Let's first go back over 30 years to George Lucas, sitting at home, thinking, is it worth releasing this as a film, or are people going to shake their heads and mutter, 'What was he thinking?', looking at each other in that knowing way? No doubt this entered his mind as his masterpiece creation Star Wars was in the early stages of inception. In 1977, the film was released, under the title 'Star Wars', and people flocked to the cinema to settle down for what they hoped to be the next decent sci-fi flick.

The Plot

Cut to young Luke Skywalker, living with his Uncle and Aunt, not knowing his parents, happily spending each day helping his uncle on his farm. Chance leaves the droids on the farm, and thus ensues Luke's journey with the Force, a mysterious power controlled by the mind that can be learnt with careful tuition and the right mental attitude. Luke travels with Ben Kenobi to join the Rebel Alliance along with the pilot of the ship they commandeer, Han Solo, and his co-pilot, the Wookie Chewbacca (a humanoid covered in hair that communicates through a series of guttural noises). Along with Princess Leia, the new additions to the Rebel Alliance attempt to counter the threat of the Galactic Empire and their plans to construct a Death Star and destroy half of the galaxy.

The Cast and Performances

George Lucas needed a bit of a big name for the film, to entice a few more at the box office, and so he cast Sir Alec Guinness in the role as Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi. The British actor oozed charisma as the former Jedi Knight turned recluse protector in Star Wars, and his character was further explored when the prequel trilogy of Episodes 1 to 3 were filmed more recently with Ewan McGregor in the role. Guinness' performance is top notch, here.

Horror legend Peter Cushing lent his considerable acting talent to the film on the Dark side as one of the Empire's commanders, which gave some solidity to the evil roles, as did David Prowse, who was the actor performing the role of Darth Vader, commander of the Sith (evil Jedi), and answerable to no one other than the evil Emperor himself. Prowse, however, did not provide Vader's voice. He had a strong Westcountry accent, which looking back on it now would have sent me rolling ito the aisle with laughter had it been used. Instead, the smooth deep tones of James Earl Jones were used. The droid C3P0 was voiced by Anthony Daniels, and Chewbacca, like Vader, was played by Peter Mayhew in body but no voice was used, with the character not human and speaking in a guttural growl. The remainder of the cast do a very good job.

So far, all I have done is praised the film. Surely, there must be something wrong with it? Well, yes, there is, but the only negative happens to be one more of circumstance than anything else. The special effects at the time were amazing, but by today's standards, they are not of a high quality. There is no real argument here, as at the time not much else was available, but, since the emergence of CGI technology, Star Wars and indeed the other two films in the trilogy were released in a digitally remastered version, including extra footage and enhanced techonology doing its work.