Saga Share your Star Wars:Special Editions 97 experiences.

I remember first getting really into Star Wars at this time.
I had just gotten Boba Fett and Boba Fett's Slave I, along with a TIE Fighter Pilot and TIE Fighter.
The 3D coins in the chips, Mail-Away Ghost Ben figure, Taco Bell promotions, new green carded figures, and the Star Wars SE in theaters.
That was a good Star Wars year .

I remember seeing Empire first because of Boba Fett and going to Taco Bell after and getting a kids meal so I could get the Balancing Boba Fett on the Sarlacc pit.

 

Was a good time to be a SW fan. Was buying the POTF2 figures, and just enjoying fandom. Was 22 in 1997, first SW movie I saw was ESB in 1980. Getting to see ANH on the big screen was nice, although I remember nearly falling asleep during the Tatooine segment of the movie.

Saw each SE on release day, remember the theater being packed every time. For RotJ they gave out a POTF2 RotJ Luke Skywalker figure. Was really amped up for the prequels after the SE releases.

Felt like a party for every movie. Was just a great atmosphere, everyone enjoying the films on the big screen, then go complain about it on the newsgroups.

 

We had an active SW TTRPG group at the time, so we went and saw it together. A couple of our players had never seen it in a theater before. Yeah, it was a real party atmosphere.

 

I was 10 years old when the Special Editions came out. I was super into the POTF toy line. I have many memories of my brother and I and our grandma camping out in front of Toys'R'Us and Kaybee Toys to get the latest and rarest ones. We had a huge collection, and were always debating if the red card or green card figures were worth more. I would watch the movies repeatedly on VHS while playing with all my SW toys. I was also super into all of the Shadows of the Empire media that was released at the same time, particularly the N64 game. So the Special Editions and Shadows of the Empire go hand in hand for me, I can't really acknowledge one without the other, not just because of when they were released, but canonically SOTE took place between ESB and ROTJ and was essentially Episode 5.5, and whenever I'd watch ROTJ, I'd always have the events of Shadows in my mind in addition to the events of ESB.

Nothing against the PT, but I'm really glad I was old enough to experience being immersed in Star Wars fandom without any reference to the PT. A lot of people in my age range consider the PT to be the primary era of SW from when they were young, and hardly remember that the Special Editions were even a thing. But for me, it's always been the Special Editions and Shadows.

And then, of course, all of that led right into the release of TPM and everything that came with it a couple of years later. Which kind of capped off my whole Star Wars experience from back then.

 

I had eagerly anticipated the SE's after hearing about them in 1995. I was intensely curious about what would change. I can remember the media coverage and hype for it. I saw ANH on opening weekend, on a Sunday afternoon with my mom and sister. It was weird seeing a movie I had already seen before, though only on television. The protectionist had to mess with the projector a couple of times. The lens wasn't properly set.

I saw TESB on a Sunday as well, but this time I went alone as my family went to "Scream". Both were in the same theater. I went to ROTJ after going to see both "Scream" and "Vegas Vacation".

I also recall listening to two of my teachers thinking it was ridiculous to pay to see a movie already on VHS and cable. They weren’t the type to appreciate theatrical re-releases in the age of home viewing.

 

Of course, I'd heard all the hype about the improved VFX and the restored, revised scene with Jabba. The former was very good, and the latter was OK, though somewhat redundant. Personally, the big highlight for me was the unheralded restoration of the scene with Biggs in the hangar on Yavin IV.
Back when I first saw ANH in 1977, during the Death Star dogfight, I was eating Starbursts and, at one point, I thought, "This tastes odd." Turns out I was so into the movie I'd forgotten to unwrap the candy. Flash forward to seeing the SE on opening day, and I was eating Starbursts again. And, again, I thought, "This tastes odd." But, this time, the sticky candy had pulled off one of my artificial crowns. I have since switched back to Raisinettes.

 

I'd been a fan for a number of years but never seen the movies on the big screen. Getting to experience that for the first time ever was HUGE. I was young, the movies were legendary... you can imagine!
I saw all of them on opening night. I don't remember many details, but they did leave an impression.
ANH: 24 hour goosebumps.
TESB: Wampa!
ROTJ: That grandiose, bittersweet Victory Celebration. Unreal!
Overall, a mind-blowing cinematic journey. My three favorite movies at the time were now impossibly divine!

 

Okay, how many people here went to see "Independence Day" just so you could see this:


(My hand is raised, by the way.)

