I'd be lynched for saying it, but that's why I have to say it....

Rating: Null/10 (27 January 1999)

If a lot of people I consider close friends knew that I wrote this I'd be flayed alive and boiled in Tauntaun fat. I'm so relieved to find other IMDb user comments along the same lines, to find I'm not the only one!....My name is August 4 and I am a Star Wars dissident! Is this SW thing some kind of contagious delusion, mass-hysteria or pseudo-religious fervour? Why do I feel as if I'm some kind of heretic? I love fantasy movies and became a cine-junkie back in the mid-seventies when the new breed of blockbuster was born. Sure I saw Star Wars, sure I enjoyed it. I even preferred The Empire Strikes Back (though Jedi is at best a rehash of the first two movies for the under-fives.) I think I've gone a little way towards qualifying my stance. I like the movies, really, I do! But can someone explain this madness to me? I'm so far past this obsession it brings me down to see the stuff everywhere, always, without respite, EVER. The toys, the gadgets, the books, the re-released soundtrack sets, the re-released video sets, the bed linen, the computer games.... On top of this, people around me greeting these things with enthusiasm, even excitement. PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME! For me, the films have always lacked a certain something; passion perhaps, a deep emotional involvement. Star Wars never hit me in that place that makes a movie something personal and enduring. The Dykstra / ILM special effects leave no space for imagination. It's all about technology, never beauty. That opening shot of the Imperial Star Destroyer going overhead has always left me unmoved, (this blasphemy alone would be enough for certain buddies to kick that chair out from under me!) even at the age of 10 when I saw it the first time round. These days I've moved onto movies with a bit more of an emotional kick. I'm still a dreamer, but I prefer characters to be defined a bit more clearly and the technology to be a bit more blurred. Beguiling as the trailer for The Phantom Menace looks, I think the SW franchise is on the brink of being devoured by SFX. I hope it's brilliant, but even if it isn't, prepare for it to be around FOREVER.