Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

[ER]

Don't get me wrong, I love this movie, but deep down in that heart of hearts we access past two AM on sleepless nights, don't we all really know it qualifies as delightfully bad in so many ways?

[Gabriel Knight]

It's actually my least favorite of the six movies. I think it's rather generic, if it wasn't for the jedi stuff (which barely takes any place in the movie) I wouldn't give a damn about it. The special effects are incredible tho, although WAR OF THE WORLDS came much sooner yet nobody raves about that.

[Allhallowsday]

STAR WARS (1977) is fun, but dumb.  All of the movies since were an attempt towards some type of mythos.  Hell, what do you do with the biggest movie in the world...?  Uhm, make a sequel of course.  I like the 2nd movie best, but they are all hogwash. 

[Svengoolie 3]

I mostly agree. Star wars was a real revolution, I mean the last time there was anything even close to it was when buster crabbe was on the big screen. The special effects revolution it bright on combined with the long successful storyline ended up catching lightning in a bottle.

Everything since then hasn't been an effort to make as good a movie as they could like they did with the original,  it's  been about making an "epic movie".

You know in star trek timer told Cochrane to just be the best man he could and let history decide if he was great. Star wars was an effort to make the best movie a young hungry cast and crew could. Now they jsutnhav dot make an epic movie.

[WingedSerpent]

Boy, it seems trashing on Star Wars has become a real thing as of late.  I know the OP isn't trashing the movie, but it really seems like opinion on the films and its fandom is starting to shift.  Before it seemed everyone like Star Wars.  Even the non "nerds".  My one older brother likes Star Wars, and for the most part he hates any kind of speculative or fanciful fiction.

I don't know if I'd call the movie dumb.  Its certainly no worse then a lot of fantasy movies.  I think the problem is most people aren't looking at it with the right eyes anymore.  Everyone is either looking at it through rose colored nostalgia goggles, or down at it with modern tastes and sensibilities. 

The movie is fine. Sure its got problems.  What film doesn't?  Its fun and has some great design.  Darth Vader would not be the iconic villain he is today without his look.


Out of the six Lucas films, I wouldn't even call it the weakest.  For me, that's still  Revenge of the Sith. 

[Svengoolie 3]

You're  right,  Q.  Today star wars is just a other scifiaction movje without four letter words,  tits and the requisite big bad black guy. But when it came out it was a literally revolution, something never seen before. That's  what none  of the sequels can give us again.

[Allhallowsday]

Boy, it seems trashing on Star Wars has become a real thing as of late.  I know the OP isn't trashing the movie, but it really seems like opinion on the films and its fandom is starting to shift.  Before it seemed everyone like Star Wars.  Even the non "nerds".  My one older brother likes Star Wars, and for the most part he hates any kind of speculative or fanciful fiction.
I don't know if I'd call the movie dumb.  Its certainly no worse then a lot of fantasy movies.  I think the problem is most people aren't looking at it with the right eyes anymore.  Everyone is either looking at it through rose colored nostalgia goggles, or down at it with modern tastes and sensibilities. 
The movie is fine. Sure its got problems.  What film doesn't?  Its fun and has some great design.  Darth Vader would not be the iconic villain he is today without his look.
...

I mean dumb like a comic book.  The movie is great fun.  Not liking STAR WARS is not new for me.  I was a reactionary when STAR WARS was new.  I had a negative cynical reaction to the trailers they showed on TV.  I didn't see the movie until LATE like 1982 or '83...and only because the third one was coming out and my friends were all hot for it..  I loved STAR WARS!  I loved all three of the original movies when I saw them.  Now, not so much.  The "mythos" is DUMB.  People take it seriously like GEORGE LUCAS was Isaac Asimov or Gene Wolfe... he's no kind of great writer.  The fun went out of them when they started taking themselves seriously, so we agree.  I think it's the later ones that are like a pitchfork to my ass. 

[kornula]

Yes, Star Wars is just another "Hero's Journey"   Yes, it's a tad clunky and a predictable story...but it still captivates and engages most people today. Not just due to nostalgia. Even though the characters are nearly pure Archetypes, the actors - in spite of Lucas telling them not to act - breathed life into them.

Star Wars still is very clearly, the good guys vs the bad guys.  The good guys are seen in organic bright colors. The bad Guys are always in sterile, uniform, dull back drops (and costumes)

Mind you, had George not had friends to call him out on his weak story telling, his version, if relased would have fallen flat.   It was saved in the editing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFMyMxMYDNk

[zelmo73]

Boy, it seems trashing on Star Wars has become a real thing as of late.  I know the OP isn't trashing the movie, but it really seems like opinion on the films and its fandom is starting to shift.  Before it seemed everyone like Star Wars.  Even the non "nerds".  My one older brother likes Star Wars, and for the most part he hates any kind of speculative or fanciful fiction.
I don't know if I'd call the movie dumb.  Its certainly no worse then a lot of fantasy movies.  I think the problem is most people aren't looking at it with the right eyes anymore.  Everyone is either looking at it through rose colored nostalgia goggles, or down at it with modern tastes and sensibilities.  
The movie is fine. Sure its got problems.  What film doesn't?  Its fun and has some great design.  Darth Vader would not be the iconic villain he is today without his look.
...

I mean dumb like a comic book.  The movie is great fun.  Not liking STAR WARS is not new for me.  I was a reactionary when STAR WARS was new.  I had a negative cynical reaction to the trailers they showed on TV.  I didn't see the movie until LATE like 1982 or '83...and only because the third one was coming out and my friends were all hot for it..  I loved STAR WARS!  I loved all three of the original movies when I saw them.  Now, not so much.  The "mythos" is DUMB.  People take it seriously like GEORGE LUCAS was Isaac Asimov or Gene Wolfe... he's no kind of great writer.  The fun went out of them when they started taking themselves seriously, so we agree.  I think it's the later ones that are like a pitchfork to my ass.  

George Lucas was the 1970s version of James Cameron, in that he was great at the technical aspects of a movie, but horrible in the art. George Lucas is an engineer, and if you've ever worked with engineers before then you know that they are all about design and craft but actually writing things cohesively presents a challenge for them. Star Wars (1977) is a technical marvel but the story sucked, much like how Avatar (2009) is still one of the prettiest movies of all time but the story was abysmally bad and definitely qualifies as a bad movie. I loved the original Star Wars trilogy because I was born at the perfect time to experience them, since I saw the first one in the movie theater when I was 3 years old and ever since I've become fascinated more with how movies are made rather than just is the movie good or not. I've seen bad movies that have really cool production work, like Galaxy Of Terror (1981) or Lifeforce (1985), and likewise good movies with bad or cheap production work such as Reservoir Dogs (1992) or Near Dark (1987). Star Wars (1977) is for me a constant reminder of how good that a bad movie can be, and when a director really gives it their all, even if it doesn't amount to much, it still shows on the screen and you can at least appreciate the effort that they put into their work.