# The original May 1977 Siskel and Ebert Star Wars review **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 28, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346 "2024-08-28T04:29:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/41 "2024-08-29T19:54:40Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I also think he despised television, and hated being forced to see what he considered episodes of a TV show in the movie theater. If so, it wasn’t reflected in his reviews. Out of the original series of films (the ones with the OG cast) he only gave one - _The Final Frontier_ - a negative review. All the others got three out of four stars from him. _First Contact_ got three and a half. He wasn’t impressed by the other TNG movies, or the reboot, but then, who was? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/42 "2024-08-29T20:05:44Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > he only gave one - _The Final Frontier_ - a negative review. Shows he was an insightful reviewer of good taste. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/43 "2024-08-30T01:41:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Ebert, I think, wanted Science Fiction in particular to wow him visually, which wasn’t what _Star Trek_ was really offering. True. He gave Phantom Menace 3/12 out of 4 stars. > **[Star Wars — Episode I: The Phantom Menace movie review (2024) | Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-1999)** > > If it were the first "Star Wars" movie, "The Phantom Menace" would be hailed as a visionary breakthrough. But this is the fourth movie of the famous series, He gave Avatar the full 4 out of 4 stars. > **[Cameron retains his crown movie review (2009) | Roger Ebert](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/avatar-2009)** > > Watching "Avatar," I felt sort of the same as when I saw "Star Wars" in 1977. That was another movie I walked into with uncertain expectations. James ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/44 "2024-08-30T03:13:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > He also directed… **The Magnificent Ambersons** … Say what? I think you mean Mr. Wise directed the additional sequences (after the studio cut 40 minutes-or-so from Mr. Welles’ version) that made no attempt to match the lighting, mood or theme of the rest of the film and are painful to watch as a result. I saw _Star Wars_ (as it was originally known) twice when it came out and thought it was great. Decades of movie-watching later, I find it simple-minded, derivative and lame. While there is no denying its influence and impact - particularly with merchandising and vfx - its contribution to the “blockbuster mentality” of studios has not been an entirely positive development, imo. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/45 "2024-08-30T03:26:58Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > He gave Phantom Menace 3/12 out of 4 stars. I gave that shit movie 3/12 of a star too! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/46 "2024-08-30T03:50:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Of course it is also responsible for Battlestar Galactica and Biddybiddy Buck Rogers, so there’s that. Buck Rogers had Princess Ardala as played by Pamela Hensley during season 1. I think I can give Rogers a pass just for that alone but Erin Gray was no slouch herself. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/47 "2024-08-30T13:19:22Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > “Awww a martyr! Stupid martyr!! Come on…lets go.” This reference eludes me and being eluded makes me very angry — Huff! Huff! — very angry, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/48 "2024-08-30T13:38:08Z")
Hardware Wars. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WUDEUQMCyKE/maxresdefault.jpg "Hardware Wars: The Original Star Wars Parody 1978") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUDEUQMCyKE&t=620) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/49 "2024-08-30T13:43:55Z")
Thanks, I didn’t remember that part. Plus, I mis-remembered the “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…” line. It’s three bux — I adjusted for inflation (Yeah, _that’s_ the ticket.). ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/50 "2024-08-30T13:45:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My brother bought the Star Wars soundtrack on LP and played it often. John Williams is a great composer of film scores. I’m pretty sure we had it on 8-track. (Now, there’s something I haven’t thought about in decades!) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/51 "2024-08-30T13:50:50Z")
I had **Jaws** on 8-track — so I could take it to the beach! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/52 "2024-08-30T13:55:26Z")
