STAR WARS! Dun, dunnnnnn, dun dun dun DUNNNNNNN dunnn

Observing Star Wars at the age of 20 almost makes me wish that I hadn't watched it so many times since I was 9. Have the repeat viewings tainted my objectivity? Will my innate love for the characters cause me to lend the film a higher rating than it deserves?

Whatever. Let's just push the flick's only negative aspect out of the way: Mark Hamill's whiny, juvenile performance as Luke Skywalker early in the film initially makes him tough to root for. Who is this little punk? Why should we support him? Why can't a character whose actor is over 25 years-old just grow the hell up?

Luke is a farmer's nephew working on the desert planet of Tatooine. All of his friends have departed to join the Rebellion against the EVIL EMPIRE, which is imposing tyranny all across a galaxy "far, far away" from here. One day, Skywalker's uncle buys two droids -- one, C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), a golden man-shaped bot who can walk and talk, and R2D2 (Kenny Baker), essentially a box that rolls and bleeps (and bloops, too). R2D2 has a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), an old hermit who lives out in the boonies of Luke's world. Luke delivers R2D2 to Kenobi and soon finds himself swept up in an intergalactic adventure where he and several others battle the EVIL EMPIRE and their quasi-leader, Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones).

One of Star Wars' key strengths is its well-balanced cast of characters. Luke and Vader successfully deliver all of the drama, vigilante-smuggler Han Solo's (Harrison Ford) wit consistently charms, and C-3PO's comic relief is generally adequate. Each and every character is adorable because they continually deliver exactly what is needed at each point in the series. And the audience genuinely wants to see the Empire crumble.

The Star Wars universe also slyly adheres to the character conflicts and structures that echo through the chambers of time. A young man heads out on an adventure, the free world is in danger, a Chosen One and his friends can save them... these words can easily be bent to apply to the Lord of the Rings, Bible stories, Greek mythology and so forth -- thus it isn't surprising that moviegoers world round return to the series as frequently as academics revisit these other stories.

And on top of all that, the movies are bloody fun. Though his recent efforts don't show it, writer-director George Lucas truly was a talented, fresh artist in 1977, and his vision created one of the most memorable film sagas in cinematic history. My dad showed me Star Wars, I'll show my kids Star Wars, you've already shown your kids Star Wars -- and it will continue until global warming or Ahmadinejad kill us all.

Rating: A- (91/100)