A New Hope really seemed to throw my cousins. Not only was the cinematic style completely different from the preceding films, but the story did not conform to any of their expectations (and I don't mean because it was actually good). The story arcs of Revenge of the Sith were not resolved and were barely touched upon, which proved to be very distracting. Berri declared her dislike for A New Hope because, (in a high screech that would have given Crying Wife a run for her money) "It's just that Episode III was so sad because Padme died, and Anakin turned evil and then the twins were separated, AND NOW THEY'RE FALLING IN LOVE!!" She has a point about a clear flaw in our viewing order. Anyone on their 2nd+ viewing of the originals will know that Luke and Leia are siblings and either laugh or grimace at the potential, but averted romance. First timers used to be oblivious and would probably keep guessing as they watched IV and V on who would get Leia . Berri made me wonder if, during the years of '77-'83, there was a "Team Luke" and "Team Han" thing going on. Alas, that wonderful surprise for Star Wars newcomers is now gone.
Now, unfortunately, I was only present for the first hour of the Empire Strikes Back screening, so I have less of their reactions to it that film, but here it is. For once, there was little confusion about the film's story. They were all completely clear about where the characters were and why. The narrative had a very strong hook and kept their attention for the first half hour without too many questions. Valise was even kind enough to recant her statement that "Star Wars sucks." We did hit a bump in the road when Yoda appeared. Again, the prequels had spoiled the surprise that the quirky little bat creature was in fact a Jedi Master. They had no idea what to make of him because he seemed to be acting completely out of character until he finally revealed his identity. Eventually, they just decided he'd gone crazy living in the wilderness. I think Lucas just failed to capture Yoda's quirky humor in the prequels and focused too much on the backwards platitudes.
Many fans have debated the mechanics of the cave scene where Luke fights a replica of Vader, mostly because it's an extremely deep scene of subtle and philosophical foreshadowing. The girls had an even harder time with it because they were not used to actually thinking when watching the films. Episodes I-III were very blunt films of mostly meaningless CGI action and any foreshadowing like this was spoon fed to the audience. Episode IV dialed back the CGI, but was filled with mostly basic exposition, with a bit of subtlety and vague detail. So, with their brains wired to just accept the facts as presented without much thought, I had to pause the film and explain.
The lesson Luke is taught regards fear. Yoda tells him that the only thing in the cave is what he brings with him. Luke brings his weapons, expecting something dangerous, something he should be afraid of. Inside the cave, he finds the one thing he is most afraid of: Darth Vader, and immediately kills him without hesitation. He then sees his action reflected in the face under Vader's mask. Luke went in expecting a fight and that's exactly what he found. Yoda was trying to tell him that listening to your fear will lead to anger and aggression, especially in the face of the unknown, and a Jedi has to be better than that, or risk ending up like Vader. In addition, there is the foreshadowing that Vader is Luke's father, and the audience, unknowing or not, gets a glimpse into how Vader turned evil.
Final Thoughts
I had to leave at this point, so I didn't catch the rest of their reactions to the film, but I know they liked it. For my own impressions, I finally concede that this truly the best film of the set. The universe is established enough for the audience to stay grounded, and the narrative is straight forward, yet exciting. The "new" characters have grown beyond their archetypes into more unique personalities with their own arcs. Lastly, the special effects are strong enough not to be distracting. I feel I should point out that Lucas had the greatest distance from this one. He wrote a rough outline of the story and passed it on to an experienced screenwriter and director to take over. He was rarely on set because the film was having financial difficulties which he had to deal with, which is what he's good at. Under these circumstances, the creativity of the cast and crew had a chance to shine through and create a compelling feature. It even fits pretty well into the prequel narrative as the story returns to the threads left by Revenge of the Sith. Luke finds out Vader is his father, the Emperor and Yoda are back, along with Boba Fett (although my cousins completely missed him until I pointed him out). A fine piece of cinema, no doubt.
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