Watch Siskel And Ebert Completely Destroy A 'Star Wars' Hater On Live TV In 1983

John Simon, a film critic writing for New York Magazine about a hundred years ago in 1983, didn't like the third Star Wars movie, "Return of the Jedi." He went on Nightline with Ted Koppel to explain why he gave the movie such a horrible review.

"I feel they're so bad because they're completely dehumanizing...they are for children or childish adults," Simon said, clearly out of touch with the millions of presumably mature and intelligent adults who had seen the Star Wars movies over the years.

Luckily, legendary film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert were on Nightline at the same time to defend "Star Wars." And right off the bat, Ebert catches the essence of what "Star Wars" is:

"I totally disagree..I don't know what [Simon] did as a child, but I spent a lot of my Saturday matinees watching science fiction movies and being stimulated...having my imagination stimulated and having all sorts of visions in my mind that helped me become an adult and still stay young at heart," Ebert said.

"I feel badly that this critic, John Simon, didn't have a good time at these pictures. That's too bad for him," Siskel added.

You can watch the full clip below, which we first spotted on SlashFilm. Ebert and Siskel completely destroy Simon's Star Wars-hating: