I’ve covered my five favorite things of each of the films of the prequel trilogy. Now it’s time to delve into the Original Trilogy, with A New Hope. Enjoy!
Favorite Scene
Luke with Obi-Wan. There are so many great scenes in this movie, but I really like this scene with Luke and Obi-Wan. It’s probably the moment Obi-Wan has been waiting 20 years for–the moment he can give Luke Anakin’s lightsaber and finally bring him into the larger story of the galaxy. They watch R2’s holo of Princess Leia (and I’m sure he recognizes her as Luke’s twin; possibly he feels that the old, ripped threads are starting to come together), tells him about Anakin’s “death”, and tries to recruit him to go to Alderaan with him. All of Obi-Wan’s patient exile hinges on this moment. But Luke still resists, worrying about his Uncle Owen yelling at him, his chores, the late hour…it’s only when Luke finds out his aunt and uncle are dead that he decides to go with Obi-Wan. In this particular scene, when Obi-Wan is telling Luke about Anakin, Sir Alec Guinness’ performance is uncanny, as if he knows the true story of Anakin Skywalker and how disturbing it is; of course, he doesn’t at this point, but it’s a testament to his superb and subtle acting skills that we imagine he does know. It’s such a great scene.
Favorite Duel
Obi-Wan vs. Darth Vader. Unless you want to count Luke’s exercise with the remote, this is the only lightsaber battle in this movie. And though it’s considered a bit clunky by our standards, it’s the first time audiences actually saw a lightsaber battle, and it was pretty darn cool. What’s really compelling about this duel is how Obi-Wan uses it to distract the Imperials to allow Luke and his friends to escape from the Death Star; and the fact that he chooses to sacrifice himself in order to become more powerful than Vader can possibly imagine. We don’t really understand what he means by that; and we can also see that Vader himself is a bit uneasy about the whole thing, toeing Obi-Wan’s robes that had fluttered to the floor when he struck him. And where the heck did he go? The whole sequence is confounding and impressive and full of a strange pathos. Something amazing just happened, and we’re left reeling, confused and sad but also triumphant. Vader didn’t win the duel, even though he’s the one still alive. So much going on in that one moment. Fantastic.
Favorite Line
There’s so many great zingers in this movie, but I love this one:
Funniest Moment
Classic Han Solo:
Most Impactful Character
Luke Skywalker. This is Luke’s movie, from beginning to end, and rightly so. He’s the young hero, starting out on his adventure, the hero’s journey in which he will be challenged, meet friends and foes alike, and find out what he’s truly made of. He’s the wide-eyed farmboy who yearns and burns for something more, and we, the audience, can identify with that and instantly like and root for him. We see him realize he has a bigger destiny. He bonds with his mentor, learns about the Force (taking his “first steps into a larger world”), meets a smuggler and a Princess, and saves the day when he blows up the Death Star. It’s a classic coming of age story, one that resonates with all of us. The story of Luke Skywalker catapulted us into the amazing galaxy of Star Wars, and thank the Maker for it.
What are your favorite moments from A New Hope? Comment below and we’ll talk about it!
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Hey there 🙂 What did you mean by this: “as if he knows the true story of Anakin Skywalker” for Obi-Wan? 🙂
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Hi Julie–I meant as if Alec Guinness the actor (not Obi-Wan, obviously he knows Anakin’s story) knew the whole story–that Anakin is Darth Vader, everything that happened in the prequels, etc. But of course at the time he didn’t, because they weren’t made yet. Looking back at that scene, his performance is so spot on, he IS Obi-Wan who knew all these things. If that makes sense, it’s kind of a weird thing to think about. I guess I’m stating the obvious in that Guinness is a great actor, lol.
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OHHHHH okay I get it now lol Yeah I agre with you there, he was an amazing actor. I find it hilarious to think of him saying that after reading the script he didn’t want to do Star Wars lol If I recall he said it was stupid and wouldn’t be very good. George Lucas had to really sell him on the role because he wanted him in it so badly. SO GLAD THAT worked out for everyone 😀
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I know, right? I wonder what he thought after the first movie became so big and broke all the records, and people just went ga-ga over it. Like, “Hmm, maybe this movie isn’t so bad after all, glad I got involved”, lol. In other words, I wonder if he got what the big deal was, what everyone else saw in it, or if he just shrugged, like, go figure. Lol.
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Hmm I think he would have been very British about it and would sit there with a grin and be like “Not so bad afterall ” as he sipped on his Earl Grey tea lol
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Perfect!
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😊😎
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Yes, after Luke asks “How did my father die?” there’s this pause and Obi-Wan is silent for a moment with a pained look on his face, as if he’s struggling to figure out exactly how he should answer Luke’s question. In hindsight it really does drive home the idea that Obi-Wan is about to lie to Luke, and he is trying to figure out just what he should and should not say. Obviously that wasn’t the intention when the scene was originally shot, but the way in which Alec Guinness plays the scene works well for when Lucas later retconned Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker into being the same person in The Empire Strikes Back.
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Exactly, well said. It makes this scene so interesting.
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Hm my favorite moment is probably the whole prison bit. Seconded by the scene when they are all on the Falcon for the first time and they start talking about the force I like the hooky religion and the idea that hey not everyone believes what this old guy is selling 🙂
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I almost put the garbage scene as my favorite, but honestly, there’s so many great ones, it’s hard to choose. And yeah, Han doubting all that mystical stuff is great, reminding us that the galaxy, or most of it, has pretty much forgotten the Force and the Jedi.
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Hi Tina, just like you there are too many highlights to pick out one or five.
“It was a boring conversation anyway! Hey we’re gonna have company soon!”
“Into the chute Flyboy”
“I got one!”…..”OK, don’t get cocky!”
But my favourite funny moment is one which many may miss because it was a foreshadowing event during the Death Star control room scene. R2 is accessing the mainframe etc and Old Ben goes to the deactivate the Tractor Beam. Chewie growls something and Han replies, “You said it Chewie…..(then to Luke) Where did you dig up that old fossil?”
The reason I find that funny is Harrison later made a career out of digging up fossils as Indiana Jones!
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Ha ha, I never thought about that! Good catch. Yeah, lots of great lines, mostly from Han. Thanks for reading.
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