Just finished watching the first 1977 Star Wars - A New Hope for the first time in decades.
The stream from Disney + on Apple4K TV has the latest 4K60 HDR10 video and Atmos soundtrack, really excellent.
I was a SciFi fan all my life but the first time I saw this film in the theater in 1977 it blew my mind.
Starting with the incredible (for it's time) graphics of the spaceships and then the bar screen with the alien
makeup artistry that I'd never seen before, it was just awesome and something totally new in theater viewing.
I don't think there's been another film that's made the impression on SciFi fans in the way the that one did.
BTW, if you haven't viewed it in it's latest " high rez remaster", it's well worth the time.
YMMV
It is absolute fact that Lucas revolutionized many aspects of making movies, right out of the gate with New Hope. They did it again with the prequels, too, regardless of how people felt about them.
I grew up on that original release, and as much as I love it for what it was then and is now...
[Soapbox Alert]
(Not targeting you, Sal.)
...I also appreciate the efforts that have expanded the Star Wars Universe over the decades since. The Novels and Comics were fun. I'm less familiar with all the Comics, but the Novels I read are not High Literature. The Movies are great, but they aren't High Film... yes, that includes the original.
Even now, the Star Wars Stories and Disney+ shows are still enjoyable but are just as limited.
I'm stoked for the new stories and adventures. Gimme new characters and old characters. I'm happy that we are exploring what is an open world of wonder.
What really blows is every time I see something about Race or a Strong Female Character being brought up by closed minded fools that think we still need to do everything from the perspective of a 47+ year old paradigm of white patriarchal superiority.
Or that the new stories just aren't "star wars."
What is... Star Wars?
Is it one story told over and over again? Is it a limited character set that is never deviated from? Is it a single desert planet somewhere near the outer rim of a galaxy far far away?
Everybody seems to know what
isn't Star Wars. That seems to be pretty typically defined as anything that doesn't live up to the personal expectation of any given fan because it deviates from their perception and romantic attachment to a 47 yr old movie. Including when that story is retold two different ways.
There is, it would seem, simply no way to expand on the concept and enrich the deeper story and universe that Lucas gave us. Everybody is an expert on what Star Wars is except for those who are making the new material, telling the new stories and, hopefully, entertaining us.
I have been entertained and really enjoy the continuation of Star Wars beyond one or two movies from over 40yrs ago. I am grateful for the animations enriching the story and original content that shows other aspects of this Universe. (Yes, even the c0ck-up that was Book of Boba Fett S1 or Greedo shooting first.)
[Steps Off Soapbox]
I'm glad, Sal, that the new new remaster looked good and you enjoyed it. I will absolutely check it out, even though I have the Skywalker box set from just last year.
I hope you will keep your mind open to the new stories and give them a chance!
For anybody willing...
Star Wars Rebels is really a
Must See for how it sets up parts of
The Mandolorian and the upcoming show,
Ahsoka.
Cheers!