About as good as the original trilogy.

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2011)

I think that people have a bad memory. When the original Star Wars came out, it was not universally loved as some people today believe it was. Sure, now, 34 years later, you can hardly find someone who doesn't claim "Star Wars" to be a film classic. But when it was first released in 1977, it was about as loved as Episode I was in 1999 - roughly half loved it and half hated it. It is interesting that nowadays people will talk about how amazing the original trilogy of films were and how terrible the new films are. But people don't seem to remember that they share most of the same characteristics. Here are some examples of what I mean:

I hate to say it, but the writing in the original trilogy is hardly Oscar-worthy material. The lines were cliché-ridden but serviceable to progressing the story. Same with the new films.

The movies were geared towards kids. Wookies, Jawas, Hutts, and comedic robots aren't exactly grown-up fare. We think these films were more mature than the prequels, but only because they matched our maturity when we first saw them as children or teens.

The movies are indeed special effects movies. The only reason the original films didn't use computer graphics is because CGI wasn't practical at the time. Had it been, Lucas surely would have utilized it to its fullest advantage.

Both trilogies have political underpinnings. These may be more apparent in the prequels, but are definitely present in the original movies.

In the end, they are all just movies, and rather silly ones at that.

Now, I am writing this as someone who loves Star Wars as much as the next guy. They are my favorite movies. But I acknowledge that they are just movies and they are not meant to be grand works of art. They are meant to be a fun, entertaining, effect-filled diversion. And to that end, all of the movies are successful. Obviously some episodes are superior to others, but they are each enjoyable in their own way. Nostalgia is the primary reason that the original films are held in such high regard. If we really view these films objectively, perhaps the original films are not as perfect as we remember and the prequels are not as flawed as we think.