Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is a 2025 epic space opera remake of the 1977 Star Wars film of the same name. This reboot was directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Andrew Garfield, Nathan Fillion and Rachel McAdams amongst others. It is a sequel to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume I and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume II.
Plot
Nineteen years after the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance has won their first major victory against the Empire, by stealing secret plans for the Empire's ultimate weapon; the Death Star. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan now holds the plans on board her ship, the Tantive IV. As the Tantive IV passes the desert world of Tatooine, the Imperial ship the Devastator pursues the rebels.
The rebels realise they are outgunned when confronted by a barrage of blaster fire from the Devastator. The Devastator then captures the Tantive IV. The rebels gather at the front of the ship as the Imperial Stormtroopers cut through the blast doors. The rebels are quickly outmatched and are slaughtered. Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, enters to assess the damage.
Leia is confronted by Captain Jeremoch Colton, who encourages her to abandon the ship, Leia refuses, but Colton forces her to run as the stormtroopers swarm into the chamber. Colton opens fire, but is shot in the arm and captured. Colton is brought before Vader, just as a stormtrooper informs Vader that they scanned the ship's main computer and found no trace of the Death Star plans. Vader grabs Colton by the throat and interrogates him, but Colton simply tells Vader that they are on a diplomatic mission. Vader coldly inquires where the ambassador is before crushing Colton's throat, throwing his body against the wall. Vader then orders the stormtroopers to tear the ship apart until they recover the plans, as well as to locate Princess Leia and bring her in alive.
Leia hides the plans in the memory banks of astromech droid R2-D2, as well as recording a holographic message of herself. R2-D2 and protocol droid C3PO escape the ship in a small pod and land on the surface on Tatooine. Leia is then spotted by stormtroopers and manages to shoot one dead before being stunned and captured.
On Tatooine, C3PO and R2-D2 are easily captured by Jawas, who sell them to a farmer named Owen Lars. Lars takes the droids back to his homestead, where he lives with his wife Beru and nephew Luke Skywalker. Luke cleans R2 and activates the message from Leia, in which begs a man named Obi-Wan Kenobi to help her. Luke says that the only Kenobi he has heard of is a hermit named Ben Kenobi.
Later, R2 escapes from the Lars homestead in search of Obi-Wan. Luke and C3PO pursue him, and find him just before they are attacked by a gang of Tusken Raiders. The group are rescued by a hooded figure, who draws a lightsaber and combats the gang leader RR'uruurr, who he ultimately slays. The figure reveals himself as Ben Kenobi.
Kenobi explains that he is Obi-Wan, having been living in exile in order to escape the Empire. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he knew his father, Anakin, and fought alongside him in the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan explains to Luke that his pupil, Darth Vader, turned on the Jedi Order and killed most of them, joining with the Empire in purging the Jedi from the Galaxy. Obi-Wan was one of the few to escape, and hid on Tatooine. Anakin, however, met a far more dire fate, and was slain by Vader
Obi-Wan views the message from Leia, asking him to take the Death Plans to her home planet of Alderaan for her father, Obi-Wan's old friend Bail Organa, to analyse. Obi-Wan gives Luke his late father's lightsaber, and asks him to accompany him to Alderaan. Luke initially refuses, but upon returning home, finds the Lars homestead burned to the ground, and his aunt and uncle murdered. Luke, wanting revenge against the Empire, agrees to join Obi-Wan.
Luke takes them on his speeder to the Mos Eisley Spaceport to find transport to Alderaan. They encounter an Imperial checkpoint, as the Empire is searching for the droids. Obi-Wan uses the classic Jedi mind trick to ward the stormtroopers off.
At the Mos Eisley Cantina, a smuggler named Han Solo is chatting up girls when a bounty hunter named Greedo enters and discreetly pulls a blaster on Han. Greedo forces Han to sit at a table in a darkly lit corner, where it is revealed that Han owes a debt to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Greedo, an old rival of Han, was sent by Jabba to find Han. Greedo tells Han that he plans to disobey Jabba and take the opportunity to kill Han. While Han distracts Greedo by indulging him in conversation, he discreetly retrieves a blaster pistol hidden in his boot. Before Greedo realises, Han shoots him under the table and kills him.
Luke and Obi-Wan stop at the bar while Obi-Wan scans the area for someone who can take them to Alderaan. A drunk Aqualish named Ponda Baba growls at Luke, and Baba's companion Doc Evanzan tells Luke that his friend doesn' like him. Luke tries to avoid a confrontation, but Baba attacks him. Obi-Wan comes to Luke's defense and ignites his lightsaber, using it to sever Baba's arm.
Han then meets Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids. The duo haggle with Han for the use of his ship, the Millenium Falcon, and Han eventually agrees to an absurdly high price. However, with the fate of the Rebel Alliance at stake, Obi-Wan has no choice but to agree to it as well.
The group exit the cantine and head to the docking bay where Han's first mate, the Wookie Chewbacca, is waiting with the Millenium Falcon. As they prepare to board, the stormtroopers are alterted to the presence of a Jedi by Evanzan. The stormtroopers swarm into the hangar and opens fire on the group as they climb into the ship. During the firefight, Evanzan is shot and killed.
On board the Death Star, Leia is greeted by Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, who demands that she give up the location of the rebel base. Leia refuses, and is brought to a window. Here, she can see that the Death Star is overlooking Alderaan. Leia realises what Tarkin intends to do and begs him not to, but he coldly ignores her. Tarkin gives the order and the Death Star is fired. The planet-sized superweapon fires a black hole straight into Alderaan, causing the planet to collapse, killing Bail Organa and his Gungan ally Jar Jar Binks as well as numerous others. Leia watches in horror as her home planet is ruthlessly destroyed.
