Me too Vince, not because I think it will be great but because I suspect it will be fun to watch, you can generally count on Abrams for that if nothing else.
I just realized I haven't ranted about anything for a little while now so...
<rant>
I'm sure the Star Wars 'purists" will find plenty to complain about though, now let me say I'm a fan of the originals having seen them all at release and I too don't favor the last three as much but still find them watchable. All that said I'll be watching this new one hopefully with an unbiased mind, that's the goal anyway.
Many others will not, funny thing is they love the originals not because they are the greatest films ever made but because it's cool to do so, seriously think about it, if Star Wars had never made it to the screen in '77 and therefore there was no trilogy or follow up films and then it were released new today, I wonder would it 'be' the blockbuster at the box office today on the same scale of it's seemingly untouchable cult status which it enjoys today.
I seriously doubt it myself, I mean even with new effects and all that it would still not be the "cutting edge" sci-fi film it was then, that stuff is everyday fare now and it would be rare for a new sci-fi film to ever develop that kind of following again in my humble opinion.
So one has to wonder what it is exactly the huge Star Wars fan base really expects to see?
I doubt that could ever be quantified into a valid list though because if you asked a million SW fans you would likely get a million different answers lol.
The whole thing just sails right over me why they care so much, I get the nostalgia of it, I was there, so I get that, I like it too but is it the holy grail of all sci-fi films, far from it I think--now there are many drums one could beat right here to make that point but Avatar really puts a dagger in that one for me it's a far better made film, great story, and it's success will likely rule the world of money for a long time to come, just saying...
So like I said without the push of being 'first', I just can't see it rising up the ranks of the huge list of box office successes out there today--not with the fire by which it was able to muster it's cult following all those many years ago...
Or to make it even more fun imagine Phantom Menace came out first, this July...
Mmm... my money would be on it being the last Star Wars film ever made if that were the case.
</rant>