Ahead of its time

Rating: 5/10 (29 June 2015)

Undoubtedly this film was way ahead of it's time. The puppetry and film sets used are brilliant. The cinematography is also wonderful and looks great by today's standards, never mind nearly forty years ago! Credit due where credit is due. However, despite all of these things this film is largely overrated. The plot is fairly basic:there are bad guys, a princess needs saving and there is something called the force. As for the characters, at times quite annoying and apart from at the start, with Luke, there's little emotional build. In fact, the robots have more charisma and likability. What is missing is the bond between viewer and characters. Why should I care about these people? Why should I be rooting for them. Being instructed as to who the goodies and baddies are is not enough I'm afraid. Overall, there's far too much bang bang, zap zap and rushing around for this film to be enjoyable. With an improved plot/script maybe it would have been better, who knows. All I can say is it's not for me.