Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was only the third feature film Lucas had directed, at the time and was an immediate hit when it came out in 1977, changing the movie game forever. Even the opening credits, which crawl across the screen at an angle, setting the film “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” before disappearing into the black, end-of-frame abyss, has become a prime example when thinking about the importance of the beginning and end credits. Before the characters even appear onscreen, we as the audience are put into motion, a trait which directly affects the resonance a film might have. The fact that a film’s credits alone could have that effect was something largely ignored, or even undiscovered, until Star Wars and has been a lasting realization. For example, anyone who has seen, oh I don’t know, You’ve Got Mail, knows just how crucial a role those credits play. After crashing their ship, the two droids are promptly sold to a moisture farmer whose nephew, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), finds a piece of Leia’s recorded, hidden message in R2-D2 in which she asks for the help of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke knows of a Kenobi, but is unsure if he is who Leia is referring to in her plea for help, so he sets off to find the only Kenobi he knows. Kenobi reveals that he is not only the Obi-Wan Kenobi in question, as he once served as a galactic peacekeeper, but also that Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker, fought alongside Obi-Wan until he was betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader, a former mentee of Obi-Wan who has since turned to “the dark side of the Force.” Obi-Wan concludes by giving Luke his father’s old light saber and convinces Luke to accompany him in his quest to save Princess Leia as well as the entire galaxy—a reasonable request, right? Mentor and mentee, along with R2D2 and C-3PO, hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his furry first-mate, Chewbacca, to transport them, on their ship, The Millennium Falcon, to the planet Alderaan where Leia’s father lives so that he can review the plans that Leia stored in R2D2. Upon arriving at Alderaan, however, they discover that the planet has been destroyed by the Death Star. After a struggle, the Falcon escapes from the Death Star, but is tracked back to the Rebels’ previously hidden base on the planet Yavin IV. Back on the base, while the Rebels are analyzing the plans that Leia had stolen, they identify an opportunity to attack the Death Star’s main reactor. Luke decides to join the assault team, but despite Luke’s own requests Han Solo decides to simply collect his reward for Princess Leia’s rescue and leaves. The assault team sets off to destroy the Death Star, but lose a lot of fighters after a few failed attacks, leaving only Luke and a few others still alive and fighting. Vader and a group of his fighters are about to annihilate Luke’s ship, Luke along with it, when Han Solo comes back to save the day by destroying Vader’s fighters, a blast which sends Vader off into the black abyss. Luke is then able to destroy the Death Star, mere moments before it fired on Yavin IV. Star Wars IV: A New Hope concludes with Luke and Han receiving medals of heroism from Leia. A fairly simple plot for a movie about space right? Relax, I am only kidding as Star Wars, both this original film and the series as a whole, boasts an incredibly complex plot; and what’s more? Well, this plot does not take away from the film as a convoluted, complicated plot often can, but instead adds to its overall intelligence. It seems unlikely to me that Ridley Scott’s Alien and its similarly complex plot were in no way influenced by Star Wars, which was released just two years before. Yes, both films feature droids, but the similarities do not stop there. Each film, one a space-adventure and the other a space-horror film have detailed designs that provide for ongoing series, ones that continue even today. Second, there is the relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker, a classic mentor-pupil relationship, in which Obi-Wan confers upon Luke both physical and intellectual skills. Like the Native American Jeremiah Johnson encounters in the namesake Western, Obi-Wan teaches Luke how to survive in this world he is new to. Finally, the last key relationship that I see as crucial in Star Wars is that between Luke and Han Solo. Part adversaries like in 3:10 to Yuma, but part friends like in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Luke and Han have perhaps the most complex relationship in the film as Han is portrayed as inherently selfish. It is not until Han returns at the end of the film to save Luke that he is redeemed. But this redemption is so great–they are both given medals and Han eventually proves to be the love interest of Leia–that the two men are almost equated to heroes. Yes, each of these relationships seems to have roots in the Western and while this is not completely surprising as space is often referred to as the final frontier, it seems that the connection that Star Wars has to the great American genre is what allows the film to be so widely accessible even today. After all, these three relationships keep appearing in our films–from Independence Day (which showcases the banding together for the greater good) to Million Dollar Baby (boasting a clear mentor-mentee relationship) to Lethal Weapon or Beverly Hills Cop (highlighting the adversaries-turned-trusted colleague relationships)–no matter where they are set. Where Lucas excelled so greatly was in making a science-fiction movie set in space, but not specifically about space. While it is clear that any science-fiction movie being made after Star Wars will be endlessly influenced by the momentous film, it seems more of a testament to Star Wars that movies not about space give us continual glimpses, allusions and references to it, even if only by including one of the three key relationships Star Wars made use of.
