21. It is both Family Friendly and Adult
How the hell can a film that involves mass genocide, questionably motivated murder, incest and a naked wookie be classified as a U? Well, because A New Hope is a family film, packed with the same sort of harmless thrills as the Indiana Jones franchise, and the same universal commitment to the spectacular that unites audiences no matter what their age. But under that gloss, A New Hope is still incredibly dark, from the haunting image of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's scorched skeletons to the harrowing evil of Tarkin's decision to destroy Alderaan despite Leia's confession of where the rebel base is. That the film can coexist within the parameters of both genres is an astonishing achievement.
22. The First Dolby Success
In yet another huge feat of innovation, A New Hope was one of the first feature films to be screened in Dolby Stereo, and it was certainly the first to be hugely successful - enough, in fact to convince previously reluctant movie theatres to convert to the 4-channel LCRS speaker configuration, which revolutionised cinema sound.
23.The Force
An unquantifiably cool addition to the Star Wars universe, the Force is pretty much just magic, but rather than the sawing peoeple in half/pick-a-card-any-card rubbishness that most magicians try to fob us off with, the Force is genuinely awesome. Who can forget how impressed we all were when Obi-Wan waved his hand and convinced those Stormtroopers to move along, or when Luke flipped up his viewer, closed his eyes, and reigned a world of pain on Darth Vader's big toy moon?
24. It Picked Up Awards, Despite Being Part of a Triptych
In comparison to that other stellar trilogy - in terms of success as opposed to geography - Lord of the Rings, Star Wars managed to pick up awards for its individual installments, starting with A New Hope which picked up six Oscars for Best Art/Set Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (for John Williams, pictured above receiving it) and Best Sound and a load of nominations from each of the major ceremonies.
25. The Score: Imperial Attack
http://youtu.be/Wgeb4qf2xYU