The film that changed everything...

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2009)

There are several ways to look at this film. One is "I'm 40 years old" and it reminds me of my youth, the days before all the super crazy CGI and all the rip offs of this film and can remember a time when there was really nothing great out then as far as Sci-Fi was concerned (just look at Logan's Run today). The other is "I'm 20 years old" and have no conception of the history of film making and have to give SW a one star rating because the effects are old or I'm just jealous that my generation does not have a film event like this and probably never will. Younger people need to realize that in 1977 there were no computers, video stores, big screen TV's, DVD's or bluray. Heck there was barely video games (were talking Pong) or VCR's and cable TV was in it's infancy. This is why kids went to see it multiple times because in 1977 movies were the big thing and we had few other ways of feeding our need for cool stuff like SW. That and the fact that the film created a new very believable world that was a great escape from the bad taste of Watergate and Vietnam, both of which were still very much in the news.
I happen to fall in the 1st category I spoke of having been 10 when SW came out. I have never been a super huge fan of anything like SW or ST although I can appreciate them a lot and have seen them all but I won't be going to conventions any time soon.
That said, this still has to be one of the most entertaining films ever made, it has everything you would want in a Saturday matinée cliffhanger which was what it was based on. Iconic characters, great music and action and for it's time some of the best special effects ever made. DO NOT watch the horrible redos by Lucas where he added unnecessary effects and totally ruined the feel of the film. I loved ROTJ but this one will forever be my favorite of the series.