This scene has been retouched many times: in 1977, Han Solo shot first, killing Greedo. [118] Even technical crew members, such as model makers, were asked for autographs, and cast members became instant household names;[8] when Ford visited a record store to buy an album, enthusiastic fans tore half his shirt off. We had Westerns, pirate movies, all kinds of great things. The film even digitally shifts Han's head to the right to make it appear like he is dodging a shot that wasn't originally there. Door opened, and George walked in with Gary behind him. The radio version was originally considered to be part of the official Star Wars canon,[228][229] but has since been supplanted by revised canonical narratives. Right before getting shot, Greedo utters the phrase "Maclunkey." Darth Vader's breathing was achieved by Burtt breathing through the mask of a scuba regulator implanted with a microphone. However, a few of Williams's pieces were influenced by the tracks given to him by Lucas: the "Main Title Theme" was inspired by the theme from the 1942 film Kings Row, scored by Erich Wolfgang Korngold;[93] and the track "Dune Sea of Tatooine" drew from the soundtrack of Bicycle Thieves, scored by Alessandro Cicognini. [33] McQuarrie's pre-production paintings of certain scenes from Lucas's early screenplay drafts helped 20th Century-Fox visualize the film, which positively influenced their decision to fund the project. Until 1981, Star Wars was just called Star Wars, but once it became a hit and allowed Lucas to develop the sequels to his Saturday morning serial throwback space opera, the first movie was rebranded as Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. First of all, the on-and-off again 3D 20th Century Fox fanfare has been restored for the Original Trilogy.

"[207] In a more critical review, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader stated, "None of these characters has any depth, and they're all treated like the fanciful props and settings. Subsequent movies also featured the same naming convention: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The result is a remarkable confection: a subliminal history of the movies, wrapped in a riveting tale of suspense and adventure, ornamented with some of the most ingenious special effects ever contrived for film."

Under the new system, the project met the studio's deadline. Let me sit down and write this for you." Episode IV had originally been included on the opening crawl of the 1977 original, but executives at movie studio 20th Century Fox figured if they began their movie touting the fact that it was the supposed fourth chapter of a story the clueless audience would wonder why they didn’t see the first three. While in Hawaii, it was not until he watched Walter Cronkite discuss the gigantic crowds for Star Wars on the CBS Evening News that Lucas realized he had become very wealthy. De Palma and Jay Cocks helped edit the text into the form used in the film. Not only do their lightsabers look sharp, but Disney has added a fine sparkly mist when they clash, and the cable attached to one of Obi-wan's hands, which could still be seen in previous versions, has been digitally removed. Never satisfied, Lucas has ordered many re-issues and re-releases over the years, updating the film with upgraded CGI, additional scenes and even extra dialogue. After visiting the set of the Steven Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Lucas was sure Close Encounters would outperform the yet-to-be-released Star Wars at the box office. But while many longtime fans may view the film as perfect, the man behind the movie thinks otherwise. [8], During the chaos of production and post-production, the team made decisions about character voicing and sound effects. The massive rebel hangar set was housed at a second sound stage at Shepperton Studios; the stage was the largest in Europe at the time. [114][8] At that time Star Wars was playing in 1,096 theaters in the United States.

The film became a pop-cultural phenomenon and launched an industry of tie-in products, including novels, comics, video games, amusement park attractions, and merchandise including toys, games, clothing and many other spin-off works.

After the screening, the audience was silent, leading him to fear that the film would be unsuccessful. [87] For Chewbacca's growls, Burtt recorded and combined sounds made by dogs, bears, lions, tigers, and walruses to create phrases and sentences.

[212] It received six British Academy Film Awards nominations: Best Film, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Production/Art Design, Best Sound, and Best Score; the film won in the latter two categories. [80] As production went on, Lucas still disapproved of Jympson's cut and fired him halfway through the film's production. The film opened to critical acclaim, most notably for its groundbreaking visual effects. [95][96] The film has also been compared to The Wizard of Oz. "[65] He began his creation process by breaking down jet engines into scrap pieces, giving him the chance to "stick it in the sets in specific ways. Marketing director Charles Lippincott secured the deal with Del Rey Books to publish the novelization in November 1976. Taylor refused to use the soft-focus lenses and gauze Lucas wanted after Fox executives complained about the look. I'm trying to make a classic sort of genre picture, a classic space fantasy in which all the influences are working together. That was about the only instruction he'd give anybody. [33], The film was ambitious as Lucas wanted to create fresh prop prototypes and sets (based on McQuarrie's paintings) that had never been realized before in science fiction films.

Lucas believed that the film would portray visually foreign worlds, but that the musical score would give the audience an emotional familiarity; he wanted a grand musical sound for Star Wars, with leitmotifs to provide distinction. Overall, though, having Han argue with two separate people about his smuggling debts feels anticlimactic and repetitive.

