When it first came to my attention (via a comment in the SW Marvel comic circa 1980) I thought of it as mildly annoying. But I echo what Yotsuya said in that no-one seemed to take the title seriously until 1997.

Now I really hate it - not just because I’m old and cranky but because it’s yet another diminishment of Star Wars '77 as a piece of significant history. I see the saga as a kind of wheel with Star Wars in the centre and every episode since as spokes emanating from that point. Star Wars is not just the boring episode in a 9-film saga, its the very foundation from which this whole thing emanates. It doesn’t matter which order you view the saga - it all starts with Star Wars.

That’s not to say I don’t mind the episode thing. Indeed, giving Star Wars an episode number in this way was Lucas/Kurtz original idea a la the Flash Gordon serials. So as a legitimate ‘original vision’ interpolation I think it’s fine. But they could have done this and still called it Star Wars. There’s noting wrong with a book where chapter 4 (or 7 or 38) shares the same title as the book itself. So it would be Episode IV, Star Wars - now a part of a greater whole but still the acknowledged beginning point for this whole enterprise.

Plus ‘A New Hope’ is just a woeful title…