Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope [PG]

The galaxy is ruled by an evil Empire, these are dark times. But there are those who will stand up and fight for their rights. The Rebel Alliance seeks to restore peace to the galaxy. Will it happen?

Brace yourself people, we're heading into epics territory. I'm talking light sabers, I'm talking hyperspace, I'm talking 70s, I'm talking Darth Vader. That's right everyone, I'm talking Star Wars.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the Death Star, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...

This is the first episode of the Star Wars saga, made in the 70s, but never becomes tiresome or out-of-date.
For those of you who have never had a particular interest in the whole Star Wars phenomenon, allow me to fill you in on a couple of key points. There are six episodes in the saga. Because George Lucas was so with us numerically, the order of the episodes goes 4, 5, 6 and then 1, 2, 3. The first three episodes are about the civil war between the evil Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The second lot of episodes are about the creation of the Galactic Empire and the fall of the Republic.
Being brought up on the original Star Wars, I have to admit that I think the older movies are the better ones. You know what I think it is? I think it's the fact that everything in the original movies had a realism. With the newer movies, I do feel that there is a lot of effort and attention placed on special effects and as with anything that gets overdone, you lose something important from it. In the first three movies there were garbage bins that had tubes attached to them that passed off as droids. There was actually a guy who was, like, 7 feet tall wearing a mass of fur to play the part of the wookie Chewbacca. And there was really a man inside the gold tin suit that spent his time trying to educate everyone else.
Not only was there an actual sense of realism to the flicks, they placed more emphasis on the characters and not on the big battles. It was all very balanced with the right amount of action and ships being blown to pieces and then the right amount of characters sitting down and actually explaining what was going on. You don't see many movies where there are regular interludes where the characters do a recap on what is happening for those members of the audience who haven't been able to follow. Not to mention that in the older ones you had the classic characters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C3P0 and R2D2, Princess Leia and of course Darth Vader, one of my absolute favourite villains of all time.
With a wonderful script, amazing battle sequences, romance, weapons, and Princess Leia's outrageous hairdos, Star Wars IV is a timeless science fiction classic that appeals to all ages and has no expiration date. A truly epic adventure that has me on the edge of my seat and quoting word for word every single time!
To quote one of my personal heroes...

"The force is strong in this one."