2-D2. Obi-Wan and Luke hire smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to transport them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Upon the Falcon's arrival at Alderaan, they find that the planet has been destroyed under the orders of the Death Star's commanding officer Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) to demonstrate the Death Star's power. The Falcon is caught by the nearby Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. While Obi-Wan goes off to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned on board and, with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several harrowing escapes, they make their way back to the Falcon, but Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel with Vader. The Falcon escapes the Death Star but the Empire has placed a tracking device on the ship to follow them to the rebels' hidden base on Yavin IV.
The rebels analyze the Death Star plans, disclosing a vulnerable exhaust port leading to the station's main reactor. Luke joins the assault team, but Han collects his reward for the rescue and plans to leave despite Luke asking him to stay. The rebels suffer heavy losses after several failed attack runs, leaving Luke one of the few surviving pilots. Vader and a group of TIE fighters are about to destroy Luke's ship, but Han Solo returns at the last moment and destroys the TIE Fighters and the blast sends Vader spiraling away. Then Luke successfully destroys the Death Star seconds before it can fire on the rebel base. Luke and Han are subsequently awarded medals by Leia for their heroism.

Cast

The three lead protagonists of Star Wars, from left to right: Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

Lucas shared a joint casting session with long-time friend Brian De Palma, who was casting his own film Carrie. As a result, Carrie Fisher and Sissy Spacek auditioned for both films in each other's respective roles. Lucas favored casting young actors without long-time experience. While reading for Luke Skywalker (then known as "Luke Starkiller"), Hamill found the dialogue to be extremely odd because of its universe-embedded concepts. He chose to simply read it sincerely and was selected instead of William Katt, who was subsequently cast in Carrie.[5][6]

