Such an overrated made-for-TV flick

Rating: 5/10 (30 June 2007)

Back in 1977, I was able to go to the theater and go right into the theater in Kankakee, IL, and thought, "Wow! Everyone everywhere else is standing in line, and we got right in!" Then, two hours later, I was asking myself, "What the hell? THAT was what all the hoopla is all about?" I'd seen better science fiction flicks as a kid in the 50s.
Prior to seeing it, a co-worker had gushed about it, and I asked him what it was about. He told me the plot, and when he got done, I asked, "And then...?" I thought he'd described the opening half hour. And he said, "That's the story. That's all of it." After watching it, I was still asking that question, "Where is the rest of the story?"
The plot was simplistic, the dialog inane (when everyone thought that about the three new Star Wars episodes, they were in the majority), the characters really 'flat' and not very interesting. C3P0 and R2D2 as comic relief were just plain inadequate.
To this day, I think people were just sheep, thinking that they had to say wonderful things about this movie, so they did. The amazing thing to me is that 30 years later, they are still not seeing this as the average B-movie that it is.
Look, I LIKE Harrison Ford, and I LIKE the other actors in the movie, especially Alec Guiness. Okay, Mark Hamill wasn't Larry Olivier, but he is at least likable. And James Earl Jones has the best voice ever. But for this movie to be considered one of the best 20 movies of all time? Color me out of the mainstream.
I agree with probably 8 out of the other 19 top-20 movies, so I must not be too freaking alien. Why is this movie given such status? I just don't get it.