REVIEW #35 Star Wars Orginal Trilogy (1977-1983)

The original Star Wars Trilogy consists of; Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Return of The Jedi (1983). Set after the events of episode 1, 2 and 3, these films follow Luke Skywalker as he journeys from a farmers nephew on Tatooine to a Jedi with the resistance battling Darth Vadar.   

CAST & THE ACTING (8/10)

Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker, who I think does seem perfectly made for the role, I certainly couldn’t picture anyone else playing him. However the acting isn’t the best but I think that’s across the entire cast, they were all relatively inexperienced actors so it’s understandable. The late Carrie Fisher was cast as Princess Leia and Harrison Ford as the smuggler Han Solo. Although the acting wasn’t great I must admit that the chemistry between the three of them does make it an enjoyable watch nonetheless, which is why I have given a good score. Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker play the roles of C3-PO and R2D2 and inject some great comedy into the three films, a really enjoyable friendship which transcends all 3 trilogies not just this one!

PLOT & THE STORYLINE (8.5/10)

The storyline I think deserves a good score because it was the first set of Star Wars films to be released so everything was so unique to anything that was out at the time. I can only imagine what it was like seeing them for the first time in the late 70’s, early 80’s. Each film flowed well into the next one and of course they set up every film that has followed in the 30+ years since! The criticism I have is how many times they have reused the ‘Death Star’ plot to fill a film, twice in this trilogy and again in the newest trilogy, I just wish they went with something different. After all this great and powerful Empire constantly making mass weapons of destructions that are so easy to destroy... it is just exhausting once you have watched them all a few times. There are obviously some plot wholes too, with how Ono-Wan Kenobi doesn’t R2D2 and things along those lines, but that’s down to how the prequel trilogy was made in 1999-2005 and not down to these films. As much as I do criticise the plots of all the Star Wars films, I do love them and appreciate how they’ve created such an imaginative world for audiences to enjoy!

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS (9.5/10)

A huge score here! I have always said I actually prefer the special effects in this trilogy compared to the prequel trilogy which quite frankly looked like a cartoon half the time. The pyrotechnics used in this film are incredible considering the time period these films were made in, as I mentioned earlier in this review I would have loved to have seen these films when they were first released. Every person who I have spoken to who were in the cinemas watching this back in 1977-1983 have all said how blown away they were, and rightly so. Of course the films in the last few years have blown these special effects out of the water but it would be unfair not to appreciate how good these effects were at the time! So I believe this high score is more than justified.

OVERALL (8.7/10)

These are the films that created the entire Star Wars universe that hundreds of millions of fans enjoy 30+ years later. Although there are a few plot points that I would change I still appreciate how this film changed the cinematic world back in the late 70’s early 80’s. I love the pyrotechnic effects used and even prefer them to the low quality CGI used in Episodes 1, 2 and 3! Yes the acting is a little bit questionable but the dynamic between the cast makes it enjoyable nonetheless. I was born in 1998 but these films still give me a huge sense of nostalgia, thinking back to when I used to watch them growing up and I still rewatch them a couple of times a year now! People who I talk to now who still haven’t seen any Star Wars films often say “I don’t want to watch the really old ones, the quality must be so poor” but this is so not the case! Disney+ with a nice HD TV and you wouldn’t believe that it was made in 70’s! 

Thanks for reading.

Callan