1978 Oscar Best Costume Design
1978 Oscar Best Visual Effects
The most famous and biggest grossing film of all time. I was out of the country in the 1970s when it came out so I missed it first time round. Had I missed a timeless classic? My daughter who is into Harry Potter had to watch it for a film course. We were open mouthed at its basic awfulness. Not a coherent or credible plot to speak of and what story there was rambled and felt pointless. Terrible stilted dialogue. Unbelievable everything from sets to hardware and far too much zapping with ray guns in lieu of any character development talking of which it was impossible to identify with anyone other than maybe the robots who were warmer and funnier than the people. Too much bleating by Chewbacca. One good thing:The light sabres make a great noise. Millions of happy fans can't be wrong so the fault is us and our bad attitude but we'll avoid any other reheated Star Wars anything.
I would recommend Star Wars IV, A New Hope to new and old fans alike, it is an excellent adventure for all ages, with a good amount of humour and a fantastic classical music score. This film is great on DVD and Blu Ray with a few extra bits added in 1997 by the director. This is explained by a directors commentary and an archive commentary featuring some audio by the magnificent cast. The special effects have not got dated, including a lot of laser action and light saber fights but with an added spiritual element, referencing the force and the importance of good sense and the rejection of overt materialism. This film changed film making and cinemas treatment of audio and special effects, a classic of British made cinema.