Star Wars is 35 Years Old Today

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Magnus

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On May 25, 1977, a date on which I'm sure many of us weren't even yet born, one of the greatest fictional universes ever envisioned came into existence. Wax nostalgic with me; even if we only saw it many years later, it was still a part of many of our childhoods!

And for the benefit of us young-ins...did anyone here go see this opening weekend, or when it was originally in theatres at all in '77? Stories!


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I remember my first star wars exposure was summer camp and we had to watch RotJ. Thought it was entertaining. Then watched all three when they re-released it in the theaters in the '90s. Awesome.
 
I'm personally glad that I got to see the original trilogy for the first time on the big screen, even if it was the (first) Special Editions. I remember they were released only a month apart, in January, February and March of 1997. Amazing experience.
 
I was a little over a year old, so I don't remember it (and din't go see it), but I do remember seeing ESB at the drive in with my parents when I was about four.
 
Saw it opening weekend (I was 14 at the time). I was super-pumped for this only because of a small article in one of those magazines you get at theaters. The article had a photo of Stormtroopers standing in formation inside an Imperial Cruiser's hangar, and there was just something about that picture that was soooo cool - like nothing I'd seen on film before, I guess.

I don't recall that the theater was very full that first day. But my friends and I went back the next weekend to see it again, and it was definitely a packed house.
 
I saw Star Wars (Before it was Episode IV) in the theater as a kid and was instantly obsessed. I don't think it was opening weekend, as that wasn't as big of a deal back then when one movie came out every few weeks and they played for months on end at the theater. But I remember seeing it very early on. I believe I caught it again later that summer, and would probably see it a total of three or four times in the theater during it's initial run and re-release just before Empire. I was in second grade at the time and was completely transfixed.


Solo said:
35 years of being overrated.
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Wrong. It changes cinema forever and was unlike anything else. You may not like it, and I can respect that, but it was like dropping a nuclear bomb on the pop culture and cinematic landscape.
 
Yes, I saw Star Wars in '77 during its original release. As a young boy, this movie completely blew my mind. I had experienced nothing like it, and it captured my imagination like nothing before, or after, would. I had tons of the Kenner toys, the lunchboxes, the bedsheets, the books with an LP record, etc. I was C-3PO for Halloween (and my little brother was Darth Vader - why I chose Threepio I will never know). Many, many hours were spent coming up with imaginative play scenarios with my imaginary Star Wars menagerie.

It's safe to say that Star Wars has been a formative part of my life, and helped to define some of the direction it has taken. Star Wars got me interested early in technology, and created a passion for "the future" and "things to come".

I think I'll watch the Despecialized Edition when I get home tonight. :)
 
People who weren't alive at the time simply can't understand the enormity of that movie when it came out and the cultural influence it had. There has been nothing even remotely close to it since. Star Wars was my childhood.
 
I know I saw Star Wars on the big screen in 77..I just can't remember it all that well since I was 6.

What I do remember is seeing The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and having my mind blown. Finding out that Vader was Luke's father was one of those movie moments I will never forget.

The wait until Jedi was soooo long.
 
Magnus said:
And for the benefit of us young-ins...did anyone here go see this opening weekend, or when it was originally in theatres at all in '77? Stories!
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Not opening weekend, but during it's first run in theaters in '77 - I was 6, which was a great age.

I still remember it to this day. Actually, I remember the first theater viewings for all 3 of the OT. I remember which theater, who I saw them with, I remember the drive to the theater and standing in line to get in.

Despite my love for the franchise pretty much drying up over the last couple years (I seriously think George hates us original fans), nothing will ever taint those memories, and I feel lucky to have had these stories and characters be such a big part of my growing up.
 
Magnus said:
I'm personally glad that I got to see the original trilogy for the first time on the big screen, even if it was the (first) Special Editions. I remember they were released only a month apart, in January, February and March of 1997. Amazing experience.
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I had the same experience. I was in 5th grade too, which seemed like an excellent age. Definitely the movie going experience of my life that I am most fond of.
 
Kung Fu Jedi said:
Wrong. It changes cinema forever and was unlike anything else. You may not like it, and I can respect that, but it was like dropping a nuclear bomb on the pop culture and cinematic landscape.
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I don't debate this. I debate the quality of the actual movies.
 
And I turn 24 today, hooray. I feel like I should be a bigger Star Wars fan since I share its birthday. I've always enjoyed it, but I've never really been engrossed by it. It probably doesn't help nobody every showed the originals to me when I was little, so my first exposure to the series was Episode I.

