Film Critic Defends His Original Take On Star Wars 40 Years Later
05/30/2017 05:46 pm EDT
From the day it was released, Star Wars became a fan-favorite piece of cinema. The George Lucas project was often dubbed as being ahead of its time and revolutionary for its brave, well-excecuted take on a cosmic adventures.
However, a select batch of critics were not originally impressed with the film which would launch one of the biggest franchises in history. One critic, a writer for Minnesota's Star Tribune, gave the original Star Wars a poor review back in 1977. 40 years later, the critic by the name of Bob Lundegaard stands by his opinion after being asked by the paper to discuss whether or not his opinion has changed after seeing what Star Wars has become.
"No regrets," Lundegaard said. "There are many movies I've watched for a second time and wished I'd been more attentive. Early Spielberg, for instance. Or Breaking Away, a brilliant look at class struggles in America that I treated too much as a Rocky-style underdog victory. But Star Wars? I still think I was right."
Much of Lundegaard's review was negative, steering audiences away from the film, but he had a few postitive remarks regarding the movie. He, like anyone else with eyes, admired the film's visual effects work but also offered compliments to Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia as she played the role of a "take-charge" woman.
However, when Lundegaard took jabs at the film, he swung hard.
"It's not even my movie of the month," Lundegaard wrote in 1977. "In fact, it's behind Annie Hall and Jonah."
"Critics can be stubborn," Lundegaard said. "I stand behind my original assessment, which essentially was "'on't bring your brains with you,' but 'your kids will love it.' Mine certainly did, and they never let me forget it."
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the second film in the new Star Wars sequel trilogy that began with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. The film will deal with Luke training Rey to become a, and possibly the last, Jedi. Meanwhile, the Resistance, including Poe Dameron and First Order defector Finn, continues to fight against the First Order, led by General Hux, while Supreme Leader Snoke and his Dark Side follower Kylo Ren continue their mysterious plot. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.
(via StarTribune)
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