Wow! look at how they break up the songs to fit the format. The Cantina Band is split over two tracks! It’s only three minutes. At least they kept the order the same as the vinyl. > **[Star Wars Soundtrack 8 Track Tape London Symphony Orchestra 1977 | eBay](https://www.ebay.com/itm/235701046427?_nkw=8%2Btrack%2Bstar%2Bwars&itmmeta=01J6HRW6C56JZY8MVJZDADVPQC&hash=item36e0e08c9b:g:q3YAAOSwciJmwKxa&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKn6RRQNQ43%2FZIB3v%2BljDsmrv1fw9cBU8AAHrfeQfrvYK4zEQGYxevR%2FHvtQsexlssOijqHnlcM9Xw3MZFeHTUTFkXAeHtXhQ203E8zYRpo%2BIf271f%2Br0EcAI88fkUfI9bSOHDulkg%2F%2B6AaVcpfgnVZuCX%2Fozx2e1GSl6mhkWR1mOOY2C39%2BnheEimHmO2Gri6%2Fp4RD0qjaA3lKKokSmd1MK5ObUf%2F4RG%2B%2F6Ewv27uNrcQB0%2FGifhXtXz85sXWnT9%2BU%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5bm8Li0ZA)** > > Star Wars Soundtrack 8 Track Tape London Symphony Orchestra 1977  ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/53 "2024-08-30T13:58:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Wow! look at how they break up the songs to fit the format. The Cantina Band is split over two tracks! It’s only three minutes. That was pretty common with 8-tracks. I had an 8-track of the Beatles’ _Magical Mystery Tour_, and it splits “I Am the Walrus” over two tracks even though the song is only four and a half minutes long. I guess there was no other way of assigning the songs to tracks while keeping the same running order as the Capitol LP. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/54 "2024-08-30T14:00:34Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > One thing that confused me from the article was the names _Artoo Detoo_ and _Threepio_. What weird names! It took me several viewings until I came across another article that spelled them as R2-D2 and C-3PO, like _Newsweek_ did. Oh! That makes sense! Duh. Those spellings were around back then. That’s also how they were spelled in the novelization (credited to George Lucas, actually written by Alan Dean Foster). I had that novelization, and read it and re-read it dozens of times until the cover was literally falling off. That’s how you re-experienced the movie back in the days before home video. So I internalized those spellings. In my mind, on some level, those droids will always be named Artoo and Threepio. Likewise, I always stumble a bit in remembering that Luke’s callsign was Red Five. In the novelization he was Blue Five, and that’s what seems right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/55 "2024-08-30T14:09:53Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I’m pretty sure we had it on 8-track. (Now, there’s something I haven’t thought about in decades!) I have a Star Wars 8-track. Bought it at a flea market more than 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/56 "2024-08-30T14:36:08Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > That was pretty common with 8-tracks. I had an 8-track of the Beatles’ _Magical Mystery Tour_, and it splits “I Am the Walrus” over two tracks even though the song is only four and a half minutes long. I guess there was no other way of assigning the songs to tracks while keeping the same running order as the Capitol LP. Ah, my parents had a Christmas song 8-track that had more than one song split into separate tracks. My childhood coming back to me! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/57 "2024-08-30T15:19:46Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Hardware Wars. Hardware Wars was brilliant, but I was even more impressed after Lucas came out with **Star Wars – The Special Edition** and someone (sadly not Ernie Fosselius, who made _Hardware Wars_) came out with **Hardware Wars – The Special Edition** , which added bad CGI to the bad “practical” effects in the original – _deliberately_ bad CGI. [https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x69wnp4](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x69wnp4) Just the _idea_ cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/58 "2024-08-30T15:30:29Z")
Groove on this: The **Jaws** 8-track must have come up short on track four because the music during the Brody-shoots-the-air-tank sequence is twice as long as every other version of the soundtrack (including the movie). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/59 "2024-08-30T15:31:08Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Luke’s callsign was Red Five. I’ve seen the movie more times than I remember, I’ve built the model of the X-wing, and yet I never noticed that “Red (number)” can be identified by the number of stripes on the wing! Obvious as the fex-ex arrow once you see it, but I missed it for 45 years. [![](https://littlemetalspaceships.com/cdn/shop/products/red_squad_480x480.jpg) ](https://littlemetalspaceships.com/cdn/shop/products/red_squad_480x480.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346/60 "2024-08-30T16:13:58Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Likewise, I always stumble a bit in remembering that Luke’s callsign was Red Five. In the novelization he was Blue Five, and that’s what seems right to me. Wow. I thought I was the only one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-original-may-1977-siskel-and-ebert-star-wars-review/1006346.md?page=4)