In a galaxy far, far away...

“Do or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda

An Imperial Star Destroyer intercepting Princess Leia Organa’s Tantive IV, C-3P0 and R2-D2 blabbering, the mighty Darth Vader storming into the ship angrily, and the ominous music playing in the background, all these gave me a chill down the spine. Well, there’s more ! Here are my impressions after I’ve watched the entire Star Wars Saga for the first time, this April.

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I was late to the party

When every nerd in The Big Bang Theory, a popular sit-com, was talking about the Force, quoting Yoda, playing with their Lightsabers, and having those ubiquitous cameos pushed me to the verge of finding answers to all these easter eggs. A New Hope, released in 1977, changed the way children see their heroes. It was a cornerstone for this paramount of a saga. I resented for not seeing these movies earlier. Even though the original trilogy didn’t belong to my era, it was disappointing not being able to watch in on the big screen.

When these movies were released on Disney Plus, there was no stopping me. I read a bunch of articles to research the best order to watch the movies. Finally, I decided on a spoiler-free version, you can find it here. A New Hope is a gem of a film, blending the action, curiosity, suspense, mystery, and a victory. The movie starts with the assault on Tantive VI, on which Princess Leia tries to escape with the plans to destroy the Galactic Empire’s secret weapon, the Death Star. She’s stopped by Darth Vader, before which she recorded a holographic message with the help of R2-D2. The R2-D2, along with C-3PO, escapes to Tatooine. A young Luke and Obi-Wan appear on the screen and try to decode Leia’s message. They set out on a journey to Alderaan, taking help from smuggler Han Solo and his first mate, a Wookiee named Chewbacca, on their ship Millenium Falcon.

Phew !! That’s a lot of information to take. That’s how I felt after watching the first 30 minutes of the movie. I was just pausing at every plot twist to recollect the characters. I won’t go into the plot right now, because it’s impossible to. However, I’ll go through the emotions and feelings I’ve experienced.

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The Force around me

The concept of Force is fascinating. An energy field that connects everything in the universe. That’s pretty novel. To those who haven’t seen the Star Wars franchise, Force is something with which a Force-sensitive human can learn to sense and manipulate the Force. It is an unusual way to portray a superhero (ahem ahem !! Marvel & DC). One has to learn the way of force, to become a Jedi. We can witness this in The Empire Strikes Back, regarded as the greatest film in the Star Wars saga. When Luke goes to Dagobah, Yoda - a highly revered guru, teaches him the ways of the force.

“A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” - Yoda (The Empire Strikes Back, 1980)

It’s exciting to see the main protagonist struggling to become a Jedi. Nevertheless, a true Jedi, adhering to the light side of the force, avoiding the emotions affiliated to the dark side of the Force. The Sith order, are driven by their emotions, like hate, anger, and greed. So, underlyingly we can see it as a battle between the good and bad virtues. The Empire Strikes Back also marks a very interesting development in the plot and the movie ends with Han Solo in a dire state. The Return of the Jedi starts with Darth Vader landing on the more powerful Death Star. Luke and Leia attempt to rescue Han from Jabba, which backfires resulting in taking Leia as a slave, in the most famous costume of all time (if you know, you know). However, they escape from Jabba’s place and resume on their mission leading to an exciting lightsaber duel. The trilogy ends on a good note setting an interesting tone for the sequels ahead.

The first three movies in the saga, colloquially known as the original trilogy or the classic trilogy, do stand up to their reputation. Making a movie in the space, in the 1970s, the use of graphics, elaborate descriptions of the planets, imagining the technology was far fetched. In my honest opinion, these were ahead of its time. However, the franchise stayed consistent of the technology used in recent movies as well. The spaceships, the nitty-gritty technical devices, etc. remain familiar, and never out of place. I am fascinated by the huge loyal fan base this franchise has earned, and I’m proud to be one of them.

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Epilogue

As the plot progresses we feel connected to the characters, the droids, the spaceships, etc. Here is how I feel about the most prominent ones:

• The Lightsabers: OMG !! They’re awesome !! The buzzing sound when it is switched on is just surreal. It engages us to watch attentively. Seeing the duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader is stunning. After watching the movie, even I tried to buy one online or make one. Rather, I was glued to Youtube watching people make their own Lightsabers, in Disneyland.

Every Star Wars nerd certainly loves a lightsaber ! Well, I’m no exception !

• Millenium Falcon: Who doesn’t love the most iconic spaceship that can do the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs (That’s what he said (:P).) ?? It’s like home to Han Solo and Chewbacca duo. Its freakishly fast, and delivers when needed (yeah, sometimes it doesn’t).

“PUNCH IT” - Han Solo

• R2-D2: The most iconic droid of all time. Every guy wanted to own one. Cute in its own way, endurable more than one can imagine. The beeps and whistles have a sweet charm of their own. Paired with C-3PO, they make a great duo (next to Han and Chewie though!).

Whistle ! Beep ! Beep !

• C-3PO: The most anxious and obedient droid on the franchise. He is unwillingly involved in the battles, and blabbers at an inappropriate time. However, he can’t survive without his counterpart R2-D2.

“If I told you half the things I’ve heard about this Jabba the Hutt, you’d probably short circuit.”

• Darth Vader: I didn’t want to include Darth Vader in this list. But I couldn’t help myself. He is such a strong and powerful character, that is worth mentioning. The tense situation when he appears on the screen, his heavy breathing through the helmet, his uncontrollable anger, his lightsaber duels, his force-wielding strength, all contribute to a very captivating experience, and respect towards him. He’s loved on par with those on the light side.

“If you only knew the power of the Dark Side!” - Darth Vader

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P.S: Well, these are my few words on the Star Wars original trilogy. However, my impressions of the prequel and sequel trilogies, and anthology series will be out shortly.

Here’s a bonus GIF, of my most favorite actress. (wink, wink) 😉

May the force always be with you.

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The views expressed are purely personal.

All photos from Google.

All GIFs via GIPHY

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