History YMMV / ANewHope

* {{Narm}}:
** Red Leader's horrified scream as Darth Vader shoots him down is undermined by the fact that it looks like he's ''trying not to laugh'' as he does so.
** Obi-Wan's Force scream in the Blu-Ray remaster. It sounds less like a creature and more like a guy who's doubled over in pain. Audiences were quick to meme this moment, citing what the voice was trying to resemble, to the point where one person even compared it to Kramer passing a kidney stone in Series/{{Seinfeld}}.
** The mere existence of Porkins. Really, [[Creator/GeorgeLucas George]]? That's the name you give to the fat pilot?

* MoralEventHorizon: Tarkin ordering the destruction of the highly populated planet of Alderaan. Best lampshades in the radio adaptation.

* CatharsisFactor: The destruction of the Death Star is ''immensly'' satisfying, considering they just murdered an entire planet. Even better, Tarkin [[TooDumbToLive refuses to evacuate despite being warned repeatedly]] and [[KarmicDeath gets destroyed along with it.]]
* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Grand Moff Tarkin]] is a ruthless Imperial officer, and one of the Emperor's top agents. While in command of the Death Star, he has Princess Leia tortured and, even after being provided with the information he wanted, forces her to witness [[EarthShatteringKaboom the destruction of her homeworld of Alderaan]], killing billions of innocent people.

** Wedge Antilles (one of the only surviving pilots of the Battle of Yavin) got a relatively minor amount of screen time, yet became popular enough to bring back in the rest of the series, helping lead the fight against the second Death Star in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. He was also going to have a FaceDeathWithDignity scene at the start of ''The Force Awakens'' until Denis Lawson declined to return and it was given to a new character.

** The Mos Eisley Cantina denizens. In the actual film they're basically set pieces instead of characters, but they did their job in the narrative--giving the viewer an impression of just how diverse The Galaxy is--so well that most of them have [[AscendedExtra received extensive backstories]] in the ''Legends'' continuity.

* {{Fanon}}: Tarkin wears slippers. In the film, Grand Moff Tarkin is only ever filmed from the waist up, the reason being that Peter Cushing's costume shoes were too uncomfortable, and he insisted on wearing slippers instead. Fans have embraced the idea that Tarkin was somewhat lax when it came to uniform shoes, and no one ever commented on it.

** When Obi-wan first gives Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to Luke, the two of them show a ''hilarious'' [[ArtisticLicenseGunSafety disregard for basic safety with the weapon]], to the point where the scene's adaptation in ''VideoGame/LEGOStarWars'' spoofed it by [[LosingYourHead having Luke accidentally take C-3PO's head off]]. Decades later, Creator/MarkHamill remarked that one of the ways he got into character to play Luke again in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' was to imagine that Luke had had a child accidentally kill themself playing with Luke's lightsaber.

** Vader shooting R2 in the trench battle has become this after the prequel trilogy shows that R2 had served both Anakin and Padmé throughout the Republic era (and had even served a similar role to Anakin during the [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Battle of Naboo]] that he was serving to Luke here). Sure, Vader likely didn't intend to shoot R2, or even recognize him, but it still stings a lot more post-1999.
** Early in the film, Owen and Beru are shown to be apprehensive about Luke wanting to join the Imperial Academy as a fighter pilot, trying to justify wanting to keep him on Tatooine by claiming there's still more work on the moisture farm to be done. As ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' would reveal, [[spoiler:several Inquisitors arrived on the planet 9 years ago in an attempt to hunt former Jedi, and one of them nearly attempted to kill Luke in his childhood.]] Thus, Owen and Beru come across less like [[FantasyForbiddingFather fantasy forbidding parents]] and more like [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] who are terrified of Luke being exposed to the brutality of the Galactic Empire. On a similar note, their willingness to defend Luke against even an Inquisitor in that series suggests that the brutality of their deaths in this film may have been an escalation, and that some of those Stormtroopers probably had to be ''carried'' from the homestead.

