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Topic:
Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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SkottASkywalker
Registered:
Jan '02
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Date Posted:
5/14 10:06pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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Well, I was born in 1965 and I've been into STAR WARS since before the first time I saw the movie STAR WARS in 1977, which, obviously, makes it the first STAR WARS movie I saw and I remember that first viewing of mine of a STAR WARS movie.
I remember the theater (a LOEWS multiple screen theater which isn't there, anymore) and the location. I remember it being a matinee. I remember the theater being packed. I remember seeing it with a friend, his older and younger sisters, his mom and his mom's friend and her son. I remember us kids sitting a lot closer to the screen than the adults and I remember there being a cartoon shown first, which I can still picture.
And I remember the movie, itself. I remember seeing it. I remember the experience.
It was amazing. It was extraordinary. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. 
I remember my first viewings of each STAR WARS movie. 
-----signature-----
"I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
Rise. Fall. Redemption.
Prophecy fulfilled. Balance to the Force. Peace and freedom to the galaxy.
"It's so wonderful, Ani. You have brought hope to those who have none."
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SoonerSean
Registered:
Jul '07
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Date Posted:
5/17 12:37pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
- Date Edited:
5/17 12:39pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
SoonerSean
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Star Wars is the first movie that I really recall seeing in theaters (I was six). It absolutely blew me away and changed the way I looked at movies and entertainment forever and it clearly had an impact on me personally as I'm still a fan 30-years later.
I saw the film in Ardmore, OK. Then saw ESB in the same theater. Then saw ROTJ in Oklahoma City at the old Almonte Cinema 6. I still recall the huge line that extended out of the theater and down the shopping center sidewalk to the grocery store (anyone familiar with OKC will know what I'm talking about). That theater is long since gone - sadly - but I'll remember seeing ROTJ there forever.
Star Wars was basically the summary of my childhood... it started a fascination with sci-fi... led me to buy (through Mom and Santa Claus) all the toys, books, comics, etc.
The summer that ESB came out... I saw it every day for a month. When ROTJ came out... I saw it every day for almost two months (lived close enough to the theater to make the long walk).
I actually saw the PT at midnight for each of the releases just so that I could experience the standing in line and fellowship that existed back when I was a kid. To me that's Star Wars... the fans... the waiting together... the joy of that fanfare hitting your ears at the same time... the glow of "Along time ago..." hitting everyone at the same moment. I get goose bumps just thinking of it.
I sincerely wish that, as with the special editions and many Disney movies, that GL would release the OT every few years to theaters so that little kids could see it on the big screen. My son wasn't born when the SE came out, but I went and saw them and marveled at the looks on the faces of small children - that reminded me of myself when I'd seen ANH in 1977. Every little boy and girl should get that chance.
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DRush76
Registered:
Jan '08
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Date Posted:
5/20 11:24am
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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I remember seeing it in 1977. My dad and sister loved it. I didn't. It took me nearly another decade to finally appreciate it.
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Rhui Chatar
Registered:
Jun '99
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Date Posted:
5/21 5:52pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
- Date Edited:
5/21 5:59pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Rhui Chatar
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am I still able to login here?
It seems that I can, so I will relay my experiences here.
In 1977 I was 28, married, working, and a reasonably dedicated SF fan. StarWars being billed as a SF film, my husband and I, an avid SF and comic book fan, went with few expectations beyond seeing your standard popcorn munching, ninety minute diversion.
We were pleasantly surprised and instantly began digging into the all the nooks, crannies and layers presented by the experience. We saw it again. This is the first film since college days that warranted a second viewing. We eagerly looked forward to the next one and the one after that, were thrilled that more were planned, and when they didn't show up, went on about our business and forgot all about the franchise. Did not buy the Legos, did not get the lunch boxes, and did not read any EU books as Mr. Lucas didn't write them. He may have blessed them, but he didn't write them.
Time passed.
One day I go to work to find myself charged by my superior with accompanying my subordinates to a company sponsored, midnight showing of The Phantom Menace. I didn't know what the big deal was until someone told me it was the 'new' StarWars. This I accepted with considerable skepticism. I knew there was only one “real” StarWars. I'd been there after all.
Poor young fools were about to be lead down some old hokey, revived, franchise path to disappointment, but as I had to go, I may as well, go ‘informed’, as it were. So I did a bit of research and was surprised to find that Mr. Lucas himself was at the wheel of the ship, steering us back into the history of his galaxy, far, far away. I’d forgotten how much fun it had been before, peeling that story-onion of the world he’d previously introduced us to.
