To paraphrase Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, "I'm too old for this Sith".

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2005)

I went to see Star Wars at my local Warner Village in Newcastle under Lyme, and who should be there in person but Darth Vader himself, Dave Prowse! I was gutted that I didn't know in advance or I'd have brought my one of my Hammer DVDs for him to sign. He once played Frankenstein's monster, created by Peter Cushing's Baron. I was there too late to go home and get it, so I just went and spoke to him instead. He seemed quite pleased that I wanted to talk about Hammer films as no doubt everyone else was all about Star Wars. He was charging £20 for signed photos, so I made do with a handshake.
As for the film itself, I was bored. It was at least an hour and a half too long. However, I'm sure that anyone under the age of seventeen will love it. I was very disappointed at Christopher Lee's brief appearance as Count Dooku. He cancelled his Manchester signing last summer that I had tickets for so he could go and do re-shoots down in Shepperton, and for what? He could have shot all that in about half an hour! So, in brief, see it if you are a child, or have children. For everyone else, stick to episodes IV - VI. I think part of my problem is that one of the things I love about the original trilogy was that it felt like you were coming in on the middle of something, like there was a history and a back-story that gave it all depth. I think it cheapens that by actually showing it. The way Anakin finally turns to the Dark Side was just a bit lame. I'd rather not have known! It is for this reason that I hope Peter Jackson never makes The Hobbit into a movie. It's the history that gives these films greater depth. We don't need to see that history made into a movie!