Two lines of blue text...a fade to black, then a blast of trumpets...a stylized title card swoops into view, comprised of two words that seem like they were always meant to be together.
This is how all
Star Wars journeys begin. Where it goes from there, however, depends on the viewer.
Episode IV: A New Hope paints a broad canvas of space fantasy, specific enough in its details - weird aliens, bickering robots, utility pouches for days - and yet vague enough - a terrifying black-masked enforcer, an unseen force that "surrounds us" - full of both the epic bombast and flimsy, obvious kitsch that make it the perfect testing ground for budding imaginations.
For our one-year anniversary show, we go back to where
Star Wars began for the both of us, and consider its place now in a cultural universe that it conquered and remade in its own image.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Written and directed by George Lucas
Produced by Gary Kurtz
Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Alec Guinness, and James Earl Jones
Check out the rest of our series on the Star Wars saga:
Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Episode IV: A New Hope
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars: Clone Wars
Star Wars Holiday Special
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