I wish I could see the original theatrical versions at some point. I've had the desire to watch the original trilogy many times over the last few years, because I honestly think I've only seen Empire and Return once each, but I don't wanna watch a version with all the horrible changes I've heard about.
 
Damn. MY DAD was trying to get laid back then.

I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to grope my mom while watching the movie.


High five to my man!
 
my mam sat me down and gave me the three vhs's and said i would discover these sooner ot later. i watched them all in a row on a saturday morning.
 
I saw ESB when it was re-released in theaters, then RotJ on release day and finally ANH on VHS. Was a fan since I was 2 years old.

Nowadays it's just memories and nostalgia since the Star Wars I grew up with is pretty much dead.
 
Solo said:
I don't debate this. I debate the quality of the actual movies.
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Again, you're entitled to your opinion. But most will disagree with you. As I said, they changed filmmaking forever and even if some of the acting and other pieces don't hold up over time, it was still a great film for the era.
 
ChuyMasta said:
Damn. MY DAD was trying to get laid back then.

I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to grope my mom while watching the movie.


High five to my man!
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your posts are spoken through the guy in your avatar.

but YYEAAHHH! I could see how they are considered overrated when compared to some of today's cinema, but got damn. They changed everything
 
Darkgran said:
What I do remember is seeing The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and having my mind blown. Finding out that Vader was Luke's father was one of those movie moments I will never forget.
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I can't imagine being in a theatre when that bomb was first dropped. It was Aeris, for another generation, and another medium.

I regret that most of us will never know what that was like!
 
One of the pillars of my childhood. <3 Star Wars. Easily my favorite movie growing up. The Death Star run still gives goosebumps when I have the surround sound turned up.

Dear Lucas Arts,

Please make sequels to your X-Wing and TIE Fighter PC games.

Magnus said:
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Fun story about this moment: One day my little brother (who was 15 at the time) walked into a room where I was doing some work. That moment was on the screen. He looked at the TV and asked me in the most serious voice you can imagine,

"AJ, do we have 2 suns?"

I looked at him with the most blank look I could muster...then looked back at my computer screen, trying to comprehend the nature of the question I was just asked. Did a 15 year-old really just ask me if we have 2 fucking SUNS? Has he ever learned in any of his 10 years in Science classes that we have more than one star? Has he ever heard such a thing alluded to? If not, why the fuck isn't he answering this question himself????

I finally got the enough disgust off of my face to ask him if he'd ever seen to Suns (while still highly irritated) and I think he figured out the answer was no. That was 5 or 6 years ago. Do this day, I can't believe he asked me that, and I'll probably never forget it.
 
Magnus said:
I can't imagine being in a theatre when that bomb was first dropped. It was Aeris, for another generation, and another medium.

I regret that most of us will never know what that was like!
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I remember being a kid, seeing that "Star Wars" logo come across the screen, with that huge orchestral score, an the opening crawl and wondering what this was all about. Then that giant star destroyer came onto the screen chasing Princess Leia's ship, with the noise rumbling out of the theater sound system. We all knew that this was something we'd never seen before from the very beginning.
 
I remember seeing it a good 3-4 times at the theater as a kid. The best was when my parents went into the grocery store next to the local drive-in one night and I begged to be left in the car because I had a gigantic screen right next door playing Star Wars...No sound, but my 5 year old ass didn't care then in circa 1978, besides, I had already seen it...The audio was dug into my subconscious at that point too .

I laid down in the back seat and watched the whole death star attack. Good times.
 
It's kind of tainted by the prequels for me. I can still enjoy the original three but I couldn't help but cringing every time I see Darth Vader. I'm always reminded of that infamous "Oh Annie&#8230;you&#8217;re breaking my heart!!" line.
 
Magnus said:
I can't imagine being in a theatre when that bomb was first dropped. It was Aeris, for another generation, and another medium.

I regret that most of us will never know what that was like!
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And the fact that there was no internet, and popular media wasn't as prevalent, meant that unless someone you knew actually saw it before you and spoiled it to you (I'm reminded of that Simpson clip), you would have no idea the bomb that was about to be dropped.
 
Replicant said:
It's kind of tainted by the prequels for me. I can still enjoy the original three but I couldn't help but cringing every time I see Darth Vader. I'm always reminded of that infamous "You broke my heart Anni!" line.
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You know what's fun? Having seen the prequels only once...at the theater...and then forgetting just about everything about them. At this point, I only remember the characters and a few scenes from any prequel. I also refuse to watch any of the newly released enhanced editions with the bad ill-advised (like changing Obi Wan in the final film).

Out of sight will eventually mean out of mind.
 
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