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

Yes, there are AT-AT fights and Boba Fett, as well as the legendary "I am your father" twist in Empire. Nothing, however, can compare to the original Star Wars in terms of pure science fiction action and adventure.

From the opening scene of the Star Destroyer pursuing the fleeing Rebel ship to the climactic ceremony in which Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were honored as galactic heroes, A New Hope wowed audiences. Between these two points, there was everything a sci-fi/fantasy enthusiast could want: lowly heroes drawn into greater realms, roguish scoundrels, princesses in peril, a zoo of strange and lovely aliens, and epic space wars that hung in the balance the fates of planets.

George Lucas embraced all that was excellent about early twentieth-century adventure serials and modernized it with a modern flair in A New Hope. It isn't the most intricate or detailed of the Star Wars films. It's the purest enjoyment somebody can experience when viewing a film.

Director: George Lucas
Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher
Runtime: 121 mins