Star Wars A New Hope Comparison

` In May of 1977, Star Wars: A New Hope was released with overwhelmingly positive reviews and marking a new era in cinema. The writer and director of the film, George Lucas, decided to expand upon the Star Wars universe in 1999 by making Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, with a story that took place before the original film’s story. This movie was made with advanced equipment and cutting-edge CGI (for 1999), nonetheless, the movie was panned by critics and enraged an entire generation of moviegoers. The answer to why this happened lies in the differences between the two films: use of special effects, construction of characters, and complexity of plot. “A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing”, said George Lucas after completing the Star Wars trilogy. Most of the special effects in the original film were detailed models that were designed by professional artists. Although models are

evil driving the plot. A New Hope tells everything the viewer needs to know in the first ten seconds, by showing how large the empire is and how small the rebels are (see figure 1). The plot is so simple and concise that almost no exposition is required for the movie to explain itself, because everything is already explained. The Phantom Menace starts with two Jedi talking about a trade dispute with the Trade Federation, right off the bat this is incredibly dull for a Si-Fi movie for kids. The plot then falls into a continuous loop of a minute of action and then ten minutes of exposition, resulting in a boring plot and meaningless action. Looking at the big picture in both films, it’s obvious why A New Hope is considered to be vastly better than The Phantom Menace. A New Hope has a simple plot that is easy to understand. The characters are logical and are generally relatable. While The Phantom Menace overuses special effects, and doesn’t have a clear