On the Falcon, Obi-Wan is training Luke with the lightsaber when he senses a large disturbance in the Force and collapses. Luke asks him what has happened, and Obi-Wan tells him that he felt thousands of souls screaming out at once.
Shortly thereafter, the Falcon uses hyperspace to arrive at Alderaan, only to find debris floating through space. Han spots the Death Star looming over them, and they are pulled into the hangar bay by a tractor beam. As a squad of stormtroopers gather around the ship, Han reveals several hidden compartments in his ship, which he uses for smuggling, and the group hide. An Imperial officer leads the stormtroopers into the Falcon, where they are ambushed and killed. Luke and Han steal two suits of armour from the stormtroopers and disguise themselves. Obi-Wan seperates from the group, announcing that he intends to disable the tractor beam and allow them to escape.
R2 hacks into the Imperial Network and learns that Leia is on board the Death Star. Luke convinces Han and Chewbacca to assist him in rescuing her. Luke arrives at the detention block she is being held in and gains access by telling the guards that Chewbacca is a prisoner. He and Han then shoot and kill the guards and rescue Leia. Another group of stormtroopers then arrive, forcing Leia to shoot a hole in the wall so they can escape.
Unfortuanetly, they jump through an open grate which leads to a garbage compactor. The stormtroopers figure this out and activate the compactor, causing the walls to close in. R2 hacks in and manages to shut the compactor down before the others can be crushed.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan successfully disables the tractor beam. He and the others both head back to the hangar bay. However, as Obi-Wan predicted, his former student Darth Vader is waiting for him. The two engage in a duel. A gang of stormtroopers are distracted by the duel, allowing the others to make a run for the Falcon. Luke stops dead in his tracks when he also spots the duel. Obi-Wan notices him, pauses, and then closes his eyes, focusing intensely. Vader swings his lightsaber and cuts right through his former master. The old Jedi vanishes upon death, becoming one with the Force. Luke reacts with horror and screams, alerting the stormtroopers to his presence. Luke opens fire on them with his blaster. Vader turns to face him, when Han comes back down out of the Falcon and shoots a control panel, sealing the blast doors and cutting Vader off. Han then grabs Luke drags him into the Falcon, which then takes off.
Leia has them land on Yavin Four, the location of the secret rebel base. Unknown to them, a tracking device was planted on the Falcon, and the Death Star begins to approach Yavin Four. The Rebel Alliance retrieve the Death Star plans for R2 and General Jan Dodonna prepares the rebels to assault the weapon, an audacious move. Much to Luke's dismay, Han tells him that his job is done and he leaves.
Luke joins the assault team and is assigned to Red Squadron as they are being briefed on the Death Star plans. They pinpoint a vulnerable exhaust port deep within a trench on the Death Star's surface, and if they can fire a missile into it, they be able to stop the Empire and save Yavin Four.
Soon enough, the battle begins. A fleet of TIE fighters emerge from the Death Star. Keyan Farlander flies through them and destroys one of the Empire's communication satellites, preventing them from summoning reinforcements. Next, the rebels target ten deflector shield towers protecting the Death Star. Meanwhile, Vader scrambles his own personal fighter squadron and goes to join them, although Tarkin refuses to send out the full TIE fighter fleet. The rebels then destroy the shields.
Gold Squadron begin their run on the trench, but Vader arrives in his personal starfighter and shoots down Tiree Vanis and Jon Vander, Gold Two and Gold Leader respectively, and then kills Davish Krail, Gold Five, as he attempts to escape the trench.
Next, Garven Dreis, Red Leader, heads an attack on the trench, but two of his allies are shot down by Vader. Dreis makes it into the trench and fires at the exhaust port, but due to the tricky nature of the trench, misses. Vader then shoots Dreis down, but not before he orders Luke, Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles to make a third run.
Inside the Death Star, an Imperial office suggests to Tarkin that they retreat, fearing that the rebels could actually succeed. Tarkin berates him and orders him to leave the control room, citing the fact that if they succeed here, the Rebel Alliance would be vanquished for good.
Luke, Biggs and Wedge enter the trench, but Vader appears behind them and shoots down both Biggs and Wedge, killing them both. Vader then focuses on Luke, but is suprised to learn that the Force is strong with him. Regardless, Vader prepares to shoot him down. He fires upon Luke's starfighter and badly damages it, disabling the targeting computers and leaving Luke unable to make the fatal shot.
Vader focuses his sights on Luke, ready to finish him, when suddenly Han arrives in the Millenium Falcon and shoots down Vader's wingmen, sending one of them spiralling out of control. The wingman then collides with Vader and he is sent tumbling through space.
Luke steadily approaches the exhaust port, but still has no way to focus his shot. Suddenly, Obi-Wan's vocie speaks to him and tells him to use the Force. Luke focuses all of his energy and fires the torpedos, guiding it right into the exhaust.
As the Death Star prepares to fire, the explosion badly damages it and the black hole is unleashed inside of the station, absorbing it into itself and killing Tarkin as well as countless others. The Death Star is destroyed mere seconds before it can destroy Yavin Four and wipe out the Rebel Alliance.
Luke and Han, the only survivors of the space battle, return to Yavin Four and are welcomed as heroes, with a victory celebration taking place. A ceremony is held, during which Luke, Han and Chewbacca are presented medals by Leia for their bravery.
Cast
Andrew Garfield - Luke Skywalker
Nathan Fillion - Han Solo
Rachel McAdams - Leia Organa
Tyler Mane - Chewbacca
John Hurt - Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi
David Tennant - C3PO
Laurence Fishburne - Darth Vader (Voice)
Faran Tahir - Darth Vader (Body)
Mads Mikkelsen - Wilhuff Tarkin
Alfred Molina - Owen Lars
Jamie Lee Curtis - Beru Lars
Sequels
The film was followed by Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.