Episode IV: A New Hope
Additional Cast
Grand Moff Tarkin: Peter Cushing
Release Date: May 21, 1977. Writer and Director: George Lucas. My Rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #8.
Plot
As the evil Empire begins to establish its stranglehold on the galaxy,
Princess Leia manages to get plans of an evil machine from under Darth Vader's
nose. Inside an escape pod, two droids, C3-P0 and R2-D2, land on Tatooine.
They soon meet Luke Skywalker, a small town farmboy with big dreams. After meeting
a local recluse, Obi Wan Kenobi, and having his uncle and aunt killed, he leaves
Tatooine forever. Soon, we realize Obi Wan is a Jedi Knight and Luke is to be one.
After meeting Han Solo and effecting a daring escape from Imperials, they head to
Leia's home planet, as per instructions. But, after jumping from hyperspace, thay find
the planet gone. In its place is a huge space station. The Death Star
Soon, the ship is taken in, and Luke, Han and Chewbacca rescue the princess. Obi Wan
helps in the escape, then meets Darth Vader. Turns out, Obi Wan attempted to teach
Darth years before, but failed. Darth kills Obi Wan, but the rebels escape.
They meet with the Alliance, and soon an attack is staged on the Death Star. Luke ends
up the hero, as he destroys the Death Star with help from the Force.
My Comments
What can you say about the most influential and successful sci-fi film of all time?
It is, unto of itself, complete. Not like the next film. The characters undergo growth,
the plot is fleshed out, and the effects were ground breaking. Nuff said.
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Additional Cast
Lando Calrissian: Billy Dee Williams
Yoda: Frank Oz
Release Date: 1980. Story by George Lucas, screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. Directed by Irvin Kershner. My Rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #5.
Plot
On Hoth, the Rebel Alliance rests. On a scout mission, Luke is lost, and before Han can
save him, he sees a vision of Obi Wan. This comes right before the Empire finds the Rebels.
A battle ensues, with Luke heading to Dagobah to meet Yoda and the rest going with the fleet.
However, the Millenium Falcon's hyperdrive sucks, so they head to an asteroid field, the Imperials
hot on their tail. They rest in an asteroid, but its inhabited by a worm. So, they fly into the Imperial
fleet, and hide till the massive ships leave.
The Falcon heads to Bespin, where Han's old buddy Lando runs a mining colony. So, they get the ship repaired
and get ready to leave. That's when they find Darth Vader, the bounty hunter Boba Fett, and the Imperials.
Lando had sold them out.
On Dagobah, Luke trains, and in one of the exercises, he sees a vision of his friends being tortured.
After an arguement with both Yoda and Obi Wan, Luke heads to Bespin. It is there where Han is frozen
in carbonite and sent to Jabba The Hutt with Boba Fett.
Luke meets Darth in an amazing battle, but ultimately loses. He gets his hand cut off, and learns the startling
fact that Darth is his father. As he hangs from the bottom of the Cloud City, Luke calls for Leia, who has escaped with
the droids, Chewbacca and Lando. They pick him up and rendezvous with the fleet.
The movie ends with Lando and Chewie going to search for Han, while Luke gets a new hand.
My Comments
This is my favorite of the trilogy. It bristles with action, adventure and romance. Its also a whole lot darker than the first movie, and the third
for that matter. Darth Vader rocks!
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Additional Cast
Lando Calrissian: Billy Dee Williams
Yoda: Frank Oz
The Emperor: Ian MacDermid
Wickett: Warwick Davis
Release Date: 1983. Story by George Lucas, screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. Directed by Richard Marquand. My Rating: ****
Plot
In a direct continuation of the previous movie, the droids are on Tatooine
to find Han. They succeed and he is still encased in carbonite. Jabba The Hutt
keeps him as an ornament. Then, a bounty hunter brings in Chewbacca, and Lando is
disguised as a guard. This sets up Han's rescue.
Leia lets him free, and is captured by Jabba and set up to dance for the huge slug.
Tha's when Luke comes in, kills the pet rancor, then is sentenced to die, with Han and Chewie,
in the Pit of Carkoon. All goes accordeing to that plan until Luke uses the Force to escape.
Luke heads to Dagobah toe see Yoda again, and is just in time for the Jedi Master's death.
At the same time, the Rebels are planning to invade the second Death Star, orbitting Endor.
Luke joins up, and the mission goes well until Leia is seperated from the group.
Soon, the main characters are found by the inhabitants of the moon: the Ewoks. The forces join together
to take the shield generator to lower the shield around the Death Star. However, the Emperor has foreseen all of this, and the plan is
stopped.
Luke goes up to the Death Star to confront his father and the Emperor. This leads to the big battle scene. Luke and Darth fight, the Rebel armada attacks, the
shield is lowered, and the rebels destroy the weapon and the Empire.
My Comments
This is the weakest of all the Star Wars movies. Even weaker than Episode I. The Ewoks: blah. The dance number in the Special Edition: blah.
It plays like a remake of the original, only geared toward kids. Like Episode I.
Finally, the trilogy has been released on DVD. Included with the movies is a disc of extras, which is a delight to watch. The only beef I have with the DVDs is the addition of Hayden Christiansen as the ghost of Anakin in the end of Jedi. They took out the old guy, who actually played the dessicated Anakin, and threw in the new guy. I know, they're trying to connect the old films with the new ones, but please. Hasn't Lucas tampered with these classics enough? Anyway, the featurettes are great. Even better news: the original cuts of the films were released during September 2006. Now, I have all the versions of the trilogy, and the best is still the original theatrical cuts. All the additions in the world can't beat the original, groundbreaking films. Thank you for releasing those finally.
