An Empire holds the universe to ransom, while a Princess seeks to liberate the hamstrung, with a force of daring rebels, revolutionists forged in peril, their fight for liberty and freedom has begun. On Tatooine frustration blooms for Luke Skywalker, he's starting to become more Luke Skysaunter, though two droids that he acquires, conjure dreams that he aspires, bought from Jawas, peddling from, their own Sandcrawlers. After tracking down the hermit Obi-Wan, they catch a lift with Han Solo and soon are gone, with Chewbacca by their side, to where Alderaan did reside, now reduced to rubble, shattered, scattered, gone.

... and the battle begins to save the universe from the Dark Side, Darth Vader and the destructive Death Star.

The awesome special effects and the creation of creatures that are part of the vivid imagination of George Lucas are not the reason for the enduring popularity of Star Wars and the franchise it spawned. Rather it is because of the characters Lucas created that will live as long as we have cinema and the means to display it.

The spectacle is behind some real, but simple people. No shadings of gray in the first Star Wars we know without any doubt who the heroes and villains are of this piece. On an isolated planet a galaxy wide dictatorship called the Empire and the revolt against come to wear young Luke Skywalker as played by Mark Hamill and his family reside. So does Alec Guinness, a reclusive and mysterious hermit.

An escape pod crashes there with two androids, C3PO and R2D2 and in the latter is a message for Guinness who was at one time a Jedi Knight, fiercest of a warrior class, from Carrie Fisher playing Princess Leia. Also in R2D2 are the schematics for the Empire's ultimate weapon the satellite size death star that can deal killing out on a planetary scale.

This starts an adventure with young Hamill who teams up with futuristic soldier of fortune Harrison Ford as Han Solo and his simian like sidekick Chewbacca to rescue the Princess and defeat the Death Star.

Those are the good guys. The bad guys are the blackest of black villainy. Peter Cushing cold bloodedly commands the Death Star, but the mysterious Darth Vader, clad in black with a helmet completely covering his head, has mysterious powers and even his superiors are wary of him. The voice of James Earl Jones is unforgettable as the black prince of the galaxy.

These are characters that bring out the kid in all of us. The ones who claim the most sophistication in their lives will cheer on for Hamill and Ford and will be fascinated by the double dyed villainy of Darth Vader.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Star Wars and I speak now of all the films is the way such non-humans as the robots and Chewbacca the Wookie became characters. C3PO had dialog, but R2D2 had a few clicks and bleeks and all Chewbacca did was grunt, still they became as identifiable as the human characters.

Star Wars set the standard for science fiction films to come for the next several generations. It was given six Oscars in a bunch of technical categories and it's got a re-release value that Gone With The Wind used to have.

The Force Will Be With Us Always.

I couldn't have asked for anything more. Star Wars: A New Hope had it all. If I had to sum it up in one word, superlative would be my answer. I saw the film for the first time three months ago and loved it, and since then I have watched all the Star Wars movies. I was disappointed with the prequels (Attack of the Clones was my least favourite), but this, Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back were perfection.

I have to say that the film looks absolutely amazing even after thirty plus years, with highly imaginative sets and dazzling special effects. And the action sequences were superbly choreographed and brisk, the Death Star climax was a knockout. The music by John Williams is absolutely outstanding, by far one of his more exciting and rousing scores. The story is fast-paced, intelligent and has an essence of sophistication, and the screenplay is sharp and decisive.

And the performances were flawless. In the prequels I had problems relating to some of the performers, namely Hayden Christensen as Anakin. Here, all the actors played their parts with superlative skill. Alec Guiness, one fine actor and will be sorely missed was a standout, likewise with Peter Cushing and Harrison Ford(hilarious here). Carrie Fisher was a fine Princess Leia, spunky, beautiful and sexy, and Mark Hamill was a completely likable Luke. And the villain Darth Vader, without doubt one of the best and in-depth villains in cinematic history, and James Earl Jones's deep booming voice was perfect for the character.

All in all, a definite sci-fi classic, that blew me away. 10/10 Bethany Cox