History Awesome / ANewHope

* In both the canon and Legends continuities, the destruction of the Death is a HUGE deal with far-reaching repercussions. The fact that almost two decades of resources and effort was destroyed in an instant is already impressive, but in both universes, the majority of Empire's best and brightest among the upper ranks of the military were on board the massive station at Tarkin's insistence. Luke doesn't just destroy a powerful weapon, he also partially decapitates the Empire's military, leaving their forces less effective than they would otherwise be.

!! Meta
* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to2SMng4u1k Star Wars SC 38 Reimagined]]"; for those who find the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan in the original film to have [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny aged poorly]], this fan edit reimagines the scene into something much more akin to the duels from later films. For a fan movie, the editing and choreography is high quality, and from a storytelling perspective, it very much feels like a follow-up to [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Anakin and Obi-Wan's duel on Mustafar]]. On top of it all, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVWr249AUq4 "Anakin's Dark Deeds"]] is used as the song for this scene, bringing things full circle from ''Revenge of the Sith''.

* A retroactive one for Owen and Beru, thanks to the ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' show: [[spoiler:given the fight that they gave the Third Sister, it is highly likely that they gave the stormtroopers a hell of a fight before they were killed.]]

* A retroactive one for Owen and Beru, thanks to the Obi Wan Kenobi show: [[spoiler:given the fight that they gave the Third Sister, it is highly likely that they gave the stormtroopers a hell of a fight before they were killed.]]

** If that didn't make it better, ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' does: Their reunion here seems oddly calm and impersonal considering how they parted after that fateful duel, which that series addresses, and all the trauma for Obi-Wan and vindictive rage for Vader that they've sorted out by this point. Vader's playing a riskless defense this time, despite the whole "Your powers are weak, old man!", because last time, with both him and Obi-Wan at top form once more ten years after Mustafar, the latter still manhandled his former apprentice handily. Too bad for Vader that he doesn't exactly win because of his changed tactics...

** What sells it is his "Yep, still got it" look.

* Leia is pretty gutsy right from the start. You get the sense she exits her cover in order to deliberately get captured in order to distract Vader and his entourage with a high-profile prisoner instead of focusing on a stray escape pod - and it works for long enough for R2-D2 and C-3PO to escape. In a non-action awesome moment, she doesn't flinch in the face of Vader and Tarkin, despite the low likelihood of escaping the Death Star. This is given extra weight when the events of ''Film/RogueOne'' are explored, as [[spoiler: Vader had ''seen her ship'' depart from Scarif]], and thus Vader knew that she was lying to his face - but she did it anyway.

** Even more awesome with knowledge of the prequel trilogy: [[spoiler:Obi-Wan crippled him in a volcanic planet and left him for deadーwhich made his life-support system necessary in the first placeーand Vader also believed him to be responsible for his wife's death]]. They're having a rematch, one that Vader has wanted for a long time. And he does get his revenge... [[{{Irony}} just not the way he'd hoped for.]]

** The old {{novelization}} heavily hints this was a ''set-up'': according to the chain of command, the joint chiefs weren't under Tarkin's authority but his and Vader's peers and could have challenged their authority, so Vader went with his declarations about the Force to get an excuse to show that [[AppealToForce he was their superior because he could kill them without even touching them]], and Tarkin was even higher because he was the only one who Vader would ''listen'' if he was asked not to murder them. Needless to say, it worked.

* Vader during the Moff meeting aboard the Death Star. The only thing that we've seen him do so far is strangle a guy and yell at a young woman. After "the man in black" decries the Death Star as insignificant next to the power of the Force, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti decides to insult his beliefs. Vader merely lifts a hand and the guy starts choking, Vader saying that "I find your lack of faith disturbing." We see in this that despite first impressions, Vader is actually ''dangerous,'' not just Tarkin's lackey.

** Remember, this was the ''first'' use of the Force in film, after it was introduced, which made it all the more intimidating in the day. Obi-wan calls it "an energy field" that surrounds people, binds the galaxy, and other pseudo-religious harmonious fluff, and the audience was like, "Oh okay, old guy, that's cool, let's get back to the space opera." Then an Imperial officer starts talking smack, and Vader suddenly introduces ''practical villainous applications'' of said energy field. Dark Side of the Force indeed.

* The film's opening shot: after an opening text crawl and Music/JohnWilliams' legendary fanfare, we see a [[CoolStarship spaceship]] (the Tantive IV) fly past and over a planet, firing at something chasing it... and then a ''[[MileLongShip much bigger]]'' pursuing ship (a Star Destroyer) flies over the the camera and fires at it, and keeps getting closer and closer. 1977 movigoers had never seen anything like this before (not even in ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}''), and were witnessing the birth of a whole new kind of filmmaking right away.

--> "If my blade should find its mark, you shall cease to exist. But I warn you: if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

** ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' explains that he was willing to be blunt and honest with Vader, but still carry out orders and do his job quite effectively, earning Vader's respect.