History

Writing

Elements of the history of Star Wars are commonly disputed, as Lucas' statements about it have changed over time.[a 1] George Lucas completed directing his first full-length feature, THX 1138, in 1971. He has said that it was around this time that he first had the idea for Star Wars,[11] though he has also claimed to have had the idea long before then.[12] One of the most influential works on Lucas's early concepts was the Flash Gordon space adventure comics and serials.[13] Lucas even made an attempt to purchase the rights to remake Flash Gordon at one point, but could not afford them.[14] Friend and collaborator Walter Murch suggested in an interview that Star Wars was Lucas' "transubstantiated version of Apocalypse Now"; at one time, Lucas had planned to direct that film.[15]
Following the completion of THX 1138, Lucas was granted a two-film development deal with United Artists at the Cannes Film Festival in May of that year for American Graffiti, and an idea for a space opera he called The Star Wars. He showed United Artists the script for American Graffiti, but they passed on the film. Universal Studios picked the film up,[16] and Lucas spent the next two years completing it. Only then did he turn his attention to The Star Wars. He began writing the treatment in January 1973, unsure what would come of Graffiti, and still very much in debt.[16]
Lucas began his creation process by taking small notes, inventing odd names and assigning them possible characterizations. Lucas would discard many of these by the time the final script was written, but he included several names and places in the final script or its sequels (such as Luke Skywalker and Han Solo). He revived others decades later when he wrote his prequel trilogy (such as Mace Windy, renamed Windu). He used these initial names and ideas to compile a two-page synopsis titled "The Journal of the Whills", which bore little resemblance to the final story.[17] The Journal told the tale of the son of a famous pilot who is trained as a "padawaan" apprentice of a revered "Jedi-Bendu".[17] Frustrated after being told that his story was too difficult to understand,[18] Lucas started again on a completely new outline, this time borrowing heavily from Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress,[19] so much so that he at one time considered buying the rights to the film.[20] He relied on a plot synopsis from Donald Richie's book The Films of Akira Kurosawa and wrote a 14-page draft that paralleled The Hidden Fortress, with names and settings reminiscent of the science fiction genre.[21]
Both United Artists and Universal passed on their options for the film later that year, citing the risk involved in the project's potentially high budget. Lucas pursued Alan Ladd, Jr., the head of 20th Century Fox, and in June 1973 closed a deal to write and direct the film. Although Ladd did not grasp the technical side of the project, he believed that Lucas was talented. Lucas later stated that Ladd "invested in me, he did not invest in the movie."[5] The deal afforded Lucas $150,000 to write and direct.
An Alaskan Malamute dog. George Lucas based Chewbacca on his dog, Indiana, which happened to be an Alaskan Malamute. The dog's name would later be used as inspiration for Indiana Jones.
Later that year, Lucas began writing a full script of his synopsis, which he would complete in May 1974. In this script he reintroduced the Jedi, which had been absent in his previous treatment, as well as their enemies, the Sith. He changed the protagonist, who had been a mature General in the treatment, to an adolescent boy, and he shifted the General into a supporting role as a member of a family of dwarfs.[5][22] Lucas envisioned the Corellian smuggler, Han Solo, as a large, green-skinned monster with gills (this would turn out to be Greedo, whom Han would shoot in the Mos Eisley Cantina when we first meet his character). He based Chewbacca on his Alaskan Malamute dog, Indiana, (whom he would later use as namesake for his next hero Indiana Jones), who often acted as the director's "co-pilot" by sitting in the passenger seat of his car.[22]
Many of the final elements in the film began to take shape, though the plot[23] was still far removed from the final script. It did, however, begin to diverge from The Hidden Fortress and take on the general story elements that would comprise the final film. Lucas began researching the science fiction genre, both watching films and reading books and comics.[24] His first script incorporated ideas from many new sources. The script would also introduce the concept of a Jedi master father and his son, training to be a Jedi under the father's Jedi friend, which would ultimately form the basis for the film and even the trilogy. However, in this draft, the father is a hero who is still alive at the start of the film.[25] The script was also the first time Darth Vader appeared in the story, though other than being a villain, he bore little resemblance to the final character.
Lucas grew distracted by other projects, but he would return to complete a second draft of The Star Wars by January 1975; while still having some differences in the characters and relationships. For example, the protagonist Luke (Starkiller in this draft) had several brothers, as well as his father who appears in a minor role at the end of the film. The script became more of a fairy tale quest as opposed to the more grounded action-adventure of the previous versions. This version ended with another text crawl which previewed the next story in the series. This draft was also the first to introduce the concept of a Jedi turning to the dark side; a historical Jedi that became the first to ever fall to the dark side, and then trained the Sith to use it. Lucas hired conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie to create paintings of certain scenes around this time. When Lucas delivered his screenplay to the studio, he included several of McQuarrie's paintings.[26]
A third draft, dated August 1, 1975, was titled The Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller which now had most of the elements of the final plot, with only some differences in the characters and settings. Luke was again an only child, and his father was, for the first time, written as dead. This script would be re-written for the fourth and final draft, dated January 1, 1976 as The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills. Saga I: Star Wars. Lucas worked with his friends Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck to revise the fourth draft into the final pre-production script.[27] 20th Century Fox approved a budget of $8,250,000; American Graffiti, having been released in 1973 to positive reviews, allowed Lucas to renegotiate his deal with Alan Ladd, Jr. and request the sequel rights to the film. For Lucas, this deal protected Star Wars' unwritten segments and most of the merchandising profits.[5][28] Lucas would continue to tweak the script during shooting, most notably adding the death of Kenobi after realizing he served no purpose in the ending of the film.[29][30]
Lucas has often stated that the entire original trilogy was, in essence, intended as one film. However, he said that his story material for The Star Wars was too long for one film, so he opted to split the story into multiple films.[5][31][32] He also stated the story evolved over time and that "There was never a script completed that had the entire story as it exists now [1983]... As the stories unfolded, I would take certain ideas and save them[...] I kept taking out all the good parts, and I just kept telling myself I would make other movies someday."[33] Lucas's second draft is often cited as the script he is referring to in relation to this issue[34] and in The Secret History of Star Wars, Michael Kaminski argues that this draft is structurally very similar to the final film in plot arrangement, although the only elements from it that were saved for the sequels were an asteroid field space chase (moved to The Empire Strikes Back) and a forest battle involving Wookiees (moved to Return of the Jedi, with Ewoks in place of Wookiees).[34]

