The Star Wars film series has become one of the most successful franchises in the history of cinema. The latest film, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, is out this month. The first film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, was released in America in May 1977, but not shown in the UK until Christmas time that year.

Before its UK release, The Daily Telegraph sent its Science Correspondent Adrian Berry – 4th Viscount Camrose and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society – to review the new space drama. Here is his original review, first published on December 16, 1977:

Until recently, space melodrama films have tended to be made with neither imagination nor money. With the brilliant exception of the Clarke-Kubrick “2001: A Space Odyssey,” they have been badly-written B-feature affairs from producers with little knowledge of astronomy or technology.

Star Wars (Leicester Square and Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, “U” from Dec. 27) is far removed from these shoddy productions. It is the best such film since “2001,” and in certain respects it is one of the most exciting ever made.

The story is unpretentious and pleasantly devoid of any “message.”