Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

Chronological Story Order: 4
Release Order: 1
Series Rank: 2 out of 8

Notable: The first film of the series (in the original saga), and the fourth film in terms of chronology. This was the only "Star Wars" movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. Star Wars (1977) was the first film to earn more than $400 million (domestically). It reached this mark in February 1997 after the re-release or re-issue of its 20th anniversary edition.
Tagline: "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..."
Director: George Lucas
Plot: It had now been 19 years since the formation of the evil Galactic Empire (in Episode III). There had been a major civil war between the forces of the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. Rebel spies had managed to steal secret technical readouts to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, a planet-sized, armored space station, commanded by Grand Moff Tarkin. Beautiful Rebel leader Princess Leia, a member of the Imperial Senate, fled in her spaceship with the stolen, secret plans, but they were soon captured by the Empire forces in a massive Imperial Star Destroyer, led by the dark menacing shape of black-garbed, helmeted and faceless Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Two of the Princess' droids, R2-D2 (with the plans recorded in its memory) and C-3PO, were jettisoned onto the surface of the desert planet of Tatooine in an escape pod. Leia was tortured to learn the location of the hidden Rebel base. Young Luke Skywalker was being raised by moisture farmers on Tatooine, the Owen Lars family. After the two droids were seized by scavenging Jawas and purchased by Luke's foster-'father', they were being cleaned by "nephew" Luke when he tripped a mechanism and saw a miniature hologram image of the Princess, pleading repetitively for help from wise, noble Jedi warrior/mentor Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi. From Owen, Luke learned that Obi-Wan was a friend of Luke’s father, whom Luke never knew. After encountering barbaric Sandpeople in the desert, Luke was rescued by Obi-Wan Kenobi - a secluded hermit who lived beyond the Dune Sea on Tatooine. Luke learned that Obi-Wan was a Jedi Knight warrior in the time of the Old Republic, before the coming of the evil Galactic Empire. He was also told that Luke’s father was also a Jedi, one of Ben’s closest friends, and that his father was killed by Darth Vader, a former pupil of Ben’s who turned to the dark side of the Force. Soon, Luke found himself thrust into the struggles of the Rebel Alliance against the evil Empire. Kenobi convinced the reluctant Luke to join him, but first emphasized he must "learn the ways of the Force." After Luke's foster 'Aunt and Uncle' were slaughtered by Imperial troops searching for the droids, Luke agreed to be trained as a Jedi by Kenobi, to eventually go on a daring mission to rescue the Princess, who had been taken into captivity on the Death Star. At the space-port of Mos Eisley, the two found a freighter pilot, Han Solo with co-pilot Chewbacca the Wookiee, to take them on The Millennium Falcon to Alderaan, the Princess’s home planet. As they left, they had to flee from Imperial troopers and cruisers (Star Destroyers). Leia watched as her blue planet of Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star, as a way to get her to talk. During a rescue attempt onboard the Death Star, where all the principal characters had gathered after the Millennium Falcon was captured, Obi-Wan Kenobi sacrificed himself in a light-saber duel with Darth Vader, his former apprentice, when Kenobi allowed Vader to strike him down, only to disappear before Vader’s stroke actually hit and merge his consciousness with the Force. The group of rebels escaped on the Falcon to the Rebel base, then planned a major assault on the Empire's dreaded Death Star - after finding its Achilles heel. Luke proved that he had incorporated the Force by successfully targeting the Death Star and destroying it in the climactic finale.
Set-pieces: The arrival at Mos Eisley and the cantina scene, the Millennium Falcon's turret scene in which Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) gunned down attacking TIE fighters ("Great kid. Don't get cocky!"), and the Death Star trench scene with the spirit of Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi (Alec Guinness) urging Luke to "let go" and trust the Force.
Academy Awards: Nominated for ten Academy Awards (with six wins): Best Art Direction (win), Best Costume Design (win), Best Film Editing (win), Best Score (win), Best Sound (win), Best Visual Effects (win), Best Director, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Guinness). Winner of a Special Achievement Award.
Razzie Awards: None.
Production Budget: $11 million.
Box-Office: $307.3 (domestic), $461 million (lifetime domestic gross), and $775.4 million (worldwide).
Run-Time: 121 minutes (original), 125 minutes (1997 Sp. Ed.).

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Chronological Story Order: 5
Release Order: 2
Series Rank: 1 out of 8