Production

In 1975, Lucas founded the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) after discovering that 20th Century Fox's visual effects department had been disbanded. ILM began its work on Star Wars in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California. Most of the visual effects used motion control photography, which creates the illusion of size by employing small models and slowly moving cameras. Model spaceships were constructed on the basis of drawings by Joe Johnston, input from Lucas, and paintings by McQuarrie. Lucas opted to abandon the traditional sleekness of science fiction by creating a "used universe" in which all devices, ships, and buildings looked aged and dirty.[5][35][36]
A traditional underground building in Matmâta, Tunisia was used as a set for Luke's home on Tatooine.
When principal photography began on March 22, 1976 in the Tunisian desert for the scenes on the planet Tatooine, the project faced several problems.[37] Lucas fell behind schedule in the first week of shooting due to a rare Tunisian rainstorm, malfunctioning props, and electronic breakdowns.[37][38] When actor Anthony Daniels wore the C-3PO outfit for the first time, the left leg piece shattered down through the plastic covering his left foot, stabbing him. After completing filming in Tunisia, production moved into the more controlled environment of Elstree Studios, near London.[38] However, significant problems, such as a crew that had little interest in the film, still arose.[5][38] Most of the crew considered the project a "children's film", rarely took their work seriously, and often found it unintentionally humorous.[5][39] Actor Kenny Baker later confessed that he thought the film would be a failure. Harrison Ford found the film "weird" in that there was a Princess with buns for hair and what he called a "giant in a monkey suit" named Chewbacca. Ford also found the dialogue difficult: "George, you can type this shit, but you can't say it!"[40]
Lucas clashed with cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, BSC, whom producer Gary Kurtz called "old-school" and "crotchety". Moreover, with a background in independent filmmaking, Lucas was accustomed to creating most of the elements of the film himself. His lighting suggestions were rejected by an offended Taylor, who felt that Lucas was overstepping his boundaries by giving specific instructions and sometimes even moving lights and cameras himself. Taylor refused to use the soft-focus lenses and gauze Lucas wanted after Fox executives complained about the look.[41] Lucas eventually became frustrated that the costumes, sets and other elements were not living up to his original vision of Star Wars. He rarely spoke to the actors, who felt that he expected too much of them while providing little direction. His directions to the actors usually consisted of the words "faster" and "more intense".[5]
Ladd offered Lucas some of the only support from the studio; he dealt with scrutiny from board members over the rising budget and complex screenplay drafts. After production fell two weeks behind schedule, Ladd told Lucas that he had to finish production within a week or he would be forced to shut down production. The crew split into three units, led by Lucas, Kurtz, and production supervisor Robert Watts. Under the new system, the project met the studio's deadline.[5][38]
Mayan ruins at Tikal, Guatemala, which were used in the film as the rebel base.
During production, the cast attempted to make Lucas laugh or smile as he often appeared depressed. At one point, the project became so demanding that Lucas was diagnosed with hypertension and exhaustion and was warned to reduce his stress level.[5][38] Post-production was equally stressful due to increasing pressure from 20th Century Fox. Moreover, Mark Hamill's car accident left his face visibly scarred, which suppressed re-shoots.[38]

