Cheesy fun

Rating: 8/10 (30 May 2002)

This film is not a classic as some people would claim, but it still holds up as being cheesy fun, especially if you want to laugh at the light-sabres in the non-special edition releases.
The plot is simple. A bored-with-life farm boy named Luke is picked up by a Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi and sets off with a smuggler named Han Solo, two Droids, Obi-Wan, and a Wookie to rescue a Princess named Leia.
OK, so what's the main element of this film?
Fun.
The movie wants to take you to a galaxy, far, far away, thrill you with the action scenes, amuse you with the one-liners, and praise the fairy tale-like plot. And at that point, it suceeds.
But the film has it's flaws.
The effects look cheesy. I'd let it slide if it was intentional or the budget was under $1 million, but with an $11 million budget, they could have looked more polished, even though it was 1977. And yes, I do know that $11 million is still low-budget; but it is still enough money to fit in good special effects. But some of the effects look good. The effects used to transmit pictoral and sound messages to one or the other look very good, the scenes in space look good too, and R2-D2s effects look fine.
And the acting and writing is a bit hammy. Some of the one-liners are funny and some of the supporting cast is good, but still hammy. I think decent actors would be avaliable on a low budget.
But let the flaws aside, this is a fun movie to watch. I give it an 8.