It’s January, nothing good is coming out, and I’ve still got Star Wars on my mind. Really, this was inevitable.

What’s It About? A chance encounter leads young Luke Skywalker from his home on the desert planet of Tattooine to the front lines of a rebel operation to strike at the evil Galactic Empire.

STRAIGHT UP: A timeless piece of modern mythology. I still love it. 4.5/5

What I Liked

Timeless visual design – Visual presentation is the one area where Star Wars has never failed, and it all began here. It’s incredible that vehicles and costumes designed in 1977 still synergize with modern design language.

John Williams’ original score – This is a case study in how music can elevate a film. What might have been just another “pretty good” sci-fi tale is made memorable by those now-familiar orchestral swells.

Vader, as we knew him – Before the prequels, when he was all looming screen presence and aggressive threats, Darth Vader was the coolest villain around. It’s fun to go back to those days.

Manning the Falcon’s guns – This is underappreciated as a really cool moment in the movie. The characters aren’t really doing much – just bobbing up and down in their seats – but the rapid camera cuts, exciting music, and exploding TIE Fighters make this sequence a real crowd-pleaser. Proof that George Lucas really knew what he was doing once upon a time.

Vader and Obi-Wan’s duel – You know this scene is awesome, because even the other characters onscreen stop what they’re doing just to watch. It sets the precedent of lightsaber duels in the Original Trilogy occurring at moments of high emotional intensity. Plus, after showing off the visceral coolness of the lightsaber itself, the action ends quickly enough to leave something to the viewer’s imagination. It also raises the mystery of Obi-Wan’s intentions, a plot point which is paid off spectacularly in the final act.

Attack on the Death Star – There’s nothing I could write about this scene that hasn’t already been written. Decades after I first saw A New Hope, this scene still gets me excited. One of the best space battles ever committed to film, culminating in one of the most iconic movie moments of all time.

Anthony Daniels as C-3PO – Over time, Threepio’s gained a reputation as one of the most annoying characters in the Star Wars universe. But in the original film, dare I say it, he’s genuinely funny as comic relief.

Jek Porkins – The original “character with more fansites than seconds of screentime.” Accept no substitutes.

What I Disliked

Luke Skywalker – Watching this movie now, as a twenty-something, Luke comes across as kind of a thirsty dweeb. I’m being a little unfair, though – when I was kid, growing up in a little hick town that may as well have been called Tattooine, Luke was everything I wanted to be.

The remastered CGI – The version of A New Hope that I watched (the recent Blu-Ray re-release) features all of the post-release edits made to the film. While most of the original practical effects hold up quite nicely, the CGI “enhancements” added in later years have aged terribly, and look especially bad in HD. That said, the overlay laser effects look just as bad today, and those were in the original cut.

Hit something already – It’s not just the Stormtroopers who can’t hit anything with a blaster in this film – it’s everybody! Go back to the chasm jump scene and count how many shots Luke misses before he and Leia swing across. That’s just one example of many. I know that things had to be done differently in the ’70s and ’80s, but it really drags down the pace of the action when I watch it now.

CLOSING THOUGHT: Aww, who am I kidding? My criticisms are weak. Star Wars may be the most straightforward Joseph Campbell hero’s journey out there, but it’s much more than the sum of its parts, thanks to the artistry that went into creating the world of the film. It’s the sort of thing that people can’t help but respond to. This film captured my imagination many years ago, and while The Force Awakens has brought my love of Star Wars to a fever pitch, it’s interesting – even a little bit thrilling – to see how much the original film still affects me.