Post-production

Star Wars was originally slated for release in Christmas 1976; however, delays pushed the film's release to summer 1977. Already anxious about meeting his deadline, Lucas was shocked when editor John Jympson's first cut of the film was a "complete disaster". According to an article in Star Wars Insider No. 41 by David West Reynolds, this first edit of Star Wars contained about 30–40% different footage from the final version. This included scenes that have never been seen elsewhere along with alternate takes of existing scenes. After attempting to persuade Jympson to cut the film his way, Lucas replaced him with Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew. He also allowed his then-wife Marcia Lucas to aid the editing process while she was cutting the film New York, New York with Lucas's friend Martin Scorsese. Richard Chew found the film had an unenergetic pace; it had been cut in a by-the-book manner: scenes were played out in master shots that flowed into close-up coverage. He found that the pace was dictated by the actors instead of the cuts. Hirsch and Chew worked on two reels simultaneously; whoever finished first moved on to the next.[5]
Meanwhile, Industrial Light & Magic was struggling to achieve unprecedented special effects. The company had spent half of its budget on four shots that Lucas deemed unacceptable.[38] Moreover, theories surfaced that the workers at ILM lacked discipline, forcing Lucas to intervene frequently to ensure that they were on schedule. With hundreds of uncompleted shots remaining, ILM was forced to finish a year's work in six months. Lucas inspired ILM by editing together aerial dogfights from old war films, which enhanced the pacing of the scenes.[5]
During the chaos of production and post-production, the team made decisions about character voicing and sound effects. Sound designer Ben Burtt had created a library of sounds that Lucas referred to as an "organic soundtrack". Blaster sounds were a modified recording of a steel cable, under tension, being struck. For Chewbacca's growls, Burtt recorded and combined sounds made by dogs, bears, lions, tigers and walruses to create phrases and sentences. Lucas and Burtt created the robotic voice of R2-D2 by filtering their voices through an electronic synthesizer. Darth Vader's breathing was achieved by Burtt breathing through the mask of a scuba regulator implanted with a microphone.[42] Lucas never intended to use the voice of David Prowse, who portrayed Darth Vader in costume, because of Prowse's English West Country accent. He originally wanted Orson Welles to speak for Darth Vader. However, he felt that Welles' voice would be too recognizable, so he cast the lesser-known James Earl Jones.[6] Nor did Lucas intend to use Anthony Daniels' voice for C-3PO. Thirty well-established voice actors read for the voice of the droid. According to Daniels, one of the major voice actors, believed by some sources to be Stan Freberg, recommended Daniels' voice for the role.[5][22]
When Lucas screened an early cut of the film for his friends, among them directors Brian De Palma, John Milius, and Steven Spielberg, their reactions were disappointing. Spielberg, who claimed to have been the only person in the audience to have enjoyed the film, believed that the lack of enthusiasm was due to the absence of finished special effects. Lucas later said that the group was honest and seemed bemused by the film. In contrast, Alan Ladd, Jr. and the rest of 20th Century Fox loved the film: one of the executives, Gareth Wigan, told Lucas, "This is the greatest film I've ever seen", and cried during the screening. Lucas found the experience shocking and rewarding, having never gained any approval from studio executives before.[5] The delays increased the budget from $8 million to $11 million.[43]