** Also, the effort Richard LeParmentier, Motti's actor, put into making his being telekinetically choked look convincing. Especially when everyone thought this was a hokey flop in the making, that's dedication.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was the learner. Now, '''I''' am the master."'']]

* Obi-Wan getting PapaWolf on two [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy drunkard thugs in the cantina trying to pick a fight with Luke]]. At first, he tries to cool the situation down but when the pair get violent, [[UnderestimatingBadassery thinking this old man will be an easy fight for them]], without breaking a sweat Obi-Wan draws his lightsaber and quickly [[CurbStompBattle reduces them to screaming wrecks]], one clutching a deep slash wound in his chest, the other clawing at the [[AnArmAndALeg stump of his right arm]].

** In a DeletedScene, an Imperial officer has no problem telling Vader that he considers Tarkin's plan to break Leia to be a foolish waste of time. And given that he doesn't object, Vader seems to agree with him.
* Vader during the Moff meeting aboard the Death Star. The only thing that we've seen him do so far is strangle a guy and yell at a young woman. After "the man in black" decries the Death Star as insignificant next to the Force, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti decides to insult his beliefs. Vader merely lifts a hand and the guy starts choking, Vader saying that "I find your lack of faith disturbing." We see in this that despite first impressions, Vader is actually ''dangerous,'' not just Tarkin's lackey.

** Tarkin had the balls to actually ''threaten'' Darth Vader, implying that something bad will happen if Vader's plan to let the Falcon to lead them to the Rebel base doesn't work.

--> "Should my blade find its mark, you shall cease to exist, but if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

* [[PreMortemOneLiner "I have you now."]] ([[BigDamnHeroes The Millennium Falcon intervenes a second later]]) " '''"[[BigWhat WHAT?!]]"''' '''"YEAHOOOOOO!''' You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!" Welcome to the Rebel Alliance, Han Solo.

** What's more, every member of the core cast contributes to the fight; Luke and Han man the guns, Leia calls shots from the cockpit while Chewie pilots, and R2-D2 runs repairs like the pit crew at a NASCAR race. Only one who didn't help was C3PO.

* The film's opening shot: after an opening text crawl and John Williams' legendary fanfare, we see a [[CoolStarship spaceship]] (the Tantive IV) fly past and over a planet, firing at something chasing it... and then a ''[[MileLongShip much bigger]]'' pursuing ship (a Star Destroyer) flies over the the camera and fires at it, and keeps getting closer and closer. 1977 movigoers had never seen anything like this before (not even in ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}''), and were witnessing the birth of a whole new kind of filmmaking right away.

** Obi-Wan getting PapaWolf on two [[AlcoholInducedIdiocy drunkard thugs in the cantina trying to pick a fight with Luke]]. At first, he tries to cool the situation down but when the pair get violent, [[UnderestimatingBadassery thinking this old man will be an easy fight for them]], without breaking a sweat Obi-Wan draws his lightsaber and quickly [[CurbStompBattle reduces them to screaming wrecks]], one clutching a deep slash wound in his chest, the other clawing at the [[AnArmAndALeg stump of his right arm]].

** ''Franchise/{{Star Wars Legends}}'' explains that he was willing to be blunt and honest with Vader, but still carry out orders and do his job quite effectively, earning Vader's respect.
** In a deleted scene, an Imperial officer has no problem telling Vader that he considers Tarkin's plan to break Leia to be a foolish waste of time. And given that he doesn't object, Vader seems to agree with him.

** The old novelization heavily hints this was a ''set-up'': according to the chain of command, the joint chiefs weren't under Tarkin's authority but his and Vader's peers and could have challenged their authority, so Vader went with his declarations about the Force to get an excuse to show that [[AppealToForce he was their superior because he could kill them without even touching them]], and Tarkin was even higher because he was the only one who Vader would ''listen'' if he was asked not to murder them. Needless to say, it worked.

** ''Franchise/{{Star Wars Legends}}'' sources like ''Literature/{{Shadows of the Empire}}'' state that destroying ace Rebel pilots [[BloodKnight is what he does for fun.]] Dogfighting is his way of relaxing, and he normally has a dozen kills under his belt once he's done.

** And the story it's from is one of Sci-Fi's Big Three. Given that [[Franchise/StarTrek the other]] [[Series/DoctorWho two members]] of that group's [[BeliefMakesYouStupid attitudes]] [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions on religion]] were often condescending at best (and one of them might still be at times), this moment can feel really darn satisfying if you're religious. Even in science fiction, religion and mysticism can still have a place in the world, and its practitioners can not only be justified in it (midi-chlorians debatably aside), but powerful by it as well.

** How about Tarkin having the balls to actually ''threaten'' Darth Vader, implying that something bad will happen if Vader's plan to let the Falcon lead them to the Rebel base doesn't work.