Let me start with full disclosure—I am a Star Wars fan. I have been since that afternoon in 1977 when I saw “Star Wars” in a movie theater in New York, and then again at a drive in a few weeks later. Back when it was “Star Wars” and “Star Wars” was a movie, not a franchise. “Star Wars” was amazing. It blew my little seven year old mind. We thought it would only be one epic movie!
Almost three years later to the day, the sequel, “The Empire Strikes Back” was released. To this day, it remains my favorite of the “Star Wars” films by far, and the favorite of many hardcore fans. More budget, darker, better story, better effects. “Return of the Jedi” is a good “Star Wars” movie. Not great. It has its flaws. It’s the most George Lucased of the original three—that’s right, I said it. The original three. They will always be the original three to me. And, every “Star Wars” fan knows that George Lucas is famous for jacking up his own films. Revising them, adding terrible characters, overwrought complicated storylines, and all around poor decisions.
The Star Wars universe, courtesy of cinemablend.com
When the…first prequel…was released. I was excited. I avoided the reviews, which weren’t great. I went to a midnight showing. I wanted “The Phantom Menace” to be amazing. It wasn’t. It was a disappointment, as were “Attack of the Clones” which I saw in the theater one afternoon, and “Revenge of the Sith” for which I risked another midnight showing. I mean Anakin turns into Darth Vader, ho wbad could it be? Bad storylines, worse acting, obvious CG effects.
I never got into the Star Wars “expanded universe,” as expanded as it is. I thought the “Clone Wars” movie and cartoons had their moments, and filled the gap but still didn’t grab me like the ACTUAL first two films.
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