7.7/10 Great start to the science-fiction genre with brilliant technical wonder and a great and timeless story

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2016)

Star Wars is kind of overrated, but that doesn't mean it's not a good movie. This film changed cinema as we know it today. It changed many things: Visual Effects, Film and Sound Editing, Action and just Fiction. What it didn't revolutionise was acting or directing. Aside from Alec Guinness' great performance and good ones from Peter Cushing and James Earl Jones, the acting in this picture is a touch stilted. Mark Hamill is winy as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford is always complaining and Carrie Fisher seems to go in and out of a bad British accent. They're not bad by any means, they're just not good either. Now that we got the bad stuff out of the way, I can praise the rest.
The action is more revolutionary than it is good, there's nothing exceptional here, it's just OK. I think I was too busy thinking "How the hell did they do that in 1977?!" to actually care about what was going on. Actually, I take that back, I did care about what was going on, it just wasn't the action that made me root for the Rebellion, or the special effects. It was the characters. They aren't brilliantly written or anything, they're just really likable and engaging, aside from the flaws that I pointed out.
The story is great. It's original, it's inspiring and thought-provoking. The Force is a brilliant idea. It could be interpreted as anything. Maybe religion or belief. The story may have its flaws, like some small plot holes here and there, but I don't really care. It's a fantasy. And as I said, I was rooting for these characters. When a movie does that, I cannot say it's bad writing.
Easily the best aspect of this film is the creativity it brings to the film industry. All the aliens, the robots and cyborgs and androids that they come across are all visually compelling and incredibly designed. It's so... cool, there's no other way to describe this movie than cool. Darth Vader, the film's villain is a prime example of that. He looks cool and he sounds cool. We don't know that much about him yet at this point, but at least I wanted to. I love Darth Vader.
Overall, I'd say Star Wars is a pretty good film, truly revolutionising film in general with breathtaking special effects for its time compelling characters, an interesting story and brilliant costume design and makeup. I would say the special editions are pretty lame, but I guess they're not as bad as everyone else says they are.
Star Wars: 7.7/10