Cinematic and literary allusions

See also: Star Wars sources and analogues
Planes like the Avro Lancasters (top) and the De Havilland Mosquitos (bottom) were used as inspirations for battle sequences when in certain war films.
According to Lucas, the film was inspired by numerous sources, such as Beowulf and King Arthur for the origins of myth and world religions.[5] Lucas originally wanted to rely heavily on the 1930s Flash Gordon film serials; however, he resorted to Akira Kurosawa's film The Hidden Fortress and Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces because of copyright issues with Flash Gordon.[44] Star Wars features several parallels to Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, such as the conflict between Rebels and Imperial Forces, the "wipes" between scenes, and the famous opening crawl that begins each film. A concept borrowed from Flash Gordon—a fusion of futuristic technology and traditional magic—was originally developed by one of the founders of science fiction, H. G. Wells. Wells believed the Industrial Revolution had quietly destroyed the idea that fairy-tale magic might be real. Thus, he found that plausibility was required to allow myth to work properly, and substituted elements of the Industrial Era: time machines instead of magic carpets, Martians instead of dragons, and scientists instead of wizards. Wells called his new genre "scientific fantasia".[45]
Star Wars was influenced by the 1958 Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress; for instance, the two bickering peasants evolved into C-3PO and R2-D2, and a Japanese family crest seen in the film is similar to the Imperial Crest. Star Wars also borrows heavily from another Kurosawa film, Yojimbo. In both films, several men threaten the hero, bragging how wanted they are by authorities. The situation ends with an arm being cut off by a blade. Kuwabatake Sanjuro (portrayed by Toshirō Mifune) is offered "twenty-five ryo now, twenty-five when you complete the mission", whereas Han Solo is offered "Two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan." Lucas's affection for Kurosawa may have influenced his decision to visit Japan in the early 1970s, leading some to believe he borrowed the name "Jedi" from jidaigeki (which in English means "period dramas", and refers to films typically featuring samurai).[45]
Tatooine is similar to Arrakis from Frank Herbert's book Dune. Arrakis is the only known source of a longevity drug called the Spice Melange. References to "spice", various illegal stimulant drugs, occur throughout the last three films of the Star Wars saga. In the original film, Han Solo is a spice smuggler who has been through the spice mines of Kessel. In the conversation at Obi-Wan Kenobi's home between Obi-Wan and Luke, Luke expresses a belief that his father was a navigator on a spice freighter. Other similarities include those between Princess Leia and Princess Alia (play /əˈliːə/), and between Jedi mind tricks and "The Voice", a controlling ability used by Bene Gesserit. In passing, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru are "Moisture Farmers"; in Dune, Dew Collectors are used by Fremen to "provide a small but reliable source of water."[46] Frank Herbert reported that, "David Lynch, [director of 1984 film Dune] had trouble with the fact that Star Wars used up so much of Dune." The pair found "sixteen points of identity" and they calculated that, "the odds against coincidence produced a number larger than the number of stars in the universe."[47]
The Death Star assault scene was modeled after the film The Dam Busters (1955), in which Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers fly along heavily defended reservoirs and aim "bouncing bombs" at their man-made dams to cripple the heavy industry of the Ruhr. Some of the dialogue in The Dam Busters is repeated in the Star Wars climax; Gilbert Taylor also filmed the special effects sequences in The Dam Busters. In addition, the sequence was partially inspired by the climax of the film 633 Squadron (1964) directed by Walter Grauman,[48] in which RAF Mosquitos attack a German heavy water plant by flying down a narrow fjord to drop special bombs at a precise point while avoiding anti-aircraft guns and German fighters. Clips from both films were included in Lucas's temporary dogfight footage version of the sequence.[13]
The opening shot of Star Wars, in which a detailed spaceship fills the screen overhead, is a nod to the scene introducing the interplanetary spacecraft Discovery One in Stanley Kubrick's seminal 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The earlier big-budget science fiction film influenced the look of Star Wars in many other ways, including the use of EVA pods and hexagonal corridors. The Death Star has a docking bay reminiscent of the one on the orbiting space station in 2001.[49] The film also draws on The Wizard of Oz (1939): similarities exist between Jawas and Munchkins; the main characters disguise themselves as enemy soldiers; and when Obi-Wan dies, he leaves only his empty robe, similar to the melting of the Wicked Witch of the West. Also of note is that Luke lives on a farm with his uncle and aunt like Dorothy.[50] Although golden and male, C-3PO is inspired by the robot Maria, the Maschinenmensch from Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis. His whirring sounds were speculated to be inspired by the clanking noises of The Wizard of Oz character the Tin Woodsman and C-3PO has an arc throughout the Star Wars saga that is similar to the arc of the Cowardly Lion.[51]

Soundtrack

Main article: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (soundtrack)
On the recommendation of his friend Steven Spielberg, Lucas hired composer John Williams, who had worked with Spielberg on the film Jaws, for which he won an Academy Award. Lucas felt that the film would portray visually foreign worlds, but that the musical score would give the audience an emotional familiarity. In March 1977, Williams conducted the London Symphony Orchestra to record the Star Wars soundtrack in twelve days.[5]
Lucas wanted a grand musical sound for Star Wars, with leitmotifs to provide distinction. Therefore, he assembled his favorite orchestral pieces for the soundtrack, until John Williams convinced him that an original score would be unique and more unified. However, a few of Williams' pieces were influenced by the tracks given to him by Lucas. The "Main Title Theme" was inspired by the theme from the 1942 film Kings Row, scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the track "Dune Sea of Tatooine" drew from the soundtrack from Bicycle Thieves, scored by Alessandro Cicognini. The American Film Institute's list of best scores lists the Star Wars soundtrack at number one.[52]

