'Star Wars' Memories: Seeing 'Star Wars' for the first time.....
May 25, 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the theatrical debut of George Lucas' Star Wars, a space-fantasy film set "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." And if you are a regular reader of this blog - or know me well in real life - you know that I'm a die-hard fan...you know, the kind of guy who goes around saying "These aren't the droids you're looking for," or "I have a bad feeling about this."
This wasn't always the case, though. When the film, which was re-titled as Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - premiered on Wednesday, May 25, 1977, I was nowhere near a theater that screened it. In fact, I didn't want to see it. I thought it was - get this - a Japanese-made science fiction film made for young children. I was 14 then, and since I preferred more grown-up fare, I totally ignored it....at least for a while.
This wasn't always the case, though. When the film, which was re-titled as Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - premiered on Wednesday, May 25, 1977, I was nowhere near a theater that screened it. In fact, I didn't want to see it. I thought it was - get this - a Japanese-made science fiction film made for young children. I was 14 then, and since I preferred more grown-up fare, I totally ignored it....at least for a while.
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| (C) 1977 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation |
I first saw Star Wars (aka Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope) in October of 1977. I was the last of my circle of friends to go see it; I was more of a history buff than I was a fan of fantasy or sci-fi fare, and the TV ads didn’t enthuse me much, either. I actually went to see A Bridge Too Far twice at the Dadeland Twin Theater in Miami that summer instead of Star Wars.
I finally decided to get on the bandwagon - so to speak - after I watched The Making of Star Wars documentary that fall. I guess I was tired of feeling like I was missing out on the hoopla (something that blessedly didn’t happen as far as disco is concerned), so I figured I’d watch the documentary, find out what the movie was about, and decide whether or not I wanted to spend $2.50 on a movie ticket to go see the blockbuster movie of the year. And lo and behold, I found out (to my surprise) that the movie everyone was talking about looked…intriguing.
I got my mom to drive me to a movie theater in the old Concord Shopping Center in unincorporated Dade County the weekend after I saw The Making of Star Wars on ABC TV. Part of me was excited, yes…but there was still a little inner voice that whispered, This is just going to be a silly movie aimed at 12-year-old kids. You’re now 14. This is gonna suck.
So, yeah. It’s funny that I still dimly remember sitting in a theater full of die-hard fans - I remember overhearing some of them say that this was their 10th viewing - with an attitude that can best be described as Okay, George Lucas. Impress me.
I think I maintained that teenage cynical attitude as far as the “It is a period of civil war” crawl, because as soon as it disappeared into the vast starfield on the theater's screen and the camera panned down on Tatooine just as the Tantive IV appeared on screen, I was impressed. John Williams’ score….the visual impact of that humongous Star Destroyer flying overhead…the bickering droids…the masked Darth Vader and those kick-ass stormtroopers….I loved everything about the movie.
As for the other two "Episodes" of the Original Trilogy.....
I wanted to go see The Empire Strikes Back when it premiered on May 19, 1980, but Mom was working and she didn't have time off until two weeks later, so I had to wait THAT long to see it. At the time, none of my friends owned cars, much less drove, so that was that.
Return of the Jedi? That was different. On May 25, 1983, the day it opened, I was a high school senior - close to graduation and with quite a few pals that had cars and could drive me to a theater. So as soon as the end-of-school-day bell rang on that Wednesday, one of my classmates drove my late friend Richard de la Pena and me out to the Dadeland Triple Theater, which was the closest venue that was screening Jedi. So Return of the Jedi is the only Original Trilogy film that I saw on Opening Day.
As for the other two "Episodes" of the Original Trilogy.....
I wanted to go see The Empire Strikes Back when it premiered on May 19, 1980, but Mom was working and she didn't have time off until two weeks later, so I had to wait THAT long to see it. At the time, none of my friends owned cars, much less drove, so that was that.
Return of the Jedi? That was different. On May 25, 1983, the day it opened, I was a high school senior - close to graduation and with quite a few pals that had cars and could drive me to a theater. So as soon as the end-of-school-day bell rang on that Wednesday, one of my classmates drove my late friend Richard de la Pena and me out to the Dadeland Triple Theater, which was the closest venue that was screening Jedi. So Return of the Jedi is the only Original Trilogy film that I saw on Opening Day.
I honestly don’t think that the original films are as bland or awful as an adult born after 1977 might see them, especially in comparison to the Prequel Trilogy. As Lucas himself has said in the audio commentary track to A New Hope, the films’ pace is rather leisurely in comparison to movies being made today, but both Trilogies are equally good as cinematic entertainment - if you don’t take them too seriously and try to put them on a pedestal that they don’t belong on.
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