Okay, not exactly 'brief'.

As hard as it may be to believe, there are actually some people on planet Earth who are unfamiliar with the Star Wars series and need a description of it to convince them to see the films. However, describing the series is a difficult task not only because director George Lucas (THX1138, American Graffiti) created the 6-part series out of sequence, (with the last three films being created before the first three), but because the first three films were of infinitely better quality than the second three. Confused? Join the club.

In 1977 George Lucas ambitiously put together one of the biggest landmark films in the history of cinema - Star Wars - A New Hope. Technically the film was billed as 'Episode IV', although it was the first film of the series to actually be produced. Nobody really noticed this discrepancy at the time of its release, and those who noticed simply wrote it off as a creative gimmick - the impression that the story was part of a greater whole, and that the audience was coming into a story that was already underway. That being said, episodes IV, V, and VI were created between 1977 and 1983, consisting of three titles - A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Return of the Jedi. For most fans of the Star Wars universe, these three films remain the 'real' or the 'true' Star Wars movies, for reasons that will be explained later.

Episodes IV/V/VI follows the path of main character Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), as he travels from the barren desert landscapes of his home planet to across the galaxy, learning about the evil 'Empire' that has taken over control of the galaxy, while learning about his father's past and finding his own destiny along the way. The Star Wars universe is a very diverse place, with robot 'droids' being prevalent in all corners, colorful alien species mixing together, and the fabled 'Force' - the energy that ties all living things together. Those that master the Force attain extended dexterity, extra-sensory perception, mind control, premonition, a veritable catalog of attributes certainly helpful to either good or evil. At the head of the Empire is the mysterious and unnerving Emperor and his equally-imposing enforcer Darth Vader, masters of the Force intent on ruling the galaxy and crushing the 'Rebellion' - a much smaller band of determined civilizations striking at the Empire however they can.

Created long before computer-generated imagery became the defacto method of creating special effects, episodes IV/V/VI were mostly shot on actual sets with actual equipment, resulting in films that are gritty, greasy, raw, and believable. In combination with its special effects style is the excellent overall storyline and characters, who flesh out the films and prevent them from derailing into what could have easily become a silly special effects overload. The directorial efforts of Lucas, Kershner, and Marquand, as well as the screenwriting of Lucas, Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan must all be commended for keeping the films on track and believable. The icing on the cake is the incredible symphonic soundtrack created by legendary composer John Williams, who weaves a magic spell into almost every scene that has music. The end result is three of the greatest movies ever made, something special, something unique, something memorable and timeless. Had George Lucas been struck by lightning in 1984, he would have gone down as one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever lived.

A side effect of this success is that these films created a new phenomenon in modern culture - a bottomless pit of consumer demand for the endless games, toys, gadgets, posters, spinoffs, cartoons, books, and any other possible variation of merchandise steadily being pumped out of Lucas's new empire.

Flash forward over 15 years later to the late 90s, and the Star Wars universe had hit something of a standstill. The original three movies had been packaged and repackaged, deleted scenes replaced, special editions released, commentaries added, new effects and re-edits put in, and of course an endless stream of new toys, games, and every other form of merchandise possible had been already been sold. By this time Lucas had become more of a businessman and producer than he was a film director. In fact, he had no substantial directorial credits to his name after 1977's Star Wars - A New Hope. However, in this time period he headed an empire of merchandising, video game development, special effects houses, and film production.

The decision was made to revitalize the Star Wars universe with three new films, chronicling the story that lead up to Episode IV. For fans of the first three films, it was as if Jesus Christ himself decided to make a return trip. With new technology available for what was sure to be incredible special effects, and with Lucas having over 15 years to prepare for his comeback, expectations for the new movies were probably higher than any films in cinematic history. And it may have worked, except that by 1999 Lucas had become Emperor of his own Empire.

Star Wars - The Phantom Menace premiered in 1999, and its effects on moviegoers can be basically broken down into three categories. For those experienced with the first three movies, it was abject and utter disappointment. For those seeing the Star Wars universe for the first time, there was mild enthusiasm over the dazzling display of aliens, space wars, light sabers, and the like. For everyone else, there was complete indifference. The list of reasons that Episode I fell so flat is entirely too long and entirely too complicated to fully describe, but some of the highlights are - absolutely overwhelming special effects to the point of distraction, a special effects style (all digital/CGI/bluescreen) that was cold and sterile, a horrendous storyline that's difficult to follow, utterly ridiculous situations and plot resolutions, the complete lack of a central character for the audience to identify with, a list of uninteresting cardboard characters that inspire no enthusiasm whatsoever, the extremely annoying inclusion of a child into what had been (up until that point) an adult-themed series, animated characters that were almost universally hated by all except very young children, and worst of all, the overall impression that the movie was simply a vehicle created to spur more games, toys, and merchandise.

Lucas's creative failure on Episode I is so bad, it's almost incalculable how bad it really is. The blame for this failure can be placed squarely on Lucas himself, as he was in control of almost every aspect of the film to the point of dictatorship. Written, directed, produced, and envisioned by him personally, created by his studios and design houses, there is no way to deflect the blame elsewhere. Unlike the previous movies that were made through studios not actually owned by Lucas, (where Lucas was simply a talented filmmaker given a budget and a crew to create a concept, and that concept was approved by prudent studio heads), by 1999 there was nobody in position to challenge or even question his creative decisions. Instead of having a collaborative atmosphere complete with checks and balances like the first three films, Episode I was Lucas's genius run amok, and it shows.

If this criticism isn't bad enough, it's actually capable of getting worse as Lucas apparently didn't read his critics, and he repeated every mistake in the next film Star Wars - Attack of the Clones. The same basic point-for-point criticisms can be applied here as well, and even some new ones added as Lucas presents what is possibly the most implausible, unrealistic, and sickeningly forced romance in modern cinematic history.

With the third episode of Star Wars - The Revenge Of The Sith, Lucas partially redeems himself with darker subject matter and less silliness, but the overall effect is still the same - cardboard characters the audience doesn't identify with on any level, overwhelming special effects, a confusing plot line that feels contrived, and the overall impression that the film was... well... forced.

Anyone interested in exploring the Star Wars universe is encouraged to see the original three films (episodes IV/V/VI) first, and really just stop there. Masochists can then go after Episodes I/II/III, but should do so with the understanding that they were indeed warned first.