Releases

Charles Lippincott was hired by Lucas's production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., as marketing director for Star Wars. As 20th Century Fox gave little support for marketing beyond licensing T-shirts and posters, Lippincott was forced to look elsewhere. He secured deals with Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics for a comic book adaptation and with Del Rey Books for a novelization. A fan of science fiction, he used his contacts to promote the film at the San Diego Comic-Con and elsewhere within fandom. Worried that Star Wars would be beaten out by other summer films, such as Smokey and the Bandit, 20th Century Fox moved the release date to the Wednesday before Memorial Day: May 25, 1977. However, fewer than forty theaters ordered the film to be shown. In response, 20th Century Fox demanded that theaters order Star Wars if they wanted an eagerly anticipated film based on a best-selling novel titled The Other Side of Midnight.[5] Lucas himself was not able to predict how successful Star Wars would be. After visiting the set of the Steven Spielberg-directed Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Lucas was sure Close Encounters would outperform the yet-to-be-released Star Wars at the box office. Spielberg disagreed, and felt Lucas's Star Wars would be the bigger hit. With each Lucas and Spielberg confident that the other's film would be the bigger hit, Lucas proposed they trade 2.5% of the profit on each other's films. Spielberg took the trade, and still receives 2.5% of the profits from Star Wars.[53]
Within three weeks of the film's release, 20th Century Fox's stock price doubled to a record high. Before 1977, 20th Century Fox's greatest annual profits were $37,000,000; in 1977, the company earned $79,000,000. Although the film's cultural neutrality helped it to gain international success, Ladd became anxious during the premiere in Japan. After the screening, the audience was silent, leading him to fear that the film would be unsuccessful. Ladd was later told that, in Japan, silence was the greatest honor to a film. When Star Wars made an unprecedented second opening at Mann's Chinese Theatre on August 3, 1977 after Sorcerer failed, thousands of people attended a ceremony in which C-3PO, R2-D2, and Darth Vader placed their footprints in the theater's forecourt.[54][5] Some cinemas continuously screened the film for more than a year.
Little Star Wars merchandise was available for several months after the film's debut; only Kenner Toys had accepted Lippincott's licensing offers. Kenner responded to the sudden demand for toys by selling boxed vouchers in its "empty box" Christmas campaign. Television commercials told children and parents that vouchers within a "Star Wars Early Bird Certificate Package" could be redeemed for toys "between February 1 and June 1".[5]
In 1978, at the height of the film's popularity, Smith-Hemion Productions approached Lucas with the idea of The Star Wars Holiday Special. The result is often considered a failure; Lucas himself disowned it.[55]
The film was originally released as Star Wars, without "Episode IV" or the subtitle A New Hope. The 1980 sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, was numbered "Episode V" in the opening crawl. When the original film was re-released in 1981, Episode IV: A New Hope was added above the original opening crawl. Although Lucas claims that only six films were ever planned, representatives of Lucasfilm discussed plans for nine or twelve possible films in early interviews.[56] The film was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, and with additional scenes and enhanced special effects in 1997.

Special Edition

"Han Shot First" t-shirts were inspired after a change in the special edition of the film that was controversial for particular fans.
After ILM used computer-generated effects for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, Lucas concluded that digital technology had caught up to his original vision for Star Wars.[5] For the film's 20th anniversary in 1997, A New Hope was digitally remastered and re-released to movie theaters, along with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, under the campaign title The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. The Special Edition versions contained visual shots and scenes that were unachievable in the original release due to financial, technological, and time constraints; one such scene involved a meeting between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt.[5] The process of creating the new visual effects for A New Hope was featured in the Academy Award-nominated IMAX documentary film, Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, directed by veteran Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burtt. Although most changes were minor or cosmetic in nature, some fans believe that Lucas degraded the movie with the additions.[57] For instance, a particularly controversial change in which a bounty hunter named Greedo shoots first when confronting Han Solo has inspired T-shirts brandishing the phrase "Han Shot First".[58]
Although the Special Edition's changes were artistic, A New Hope required extensive restoration before Lucas could even attempt his modifications. It had been discovered that in addition to the negative motion picture stocks commonly used on feature films, Lucas had also used internegative film, a reversal stock which deteriorated faster than negative stocks did. This meant that the entire printing negative had to be disassembled, and the CRI (color reversal internegative) portions cleaned separately from the negative portions. Once the cleaning was complete, the film was scanned into the computer for restoration. In many cases, entire scenes had to be reconstructed from their individual elements. Fortunately, digital compositing technology allowed them to correct for problems such as alignment of mattes, "blue-spill", and so forth.[59]
The film was then color-corrected and digitally printed onto a new negative, from which prints would be struck.

