My father has an interesting story that he likes to tell about the original Star Wars movie.
Back in the late 1970s, after the flick came out, he went to see it in the theater. Once there, after the picture started, he fell asleep.
What? you say. Fell asleep during Star Wars?
Yea, verily, yea. Apparently, all the noise and flashing lights from those proletarian blasters combined with the dark theater put him right into slumberland.
Nowadays, that may seem bizarre, but it’s an interesting reflection of the times, I think. In those days, not everyone regarded Star Wars as the classic it’s thought of today. Even Alec Guinness, Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, reportedly didn’t think much of the script when he first read it. Since then, after repeated viewings, my father has come to like the film, but it took a while for that to happen. Like a fine wine (or perhaps, more appropriately, cheese) Star Wars gets better as it gets older. And it just goes to show you: Not everything good has immediate appeal.
See? Sometimes, to decide whether you like something, you just gotta sleep on it.
Skip and Setter's Cinema Blogishkeit 
When my mom took us kids to see the first Star Wars movie in 1977, she fell asleep just like your father did.
Ha, ha! That’s interesting, Bill–I wonder if it was something back then about Star Wars that made exhausted parents fall asleep. Now, it’s the prequels that make me doze. 🙂
I fell asleep in the middle of Angels & Demons. Have to say I don’t regret it much…
Ha! I don’t think you missed much, Alina–I thought that movie was just OK … not exactly a masterpiece! Frankly, I find it hard to fall asleep during films–even if they’re bad! Not sure why.
I think they say that “Moby-Dick” was received poorly on its release and ruined Melville’s career and life. But I wouldn’t put “Star Wars” in the same league as “Moby-Dick” nor would I even call it a classic. It’s fine for what it is, but I don’t think it’s aged as well as people say. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Then again, I remember enjoying the original trilogy when I was younger, but now I hardly care. So I guess the inverse might be true as well–what is considered classic today might be passe tomorrow.
That may well be true, Andrew. Not sure I’d put Star Wars on the same level as Moby-Dick as well, but they’re hard to rate with the same measurements, I think. My feeling is that the original Star Wars stands up rather well in this day and age, especially when compared to its generally dreary recent prequels.
What? You don’t like midichlorians, or ruminations on the coarseness of sand?
Ha! Not unless they’re accompanied by a good script! It remains to be seen whether that will happen with the new sequels, though I’m not sanguine about the prospects.