Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

A pleasant adventure that ultimately got out of control in the ensuing installments, reaching epically grand dimensions. Though George Lucas relies more on humor and close-ups in the first half. rather than on any narrative pace, it is still not very difficult to get caught up in the action. However, the main part of my admiration lies in the fact that he earned the right to shoot this in 1977, of all years. A space fairytale with a wise old man, a naive boy, a mischievous smuggler, a beautiful princess, a chatty android, a 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 years later, but despite its noticeable flaws, it still carries a huge dose of nostalgia. (07/06/2005)

It may not be as powerful as when I first saw Star Wars, but it still has a wonderful impact on you. This is simply a masterpiece of sci-fi in the sense of how rich of a universe Lucas managed to create with this one film, not to mention the others. Right from the beginning, he intends to immerse you in something grand, and he succeeds. (03/22/2015)

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)

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)

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)