Home video releases

The film was released on VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc during the 1980s and '90s by CBS/Fox Video.[60][61] The first Star Wars was released on video tape in 1982, but only to rental customers. The first sell through video tapes of Star Wars were released in 1984.[62] A THX remastered tape got on the market in 1995, followed two years later by the reworked versions in a Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition box set.[63]
A New Hope was released on DVD on September 21, 2004, in a box set with The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and a bonus disc of supplementary material. The movies were digitally restored and remastered, and more changes were made by George Lucas. The DVD features a commentary track from George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher. The bonus disc contains the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, three featurettes, teaser and theatrical trailers, TV spots, still galleries, an exclusive preview of Revenge of the Sith, a playable Xbox demo of the LucasArts game Star Wars: Battlefront, and a "Making Of" documentary on the Episode III video game.[64] The set was reissued in December 2005 as part of a three-disc "limited edition" boxed set without the bonus disc.[65]
The trilogy was re-released on separate two-disc Limited Edition DVD sets from September 12 to December 31, 2006, and again in a box set on November 4, 2008;[66] the original versions of the films were added as bonus material. Controversy surrounded the release because the unaltered versions were from the 1993 non-anamorphic Laserdisc masters, and were not retransferred with modern video standards.[67]
All six Star Wars films were released on Blu-ray Disc on September 16, 2011 in three different editions, with A New Hope available in both a box set of the original trilogy,[68][69] and with the other five films on Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which includes nine discs and over 40 hours of special features.[70] The original theatrical versions of the films were not included in the box set.

3D re-release

On September 28, 2010, it was announced that all six films in the series will be converted to stereo 3D. The films are being re-released in internal chronological order beginning with The Phantom Menace on February 10, 2012. A New Hope is scheduled to be re-released in 3D in 2015.[71]

Reaction

“ On opening day I ... did a radio call-in show ... this caller, was really enthusiastic and talking about the movie in really deep detail. I said, ‘You know a lot about the film.’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen it four times already.’ ”
—Producer Gary Kurtz, on when he realized Star Wars had become a cultural phenomenon[72]
Star Wars debuted on Wednesday, May 25, 1977, in 32 theaters, and eight more on Thursday and Friday. It immediately broke box-office records, effectively becoming one of the first blockbuster films, and Fox accelerated plans to broaden its release.[54] Lucas spent most of the day in a sound studio in Los Angeles. When he went out for lunch with his then-wife Marcia, they encountered a long queue of people along the sidewalks leading to Mann's Chinese Theatre, waiting to see Star Wars.[38] Even technical crew members, such as model makers, were asked for autographs, and cast members became instant household names.[5]
Star Wars remains one of the most financially successful films of all time. The film earned $1,554,475 through its opening weekend ($5.96 million in today's terms), building up to $7 million weekends as it entered wide release ($26.8 million in today's terms).[2] It replaced Jaws as the highest-earning film in North America just six months into release,[73] eventually earning over $220 million during its initial theatrical run ($844 million in today's terms).[74] Star Wars entered international release towards the end of the year, and in 1978 added the worldwide record to its domestic one,[75] earning $410 million in total.[76] Reissues in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982 brought its cumulative gross in Canada and the U.S. to $323 million,[77] and extended its global earnings to $530 million.[78] The film remained the highest-grossing film of all time until E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial broke that record in 1983.[79]
Following the release of the Special Edition in 1997,[80] Star Wars briefly reclaimed the North American record before losing it again the following year to Titanic.[81] In total, the film has earned $775,398,007 worldwide (including $460,998,007 in North America alone).[2] Adjusted for inflation, it has earned $2.5 billion worldwide at 2011 prices, making it the most successful franchise film of all-time,[82] the Guiness World Records put it as the third highest grossing film when adjusting for inflation;[83] at the North American box-office it ranks second behind Gone with the Wind on the inflation-adjusted list.[84]

Critical response

Star Wars received very positive reviews from film critics. According to review aggregator, Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 67 reviews assessed are favorable, with an average rating of 8.2/10. Its consensus states in summary, "A legendary expansive and ambitious start to the sci-fi saga, George Lucas opens our eyes to the possibilities of blockbuster film-making and things have never been the same." In his 1977 review, Roger Ebert called the film "an out-of-body experience", compared its special effects to those of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and opined that the true strength of the film was its "pure narrative".[85] Vincent Canby called the film "the movie that's going to entertain a lot of contemporary folk who have a soft spot for the virtually ritualized manners of comic-book adventure".[86] A.D. Murphy of Variety described the film as a "magnificent film" and furthermore claimed that the memories of serials along with older action epics that George Lucas set out to make as one of the biggest possible adventure fantasies as a brilliant success.[87]
Conversely, Pauline Kael of The New Yorker criticized the film, stating that "there's no breather in the picture, no lyricism", and that it had no "emotional grip".[88] Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader stated, "None of these characters has any depth, and they're all treated like the fanciful props and settings."[89] Peter Keough of the Boston Phoenix said "Star Wars is a junkyard of cinematic gimcracks not unlike the Jawas' heap of purloined, discarded, barely functioning droids."[90][91]

