A great movie - for its time

Rating: 6/10 (2 November 2015)

"Star Wars" is a 2-hour science fiction movie from almost 30 years ago written and directed by George Lucas. There really needs nothing to be said about how good this is for a 1970s movie, especially in terms of technical aspects. The Academy certainly got it right by giving them all these Oscars for it. However, it lacks in certain other areas unfortunately. First of all, the acting isn't too great. That is not really a problem of the characters though, but rather of the way they were written, which simply offered no room for outstanding performances. And Peter Cushing's character was downright forgettable despite being the main antagonist. Instead people remember Darth Vader obviously. Why? Because this film is all about the way the characters look and not what they do or say. A bit style over substance. Apart from that, I am quite surprised Alec Guinness scored an Academy Award nomination for his turn here.
The script is not the greatest achievement in general. It's the usual black-and-white characterization with good vs evil and the characters have no real shades, no facets. This was made up again by the strong work in other departments as it's not too memorable what they say and do, but what they look like, especially the non-human characters who are all somewhat considered legendary today. I am not saying the characters are written badly. Not at all. But it's just other contributions that made them what they are today. Not the script. And while I enjoyed most of the film, I cannot see it as an epic or a cult classic as so many people do to this date. "Star Wars" is bound to rise again with the new film coming out soon and featuring the original cast again. It should be interesting what they make out of it. Until then, feel free to watch the old films like this one, but not too many. The very first Star Wars film here is not a great achievement in terms of story, only in terms of all visual and audible aspects.