 

Nope. The only movies I went to in 1996 were "Mr. Holland's Opus", "The Crow: City Of Angels" and "Star Trek: First Contact". I saw the theatrical trailer on E.T. and during the showing of ANH.

 

You saw The Crow: City of Angels in theaters? I'm so very sorry.

 

I'll cheat and put in my post from this thread: https://boards.theforce.net/threads/1997-special-edition-nostalgia.50021855/page-7

 

I didn't mind it. My friend wanted to see it and so did I. I have no regrets, unlike "Vegas Vacation". That's the only movie I regret spending money on. My sister and I were dropped off by our mom, since she had to work on a Saturday. But before "Scream" was over, my mom was allowed to leave early. We had no clue she was out in the parking lot. If we had, we would have left instead of staying for the second film.

 

It was the best of times!

 

I was still a casual fan at that time (The Phantom Menace pushed me over the top), and I only saw the first two in the theater, but it was definitely exciting.

I remember that I liked the Special Editions at first, but by the time I saw Return of the Jedi I felt the trilogy had been ruined. I completely changed my tune over time, although I do still have a big soft spot for the theatrical version of Return of the Jedi and its music in particular.

 

I loved the Special Editions for the longest time, but as of the last decade or so, I prefer the original cuts.

 

It wasn't just seeing the films again on the big screen, which in itself was great., it was also the amount of TV coverage they got with features and interviews. Plus I think I ate my own body weight in crisps trying to collect all those tazo's they had in the packets that eventually filled a book. I never thought that the changes made would be permanent though, I assumed they were just for its 20th anniversary. At the time time I embraced them for that reason.

 

I remember going to see ANH:SE, and soon after it started, I found myself thinking, "Why did I come to see this? I've seen it countless times, and I have it home." Sure, the version I had didn't have the "special" stuff, but it was still essentially the same movie. That night, I literally had a nightmare that I was being forced to watch the movie in an endless loop. It was then that I realized that, as much as I do enjoy SW movies, there are limits to how many times I need to see them. Needless to say, I did not go to see ESB:SE or ROTJ:SE.

I did, however, go to see ESB In Concert a number of years later, and the experience was strikingly similar (i.e. "Why did I spend money to watch this AGAIN?") Of course, the live orchestra was cool, but they were so good, I often forgot they were even there, so it ended up just feeling like I spent $65 to watch a movie I'd seen too many times and could have watched at home.

 

I remember ROTJ made me briefly terrified of elderly people because I thought they'd shoot lightning at me at any point and tickle me, so I had an irrational fear of the promos for the SE's back in '97

I was a very strange child

 

I was a cinema manager at the time in a. Old traditional theatre. Me the projectionist and a few of the staff had a private showing at midnight just for us
Couple of years later I Was made redundant just before TPM but I salvage a few cool episode 1 posters.

 

Ah!!! It was the glorious return of Star Wars to mainstream pop culture prominence. Of course, amongst true SW fans, the flame had never died. Yet, being someone that had grown accustomed to experiencing these films on VHS...it was AMAZING to see them triumphantly return to the theaters. Furthermore, while we'd slowly been getting a trickle of new novels, comics, toys, merch etc....this is when the Lucasfilm merch machine flipped all the way ON and we were graced/bombarded with hurricane of new SW merch. I wasn't quite old enough to appreciate the OT when they first hit, but I was so happy to be around to relish the Return of THE franchise/saga in 1997.

 

I saw this poster standing in line to see Space Jam.

I started crying.

Best Star Wars poster ever.

 

When I left the cinema after seeing ANH Special Edition I had the sound of an adult Kevin Arnold narration running through my mind.

[kev]The thing about change. You never feel it coming, and yet it’s always there, like the wind you don’t notice until it’s suddenly in your face, and it hits you with that one simple truth: nothing lasts forever, not even the moments that you thought would stay with you. But that’s life, I guess. It doesn’t wait for you to catch up. You have to grow with it, even when it’s hard to let go.[/kev]

I swear amongst the hubbub of the city noise I could hear the faint strains of Turn Turn Turn…Scratch that, we’ll contemporise. Amongst the hubbub of the city noise I swear I could hear the faint strains of Nothing Ever Lasts Forever by Echo and the Bunnymen. Or was it Bittersweet Symphony? Both ‘97 bangers.

ChatGPT is responsible for the Kevin Arnold impression.