** By the same token, Luke's loyalty to R2-D2, saying that he's not willing to trade him in for a new droid because of how much they've been through together. R2-D2 saved Luke's mother when she wasn't much younger than he was during this movie.
** Owen in this movie is cold towards Obi-Wan and tells Luke the man can't be trusted. In ''Attack of the Clones'', a younger Owen is polite to Anakin, shy when introducing Beru, and happy about having a stepbrother. It brings his coldness towards Obi-Wan into a new light. Owen loved Anakin and wanted a healthy relationship with him, but due to Anakin being a Jedi, that would never happen. No wonder he's fiercely protective of Luke, the last remnant of a man he met under sad circumstances.

** Obi-Wan's JumpedAtTheCall reaction to Leia's distress call is even more heartwarming after it's revealed that this [[Series/ObiWanKenobi isn't the first time]] he's had to drop everything and leave Tatooine to rescue her. It also explains why Leia is so excited when she hears that Ben Kenobi has arrived to free her.

** Luke's father was a Jedi knight like Obi-Wan, as Luke is now known as a Jedi knight before anything else.

** Vader did not destroy Alderaan. Tarkin did. Some fans actually forget this.

* MoralEventHorizon: Tarkin ordering the destruction of the highly populated planet of Alderaan.

** Vader is able to sense Obi-Wan's presence onboard the Death Star, but not his exact location (at least at first, since he comes out right in Obi-Wan's path). Did Obi-Wan's PsychicBlockDefense fail? Or did Obi-Wan deliberately let Vader sense him so as to draw him off from Luke and Leia?

** Before the release of the Prequel Trilogy, Uncle Owen was always portrayed as a grumpy, controlling man, determined to keep Luke on the farm as cheap labor, absolutely unconcerned with Luke's dreams of travel and adventure. After the Prequels, he's more likely to be portrayed as a grounded, normal man trying to protect his nephew from forces (and Forces) that would endanger him, and trying to give him a safe, quiet life on the farm.

** Creator/PeterCushing enjoyed his role as Grand Moff Tarkin so much he regretted the fact that [[spoiler:Tarkin dies]], because it meant that he couldn't come back in another ''Franchise/StarWars'' film. In ''Film/RogueOne'', Tarkin returned as a major figure, with Cushing recreated via digital technology, so he did come back after all--and despite that recreation veering into the UncannyValley quite a bit, people are willing to give that one a pass, because in a way, warts and all, Disney fulfilled Cushing's last wishes in doing so.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/MichaelBell provided the dubbed voices for Vanden Willard and Jan Dodonna years before he become known for playing various characters in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Voltron}}'', and decades before his role as Raziel in the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' video games.

** Vader shooting R2 in the trench battle has become this after the prequel trilogy shows that R2 had served both Anakin and Padmé throughout the Republic era. Sure, Vader likely didn't intend to shoot R2, or even recognize him, but it still stings a lot more post-1999.

* HypeBacklash: Certainly has been happening within the past decade or so, where fans who saw ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' see them as better films and ''A New Hope'' as the weakest film in the original trilogy due to some inconsistent pacing, [[FranchiseOriginalSin super awkward dialogue,]] and Luke just not being a very interesting protagonist until the sequel.

** The many scenes of Han finding Obi-Wan (who Luke often referred to as "Ben") annoying becomes this come ''Film/TheForceAwakens,'' where we learn that [[spoiler: he and Leia named their son Ben after him]]. Since Leia never knew Obi-Wan personally (and when she addressed him, it was as his real name) we can take this as Han showing gratitude to Obi-Wan. After all, Han and the others not only would have died if not for [[spoiler: his HeroicSacrifice]], but he never would have met [[spoiler: the love of his life]] if not for him.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: This is many fans' reaction to the Special Edition, particularly the above-mentioned Greedo Shot First scene.

** Early in the film, Owen and Beru are shown to be apprehensive about Luke wanting to join the Imperial Academy as a fighter pilot, trying to justify wanting to keep him on Tatooine by claiming there's still more work on the moisture farm to be done. As ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' would reveal, [[spoiler:several Inquisitors arrived on the planet 9 years ago in an attempt to hunt former Jedi, and one of them nearly attempted to kill Luke in his childhood.]] Thus, Owen and Beru come across less like [[FantasyForbiddingFather fantasy forbidding parents]] and more like [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]] who are terrified of Luke being exposed to the brutality of the Galactic Empire.

