MSNBC features an article which looks at the critics reations to Star Wars for the original and prequel trilogies. Here's a clip:

In a ?60 Minutes? interview last month, George Lucas told Lesley Stahl that he didn?t care what critics had to say about ?Star Wars: Episode III ? Revenge of the Sith,? the sixth and final installment in the series.

?I?m not worried at all,? he told her. ?They haven?t liked any of them really, and they especially haven?t like the last two, so hey, it can?t get any worse.?

Yet in 1977, while the major Academy Awards were handed out to Woody Allen?s ?Annie Hall,? the Los Angeles Film Critics? Association named Lucas? first ?Star Wars? as best picture of the year. Indeed, ?Star Wars? and its 1980 follow-up, ?The Empire Strikes Back,? received mostly rave reviews wherever they played.

?A great work of popular art,? gushed Time magazine about the first installment. Newsweek called it ?pure sweet fun all the way.? The Hollywood Reporter claimed that ?it will undoubtedly emerge as one of the true classics in the genre of science fiction/fantasy films.? The New York Times? Vincent Canby called it ?the most elaborate, most expensive, most beautiful movie serial ever made.?

Even the late New Yorker critic, Pauline Kael, who felt manipulated by the first ?Star Wars,? praised ?Empire? as ?a vibrant, fairy-tale cliffhanger? in which ?the characters showed more depth of feeling than they had in the first film.? To many critics and more than a few fans, ?Empire? remains the class act of the series.

Hit the link above to read the rest of the article. Thanks to Scott for the alert.