I owe a dept of gratitude to my superiors for coercing me into returning to something I didn’t know I missed. I’m still peeling the story-onion, and although I still don’t buy the Legos, I do own an action figure, or two. I bought the books, although Mr. Lucas didn’t write them, and I keep a Jedi robe handy just in case Mr. Lucas should change his mind. Again.
He’s been known to do that.
oh, I forgot to mention all the fascinating and fun people I met while sharing the experience. Made a lot of great friends watching, talking and sharing the culture that surrounds the franchise known as StarWars.
-----signature-----
"Hey, what did you do to the cat? He looks half dead." Schroedinger's Wife
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ValedaKor
Title: C-IV RSA
Registered:
Oct '00
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Date Posted:
5/21 6:19pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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Just had to step in and say it's wonderful to see you posting again, Rhui Chatar -- a voice from the "Shiny Peach" days  .
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Rhui Chatar
Registered:
Jun '99
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Date Posted:
5/26 5:54pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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Vale! nice to be remembered by one of me cronies ... fondly I hope. 'Shiney Peach', gawd that was fun. Still think of those characters from time to time.
Hope you are well.
-----signature-----
"Hey, what did you do to the cat? He looks half dead." Schroedinger's Wife
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darkmole
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
6/29 4:25am
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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I saw it on its first release in the UK, whenever that was. I must have been about 7 or 8. My dad and I queued up at our local cinema for a long time but the doors closed just before it was our turn so, disappointed, we got on a train to London and saw it in Leicester Square, at the time the best cinema in England (possibly still is) but still had to queue around the block. There was a lot of hype before the film came out and I had the comic strip already & had read it many times, but the first sight of the spaceship filling the screen amazed me. I'm one of those for whom the last decade has chipped away at my childhood memories, disappointed with the SEs (the films needed a clean, but restoration work should be unobtrusive), actually enjoyed TPM despite its faults, then progressively bored with the remaining prequels. Nothing will ever recapture that first experience and I feel lucky to have been at the right age at the right time for this film!
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Endor_Commando
Registered:
Mar '07
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Date Posted:
6/29 1:17pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
- Date Edited:
6/29 1:19pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Endor_Commando
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I remember before STAR WARS came out over here in the U.K,i was already a fan due to pictures that were being released here in magazines...most of C-3PO and R2D2.
Some of the kids at school were seeing the film before me,and had car stickers saying"I've seen STAR WARS".
On my first visit to see the film,the line was waiting around the cinema and as we went in there were stand-up displays of Luke,Han and Leia.I bought the cinema programme.
I remember jumping up looking through the door glass,trying to see some of the film,as the showing before was still playing.
I saw the film a few times then,as in those days a film would be shown for a while,and then be re-released in the school holidays.
When THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was released,i was second in the line and the last out of the cinema after watching all the credits.I remember saying to everyone that Darth Vader was lying to Luke about being his father.I went to see the double bill with STAR WARS as well.
RETURN OF THE JEDI came and i was over the moon.Went to see the triple bill at the cinema as well,and i remember people taking packed lunches in with them.You wouldn't be anle to do that today !!
It is very hard to explain to new fans/people what it was like back then.
Fantastic times !
Cheers.
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Eta-2
Registered:
Jun '08
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Date Posted:
6/30 7:13pm
Subject:
RE: Seeing Star Wars in 1977
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Ah, I wish I was a bit older and could have seen the films when they first came out. I was 3 months old when Jedi came out, which sadly prevented my parents from enjoying the movie on their initial trip to the theatre...so forgive me in advance if I'm derailing the thread and annoying the people who did see the film on the big screen. 
Being such a huge fan throughout my life, I've heard many stories from my parents about their memories of seeing the original on the big screen. My dad's brother managed a movie theatre when Star Wars opened, so he and his friends managed to see it for free a whopping 20 or so times. They were in high school at the time, and upon seeing the movie they converted into full on sci-fi geeks. They used to have wild discussions about what they thought would happen next...my Dad to this day believes Obi Wan had died long ago and was actually a ghost in ANH. They also proclaimed "Pizza and Beer" to be the breakfast of the Jedi Knight, a phrase I've carried on in honor of their "early interpretation" of the life of a Jedi. Throwing bed sheets over one's head and claiming to be Obi Wan Kenobi was also apparently very popular.
My mom graduated high school in 1978 and actually had a Star Wars themed homecoming dance...a story which I won't tell anymore of because it involves my mother, Leia's cinnamon bun hairdo, and details a mother should never tell her child.
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