** In regards to ''Film/RogueOne'', [[spoiler: none of the members that stole the plans of the Death Star manages to survive the events of the movie, but with Luke managing to destroy the Death Star, it's heartwarming to know that Jyn and her crew's deaths were not in vain.]]

** At the time, it was ''intensely'' controversial that there were no traditional opening credits. To wit--the only film that dared to save all the credits for the end was ''Film/CitizenKane'', which was made under a blanket AuteurLicense. The Director's Guild of America let it slide for Creator/GeorgeLucas [[ItWillNeverCatchOn only because they assumed the film was going to bomb and be quickly forgotten]]. [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail It obviously didn't]], but when Lucas did it again for ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', the DGA issued Lucas a hefty fine that he paid before leaving the DGA altogether. Today, many filmmakers forgo traditional opening credits, or even opening titles, that now, the [=DGA=]'s insistence that artists be credited at the start of the film on the grounds of asking audiences to sit through credits where they wouldn't read the long list of professionals, seems to have been the wiser course.

** Obi-Wan's JumpedAtTheCall reaction to Leia's distress call is even more heartwarming after it's revealed that this [[Series/ObiWanKenobi isn't the first time]] he's had to drop everything and leave Tatooine to rescue her. It also explains why Leia is so excited when she hears that Ben Kenobi has arrived to free her.

** Obi-Wan's JumpedAtTheCall reaction to Leia's distress call is even more heartwarming after it's revealed that this [[Series/ObiWanKenobi isn't the first time]] he's had to drop everything and leave Tatooine to rescue her.

* StoicWoobie: Leia. She is kidnapped, tortured, and ForcedToWatch as her ''entire planet'' is destroyed, killing everyone she loved. Despite this, she doesn't shed a tear throughout the whole film.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Take one look at the [[SeventiesHair hair styles and sideburns]] and you ''know'' that this film was made in TheSeventies.

** There was some criticism of the FridgeLogic that the only tractor beam on something the size of the Death Star could be disabled from a single small terminal. While not a serious complaint, some additional voiceover dialogue from [=C3PO=] was added to the Special Edition version of the scene where the map to the tractor beam terminal was displayed for Obi-Wan, explaining that the tractor beam is powered by a network of seven nodes and disabling one of them would throw out the whole system.

** There was some criticism of the FridgeLogic that the only tractor beam on something the size of the Death Star could be disabled from a single small terminal. While not a serious complaint, some additional voiceover dialogue from C3PO was added to the Special Edition version of the scene where the map to the tractor beam terminal was displayed for Obi-Wan, explaining that the tractor beam is powered by a network of seven nodes and disabling one of them would throw out the whole system.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: A strange and likely unintended one occurs in the Jabba the Hutt scene added in the special edition. [[EnsembleDarkhorse Boba Fett]] is seen as part of Jabba's entourage, showing that the two already have a frequent working relationship. In the original version of ''The Empire Strikes Back'', Boba Fett only delivered Han to Jabba after being brought on board by Darth Vader to assist him, which meant it was completely inexplicable as to why he was ''still'' hanging around Jabba's palace in ''Return of the Jedi'' as opposed to going off on his way to pursue other bounties.

** In a {{Meta}} sense, best-selling movies stopped being nominated for awards after ''Star Wars''. Before ''Star Wars'', at least 3 of the 5 Best Picture Nominees would have been top-five box office hits. After ''Star Wars'', and continuing through the rest of the 20th century, top box office blockbusters were nowhere to be seen in Best Picture nominations, until ''Titantic'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy.

* ThatOneLevel: The Death Star is a maze full of OneHitKill traps, LeapOfFaith-style pits that there's no clear indication of whether it's the right path or not, and enemies with long-range projectiles.

* DemonicSpiders: Several enemies in the game will severely damage, if not outright kill Luke if he doesn't have full health and are very quick. They are usually found in the Tatooine caves or the Death Star.

* SoOkayItsAverage: There really isn't much to say about this adaption of the 1977 movie. While it does follow the movie much more faithfully than the 1987 adaptation, the game in general doesn't have much else going for it.
* ThatOneLevel: The Death Star is still very punishing, and has its own set of leap of faith jumps. Unlike the 1987 game, the NES has DemonicSpiders in some parts of the Death Star which will kill Luke very easily if he isn't careful or if he doesn't have full health.