A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far awayÉLuke Skywalker is an orphan who lives with his uncle and aunt on their farm on an obscure, desert planet, Tatooine. He dreams of getting off the planet and joining his friends at the academy for a life of adventure, but his uncle wants him to stay and help with the upcoming harvest. Elsewhere in the galaxy, major events are afoot. The Imperial Senate has been abolished, and now the evil Emperor rules the galaxy, forcing its powerless inhabitants into line with the Death Star, a giant space ship capable of destroying whole planets. This super-destroyer is commanded by the Grand Moff Tarkin and his sinister, masked and cloaked aide, Darth Vader. However, all is not lost; a small group of rebels, which includes the plucky Princess Leia, is bravely resisting the might of the emperor's forces. Princess Leia steals the plans of the Death Star and entrusts them to her robot, R2D2, who, together with fusspot android C3PO, is then sent in a space capsule programmed to find the mysterious Jedi knight, Obi-wan Kenobi. The capsule instead lands on the Skywalker farm. When R2D2 toddles off to fulfill his mission, Luke follows and meets Obi-wan Kenobi, who tells him that his father was also a Jedi knight and how the "Dark Side of the Force" has taken over the galaxy. However, Darth Vader learns of the robots' mission and sends a troop of imperial stormtroopers to find them. When Luke returns home he finds his aunt and uncle dead and the farmhouse destroyed. He determines to become a Jedi knight, like his father, and join the rebels to battle the Dark sideÉ Ground-breaking, blockbuster science fiction fantasy that set new standards in both special effects and plagiarism - an attribute director George Lucas cheerfully accepted, claiming influences as diverse as 'Flash Gordon' to 'The Triumph of the Will'. The characters are cartoon caricatures, but are none-the-less enjoyable for that, particularly Harrison Ford as Han Solo and David Prowse (the body) and James Earl Jones (the voice) as Darth Vader.