"I am your father" - How did you feel?

I just remember it giving me three whole years of playground arguments as to whether or not it was true. Yup, I'm old.

 

Unfortunately, I always knew Vader was Luke's father. Being born in '82, it's something that's just been ingrained in me for as long as I can remember.

Luckily, all the classic film surprises weren't ruined for me. I still remember cheering Charlton Heston when he told those darn apes to get their hands off of him, only to feel my heart sink upon finding out it was earth all along. Ah, if only the "I am your father scene" had that same memorable impact on me...

 

I figured this is a good place to get this out, but I was actually spoiled before I saw the movie. I was about 9 or 10 and this twerpy kid who lived across the street from my best friends came over and told us and ruined the whole thing. Quite frankly at that time, I didn't mind because I was still pretty young, but over the years it really ticked me off because I never got to experience it in the theatre like it was meant to be. I guess compared to a lot of other things it's not a big deal, but I also feel like I got robbed of something really special. I hate that kid.

 

There was a clue in ANH,when Aunt Beru said "Luke's just not a farmer,Owen.He has too much of his father in him." And Uncle Owen replied "That's what I'm afraid of."

Well, I think Owen never really liked Anakin even before he became Vader; being a Jedi, running all over the galaxy doing crazy stuff etc.

When I found out that Vader was Luke's father, I guess I was too young to really understand the significance of that...or maybe I was just too engrossed by seeing Luke's hand cut off to care.

 

I was 7 at the time. I made a "GASP" sound.

 

At the time, I lived with my brother and his family. My niece was a huge STAR WARS fan, and she made the big mistake of buying and reading the novelization of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK before she saw the movie. For a month before the movie opened, all we heard about was how she found out the movie's big secret and how it spoiled the movie for her! It cracked me up!

 

yeah I thought it was a lie, a trick. I remember having arguments till rotj came out saying no way it was true.

 

I have no memory of it. I don't even remember the first time watching Star Wars. Sad really... But I guess I was too young to understand it anyway, since I couldn't even read the subtitles. I'm just one of those who always knew Vader was Luke's father. More probable is however that my brother told me, but that doesn't sound as cool.

 

When I saw TESB in 1995, it was so dark and scary for me. I was nine at the time. Seeing Luke's hand being severed by Vader was so terrible for me that I would cover my eyes every time I viewed the film again until I was twelve, I think. The revelation that Vader was actually Luke's father shocked me. I thought it was probably true. Yoda and Ben's confirmation in ROTJ made me believe it absolutely.

 

"Y'know, Mark Hamill looks pretty hot when he's beat up - hey, wait, did Vader say something just then?"



I was actually fairly mellow about it. The downside of being the second generation to a cultural phenomenon is that you're already "in" on all of the movie secrets.

 

I had figured it out myself before Empire came out


I told my sister "If that mask comes off , theres gotta be a surprise inside "

who else can it be but Luke's father ?He was only mentioned but never seen

I feel so proud even today i guessed it right

 

I figured this is a good place to get this out, but I was actually spoiled before I saw the movie. I was about 9 or 10 and this twerpy kid who lived across the street from my best friends came over and told us and ruined the whole thing.

I had the totally opposite experience. I asked a kid at my summer day care if Luke and Vader fought and who won. He told me that Luke chopped Vader's head off. Not a word about the real fight, so when Luke lost his hand, I was totally shocked. Stunned. Almost horrified -- this isn't supposed to happen to the good guys! And then came that whopper of a lie about Vader being his pop. And then Luke JUMPS--! And ends up in the most hopeless situation I'd ever see on screen.

It was my 9th birthday, and it changed my life. And all thanks to a kid who either had the sense not to spoil the movie or who'd slept through the climax.

I didn't believe Vader was telling the truth until I read the novelization a few weeks later and got to turn it over a bit in my young mind. Luke sure believed it -- why shouldn't I?

 

Vader also said that "search your feelings, you know it to be true" line. That seemed pretty convincing to me.

 

I remember first watching ESB in 1980 as a nine year old kid. When Vader said that to Luke, I thought Vader was lying. By the time Return of the Jedi came out, I still didn't believe it until Yoda confirmed it.

 

I was fully aware of the fact that Vader was Luke's father long before I actually had the opportunity to experience "The Empire Strikes Back" for myself. That revelation had permeated popular culture, and it was therefore very difficult to be completely ignorant of its existence. However, when I finally viewed the film, I felt that the scene in question was actually quite devestating and powerful, regardless of the fact that I had been previously apprised of the plot twist. Like a lot of good art, "Empire" has an underlying emotional power that fully envelops your person; the specificity of the scene itself - the visuals, the performances, the effects, the music, etc. - helped to enrich and further embellish this climactic sequence. There is a level of psychological complexity at work in this scene that has rarely been matched in any of the other "Star Wars" films (Anakin's confession in "Attack of the Clones" comes close, but is significantly less harrowing). Vader's revelation, not to mention the entirety of the extended lightsaber duel in the carbon freezing chamber of Cloud City, retains much of its extraordinarily dense mood as well as the fullness of its emotional impact; whenever I watch "Empire", this sequence is nothing less than entirely captivating.

 

I was so young that I can't remember it.