Here’s an account of how critics felt about Star Wars when it first came out. I was a little expecting the reviews to be on the negative side, but they kind of run the spectrum.

Lyman Stone explains how Palpatine was a failed founder of the Galactic Nation while Paul D Miller and Michael Boyle explain the failures of the rebel counterinsurgency and what they should do next time.

It was certainly a mess, but some of these criticisms of the Galactic Senate actually seem kind of weak to me.

In Jacobin, Sam Kriss argues that there were no Empires and Rebellions, only the evil Force.

A documentary on The War Between The Stars, by Ken Burns. Starring Daniel Drezner and Sonny Bunch.

Scientists explain the Endor Holocaust. Fried Ewoks all around, apparently.

The Kernel looks at what SciFi movies before Star Wars were like, giving some insight into what made Star Wars so revolutionary.

Zachary Feinstein looks at the economics of Star Wars, and why the Rebels failed to capitalize on their success.

It has primary been argued by people on the right that the Empire was actually the defensible good side and the rebellion was full of terrorists, while the left dissented. Maybe this will flip things around. At least as far as Han Solo is concerned.