[53] On February 27, the studio granted a budget of $5 million; this was later increased to $8.25 million. Star Wars focuses on the journey of Luke Skywalker (Hamill), who along with Han Solo (Ford) and the wizened Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness), attempt to free Princess Leia (Fisher) from the clutches of the Galactic Empire and the Sith lord Darth Vader (Prowse, voiced by Jones). [107][108], The logotype eventually selected for on-screen use originated in a promotional brochure that was distributed by Fox to cinema owners in 1976. “Star Wars…the first one,” the gravelly voiceover says, “We are not calling it A New Hope.” The Honest Trailer is a knowing send-up of fan outrage, but also has a ring of truth to it. Additional shots of the city were added, giving the spaceport a bigger look and including many more dinosaur-like creatures and droids flying around. NEXT: Disney+'s Star Wars: A New Hope Updates Obi-Wan, Darth Vader Fight's Effects. [95] Another source of influence was Lawrence of Arabia (1962), which inspired the film's visual approach, including long-lens desert shots. He commissioned production designers John Barry and Roger Christian, who were working on the sets of the film Lucky Lady (1975) when Lucas first approached them, to work on the production sets. And this is where things get complicated. Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space-opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The entire Star Wars saga has become a part of Disney + catalog, but Disney didn't just upload the 2011 Blu-Ray versions of the movies to get it out of the way quickly. "[82] Lucas also stated that he wanted to move the narrative focus to C-3PO and R2-D2: "At the time, to have the first half-hour of the film be mainly about robots was a bold idea. On a visit to ILM in Van Nuys, Rice was instructed by Lucas to produce a logo that would intimidate the viewer, and he reportedly asked for the logo to appear "very fascist" in style. As they could not afford to dress the sets, Christian was forced to use unconventional methods and materials to achieve the desired look. Disney + included six cut scenes under their "Extras" menu for A New Hope that were left out of the final movie.

They think I do weirdo films. Star Wars was released in a limited number of theaters in the United States on May 25, 1977, and quickly became a blockbuster hit, leading to it being expanded to a much wider release. Once the cleaning was complete, the film was scanned into the computer for restoration. [61] Lucas later stated that he had wanted to make it look like outer space. RELATED: Star Wars: A New Character Is Strong In The Force (And Could Become A Jedi), The iconic title crawl plays at the beginning of almost every Star Wars movie. [48][114] Lucas himself was not able to predict how successful Star Wars would be. [232][233][234] Writing for The New York Times, Frank DeCaro said, "Star Wars littered pop culture of the late 1970s with a galaxy of space junk. Lucas was prepared to give Jympson more time; Jympson disliked Lucas' working style. "[33] By May 1974, he had expanded the treatment for The Star Wars into a rough draft screenplay,[49][8]:14 adding elements such as the Sith, the Death Star, and a general by the name of Annikin [sic] Starkiller. [89] The reactions of the directors present, such as Brian De Palma, John Milius, and Steven Spielberg, disappointed Lucas. The success of "Star Wars" was even a surprise to creator George Lucas. [6] 35mm reels of the 1997 Special Edition were initially presented for preservation because of the difficulty of transferring from the original prints,[148] but it was later revealed that the Library possessed a copyright deposit print of the original theatrical release. The official title for The Force Awakens isn’t Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, it’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

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", "Princess Jodie and the Haunting of Carrie Fisher", "Carrie Fisher Told To Lose Weight For 'Star Wars' Role", "How Star Wars Might've Had a Different Darth Vader", "Toshiro Mifune turned down Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader roles", "Star Wars actor Richard LeParmentier – aka Admiral Motti – dies aged 66", "Stormtrooper who bonked head in original Star Wars movie has died", "Michael Leader Dead: 'EastEnders' Team Pay Tribute Pay Tribute As Actor Who Played Milkman Dies", "Movie Legends: Was John Wayne Secretly in Star Wars? In an article intended for the cover of the issue, Time's Gerald Clarke wrote that Star Wars is "a grand and glorious film that may well be the smash hit of 1977, and certainly is the best movie of the year so far. When fan… [122], Star Wars was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981 and 1982,[123] with the subtitle Episode IV – A New Hope being added in 1981. [97][98], The influence of The Hidden Fortress can be seen in the relationship between C-3PO and R2-D2, which evolved from the two bickering peasants, Tahei and Matashichi, and a Japanese family crest seen in the earlier film is similar to the Imperial Crest. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, and currently marketed as simply Star Wars: A New Hope3 is a 1977 film written and directed by George Lucas. [116]

[273], In addition to the film's multiple awards and nominations, Star Wars has also been recognized by the American Film Institute on several of its lists.

[244] The expressions "Evil empire" and "May the Force be with you" have become part of the popular lexicon. Lucas had the idea for a space-fantasy film in 1971, after he completed directing his first full-length feature, THX 1138;[33] however, he has said that he had the idea long before then. "[60] McQuarrie produced a series of artworks from simple sketches; these set a visual tone for the film, and for the rest of the original trilogy. I read through that series, then found that what had sparked Burroughs off was a science fantasy called Gulliver on Mars, written by Edwin Arnold and published in 1905. [57][59], George Lucas recruited many conceptual designers, including Colin Cantwell, who worked on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), to conceptualize the initial spacecraft models; Alex Tavoularis to create the preliminary conceptual storyboard sketches of early scripts; and Ralph McQuarrie to visualize the characters, costumes, props and scenery.

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