can lightning bolts strike me from a galaxy far, far away?

With "Return of the Jedi" playing in the near foreground (I'm mobile! The laptop and I are in the living room), stealing most of my attention while I try to formulate something that isn't too boring, I have to wonder: Except for the redeeming presence of Darth Vader, Han Solo, the phenomenal soundtrack, and light-sabres, why do these have a cult following? Who on earth cast Mark Hamill (and why do the Ewoks scare me so)? And, more recently, why-oh-why was Hayden Christiansen cast as Anakin/DV? I couldn't stand him in Episode II (the little brat), and I still haven't seen Episode III, because I'm in no hurry to have to suffer through a couple hours of his stilted acting and any more cheesy love stuff (though one killing one's spouse isn't cheesy love stuff, I know) and DID YOU KNOW that he had to wear huge platform shoes so he'd be tall enough for Darth Vader's outfit? Isn't that a sign that they should've cast someone else? How about Ben Affleck?

Kidding. But not much. Oh, the mental picture...

I've never been a science-fiction buff, but I did harbour a little bit of Star Wars Appreciation (SWA) following a movie-viewing with my former music professor, who showed me how intricate John Williams' score is, how each character has his or her own theme, and how just by listening to the music, you can tell who's onscreen, and what's happening in the film. And, I've been told, at the end of the most recent one, when Baby Leia is onscreen, Leia's theme plays. But still, my SWA extended only to the soundtrack, I just realized.

I just heard Darth Vader's ragged breathing, as Luke removed the mask, showing the hallowe'en-style makeup job on his dad, and I had to laugh, because I remembered one of my favourite skits on "Whose Line is it, Anyway?" Something to do with Famous Movie Lines, the Rough Draft (they just don't pack quite the punch):
Brad Sherwood took the stage, did some convincing DV-type breathing, and then croaked out, "Luke, I am your second-cousin twice-removed."

(Right now, one Ewok partying at the end, providing the percussion by whacking the top of the Storm Trooper's helmets, is eerily reminiscent of Patsy doing the percussion for "Camelot!" in "Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail.")

Most "classic" movies I don't harbour an appreciation for, I just realised as I was typing this up: I can't stand "Gone with the Wind" (except for Clark Gable), "The Wizard of Oz" I hate, and there are many others on the Everyone's Favourite Classics! list that I don't like.

But give me a French movie (or an old Gregory Peck film) any day, and I'm happy as a clam.