Which Star Wars film should we see…if we only have one choice? Would A New Hope do?

What about The Empire Strikes Back?

We may imagine what life would be like if there was only one Star Wars film ever.

But among all the choices we now have, what is the essential Star Wars to see?

It’s easy to choose.

But first, what are the possibilities and options? That is also easy.

The options, from The Phantom Menace to A New Hope to The Force Awakens

Seven films vie for top spot, perhaps eight, if we count the animation The Clone Wars (2008, USA), and more if we count the Star Wars spin offs such as Caravan of Courage (1984, USA), which was released to theaters overseas.

But I am sticking to the seven main episodes.

We can do away with Episode VII The Force Awakens because we need too much information for it to work as a stand-alone film. If you haven’t seen other Star Wars films, The Force Awakens will leave you asking, who is Han Solo and who is Luke? The Force Awakens doesn’t make a stand alone film.

The prequel trilogy, Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace, and episodes II and III, have a curiosity factor because they tell the Star Wars ‘back story’. These episodes were advertised as telling the story of Anakin Skywalker and his fall from grace, which is interesting in itself (see previous post). But it still is a ‘back story’ and not stand-alone.

Besides, as I have blogged earlier, my impression of the prequel trilogy (regardless of their themes) is that it’s middle-of-the-road quality, but with episode three, Revenge of the Sith, standing out.

More than one?

That leaves the original trilogy to choose the one Star Wars film to see.

Many fans regard The Empire Strikes Back the best film of this trilogy. Should we see it as the one and only Star Wars film? But it wouldn’t make sense by itself.

Many regard Return of the Jedi as the sentimental favorite, because it closes the trilogy on an uplifting note. But why only watch the end?

That leaves where it all began. Every Star Wars film offers something (see previous post), but Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope is the one Star Wars film you should see, if you had to choose one.

That’s because A New Hope is cohesive by itself. We don’t need anything more. We only require the story of A New Hope itself as contained in the first episode. You won’t need to fill in any missing details. It’s there, it’s clear and it makes sense by itself.  And it makes a definitive statement of good defeating evil.