Awards

Star Wars won six Oscars at the 50th Academy Awards, including Best Art Direction, which went to John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley and Roger Christian. Best Costume Design was awarded to John Mollo; Best Film Editing went to Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew; John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune and Robert Blalack all received awards for Best Visual Effects. John Williams was awarded his third Oscar for Best Original Score; the Best Sound went to Don MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler and Derek Ball; and a Special Achievement for Sound Effects Editing went to Ben Burtt.[92] Additional nominations included Alec Guinness for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, George Lucas for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture, which instead went to Annie Hall.[93]
At the 35th Golden Globe Awards, the film was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness), and it won the award for Best Score.[93] It received six BAFTA nominations: Best Film, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Production/Art Design, Best Sound, and Best Score; the film won in the latter two categories.[93] John Williams' soundtrack album won the Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score for a Motion Picture or Television Program,[93] and the film was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[93] In 1997, the MTV Movie Awards awarded to Chewbacca character the lifetime achievement award for his work in the Star Wars trilogy.[93]
The film also received twelve nominations at the Saturn Awards, the oldest film-specialized awards to reward science fiction, fantasy, and horror achievements,[93] including a double nomination for Best Actor for Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Best Actress for Carrie Fisher. It won nine: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction and Best Writing for George Lucas, Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness, Best Music for John Williams, Best Costume for John Mollo, Best Make-up for Rick Baker and Stuart Freeborn, Best Special Effects for John Dykstra and John Stears and Outstanding Editing for Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew.[93]

Cinematic influence

The famous Tatooine sunset sequence from the film.[94]
Critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Like The Birth of a Nation and Citizen Kane, Star Wars was a technical watershed that influenced many of the movies that came after."[95] It began a new generation of special effects and high-energy motion pictures. The film was one of the first films to link genres—such as space opera and soap opera—together to invent a new, high concept genre for filmmakers to build upon.[35][95] Finally, along with Steven Spielberg's Jaws it shifted the film industry's focus away from personal filmmaking of the 1970s and towards fast-paced big-budget blockbusters for younger audiences.[5][95][96]
After seeing Star Wars, director James Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry. Other filmmakers who have said to have been influenced by Star Wars include Peter Jackson, Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich, Christopher Nolan, John Lasseter, David Fincher, Kevin Smith, John Singleton, and Ridley Scott.[35] Scott was influenced by the "used future" (where vehicles and culture are obviously dated) and extended the concept for his science fiction horror film Alien and science fiction noir film Blade Runner (which also starred Harrison Ford). Jackson used the concept for his production of The Lord of the Rings trilogy to add a sense of realism and believability.[35] Nolan cited Star Wars as an influence when making the blockbuster Inception.[97]
Some critics have blamed Star Wars and also Jaws for ruining Hollywood by shifting its focus from sophisticated and relevant films such as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and Annie Hall to films about spectacle and juvenile fantasy.[98] Peter Biskind complained for the same reason: "When all was said and done, Lucas and Spielberg returned the 1970s audience, grown sophisticated on a diet of European and New Hollywood films, to the simplicities of the pre-1960s Golden Age of movies… They marched backward through the looking-glass."[98][99]
In an opposing view, Tom Shone wrote that through Star Wars and Jaws, Lucas and Spielberg "didn't betray cinema at all: they plugged it back into the grid, returning the medium to its roots as a carnival sideshow, a magic act, one big special effect", which was "a kind of rebirth".[96]

Honors

In 1989, the U.S. National Film Registry of the Library of Congress selected the film as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" film.[100] In 2002, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were voted as the greatest films ever made on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Films poll.[101] In 2006, Lucas's original screenplay was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 68th greatest of all time.
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