PT Audience reactions to the PT in theaters

I can attest that there were definitely people who'd had enough of GL's vision of Star Wars by the time Sith came out and that there were hecklers at the midnight show.

 

For some reason I find heckling less annoying than obnoxious enjoyment. I saw Cabin in the Woods last year in the theater-- sparse a crowd as I've ever seen for a mainstream release. But I wound up with apparently the movie's biggest fan right behind me, laughing and guffawing in perfect tune with every moment that's meant to prompt the audience. And this was on the first day. It was like he was laughing in tune to a script.

I'll add that I never experienced any heckling or real negative reactions when I saw the PT in theaters. There were a few shocked hushes and gasps at extreme moments whenever Anakin did something particularly dark-sidey, but that's the correct reaction, I think. I never heard anything like the joking during ROTK, or the little girl behind me who kept saying "It just... doesn't... end..." during the King Kong remake. And perhaps most telling, at least there were responses during the films at all, unlike when I saw the first Hobbit movie this past winter, which met with deafening silence the whole way through.

 

Aha! Which reminds me of the third or fourth time I saw Episode III in theaters. The place was basically empty... until a man and his son(?) sat very close to me. The boy, physically looked much older than he was behaving. Maybe he was a man with Downs Syndrome in his 20's. Anyway, he was really into this movie. He, apparently had seen it a bazillion times already and was about to pantomime everything that was about to happen on screen, even the war drums at the beginning of the movie. After a while I got up and sat closer to the screen to avoid being distracted, but that just made the digital projection look all pixelly. After the movie, I walked outside and was given my first e-meter test by a street Scientologist.

And Kilroy, the prequels lasted for about 6 years (1999-2005). The hecklers have been at it for goin on 12 years (1999-present)! I for one am tired of THEIR vision of Star Wars.

 

I love aside observations surrounding a theatrical experience that have nothing to do with the movie themselves, specifically. I don't say that fececiously. I find a weird, beautiful kind of synchronicity to it. When I first saw ROTS at the Ziegfeld, I first spent the day at the Museum of Modern Art, which is a block or two away, and spent most of my time being amazed by this cinematic installation by Chris Marker (he of La Jetee) that was primarily concerned with T.S. Elliot's Hollow Men poetry. I have no idea what it has to do with ROTS, just like I have no idea what street Scientology has to do with it, but by god it has to mean something, especially when you experience it first-hand.

Now if I could only figure out why Evangelion movies would screen at a Bollywood theater, I think I could unlock the mysteries of the universe.

 

Well, when you consider that Star Wars and Scientology are both bastardizations of sci-fi and the occult marketed to the masses, and that the scene on Mustafar comes straight from the cover of Dianetics... maybe it DOES mean something!

 

Two more: one positive, one negative.

AOTC -- When Dooku turns around to see the shadow of Yoda emerging in the Hanger, a black guy yells out, "Yo, Yoda's gonna kick yo' (expletive)!" Very powerful, very effusive. In retrospect, it was more entertaining than anything in the movie.

ROTS -- Some schmuck ruined the sanctity of seeing "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..." for the last time by yelling out, "S---, it's a rerun!" Really irritating.

 

For AOTC when the clones came to rescue the Jedi on Geonosis everyone in the room was surprised.
And at the end of ROTS, I remember that everyone ( except one or two person ) applauded same thing for AOTC. For ROTS it was a screening at 0h00 and for AOTC it was a screening at 14h30 and the cinema had sold all the tickets for the two movies.

 

1. I will never forget the roar of cheering when R2D2 first appeared in TPM.
2. I remember a lot of cheering when Yoda walked in to fight Dooku and even more when the duel started.
3. Funniest moment was when Anakin tells Padme "I cannot breathe.....etc" A guy behind me, in complete exasperation, says "Oh &%@# Lucas, what the blankety have you done" The section I was in erupts in laughter.
4. Much laughter when Yoda took out the Imperial guards with a swipe of his hand.

 

I remember when Yoda pulled out his light saber to fight Dooku. Other then that I can't really remember any. You get the most enthusiastic reactions from midnight showings, when all the screaming fanboys and fangirls show up in cosplay. They laugh and clap at everything. Never been to a SW one but I'll be sure to make it for episode 7. (albeit not dressed as Darth Vader)

 

Ya see maybe being in different countries, cultures. For me it was different.
1. People cheered at the opening music and fox logos.
2. A few Indiscriminate cheers when Maul ignited his light sabre.
AOTC.
1. Cheering at logo and music..
2. Laughing at romance attempt and Yoda light sabre duel.
ROTJ
1. Cheering at logo and music..
2. Mild cheering when Yoda fought Sidious
3. Otherwise overall silence.

