What did you think of Star Wars Episode 7, if you have seen it? What do you think of Star Wars in general?
Given the nature of my life, I don't see movies in the theater anymore. I will probably see it via Netflix some months after they get it. I'm not anticipating being awed based on the reviews, but I doubt it will be hard to sit through.
Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back are good, with Star Wars being better though most people say otherwise. It's hard to remember how bad Return of the Jedi is; in my memory it sounds good but my memory also knows that it isn't. Even if you remember "it's mostly muppets fighting robots" it still doesn't sound as bad as it actually is. Phantom Menace was awful; as Richard Garfield put it, Star Wars fans must be thinking, what have I done with my life? Attack of the Clones was bad and then I thought, man why did I see that, and never saw Revenge of the Sith. People said it was better but whatever guys; no regrets there. Life is too short for me to see movies just so I can unfunnily mock them.
At the root of Star Wars is this idea of taking good ideas other people had had and combining them together. Overall it's an homage to old serials and Japanese stuff. It copies a lot but I don't hold that against it; it's a fine mix of things.
To me it seems like Lucas and Spielberg led the charge for movies becoming more glossy in the 80s. Star Wars is from 1977 and feels more like a 70s movie. It has slow patches, less polish. It has some natural scenery.
When I last did the math, Star Wars was my 11th favorite movie of the 70s. I have it behind four Woody Allen movies and two Monty Python movies, oh yes, plus A Clockwork Orange, Snake in Eagle's Shadow, Taxi Driver, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.