A young man destined to be a hero, a strong-willed princess in distress, a handsome rogue and his hairy sidekick…
It is hard to believe that almost 30 years have passed since that fateful day in which my parents loaded us up into the family auto and took my brother and I to see Star Wars at the drive-in theatre. Movies no doubt excited me before the advent of George Lucas’ surprisingly successful space opera, but for those who were kids in my generation, do you even recall movies before Star Wars?
I feel privileged to have been a part of the pop cultural sensation that is Star Wars from its inception. Many of the things that have obtained cult status and found their way into my treasure trove of geek obsession were not things I caught in their initial release. Firefly was well off the air before I discovered the wonder of the ‘verse. The Sandman was in it’s final issue before I rediscovered comics and was introduced to Neil Gaiman. Though it may be thought that a science fiction fanatic like myself emerged from the birth canal in 1968 to the voice of Captain James T. Kirk, it wasn’t until many years into my childhood that I became a Trekkie. For several years our play time was spent immersed in a world unlike any we had previously encountered as we awaited each successive film. The world created by George Lucas and the influence it had in directing me towards the type of literature, film, art, etc. that has shaped me over the last three decades cannot be understated. And I know that the same is true for many of you.
The beauty of Star Wars is that you didn’t have to experience it at as an 8 year old in a small-town Nebraska drive-in 1977 for it to have arrested your imagination, it continues to do that today for successive generations of children and adults. It is such an inclusive experience that once you are hooked you are as much a part of the world as those of us who were in it from the start. Star Wars introduced us to a set of characters who, like the heroes of the literature of our youth, have become good friends and companions over the years.
In the midst of a fantasy reading challenge, why Star Wars? As I have already mentioned numerous times, Friday is the 30th anniversary of the release of the film. But more than that, the type of space opera that George Lucas crafted is built as much of the archetypes of fantasy as it is on science fiction. And for me Star Wars is every bit as much a fantasy as it is science fiction. I know that is blasphemy, but I think part of the ongoing appeal of the franchise is that the underpinnings of the story are as old as storytelling itself. It is a tale of good vs. evil that finds roots in folklore, fantasy, mythology, and fairy tales.
During this coming week, as I spend my free time reliving the wonder of the films, I will be doing some posts on Star Wars, the last one being on the anniversary, Friday May 25th. There will be a question at the end of each post. For those of you who participate in each post, you will be entered for a chance to win a Star Wars prize pack, including:
(The latest copies of Geek Magazine and Star Wars Insider…both terrific magazines, a loved set of my two favorite Star Wars novels featuring the pre-A New Hope adventures of Han and Chewie, an R2-D2 Pez dispenser with Pez, a Jango Fett action figure, a Padme action figure, and a set of bookmarks)
Also included will be a sheet of the Star Wars stamps that will be released on Friday.
You can participate each day or wait until the end of the week and do it all at once. I am even giving you the weekend. For those who have answered each question this week by Sunday, May 27th at 11:50 p.m. CST, your name will be entered in the drawing. I will announce the winner on Monday!
And for those of you who haven’t seen them yet or need a gentle reminder, don’t forget about the three other contests currently going on here at SSD:
and
The Gaiman Contest and “I finished the Challenge” contest.
Today’s Discussion Question: What are your memories of the first time you saw Star Wars?
My first date in high school (Jim Carpenter, who is in fact now a very nice man in the best sense of the word) took me to see this movie. I liked it so much that shortly afterward I took my young brother (about your age) to see it and he looooooooved it.
Was the very first date to see Star Wars? That is too cool.
I remember my parents took me to see it on opening day for my birthday. I was born on May 25th, 1969 so I got to be enthralled with the world as an 8 year old. I honestly don’t remember any movie before that one and it’s certainly had the biggest impact on me that any movie ever has. It launched my love of science fiction as reading The Hobbit years later lead me on my path to loving fantasy. After seeing the movie I remember drawing all sorts of ships in my grade school notebooks. As for my favorite character it has to be Han Solo. What a loveable scruffy looking nerf herder. 🙂 Have a great day everyone!
