June 28, 2012

Star Wars Archive: 1977 NPR Review of Star Wars

I've seen plenty of reviews of the Star Wars films, but never have I heard a film described as, "It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." In 1977, NPR's Tom Shales reviewed the first Star Wars movie calling it, "It is unquestionably splendibulous," Shales said. "It's the kind of movie for which movies were invented. Star Wars is casually profound... (and) a movie newcomer named Harrison Ford is especially impressive."

This review is important because it reminds us of a time when Star Wars was new. Characters and actors that are household names today were unknown back then, so the way the reviewer talks about them seems out of touch. Pay particular attention to Shales' description of the robots R2-D2 and C-3PO (and perhaps confuses which is which).  You can listen to the full review from 1977 on NPR.org.

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