Throwback Review | The Day Star Wars Changed Everything
There are moments in your life when something clicks… when a story doesn’t just entertain you, it claims you.
For me, that moment came in the mid 90s, when the THX re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope landed in our home on VHS.
My mom bought it for my older brother, a die hard Star Wars kid from the 80s. But nine year-old me? I latched onto that film like white on rice.
Up until that point, my cinematic world was shaped by Batman and Batman Returns… great movies, sure… but this… this was something else entirely.
I can’t remember every detail of my first reaction 30 years ago, but I know this much, from that day forward, the way I looked at movies changed. No, scratch that. My life changed.
Han Solo instantly stole the show for me. The reluctant hero. The smooth talking smuggler who couldn’t care less… until he did. Everyone loved Han, and so did I. But it was the Death Star trench run that really got me. I’d rewind the tape just to relive the thrill. Every. Single. Time.
What made it even more magical was not knowing there were sequels. My brother kept that little detail to himself, the jerk.
So I spent about a year living with A New Hope as this perfect, self contained adventure, waiting as each subsequent film finally made its way into our house.
And man… the visuals. As a kid, they were unlike anything I’d ever seen.
So much so that my friends and I went to see a special documentary at the local Omnimax theater, not once, but twice. I was mesmerized. That’s also when I fell in love with film scores, thanks to the legendary John Williams.
His music wasn’t just background noise… it was the emotion of the film. It opened my mind to the power of cinematic music.
Sure, the first half hour dragged a little for a kid. But the payoff? Immense.
Over the years, A New Hope shifted from my absolute favorite to somewhere in my Top 5 of the franchise, but that’s not a demotion. That’s the mark of a film that stays with you, even as your tastes evolve.
What makes it timeless? The adventure. The spectacle. The pure imagination of George Lucas. He didn’t just make a movie… he built a galaxy.
And decades later, that galaxy still feels like home.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 (4.5/5)
