Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Reviews
Top CriticNone of these characters has any depth, and they're all treated like the fanciful props and settings!
There's no breather in the picture, no lyricism; the only attempt at beauty is in the double sunset.
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
After Star Wars, movies not only spawned profitable kids' toys; they merged with kids' toys, and basically became toys themselves.
His work here seems less inventive than in THX 1138.
Boston Phoenix
Star Wars is a junkyard of cinematic gimcracks not unlike the Jawas' heap of purloined, discarded, barely functioning droids.
George Lucas, who made American Graffiti, has put together a sci-fi film that draws on any number of associations. Star Wars is both amazing and familiar.
The Nation
All in all, it is an outrageously successful, what will be called a "classic," compilation of nonsense, largely derived but thoroughly reconditioned.
Common Sense Media
Sci-fi action classic perfect for sharing with older kids.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Bullz-Eye.com
One of those few films that you can expect to find in almost anyone's collection.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
a lot of fun, but not a movie that particularly rewards repeated watchings... once every 20 years or so isn't too often.
Full Review | Original Score: A
Like some indefatigable King of the Hill, it stands alone and triumphant, regardless of the many imitators that assail its position.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
Common Sense Media
First of a sci-fi phenomenon, #4 in the series.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Arizona Daily Star
Lucas' trilogy earned its place in eternity not for its mechanical precision, but for its intangible qualities of inspiration and wonder.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
rec.arts.movies.reviews
It is my contention that the original Star Wars is, on its own, a good film and the best of its series.
Combustible Celluloid
All in all, this movie is a classic.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
A magnificent film. George Lucas set out to make the biggest possible adventure fantasy out of his memories of serials and older action epics, and he succeeded brilliantly.
A combination of past and future, Western and space odyssey, myth and dream world, Star Wars may be the most enduring piece of escapism ever put on film.
Filmcritic.com
It's easy to see why Star Wars held such an appeal to the kids and adults of the late 1970s.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4.5/5