Notable: The second film of the series (in the original saga), the series' first sequel, and the fifth film in terms of chronology. It was set three years after the events of the first film (Episode IV), and considered by many to be superior to its predecessor.
Tagline: "The Star Wars Saga Continues..."
Director: Irvin Kershner
Plot: Although the Death Star had been destroyed three years earlier, it remained a dark time for the Rebels, who were struggling against Imperial forces, who quickly regrouped and began searching for the new location of the Rebel base. Darth Vader led the hunt for Luke Skywalker, taking orders from the commanding ruler of the galaxy, the Emperor. Freedom fighters led by Luke, regarding him as the Rebel's only hope, had established a new secret base in a hidden ice cave on the remote ice world of Hoth. However, their location was discovered and an evacuation was underway, as a major battle was fought between the Hoth planet Rebels and gigantic Imperial Snow-Walkers (AT-AT's), armed walking transports. The Rebellion was defeated. Han Solo, Chewie, C-3PO and Princess Leia fled in the Millennium Falcon to hide in an asteroid field, while Luke journeyed with R2-D2 to the swampy planet of Dagobah, to train with wizened greenish Jedi master Yoda (living in hiding since the Republic fell), to master the power of the Force. Although Han Solo's group thought they had avoided detection from the pursuit of Imperial Star Destroyers, they were silently being trailed by bounty hunter Boba Fett, on their way to a "safe port" - the floating Cloud City on the planet of Bespin - owned by Solo's old friend Lando Calrissian. Unfortunately, Darth Vader had already arrived and was awaiting them. Vader captured Han, Leia and Chewbacca, and also lured young Skywalker there to entrap him, by using his friends as bait. Meanwhile, Solo was placed into a carbonite-freezing chamber to be encased in suspended animation (it was a test so that Vader could be assured that the process planned for Luke was not fatal). When Luke arrived, he engaged in a fierce, face-to-face light-saber duel with the Sith Lord - Darth Vader, who wished to convert Luke to the Dark Side. Luke's hand was amputated with one swing - and then he was horrified when told that Vader was his father, Anakin Skywalker. During their duel, Lando’s men surprised the Imperial troops, freed Leia and the enraged Chewbacca, and the group of rebels departed to save Han. The episode ended with Solo imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt and his bounty hunter Boba Fett (with Lando and Chewbacca in pursuit), while Luke was rescued and given a bionic hand.
Set-pieces: The ground assault-battle between the Hoth planet rebels and gigantic Imperial Snow-walkers (AT-AT's), the dizzying asteroid field chase scene with the Millennium Falcon escaping TIE fighters while darting between giant tumbling boulders, and later barely escaping a cave which was in fact a giant space worm's gullet, the initial light-saber fight in a cave between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and the dark force of Darth Vader (David Prowse/voice of James Earl Jones), the levitation of Luke's X-wing fighter by Yoda (voice of Frank Oz), and the climactic lightsaber battle between Luke and Vader. Famous for Darth Vader's line: "No, I am your father" after the severing of Luke's hand.
Academy Awards: Nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Art Direction, Best Original Score), winning one (Best Sound); winner of Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects.
Razzie Awards: None.
Production Budget: $18 million
Box-Office: $209.4 million (domestic), $290.5 million (lifetime domestic gross), and $538.4 million (worldwide). It was the highest grossing (domestic) film of 1980, besting comedy 9 To 5 (1980) in second place at $103.3 million.
Run-Time: 124 minutes (original), 127 minutes (1997 Sp. Ed.)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Chronological Story Order: 6
Release Order: 3
Series Rank: 4 out of 8

Notable: The third film of the series (in the original saga), the original series' second sequel, and the sixth film in terms of chronology. It was the first film to use THX technology.
Tagline: "The Empire Falls..."
Director: Richard Marquand
Plot: In the epic conclusion to the entire Star Wars Saga, Luke Skywalker had returned to his home planet of Tatooine (with his two droids) in an attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo (still in carbon freeze) from vile gangster Jabba the Hutt, a slug-like creature. The Rebels were on the run, continually being driven from one hiding place to the next. The Emperor Palpatine, the Sith mastermind who had engineered the creation of the Galactic Empire and the fall of Anakin Skywalker, was planning the doom of the Rebellion by constructing a new, more powerful Death Star space station, although it was falling behind schedule. A daring escape attempt by Leia (disguised as a bounty hunter) to free Solo from Jabba the Hutt failed, resulting in her imprisonment, along with Chewie, Luke, and the droids, although they were able to ultimately free themselves and destroy Jabba. Their next plan was to rendezvous with the assembled Rebel Alliance (led by Lando Calrissian), and mount a massive attack on the Emperor and his new space station, which was located orbiting the forest moon of Endor. (If Rebel fighters could penetrate its force field, they could target the space station's main reactor and destroy it.) Meanwhile, Luke returned to Dagobah, thinking he would finish his Force-training with aging Yoda, but the Jedi Master soon faded into oneness with the Force. Just before his death, Yoda had confirmed that Vader was Luke's father - and a ghostly image of Ben revealed that Luke's twin sister was Leia. (Ben also explained that what he had told Luke before was true - that Anakin Skywalker was for all intents and purposes 'killed' when he became Darth Vader.) Solo, Leia, Luke, the two droids, and Chewie engaged in a dangerous mission to Endor, where they were aided by furry bear-like alien creatures known as Ewoks. A climactic duel pitted Luke against his father Darth Vader one last time, as the evil Emperor watched their struggle. Luke did not kill Vader when he had the chance. Although mortally-wounded, Vader made a redeeming choice to kill the Emperor (who was threatening Luke with purple bolts of lightning and slowly killing him), in order to save his son. Vader/Anakin Skywalker heaved the Emperor's body into an abyss, where he was torn apart by the Death Star generators, and then died in his son Luke's arms. With the Death Star's shield deflector destroyed, the Rebels commenced an attack on the unprotected Death Star's main reactor, and the space station was obliterated. On Endor, the Rebels celebrated their ultimate victory over the Empire. Luke looked at the smiling spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and his father.
Set-pieces: Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) fight in Jabba the Hutt's pit with the Rancor beast, the sand-pit battle between Jabba the Hutt's barge and the skiff, the speeder bike chase through dense Endor trees and foliage, and the final climactic duel between son Luke and father Darth Vader (David Prowse /voice of James Earl Jones) in front of a cackling Emperor (Ian McDiarmid). Also, Princess Leia's (Carrie Fisher) revelation about her sibling relation to Luke.
Academy Awards: Nominated for four Academy Awards (with no wins): Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, and Best Original Score. Winner of Special Achievement Oscar for Visual Effects.
Razzie Awards: None.
Production Budget: $32.5 million.
Box-Office: $252.6 million (domestic), $309.3 million (lifetime domestic gross), and $475 million (worldwide). It was the # 1 highest-grossing (domestic) film of 1983, besting second place Terms of Endearment (1983) at $108.4 million.
Run-Time: 134 minutes (original), 135 minutes (1997 Sp. Ed.).