"Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more"

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2014)

I never bought into the Star Wars hype machine so didn't see this until the 1997 revamp. I remember warning some ardent fans back in '83 that it wouldn't take too long for the much vaunted special effects to wear thin and start curling at the edges, to be met with almost universal scoffing. I felt vindicated when looking at it again to discover thanks to cgi cartoonery it's become almost laughably ludicrous, or it would be if the story wasn't so dull.
Not freedom fighters/terrorists up against the Empire/baddies yet again, pulleez – or as C3PO says Here we go again. The four heroes Hans, Leia, Luke and Chewbacca are off again in their corny quest for victory against the Dark Side. There's an interminable affray with Jabba, space dogfights, cute Gummi Bears on parade, bits that make the old UK TV advert for Smash mash look stylish, I was even fondly recalling Za Za the cat out of Hector's House too. Shame they couldn't have got Stevie Nicks out of Fleetwood Mac to take over the part of Leia from the cardboard stereotype on view, but with cgi anything is still possible! It all looks and feels so olde and tired that I wonder how jaded and faded the original version is now, but maybe many millions of people would lose part of their childhood if they did see it. This is now a monument to Revision, Lucas altered the look of the original work of Art to extend the life of the franchise. After all, even the great painters did it! But why not have done with it and run the revised opening credits to the Muppet Show or maybe more aptly the glorious Banana Splits TV show theme? There's some good imagery, pitifully few though eg Vader meeting the Emperor with a starry backdrop, some good slapstick eg dopey Chewy inadvertently entrapping them all in the Care Bear net - or should that be Snare Bears?
At the time of the original hullabaloo it was generally considered the weakest link of the three movies, the rose-tinted spectacles used by an ageing generation who saw it when they were children have imbued it by now with a mystical worthiness that really is unwarranted. I understand and appreciate the power of viewing favourably as an adult the precious things of youth, but it never blinds me as to the real worth of the aforementioned precious things in the manner Star Wars does with its fanbase. And I see yet again just how inspirational and memorable Star Trek TOS was. It's merely OK as a time passer and much better than catching a cold; sadly I saw it too late to think it great.