Please forgive my poor grammer. I’m actually much harder to understand in person. Just ask Carl.
The first time I saw Star Wars was as a young child; I was playing with LEGO on the living room floor (building an airport as I recall). The TV was on in the background, and I remember being drawn in by it. Star Wars caused major LEGO airport delays!
After that, I started building a lot of LEGO space ships. 🙂
Oops, I corrected your grammer Jeff (and she was none too happy about it) 😉
We took our son to see Star Wars when it first came out in 1977, when he was 6 years old. We saw it with him 7 times that summer, but he also talked his grandparents into taking him to see it a couple more times that same summer. I always chuckle when I remember what the mother of one of his best friends told him when he was in high school. She said, “Just think how smart you’d be if all your brain cells weren’t tied up by having memorized the entire Star Wars movie!” Needless to say, we’ve been a Star Wars family since May 1977!
I don’t actually remember when I first saw Star Wars. I was born in 79, so was too young then (the first film I remember going to see in the cinema was ET), but I do know my older brother had the toys, and I think one hallowe’en he had a storm-trooper mask.
I’ve always sorta known the plot, but the first time I actually remember seeing them was when they were rereleased a few years back. In Sligo’s crappy cinema, and I do recall a few peoples dressed up with light-sabres and everything.
Ahh, the first time I saw Star Wars.
We were in the Philippines. A few weeks/days (I was young) previously we went to the theater and saw something that was horribly inappropriate and we had to leave early. They didn’t have movie ratings there and so you didn’t know what you were going to see. The very first Star Wars movie poster was a little risky looking and I remember my parent warning us that if it had anything in it too adult we would have to leave. We never even saw any trailers or advertisements or anything.
Needless to say it was plenty clean and we loved every minute of it.
I desperately wanted to see Star Wars when I saw the ads, but my parents refused to take me until they had seen themselves first. I remember being so angry that they were going to see it and refused to take me.
It was worth the wait, obviously. I was completely mesmerized.
I’ve posted a few times now about my Star Wars experience…
I was 2.. my parents took me to a drive-in, hoping i’d fall asleep..
Instead I was glued to the screen throughout the entire movie. My mother says that was the beginning of my scifi faze that i never outgrew. I can blame my parents.
by 1977 I was married and had 2 kids! But I remember seeing Star Wars… I had my oldest son with me, he was 10..he went nuts! and I drooled alot over Hans Solo and desperatly wanted those Robots to come help with my kids!
Star Wars came out before I was born. Before actually watching the three movies, my earliest memory was my father watching it. All I could remember was the scene when R2-D2 and C-3PO are walking through the desert. It was a couple years later when the movies were rereleased at theatres that I watched them and remember them.
I was only 5 when Star Wars came out, so I missed it. I do remember, vaguely, seeing a poster for it while I stood in line for some Lassie movie (or something like that) that summer.
My parents went to see Empire Strikes back in ’80, and I remember being excited enough to ask about it, but I don’t think I saw that one in the theater, either.
I do remember seeing Return of the Jedi in the theater in ’83 with my cousins. I must have seen the other two by this point, because I knew what was happening. And I loved it.
My family somehow got copies of all the videos, and my brothers and I spent summer after summer watching them.
I guess this wasn’t my memories of the first time I saw Star Wars. Sorry.
Wow. I was just a child when the movies first came out. It was a family thing, my brother and I watched the movies with our cousins. I recall how my cousins and I all wanted the Star Wars toys after the films.
The odd thing was, all my cousins wanted the heroes: Luke Skywalker or Han Solo – even Chewbacca. I alone amongst the pack, wanted Darth Vader. I cried when Vader died. Ironically, I never thought of Vader as the bad guy.