 

When I first saw TPM in London on July 1999, I clearly remember that, when Shmi reveals to Qui Gon that Anakin has no father and she can't explain what happened, some people behind me were really baffled and angry, letting out a tiring sigh....I must confess I was fairly disppointed too.

I also remember people being much embarassed by Vader's infamous NOOOOoooo in ROTS.

Last, people cheering and laughing when R2 gets rid of the big battle droids at the beginning of ROTS.

 

I can barely remember the original theater viewings. Though I remember cheering at the beginning and end of Revenge of the Sith, and laughing at Obi-Wan's jokes, Yoda taking out the guards, and Palpatine pretending to be weak. As I recall, it was really tense when the movie began to shift tones with Anakin's fall.

With the Phantom Menace re-release, it was clear that there was a bunch of hardcore fans there. There wasn't much at later viewings, but the midnight viewing had tons of audience reactions. Pretty much applause to anything; the Fox logo, the Star Wars logo, the scroll, the ending, and any particularly badass moment in the movie. It seemed the audience mainly consisted of college-aged kids who grew up with the Phantom Menace and the prequels. That being said, I've never heard so much laughter at Jar-Jar's antics in my life. It was so surreal.

Anyways, there was only one critic there (why even go to the midnight showing), but at least he shut up during the movie. For me, I've only seen Star Wars at Carousel Mall, now known as Destiny USA. It always draws a crowd.

 

It's hard for me to remember the exact audience reactions , but I do remember that the midnight/opening day screenings I attended for all 3 films were all pretty much sold out. The 3D TPM screening I went to was also fairly well-attended.

 

Two moments from Attack of the Clones still come back to me:

(1) Cheering which started when Yoda pulled his lightsaber and didn't stop until the fight was over;
(2) A sort of lustful "oooooo" when Padme and Anakin were sitting together by the fireplace. Then, after Anakin gives his line of "I can't breathe!", someone yelling out from the back: "Use the Force!"

 

I remember everybody laughing at Palpatine's ludricrous voice after Anakin had turned.

"The Force is strong with yooouuuu!"

 

Actually its lasted since the SE's back in the mid-90s

 

The only Star Wars I saw in theaters was TPM 3D, and the experience sucked.
For starters, I live in South East Asia, and people don't react in cinemas there. (except for girl's screaming during scary movies and shocked gasps when there is nudity).
Secondly, right behind me were 5 kids with no adult who hadn't got 3D glasses who talked loudly most of the film.

 

-Cheers when Obi Wan cut Darth Maul's lightsaber in half and kicked him.
-Cheers when Yoda went postal on Dooku.
-Loud groans at, "You're so beautiful." "Only because I'm so in love." "No, it's because I'm so in love with you."
-{Actually I groaned a little just writing that.}
-One guy yelled out, "WHAT THE HELL?" at R2's boosters.
-Laughter at R2's antics against the Battle Droids, especially when he gets kicked over.
-Laughter at "No, no no YOU WILL DIE!"
-Laughter at Yoda's dispatching of the royal guards.
-The guy next to me laughed when Vader's mask gets lowered and the breathing begins. Don't know what he thought was so funny about that, I loved it.
-Groans at "she's lost the will to live".
-Roaring laughter at "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

A friend and I bought advance tickets for two showings of TPM, one on opening night, and one for the following night. After the first showing, he turned to me and said, "I really didn't like it." I couldn't help but feel the same. The next day, I really didn't feel like going back for the second showing, but he called me and asked if I still wanted to go. I said, "well, we already paid for the ticket, and we've already planned the day around it, we might as well go." He admitted on the ride to the theater that he wouldn't have been disappointed if I had said no.

After the second showing, he turns to me and says, "you know, I have a totally different opinion after the second go around." I felt the same. There was no way TPM was going to live up to the hype that was created around it. I think after we realized that, and we had our expectations tempered to something more reasonable, we were able to enjoy it for what it was.

A little off topic, sorry.

 

"I've had enough of GL's vision."
"I'm continuing to pay to see his films."

These do not logically go together.

 

Out of all 3 films. Lucas owes me £21.50

 

One of these days, when I have the software and give enough of a crap, I'm editing this scene with Stoklasa in place of Big Brother.

 

Everyone was silent for all three, but I remember hearing laughs and giggles during Anakin and Padme's scenes in ROTS.

Ah yeah, and some people clapped at the end of ROTS. Someone booed.

 

That someone was me. (Only joking)

 

When I watched TPM in theaters, my dad and I saw it twice. During the second viewing, I'm glad that we got to see it alone in the theater, but then again it was in August. The hype was kinda dead by that point. In June 02, AOTC had a packed crowd and so did ROTS during its opening weekend. I don't know if this would qualify as a reaction, but I remember saying "Where's Luke?" while watching TPM.

 

The moment when Yoda pulled back his robe in AOTC and a lightsaber flew into his hand - there was a deafening cheer for like half the fight scene.