Sandman
In article <ac97e577-c3fb-47f8-93b8-e66a76dc7509@googlegroups.com>, Steve Carroll wrote:

Slimer
Only the last one was passable and then only because Natalie Portman dies. I'm sure the new one is good (as a result of Disney's involvement), but Star Wars isn't a religion to me; I'd rather watch original content.

Steve Carroll
Are you going to the new one (I think it premieres tonight)?

Sandman
I saw it wednesday night (for some reason, the rest of the world got to see it two days before US). It was actually quite amazing. It was a tall order bringing out a new Star Wars movie with the original cast, and they pulled it off quite splendidly. There is a hefty amount of parallells to the original (A New Hope) movie, which at first may appear jarring, but I think it was a wise choice - the movie HAD to capture both old and new fans of the franchise so that is probably the best way to do it. JJ Abrams also went to extraordinary lengths to make sure that as much of the special effects as possible are practical, and not CGI, which was the problem with the prequel trilogy. This obviously gives the entire movie a really good "presence" so to speak. You see the spaceships on the ground, how people interact with them, how they are actually physically there.

Set design has also been very meticulously synchronized with the classic Star Wars "feeling", while at the same time having an organic and logical "updated" feel to it. All in all, I don't think the movie could have been made better. And anyone even slightly interested in Star Wars should definitely see it.