A New Hope: Star Wars OG #1
Analyzer: Jubilee Anderson
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….
Luke has always wanted to do something more meaningful and adventurous than living his boring life in the desert planet of Tatooine. When Luke and his uncle bring home two droids, Luke tries to fix them up. But a secret message he discovers inside one droid will change the course of his future.
A New Hope, Star Wars movie 4 (or #1 in the OG 3) has threads of good vs. evil, coming-of-age, and adventure.
Why A Star Wars Series?
I got my first taste of Star Wars at my cousin’s birthday party years ago. Since then, I’ve watched various movies in the series many times with my siblings.
The last time we watched the Original 3 (OG 3), I decided to write a collection of movie reviews. But in addition, I also wanted to analyze the plot structure of the films so that writers who have watched them can understand the three-act structure and use it in their own novels. So buckle up, and let’s take a ride through outer space! BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD!
My Thoughts
I love it. It’s action packed with chase scenes, laser shooting, space ships, and cool interstellar planets. Everything you can expect from a thriller sci-fi movie.
George Lucas is a master storyteller. Every time I watch this, I’m drawn in by the first movie. The second and third movies have awesome plot twists, but A New Hope really holds itself up.
My favorite scenes are the beginning scene when Luke finds the secret message, and the scene at the end when Luke and Han get their metals.
Content Labels: Light romantic tension between characters, including flirting and a kiss on the cheek.
Takeaways: The ending of the movie left me smiling. As I said before, A New Hope could be a stand-alone. It holds itself up very well, and provides a good foundation for the next two movies and their awesome plot twists.
For Ye Writers!
Now let’s move on to the next section. This is the part for you writers out there. While I wrote all of this content on my own, I didn’t learn about story structure by myself! The links in the next section come from K.M. Weiland’s blog, Helping Writers Become Authors. She has an awesome platform, and I highly recommend checking it out!
I’m just gonna warn you, this next part contains full spoilers of the entire movie. Trust me, this is not a movie series you want spoilers on!
Character Arcs
(This section describes how Luke changes internally throughout the movie)
Luke has lived in his Normal World, Tatooine, his entire life. He’s tired of the normal and yearns for adventure.
When Obi Wan tells Luke that his father, Anakin, was a Jedi, Luke says he wants to be a Jedi, too. But to be more specific, Luke didn’t just want to be a Jedi. He wanted to “be a Jedi like my father.” He wanted to be like his father. That hero, that honorable man.
At the end of the story, Luke has achieved his goal. He’s not a Jedi yet, but he’s done something honorable. He’s saved his people from the Death Star. His Want is fulfilled.
Luke has more of a flat arc in the first movie, in that he doesn’t learn anything specific. His Want wasn’t changed in any way, but he’s changed the world around him, and now he lives in the New World instead of the Old.
Plot Structure
This section describes the plot of A New Hope according to the 3-Act Structure. Again, while I discovered the plotpoints for this movie myself, I wasn’t the first person to do so, and I didn’t teach myself. K.M. Weiland has the entire plot of A New Hope laid out here if you’d like to study this more in depth.
Characteristic Moment: Luke’s “normal world” is in Tatooine, living with his aunt and uncle. He wants to do something meaningful in life.
Inciting Event: Luke finds Leia’s secret message in R2-D2 mentioning a man named “Obi Wan Kenobi.”
Push Point: Luke’s aunt and uncle die, forcing him to go with Obi Wan.
Pinch Point: The bad guys blow up Alderaan
Midpoint: They’re sucked in by the Death Star’s gravitational pull.
Pinch Point: They end up in the trash compactor which the bad guys turn on
Lowpoint: Darth Vader kills Obi Wan. Luke, Han, and Leia make it to the ship and fly away in grief.
Climax: The Death Star is about to blow up the Rebel base. Luke flies a ship down the tunnel and shoots a laser beam into the mechanism that will destroy it. Death Star explodes.
Resolution: Luke and Han get medals for their bravery. Luke has done what he always wanted to do: something meaningful. He’s a hero now.
Closing
I hope this review/analyzation of A New Hope has helped you see how plot, characters, and theme are tightly interwoven, and hopefully you can impliment some of these things in your own story. You can find the analyzations for movies 2 & 3 (or 5 & 6) here and here.
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