4, 5, and 6 are definitely better in a different way that resonates with younger kids and certainly George Lucas is prone to making weird decisions and writing bad dialogue. The actors though were the right people in the right place. The movies succeeded almost in spite of Lucas. However, what I’ve been struck by, now as a father, is less the sci-fi-fantasy, and more the sort of coming of age and father-son dynamic that is a bit more universal, that’s the core story.
Luke grows up on a backwater world, never knowing his father. He dreams of going to the academy to get the hell out of there. Then one day someone tells him his father was a knight and an ace fighter pilot to boot, the guy was a fucking legend. Luke builds up this impossible image of his father who was struck down by the evilest guy in the world, this total shitbag that works for the government. All the love he would’ve had for his Dad, he pours into hating Vader, he’s taken everything he ever loved away. Then, when Luke finally has a chance to confront him face-to-face, he discovers Vader was his Dad all along. It knocks the wind out of him, and suddenly he has to come to terms with that Dad on a pillar he’s idolized his whole life with that detestable boot licker he’s grown to hate.
“I am your father,” is the pinnacle of the OT, it’s where everything was leading to, that discovery. It’s that mixture of love & hate, how do choose to deal with that as a person? Luke chose love, and I think that’s an inspiring thing. The sci-fi-fantasy thing is just sort of there for the kids, but it’s not the crux of the story.
