Went to see Star Wars the other night with a group of friends who share a bond that only makes sense to those who share in it. Like Monty Python, you either get Star Wars or you don't. If it was a big deal to you as a kid, it matters. If it wasn't, it doesn't.

I know many people who have absolutely no interest in any fantasy film. They can't get past the robots and creatures and lasers and they don't find the stories compelling. I can understand that. The same would probably be true for me if I hadn't grown up with Star Wars. If it wasn't a big part of my childhood, today I'd hear the cornball dialogue and try to enjoy it as I would a Zucker brothers film. I'd bug the guy next to me with observations like, "hey, they're in space—those explosions can't make sound!" I'd pick apart the goofy moments and curiously placed modern idioms and ask incessantly, "this is camp, right?" (The first three Star Wars "classics" have plenty of silly moments, but they didn't strike us that way as a kid, so they don't bother us now.)

To most guys in my generation, Star Wars was everything from 1977 to about 1984. In that span, practically every toy I acquired with my meager allowance was Star Wars related. I had Darth's Tie fighter, an X-wing, the Millennium Falcon, two Chewbaccas (I melted one with a magnifying glass), a Vader, a land speeder, three stormtroopers, and a Han Solo. Never had a Luke, but my friend Jim across the street did. In fact, he had just about every piece of Star Wars merchandise that I didn't have, and vice-versa. We planned it that way.

Half the U.S. population considers Star Wars fans nerds, the kinda guys who dress up as bounty hunters and pitch a tent in line six days in advance of the opening night and debate The Force as spirituality vs. paranormal biology. For these folks, the nerd tag fits. And they're fine with that, too.

But if you were under fourteen when Star Wars or Empire Strikes Back hit, more than likely, this saga is a part of you. Star Wars can never mean as much to the kids that grew up with Episode I (1999) or Episode II (2002) as it does the kids who were too young for disco and had Star Wars lunchboxes and lined up their (original) action figures on their dresser. Star Wars was ground-breaking then. It changed everything. Episodes I and II changed nothing. It didn't set any precedents. Kids were already desensitized to the kind of wow factor they offered.

I was looking forward to Revenge of the Sith, and for the first time in more than two decades, Star Wars didn't disappoint. I don't want to add to the 2,453,238 reviews out there, so to sum it up: Episodes I and II were disappointing on many levels and satisfying on a few. Episode III is satisfying on many levels and disappointing on a few. And that's about all I could have asked for.