George Lucas 's mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farmboy named Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill ) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia ( Carrie Fisher ), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi ( Alec Guinness ) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo ( Harrison Ford ) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader ( David Prowse , with the voice of James Earl Jones ). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars , particularly Akira Kurosawa 's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford 's The Searchers , as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totaling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope , with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings. — Mark Deming