Star Wars A New Hope, along with the multitude of movies, series, and spinoffs, that have followed it, is a cultural juggernaut that continues to dominate popular culture today. 

A New Hope unsurprisingly makes an appearance on the AFI top 100 at number 13. This film is known as one of the most impactful films of all time and is certainly one that made an impact on me as a child. 

The film follows a young Luke Skywalker amidst an intergalactic rebellion. He comes from a small village on the planet Tatooine and becomes heavily involved in this rebellion when he salvages a damaged droid, R2D2, from the Jawas. Encased in this droid is a message from Princess Leia seeking help from an “Obi-Wan Kenobi”. She filmed this message after being captured by the Empire and their evil leader and Sith Lord, Darth Vader. 

Luke then goes on to find Obi-Wan Kenobi and become acquainted with the ins and outs of the rebellion, as well as his destiny of becoming a Jedi warrior. 

The most shocking point in this movie is towards the end when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader have a lightsaber duel in which Darth Vader kills Obi-Wan. As a result, Luke escapes and can destroy the Death Star, an Empire space station that can implode a planet with the press of a button. 

Aside from the plot, the characters in this movie are all unique and interesting. None are too particularly complex, yet they all are justified and bring something to the table. Luke Skywalker is the classic whiny protagonist we root for but aren’t too disheartened when we see him struggle. Leia is a woman in power and oftentimes is the voice of reason in times of conflict. Finally, Han Solo and his… partner or pet nobody is really sure, are the classic ’70s wildcard and comedic relief characters for the series. 

The film also imagines an insanely creative and realistic environment. For being created in the 1970s, the special effects used in this film are honestly not awful. It is impressive to compare A New Hope to the more recent Star Wars installments because I can, without a doubt, say what they lack in special effects with the older films, they most certainly make up for in plot. 

The worlds George Lucas builds are so surreal and I remember as a kid always dreaming of traveling to the dunes of Tatooine or the tundras of Hoth and being able to visit all of the story’s main characters, not knowing that this was obviously science fiction but rather believing that this was perhaps real. George Lucas builds such a realistic environment that even sometimes watching the films back today, I find myself placing myself in the shoes of an average person on one of these fictional planets. 

Everything about this film is amazing! It is one of the most lucrative franchises of all time and I am sure just as it produced content before I was born, it will continue to produce content after I am dead. Star Wars, and specifically its first installment, A New Hope, is one of the greatest films of all time, and perhaps the greatest franchise of all time.