Best thing that happened while watching any of the PT in the cinema?

Whats your best memory of watching any of the PT in the cinema?

For me it was the midnight showing of AOTC. Yoda whips out his lightsaber to fight Dooku. The place went mental. I've never seen anything like it, people were jumping up and down and screaming there heads off.

Anyone else?

 

I had a classic viewing of AOTC also. During the battle between Obi-Wan, Dooku and Anakin, the small city I was in suffered a blackout - right at the part where Dooku is about to kill Obi-Wan. The massive audience groan is something I will never forget. The sad part was that we had to wait until the next day to view the movie again. We got free popcorn for our trouble, but that was a brutal scene cut.

 

The first showing of TPM in Scottsdale...
I remember how quiet the theater was from when the hangar-doors split apart up to right before Maul extended his second blade... and the thunder that followed.

It was a true StarWars moment for sure.

 

I'll consider [Sx3's[/b] point as most valid -- TPM was fresh, right out of the box, and the box office returns show how hungry the fans were for their Star Wars.

A good 2nd choice for me was the Space Opera scene in ROTS -- nary a sound could be heard in the theater. People were rapt in attention, leaning forward in their seats. The dialog was some of the most intense, engaging and intelligent witnessed in a SW film since Yoda spoke to Luke during his training in the swamps of Dagobah.

From THIS point on, Lucas produced quality stuff. The last half of ROTS generally lived up to fan expectations -- except for perhaps Anakin's rather 'weak' conversion in Palpatine's office and the lack of some good Jinn before the credits rolled.

 

For me, it was the first viewing of ROTS: the whole room was totally packed and quiet as a tomb, until the SW logo came on ... then everyone just cheered their butt off

It was bittersweet, because we all knew it was the last one ...ahh the memories *sigh*

 

Mine was seeing ROTS for the first time.

I'll never forget how surreal the experience felt. It didn't kick in until I see Anakin and Obi Wan in the fighters. Then I just got so excited to be seeing new star wars.

 

I have to agree with the original poster. The Yoda moment - the atmosphere was electric. It is far from being my favourite scene (although Yoda igniting his saber is a very cool moment) but audience wise I have never experienced anything like it. To me the most memorable moment is the beginning of TPM - Star Wars was back and everybody cheered. That and duel of the fates of course. But the Yoda moment is probably most memorable SW moment in memory - because of the reaction from the crowd.

 

So it wasn't just me?

 

Definitely when Yoda whipped out his lightsaber in AOTC, the entire audience cheered. Not to mention ROTS, I was in awe from the very beginning and when Vader gets his mask for the first time I remember people being very excited.

 

Definitely seeing Yoda yield the saber in AOTC. That was definitely a moment I cheered for.

 

Vader's first breath.

Stone-cold silence in the cinema. Very powerful stuff.

 

For Me: The shot of Obi-Wan standing at the base of Padme's ship. I had goose-bumps because I knew the fight I had wanted to see my entire life was about to come.

Based on Audience: The place erupted with cheers and applause when Yoda revealed his lightsaber. It was simply nuts.

Based on the theater: The manager having to apologize for the fact that we would have to watch 'The 20'(the theater's pre-film commercial reel) before RotS started at the midnight showing. All of a sudden plastic lightsabers everywhere shot up in the air.

 

LOL...
I hafta chime in on that thought. I had an absolute riot watching all the knuckleheads beat on each other, down in front before ROTS started. We even had beach balls being bopped-around. It was ten-times more fun than standing in the dessert heat to see TPM.

But the the best PT moment for me was and always will be when the doors split open, and Maul peeled-back his cowl. That moment in the film was what every lifer-fan had been waiting for... a major-showdown between Jedi and Sith.

ROTS had its moments, but they pale in comparison to a decade of waiting.

 

Indeed, with the Maul elevator twin-saber revealed that the 'menace' was 'phantom' no more! Sheer delight coursed through my veins for what was sure to follow.

And sho-nuff, the ensuing duel did not disappoint. It ranks among the very best in the saga, exceeded (depending upon one's point of view) only by the 'had to happen' Mustafar duel.

