Saga Which were you excited about more?. TPM or TFA build-up?.

Of the two, I guess TFA because I only had two years of anticipation going into TPM, having been introduced to the saga with the special editions in 1997.

However, I've never been more hyped for any film than I was for ROTS, which had so many scenes in it that were previously the stuff of Star Wars legend for nearly thirty years: the lava duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, the start of the Jedi Purge, the creation of the Empire, the birth of the twins, and obviously, the birth of Vader.

 

TFA ?

 

TPM but I expected too much from it. Expected nothing from TFA and was pleasantly surprised.
I know how to watch SW films from now on.

 

Definitely TPM... .I was born in the late 70s, so that's probably not surprise. With TFA it was more like "I don't hope Disney doesn't **** it up too"

 

TPM by far. I was just craving to see the prequels from ROTJ's release back in 1983...For many reasons mentioned in previous posts (15 years countdown, fascinating and tragic story arc, how and why Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader...)

That's it for many of the first era (1977-1983) aficionados I guess...Even if some might have been even more intrigued by the ST and its elusive story and plot, mostly unknown.

I'll add about the PT in general and TPM especially who the Emperor really was and how he came to power, what the hell was the mysterious Clone Wars about, Mother Skywalker emotional hints and tragic destiny mentioned in ROTJ, how did the Old Republic crumble etc...

Well, sure, the backstory/prequels were definitely settled by G.Lucas and publically revealed around that time (1980 in the mass media).

But for the majority of fans, though some of the old enough ones could already be aware of the whole scheme and basic schedule, I guess the countdown really began when and just after ROTJ came out. As most of the mainstream media, magazines, TV, and newspapers, inevitably had to deal with the future of the saga and the new films to come...Which were very likely to be the prequels according to the big boss himself (not to mention most silly rumors no one will ever forget...Like, yeah, the childhood of Luke Skywalker )

Therefore guiding most of the anticipations and expectations in the PT's direction.

 

No, probably TPM...

 

TPM, by a wide margin. For the first time in my life, I was going to see a brand new Star Wars movie on opening night. I was pretty young and it felt to me like the first three movies had existed since the dawn of time, so this was a HUGE thing!
Also, it would show us the beginning of the Saga, with a young (and good) Anakin Skywalker meeting a young Obi-Wan Kenobi. We would also, probably, get to know Luke and Leia's mother and, later on, see the rise of both the Empire and Darth Vader. Was I excited or what?!

When Episode VII was announced, I was floored. I had honestly believed that GL would never allow that to happen and I was very, VERY satisfied with his completed I-VI saga. So yeah, that was also a huge deal and I eagerly awaited TFA (man, that first teaser got my blood pumping). I spent a lot of time speculating on what the story was, what that voice meant with "There's been an awakening", who that hooded figure with the medieval looking lightsaber really was etc... but it was never quite the same.
For one thing, I was 16-17 years older this time around and I guess the magic impact of new things tends to fade/transform as we age. Also, I was kinda used to that feeling of awaiting new Star Wars movies. It was great as usual, but nothing will ever compare to that first time.

 

I went with TFA cos when TPM was coming out, I was in the middle of graduating high school-so my focus was by all means elsewhere. It came out during finals week, and I did see it a couple times when it first came out, (and then more in the summer) but my school's campus was in a small Wisconsin town with only one small theatre. No social media at the time, and I didn't turn to internet as a frequent resource yet either, so I didn't really know much about it at all, other than seeing a trailer before another movie I saw there months earlier. Not to mention I wasn't nearly as big a SW fan as I am now.

Now as for my anticipation in the lead up to AOTC or ROTS, TFA doesn't even hold up.

 

TPM definitely. I was very excited to see it and remember very clearly walking with my boyfriend to the theater. I loved Darth Vader as a kid and was excited to see his story. (I also remember leaving the theater thinking "WTH was that?" and didn't even bother to watch the next two until last year, but I like the PT now ).
With TFA, I was interested but didn't really buy into all the hype.

 

Definitely TPM. I had been longing for more Star Wars for as long as I could remember (I was born in 1982). And the numbering of IV, V, and VI had always held the promise of there someday being a I, II, and III. I was thrilled when I learned that the prequels were finally being made. I bought tickets for opening night the day they went on sale. Seeing TPM for the first time felt like one of the biggest events in my life (sad as that perhaps may sound!). And for what it's worth, I was not disappointed. I loved it, saw it six times in theaters, bought all the associated behind the scenes books I could find, bought the collector's VHS as soon as it was released, and got a DVD player specifically for TPM when it came out on DVD.

With I - VI finished, the saga felt complete and I felt no need for more. I already "knew" what happened after RotJ from reading the EU. The announcement that a (superfluous, as it seemed to me) sequel was being made, with no involvement from Lucas, by the director whose claim to fame was having made my least favorite Star Trek movies was not exactly thrilling. With the sale to Disney and the advent of the "new canon" I've become disconnected from contemporary and future Star Wars.

 

TPM. I was soooooo excited up to, during and shortly after it was released. I think I had a good year of "Star Wars is back!!!". Then the video came out. And it was then that I realised that the periods of wanting to FF to the next Jedi or action scene was not a good sign from a movie I had only watched twice before. It took more than of watching the original films on tape to get to the point were I might not watch the movie from beginning to end or considered skipping to exciting bits etc.



