Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

There are few films that I can say without exaggeration that I know by heart, including their soundtracks. This is one of them, and even though I know it so well that I just can't find anything new in it anymore, I still enjoy watching it. Again and again. It's a beautiful space fairytale (I wouldn't really use the term sci-fi - at least not until someone invents the lightsaber) with a great atmosphere, for everyone, big and small, with likable actors, revolutionary special effects, and a bombastic John Williams, without whom it would all be half-hearted at best. That's what films are for, to take the audience to fantastic places they will never get to themselves. (01/02/2016)

A film that needs no reviews. As an introduction, it doesn't reach the dramatic heights of the following two episodes, and some elements are bound to feel a little dated, but it's still an exemplary definition of a legend in that fickle and demanding art called cinema. What's more, I feel that the more you watch it, the more the characters and the unique mythology grow on you, so maybe next time it will be worth five stars. (12/24/2015)

So I finally got around to the original Star Wars trilogy, which I kept putting off watching. And this may sound like a cliché, but I was incredibly deprived of one of cinema's gems. The iconic theme tune that always accompanies Darth Vader, the exceedingly good and groundbreaking technical workmanship for its time, the perfect work of the makeup and costume designers - this film has more than just that. As a result, having seen all the old Star Wars films, it was this first (fourth) episode that I liked the least, but still above average. In short, a very well made fantastic sci-fi ride not lacking in action and adventure that every lover of these genres should see, and certainly shouldn't wait as long as I did. (08/21/2014)

Pleasant adventure that gradually got out of control in the following parts, reaching strongly grand dimensions. Although Lucas relies more on humor and details in the first half rather than on the narrative pace, it is still not very difficult to engage in his game. However, the main part of my admiration lies in the fact that he earned the right to shoot this exactly in 1977. A space fairytale with a wise old man, naive boy, mischievous smuggler, beautiful princess, chatty android, beeping tin can, and most of all, with the best villain in the universe. The most modest installment in the series is ultimately the weakest after years, but despite the noticeable flaws, it still has a huge dose of nostalgia. 70% (07/06/2005)

It has cardboard models and visual effects made on a shoestring, but this episode is far more impressive than episodes I and II, which are packed with digital effects. This is not nostalgia on my part, but the fact that Lucas has forgotten how to make a good film. If it's true that he wants to cut newly shot scenes with Natalie Portman into the original episodes (nothing against her otherwise), Lucas is done for good. That would be a crime against a legend. (04/13/2003)