 

Saw the TPM and can say it was the most fun I've ever had watching a film on the big screen; the part I remembered the most from that experience, movie wise, was the battle on the plains between gungans and droids... I also took great pleasure in seeing the introduction of Obi-wan Kenobi and meeting his master, Qui-Gonn Jinn; meeting Jedi in their prime. I didn't see AOTC in theatres so nothing to add there, even considering TPM experience, I have to say the "best" thing for me was when I saw ROTS; from the Opera scene on till the end the audience was just dead silent, one could feel the emotion of the crowd. I've seen some movies that elicit strong emotions, but nothing has yet compared to that reaction from an entire theatre full of people. (and is unlikely to ever surpass) For me that experience was just surreal.

 

In a "here we go" tone of voice, In Aotc, when the words "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared, somebody in the audience said: "oh ****..."

 

Holding hands with my lover.

 

TPM opening night for sure before all the disappointment and negativity would destroy Star Wars forever.

I thought the Mustafar throw down was a huge let down.The Sid and Yoda duel was better.

 

I'll never forget taking a day off to go and stand in line for TPM tickets. Our local multiplex is built on the side of a large shopping mall and the line extended FOREVER. We all sat there... freaks/geeks/normal folks... visiting about SW and talking about what to expect. Then the line started moving and we finally got our tickets.

A few days later we showed up for the midnight showing and it was neat to see all those folks again.

Then when the "A long time ago..." came up the place went absolutely bonkers. Still to this day the most applause, cheering, human emotion I've seen in a movie theater.

I hit the midnight shows for ATOC and ROTS and none of them compared to that first showing of TPM in terms of excitement... plus the multiplex figured out how to sell the tickets better and there was never that giant line again to spend the day talking to new people. So even though the theaters remained packed for the latter films... seeing TPM at midnight was one of the major highlights of my SW viewing... and I'm old enough that I saw ANH when it first came out and was at opening day for ESB and ROTJ.

 

I remember the laughter after the "we will watch your career with great interest" line in TPM. It was a midnight showing, packed full of fans, so everyone in the theater got it. There were also some good chuckles after the "why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" line in AOTC.

 

I don't agree with the Mustafar duel being a 'huge' letdown. It had its flaws, especially with how the duel ended -- the whole "high ground" thing and all.

The Yoda vs. Sids duel was every bit as pre-determined, since both Yoda and Sids live to appear in the OT, yet its meaning was only significantly amplified by its being interspersed with furious Mustafar action. We all knew how Mustafar 'had' to end, but the duel of the masters interwoven with the duel of the fates added some additional excitement to the whole PT climax.

So, TK-421, I concede that the Mustafar duel cannot emotionally be viewed outside of the context of Yoda's duel with Sids, an unexpected and delightful treat. But Mustafar led to Vader becoming purely evil, more machine than man. It led to Padme's death. It was what Lucas had in the back of his mind for over two decades.

I did not expect the immolation scene -- totally tragic in a mythological, moral and humanistic sense. Yoda's defeat was a noble defeat. He accepts defeat and then retreats. Vader survives, then storms back with a vengeance. Nice to finally witness why he's such a helmeted hellion!

I proclaimed my favorite moment in a post above -- the Space Opera. But others elicited top-scale responses from yours truly. All light saber duels fall in this category.

Another fave moment is Padme's rumination scene. Very touching and nicely done. I didn't think Lucas was capable of ever showing the true feelings experienced between Anakin and Padme. IMO, this is the 'only' scene that comes close -- and oh, so close it comes. Sweet agony!

 

I hate to follow such an eloquent post with a touch of humor, but for some weird reason... with my pragmatical state of mind I found the following to be one of the funniest one-liners that I have ever read on these boards:"TPM opening night for sure before all the disappointment and negativity would destroy Star Wars forever." I guess what makes it funny to me is that it kindof reads like: "As bad as TPM was; and exhillirating to view in the theater after the SW-drought, it was all down hill from there."

 

Opening night for TPM. There was an applause eruption at the 20th Century Fox Fanfare and then utter silence as "A long time ago . . ." appeared. It's only about two seconds or so after that fades before the blast of the main title, but it seemed like an eternity and the entire audience seemed to be holding a collective breath, and then the first Star Wars movie in 16 years finally began.

 

Another thing i remember was during ROTS some guy shouted out "Is there a doctor in here?".
Someone else said "yes i'm a Doctor" Then the first guys says "**** great movie isn't it"

 

The best thing that happened while watching all of the PT films for me was I enjoyed them all without having any hangups.

They all turned out better than I could have hoped for.