My attitude towards TFA was not to get excited. I remember actually being pissed off that a friend had booked me a ticket and that I felt obliged to go, and obliged to form an opinion sooner rather than later. I thought that, at best, it will be an attempt to copy Lucas. At worst it will be trying to copy Lucas, badly.

Even after I'd seen it I couldn't bring myself to make much comment. But the experience was not what I expected. I had found myself totally oblivious to the things in it that made it Star Wars and was thinking. "What's going to happen to these people? Will the Resistance survive (I genuinely thought that it might not) What are Poe and Finn going to do? Particularly Finn. What's he going to do? He's not going to SKB to take on the first order. He's going after Rey. What's going to happen with Rey? What's Rey going to do? etc etc.

If someone asked me to give an opinion, all I could say was "Legitimate. Totally legitimate." Even though I hadn't given the authenticity much thought. It wasn't the experience of checking off what was Star Warsy enough and what wasn't . And I guess that's what prompted me to give that answer. And I stick by that. Repeated viewings showed how authentic it really is as well as its own particular qualities.

It showed that I had been drawn into it as a movie and not distracted by any false credentials or the need to scrutinize it for them. IT was not what I might have expected as a film either. And to get over that hurdle itself is saying something.

 

The only movie I can remember being as hyped as TPM for is the Fellowship of the Ring.

Still hard to believe we actually got an awesome film version of LOTR

 

TPM, for sure.

 

I picked TPM even though I wasn't really excited for the buildup of either film. But the makers of the PT didn't trash the OT and I am pretty dam nostalgic for that summer of 1999. I didn't think the Prequel Trilogy was going to be any good and I was so glad to be proven wrong when I finally saw TPM a week after it had been released.

 

TPM for sure, which is why some people don't like it because they had a much bigger expectations from it.

 

I was more excited for Episode I. Was pumped to see Darth Maul (who is still cool)

In the end, though, both were mediocre in my eyes. Enjoyable but very flawed...each with memorable scenes and cringy scenes.

 

TPM by a mile.

A big part of it was that I was young, and it was my first (new) star wars movie I'd see on the big screen. Plus with the internet in it's earlier days then, a lot harder to find out information about the movie which made it all the more mysterious. And of course the hype and promotional lead up for it was insane.

Now for TFA, it's hard to duplicate what TPM did to start with. But there were other factors at work too. It was the first movie without Lucas' involvement which made me very wary, plus the fact that the saga was already neatly wrapped up so I didn't see how the story could continue and still be worthwhile. Finally all the talk of how the film was going back to it's roots, super practical, little CGI, etc just felt insulting to me and made me have negative feelings towards the film before seeing it.

 

I was equally excited for both.....and then sadly I was pretty much equally disappointed with both. However, I'd say that TFA has disappointed me more though. The PT was ultimately saved and redeemed by RotS; the ST on-the-other-hand is in a deep hole with TFA, it was absolutely horrible imo. The Star Wars saga has been tainted by TFA. Hopefully TLJ and Ep9 can save not only the ST but the saga as a whole.

 

Frankly I'm not a person to get hyped up about any movie that much, in terms of counting down days until the premiere, reading every article possible, watching a movie I'm not interested in just to see a SW trailer etc. Sure, when I was 12 I really was fascinated by all those pictures and TV movie reviews about ANH, so I was really looking forward to seeing the movie. Same with ESB and ROTJ. But I wasn't "hyped" in any way. Between TPM and TFA, clearly I was more excited about TPM, though I wasn't a kid then anymore. I watched a trailer or two for TFA, but none of them appealed to me enough to expect much of it. Even with expectations being pretty low, the movie still managed to disappoint me.

 

TFA, because I was only a kid and hadn't seen Star Wars when TPM came out lol

 

The Phantom Menace and it's not even close.

 

Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever top the build up to TPM. I was thirteen coming on fourteen. I remember it very well. It was complete hysteria on a worldwide level.

Also, I think it has a lot to do with how the film industry in general has changed. Back then, there were only two or maybe three “must see” films released in a year. They were always made up of summer blockbusters. For example, I remember Independence Day was one of them. You simply had to see that film in the summer of 1996. Now, we have such films released in almost every month. They’re pretty much no longer “must see” films anymore. They’re always eagerly anticipated, yes, but there’s never really any real hype or hysteria surrounding them. TFA was basically one of these films, just a little higher maybe. It was greatly anticipated by SW fans, of course, but it was, to a lot of people, just another studio blockbuster.

 

Hard to say because I was at very different points in my life. I was 12 when TPM was released and already a huge fan of the originals. In the lead up, I was consuming all the marketing products from toys to books, etc. I was 28 when TFA came, but was so excited to see Luke, Han and Leia and the new generation of heroes.

 

TPM. The OT was the best 3 movies I had ever seen up to that point, which had just the right blend of imagination, music, and narrative progression. As soon as the PT was announced in 1995, I spent the next 4 years obsessing over every small bit of info I could get. However, it was also mixed with a feeling of dread about Lucas's waning sensibilities once the Special Editions were released. So though my anticipation for TFA was not as strong, I had a much more carefree positivity for it upon it's approach than for TPM