This is an old video clip which has Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert defending Star Wars. I was a Star Wars fan along with the rest of the millions of fans. Whether you want to call it science fiction or just science fantasy doesn't matter to me. Some people seem to get upset if you claim it's science fiction, as there's no science in it per se. I find that notion hair splitting and a bit too snobby. In fact, given the choice between something hard science or something a bit softer or something that's science fantasy or speculative fiction, I'm probably more apt to go with the latter. My basic interest is that I prefer to be entertained and drawn into a story with some action and good characters, which contain a certain amount of drama, good scripts, and everything else one expects from good movies.
I used to eat pizza with some buddies that claimed that, at the time Star Wars came out on the screen, it had many detractors or critics that panned or hated the film. I don't remember it being that way, which is not to say that they are not correct. I just don't have that great a memory, I'll admit that much. Plus at the time, I didn't have much conscious awareness of what was going on in the pop culture at the time. I had a job that kept me pretty busy, so whether or not critics liked or disliked the film back in the day flew under my radar. I do remember seeing the film out at the mall, and loved it. I didn't go back for multiple viewings either as I probably just was too busy and didn't have the time.
I tried at one time to do a search on Google and the net on how critics at large perceived the film at the time the film was playing, but came up pretty empty. I didn't fine much. If anyone knows of such info I would appreciate a link to that insight just for grins. I guess it's all water under the bridge anyway. Like a lot of things, I enjoyed the films (although the first prequel with Jar Jar Binks--not so great), so that's good enough for me.