It just keeps getting better and better.

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2000)

"No words to describe it!" "A masterpiece!" "Dazzling" "The greatest movie ever made!" There is something very strange about these words because, if you ask me, no other movie stuffed up Hollywood more. I do, however, agree with all the above comments used by IMDb users, except one...
"Star Wars" is not the greatest film of all time. "Star Wars: Special Edition" is one of them. I believe it has the potential to be the greatest film of all time, but we must wait for another update. I think there is more in "Star Wars" to be said tan any other film, but to actually say it would be doing it injustice. This is a film that you analyse to the nth degree but always come back to the same circuit of analysis.
I can understand why some IMDb users didn't like this film. It is corny, predictable, slow-moving and more of a space opera than an action-adventure. But when you think about it, these are the things that make it so great, because we know what to expect and we are able to view it a million times over.
To explain the storyline would also be injustice. There is an attention to detail so strong in this filom and all the others that takes our attention off the story and allows us to focus on the journey. Another reason is because it creates a world of such infinite possibilities, myths and legends that even a simple domestic dispute would make it interesting. This film tells the story in the most simple way, focusing mainly on the journey and letting the rest speak for itself (in some of the corniest one-liners ever).
This is a gem. A real original film. It is unlike any film made before. It is inspired by the old "Flash Gordon" adventure serials but does not satirise them like "Raiders of the Lost Ark". It does not even pay much homage to them. It just uses them as the basis for what unfolds - an epic, dramatic, operatic and elaborate masterpiece.
Variety is another word I use to describe this film. There are more types of actors in this film than any other, from stage actors to character actors, traditional actors to method actors, puppets to computer generated...things. This movie has - and is - everything! It is traditional, yet before its time. It is original yet contrived. It is slow yet entertaining. It is objective yet subjective. How can anyone not like this film?
No review of "Star Wars" would be complete without mentioning John Williams' musical score. That, to me, is what holds the film together. Without THAT music, it would have been a disaster. Yes, the special effects are superb. Not everything revolves around special effects, you know!
I said at the beginning that this film stuffed up Hollywood more than any other. To be honest, I think that was a good thing. After a few decades, it took the attention off the place, which is what I think George Lucas would have wanted ("I was never in Hollywood geographically"). This was not the "epitome" of moviemaking. Hollywood just thought it was and has tried to make something better ever since.
Critic Roger Ebert once said in an essay that Hollywood has given us three kinds of film genres: the Western, the musical and film noir. In a strange way, "Star Wars" is all three of them and so are the other films. Yes, I think the other films are great. Yes, I thought "The Phantom Menace" was underrated. To be honest, I don't think George Lucas could go wrong and I think the updated versions of all SIX of the films will be superb. Maybe "Star Wars" will end up being the best film of all time! What about that?