Finally, I got to watch 5 -25-77, after a 10-year wait for this film to come out, it was worth it. Actually, longer than that since the first teaser trailer came out in 2006, but still worth it. Film critics will say that Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is this year’s great Love Letter to filmmaking. That’s not necessarily true, I would argue that 5-25-77 is the better love letter to filmmaking because for every filmmaker who was inspired by Star Wars and wanted to make their own movies, this is their story. Every major filmmaker is probably inspired by Steven Spielberg in some way, but it was the original Star Wars that propelled those fantasies into reality for every nerd or sci-fi geek who wanted to make their own adventure opus. Star Wars changed how you can make a great movie with practical effects into big sprawling stories. And more importantly, getting to be part of the adventure that was the original Star Wars movie and how it captivated Society with its groundbreaking production value, you could say that it’s a revelation for young filmmakers. 5-25-77 is the story of one filmmaker who felt marginalized by the small town he lived in and knew he was destined for bigger things especially after seeing the original Star Wars movie. 5-25-77 is a coming-of-age story that highlights how one film can change your entire life. And nothing against Steven Spielberg because he made so many great films that inspired filmmakers, but honestly, the original Star Wars provided the catalyst for filmmakers to go off and make their movies in Hollywood or if they remained independent. Yes, The Fabelmans is an endearing story, but I feel like this film is more realistic for us nerds because we are that kid who wanted to tell stories, and we’re inspired by Star Wars to go off into the world beyond our own small-town to try and make it big. That’s what we call the ultimate metaphor.

The story is about a Sci-Fi geek named Pat who after seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 decided he wanted to be a filmmaker and started making home movies. He built his own studio, got his family involved as well as friends, and started making movies. He made sequels to his favorite movies like Jaws 2 before there was a Jaws 2. Requiem for Planet of the Apes, and he even made a sequel to the movie that started it all called 2002. He’s the Sci-Fi geek in all of us who understands the power of practical effects and somebody like George Lucas who was inspired by other great films like Silent Running. You could say he’s another version of Steven Spielberg, but his life completely changes when he gets to go to Hollywood and accidentally wanders into the ILM and gets to see what Star Wars will become as a movie. He knows that he has to see it on opening day and get all of his friends as well as the entire town to see it because it can be that life-changing experience that changes their very existence for the better. Let’s be honest, as Sci-Fi Geeks, we all felt that way the first time we saw Star Wars. He will experience love, sex, heartbreak, and all the things that make adolescence awkward and ridiculous at times.

But all of this leads up to that life-changing moment for him where he will be inspired to finally go to Hollywood to make it as a director knowing that he’ll have to leave friends and family behind. He’ll even realize that his first love is not even the girly loses his virginity to, but it will always be filmmaking. Yes, that’s another metaphor! What I really love about this film this story is all of us who were inspired to create something after seeing Star Wars and even Steven Spielberg’s earlier films. Pat represents all of us in knowing that life will never be the same after Star Wars and that’s a good thing. The brilliance of the film is not so much in the telling of this coming-of-age story for an aspiring filmmaker, but in how he views the world. He views it through a camera lens. His story is a mixture of reality and the Claymation, practical effects that he uses to create films. We don’t view this film in high definition, we view it as an old-time 70s movie in a 4:3 ratio with grainy film. It puts us into that era, it isn’t shiny and bright, but we feel like we are in 1977. John Francis Daily gives a standout performance. It’s like seeing that geeky kid that we knew from Freaks and Geeks all grown up as the ultimate Star Wars fan. Again, his character is all of us. You could say the movie has a retro feel to it, but really, it’s shot as if it’s a product of that era and honestly that’s the only way it should be shot, or the aesthetics of the film would have been ruined.

Sure, it’s not perfect. It may be a little too long. The first half of the movie is really about getting to know all the characters, especially Pat as a filmmaker before discovering Star Wars. You can tell that some of the cast are not professional actors and this may be the only film that they’re in, some of them are stale in their performances, but that’s okay because it all works in the end. My critiques are minor. It’s very rare that any film is perfect, you hope that it will at least entertain, if it doesn’t inspire. And despite minor critiques, I still love this film. I love the style, I love all of the quirky characters, right down to the girl that he may end up with one day that’s dating his best friend but takes him to the most important event in his life at least up until that time. While Carrie Fisher was originally supposed to play the mother and that would have been awesome, but Colleen Camp is a force of nature. She was great and has one of the best performances in the film. Sometimes our job is a Critic is to point out the flaws of a film as an example of what other filmmaker shouldn’t do, however, our job is also to point out that despite any flaws, some films are still worth watching. This is one of those films.

This year everybody may rave about Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, but I honestly feel that 5 – 25 – 77 is the better coming-of-age story for filmmakers. Not only is it a great love letter to filmmaking and getting out of that small town that will only hold you back, it’s a great love letter to Star Wars fans everywhere. Not all of us were there on May 25th 1977, we didn’t get to experience the phenomenon of the original Star Wars movie. But I think this film captures what it was like to experience the moment that filmmaking changed for the better, to experience how you could take ancient mythology and put it in a format that everybody would understand. Great writers put themselves in their own stories, their experiences splash all over what they create. Making your own autobiography into a film maybe a vanity project and that’s how I feel about Spielberg’s movie this year. There is nothing wrong with vanity projects, but for them to work they have to connect to the audience and 5-25-77 will connect to sci-fi Geeks and nerds more than The Fabelmans ever will. That’s why it’s one of the best films of 2022 and worth the 10-year wait for us to finally see it. That’s also why it’s a film everybody should see because for the filmmakers, the writers, and the geeks that just want to create, This is our love Letter to everything that the original Star Wars movie inspired in us. Good stories are entertaining, great stories become our story, and that’s how they connect to the audience. 5 – 25 – 77 is that film for nerds. Watch it or your nerd card just might be revoked!