Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope
Star Wars: Episode 4 – A New Hope is an amazing coming of age story with a wonderful David and Goliath theme/good and evil vibe. The movie opens with this hot girl Leia (played by Carrie Fisher) cruising with her friends to the movies. When her ride stalls out this very alpha male frat boy, Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) picks her and her friends up in his muscle car.
Meanwhile we are introduced to Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill). He’s stuck living on a rural farm with his aunt and uncle. He goes to the city for concerts, and to shop for records as often as he can, and dreams of being the lead singer of his own garage band, but his chores around the farm occupy most of his time. A chance encounter with a bassist C3PO (played by Anthony Daniels) and a drummer R2D2, who break down on the road near Luke’s family farm becomes the nucleus of his band which will soon be known as Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance. The trio now have everything they need for their garage band except a kick-ass guitarist.
Leia starts dating Darth, and becomes his heavy metal band’s number one groupie. Darth’s group, The First Galactic Empire, already have a record deal and are competing in the Mos Eisley Battle of the Bands (named Star Wars, A New Hope) that happens every year at the end of harvest season. Darth and the First Galactic Empire have all the best sound guys, amps, instruments, and sound boards. They are the marquee act of Palpatine Records, and the label is determined make sure Darth and his band crush all comers at the upcoming battle of the bands.
Luke, and his fledgling band the Rebel Alliance meet a washed-up record producer, Ben Kenobi (played by Alec Guinness) who has a small home studio. He sees the promise of Luke’s plucky garage trio, and soon hooks them up with the kick-ass guitarist they’ve been looking for, Han Solo (played by fresh face Harrison Ford). Han has a sweet ’76 Chevy van with bubble tinted teardrop porthole windows and Cragar five spoke rims, which he lovingly calls the Millennium Falcon. Han’s best friend, local weed dealer Chew Bacca (played by Peter Mahew), comes on as sound guy/roadie/driver. Ben gets them into the battle of the bands, while refining their sound. Tragedy strikes Luke’s family, and Darth’s jealously over C3PO and R2D2 joining the Rebel Alliance over the First Galactic Empire exasperate matters.
Leia gets fed up with Darth’s intense dark vibe and the grindy blues feel of The First Galactic Empire’s music. She starts dating Luke, but there isn’t really any chemistry. Meanwhile, Leia and Han immediately realize they have something special. Also, Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance have become a pretty tight four piece by this point, smashing out some pretty raw surf inspired garage tunes. Unfortunately, if they are going to win Star Wars, A New Hope, they will have to do it without Ben, who dies tragically before he can see his protégé fulfill his rock star destiny.
The stage is set for a battle of the bands, and it’s clear Luke and Darth’s bands will be the finalists. The First Galactic Empire play their three-song set first, and finish with their dark grinding heavy metal anthem “Death Star.” Luke and the Rebel Alliance crescendo up during their three-song set to their inspirational protest ballad “Suck My Proton Torpedo,” and literally blow Darth and “Death Star” away. The judges award the prize money to Luke and the Rebel Alliance, and the crowd response to the Rebel Alliance dwarfs response for Darth’s band.
The name of the contest, “A New Hope,” takes on a prophetic meaning as Luke and the Rebel Alliance appear poised to conquer the music world. Near the end, we see Darth recover his composure hinting at a possible sequel. Perhaps Darth will try to reform the First Galactic Empire or strike out on a bitter campaign of revenge. Maybe he will attempt to utilize Luke’s musical talents for his own purposes. We’ll have wait and see what relative Hollywood newcomer, and Star Wars creator, George Lucas, has in mind for the future of the franchise.