My brother and I used to drive my mom nuts when we would run around the house trashing each other with “lightsabers” – we would use anything, from broomsticks to rolled up newspapers. And French loaves – I still recall how my mother screamed at us for fighting with food. I was the youngest child, and I was usually the one that start the “lightsaber” fights.
Over the years my brother and I drifted apart – but I always remember the lightsaber fights – they represent a time when my brother and I shared something.
I need to confess that actually own a Master Replica Darth Vader lightsaber – one that hums when you swing it. When I first bought it, friends asked what am I going to do with a lightsaber?
My immediate reply: “To trash my brother.”
I was only 2 at the times but must confess I never got the big deal about Star Wars. Never liked the movie and I actually found it quite silly.
Of course I seem to be in a very, very, very small minority in the universe. LOL.
However I am crazy about other movies so I totally understand.
I guess I’m showing my age, but I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars, since the first one came out the year I was born. It’s just one of those movies I’ve always KNOWN thanks to cable TV and the gazillon times they’ve been shown on it.
Now, the first time I actually saw it in the theater was when they were rereleased a few years ago. My hubby (then boyfriend) was working crazy hours at two jobs but was SO excited to be able to finally go see them on the big screen. He acted like a little kid! When we went to see his favorite one, Empire Strikes Back, he fell asleep right before his favorite part! He was SO mad, especially at me for not waking him up, but I was so engrossed in the movie that I didn’t even notice!
My aunt and uncle took me to see Star Wars. We were going to go on opening night. I was going to spend the night with them and see the movie. (I was 7 at the time!) This was back in the day of theaters….not multi-plexes!! We went to the Fox Theater in Springfield, stood in line for over an hour…..and both shows that night sold-out before we got there!! We had to go see Rollercoaster instead!
But my parents let me stay another night….and we went back the next day even earlier. This time we got in!! My friends were all nuts over Luke Skywalker. But not me. I’m a Han Solo gal myself!
I guess this would be a good time to mention that my cat Solo is named for (duh) Han Solo.
“Star Wars” is definitely as much Fantasy as it is Sci-Fi, maybe more. Sci-Fi, hard Sci-Fi anyway, would never have SW’s innate spirituality.
Which reminds me of MY first SW memory, some biblebanger type going off on the movie’s evil “new age” agenda. Of course it only cemented my desire to see the movie and made me love it that much more. There’s nothing more delicious to a little boy than a taste of the forbidden. (It was this same thing that turned me into a KISS fan at such an early age. :>)
I was a little too young to be around when Star Wars first hit – but I do love the original trilogy (not quite such a fan of the recent iterations though.)
Actually my strongest memories of Star Wars are from university. One of my roommates adored the films and used them as a sort of spiritual remedy for whenever she was stressed or sad. I can’t really watch them now without thinking of her…I wonder how she is doing now?
Star Wars is totally a fantasy movie – it just happens to have sci-fi clothes on, the way Alien is a horror movie in sci-fi clothes. Carl, did you catch that huge fantasy vs. sci-fi comments argument a while back?
The first time I saw Star Wars was when the Special Edition Triology was released in 1997. I’d seen clips from the movie before then (mostly because my friend was a Star Wars fan) but nothing can compare to seeing the Death Star Run on the big screen in all it’s updated digital glory. Phew. It was amazing!
I remember seeing Star Wars and wanting a Chewie. Did you hear the latest French study that decided Darth Vader was a borderline personality? I laughed when I heard it on the news bit of the radio, poor Darth no wonder he was so hell bent on controlling the universe.
Amanda
I saw SW the year it was released. This would be the time before pre bought movie tickets and thetime when lines for it wrapped around city blocks twice. And yes when you had a ticket buyer line and a ticket holder line in which you had to wait two hours in order to get a seat. So much fun when you’re nine.
In the late eighties I got to see all three play together in the same theater I saw the first.
