13 Things You Learn Rewatching Star Wars: A New Hope
4. But Overall This Is The Lightest In Tone Of The Originals
A couple of moments aside (the preceding Alderaan example, Luke returning home to find his family burnt to skeletons), A New Hope is, much like The Phantom Menace, the lightest in tone of the original trilogy. Thats not to suggest its a breezy, fluffy affair, but rather that its an outright fun one, somewhat lacking in the emotional heft which makes up the darker entries of the franchise (The Empire Strikes Back, Revenge Of The Sith). Meant as a rousing, heroic film, A New Hope is rife with such imagery and themes, and the movie is a testament to the idea of a plucky underdog winning against the odds. The ending (which Ill talk more about later) is a happy one, and though many elements of the sorrowful tragedy that the Star Wars franchise is are put in place, it remains that, as a standalone film, A New Hope is an upbeat one. As an aside, much of this lightness is provided by C-3PO, whose constant yammering - at times amusing, at others annoying - and pratfall-ing is meant as comedic fodder. This is apparent even in scenes intended to be a little more insidious, such as when Luke is ambushed by the Tusken Raiders, a supposedly scary moment capped off by 3POs dramatic, 1930s style faint.
