053 Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

Retro Grade Podcast

“HOKEY RELIGIONS AND ANCIENT WEAPONS…"“

On this week’s episode, we finally get to talk the about the one that started it all: Star Wars (1977). Or rather: Star Wars: A New Hope. In 2022, the film is celebrating its 45th anniversary and we thought now would be the best time to revisit the film and see how it holds up.

We begin by talking about our earliest memories with the film, from how we first watched and loved it as children to how we remember it today. We go into the box office success, and how this is still one of the highest grossing films of all time after adjusted for inflation.

From there, we cover the entire story, beginning with the iconic introduction with John William’s score with the yellow text scrolling by, leading into an action-packed shootout and the introduction of one of the greatest villain in cinema history: Darth Vader.

We talk about the extended sequence in Tatooine, where we are introduced to Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi. What’s surprising about this is how long this section truly is, and how it focuses on developing each of our characters and developing this universe, showing us how this universe’s underbelly or villainy and scum, to the outsiders like the Tusken Raiders and Jawas. And we cover the introduction another set of legendary characters, Han Solo and Chewbacca. We talk about how these scenes from the film on Disney+, actually differ from when we originally saw them on our home video VHS tapes.

During the Death Star, we focus the relationships between out three main leads, Han, Luke, and Leia, and how future installments don’t quite reach the same level with their characters. And all this leads us to the finale, with an epic space battle that combines groundbreaking computer graphics and practical camera work to deliver one of the greatest climaxes in cinema history.

On the next episode, we will talk about how George Lucas wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote Star Wars. We will get into how over the years the versions of the films have changed (and address an error made in the episode.) We will get into the troubled production and how the film we love was created in the editing room. We will talk about the impact Star Wars has had not just on us but on movies in general, and of course, we will get into our trademark quote section where we summarize how we feel about the film using one of its quotes.

This is where the fun begins!

Music is from Triune Digital and audio clips pulled from movies we will be reviewing in other episodes.

Artwork by @jannelle_o