I remember walking home with friends after shool in 1977 figuring out how many times we each had seen it already. I think mine was six. ***CV
I saw the first SW with a group of friends, all of us were newly divorced and we all went wild over it. Whenever I watch it now or read anything about the movie it triggers feeling free and successful as a single person. My favorites were a toss-up between Han Solo and R2D2. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen it since and somehow it always feels like the first time.
Quix: How funny, especially considering the partnership Star Wars and Legos had and continue to have today.
Robin: I don’t think I saw either Star Wars or Empire more than once as a kid in theatres. That may not be true though, I think I saw Empire twice. In 1983, when Jedi came out, I was 14 and I know I saw that several times with friends and with my youth pastor who was a huge SW geek.
Fence: I remember seeing good ol’ E.T. in the theatre as well.
James: loved that first movie poster, still do. Just couldn’t find a decent enough quality pix of one early in the a.m. or that would have been my opening picture. Funny, I’m sure you told me about seeing it in the Philippines, but I just don’t remember that. Great memory.
Mosker: I remember feeling that same way about both JAWS and GREASE. My parents saw them and I never got to see either until I was much older. I remember being so upset by that.
Angela: I remembered that we shared the drive-in experience. Funny, my parents always hoped the same thing in drive-in movies and then I always stayed awake, usually through the second feature, or part of it, as well.
Deslily: I was hooked on Han as well, though obviously not in the same way you were. 😉 If you find those kind of robots, let me know.
Kailana: I am always interested to hear what I guess you would call second generation SW fans and their perspectives. I think the overwhelming number of second and even third generation SW fans around today just proves the richness of this franchise and its power of wonder over movie-going audiences.
Melissa: for me ‘Star Wars’ covers all the movies, so your shared memories fit in perfectly.
Dark O: I was cracking up the whole time I read this. Sounds so much like my own home. I own a ton of geek memorabilia, so I’m right there with you.
Mailyn: I know others share your opinion. Unless a person just doesn’t like science fiction at all I must say that I cannot understand not liking Star Wars, but it is okay that you don’t….I guess. 😉
Heather: Oh my gosh, I bet he was pissed! I’ve been that tired in the theatre before, so I understand.
Stephanie: I’m sure you were devasted that first night, nice that your parents let you have the opportunity to stay and see it the second night.
Suzanne: I’ve said it before, but I love your pet’s names.
Wayne: I loved KISS as well!!! We used to turn out the lights at my friends’ house and have these massive killer pillow fights while listening to their Love Gun LP. Must be proof that rock promotes violence. 😉
RB: Not sure which fantasy vs. sci fi thing you’re talking about as it seems like I’ve read several of these arguments lately. I don’t love the prequels like I love the original, but I do think each prequel film got better and that Sith was pretty darn good. In all three there are amazing parts (the light saber battles are beautiful, the special effects and scenery are wonderful)…if only Jar-Jar and those awkwardly written love scenes had been different they would have been much, much better.
Alyssa: It was such a thrill to see the SW trilogy when it was re-released beginning in 97. I was able to see Empire in NYC with a friend and was so thrilled that we got to stand in a long line as that echoed my childhood Empire theatre experience.
Amanda: I just read an article by someone else today that mentioned Anakin being Bipolar. Guess the ‘experts’ cannot decide on his mental illness. 🙂
Chitt: I don’t mind not waiting in lines anymore, but it was so much a part of the SW experience that I actually enjoyed waiting in lines for the midnight movies of the last two prequel films.
Pat: I get alot of first time feelings when I watch the movies as well, especially Empire.
Great memories everyone, keep em’ coming!!!
Wow, this brings me back 20 over years! I remember watching Star Wars in the cinema – with my kid brother and my cousins! We were all so young! I was only 6 or 7? I know I haven’t gone to primary school yet, so I must have been 6. I think Star Wars came to Asia more than a little later than the original release date. I recall we were all munching on popcorn and when the big Imperial ship loomed in overhead for the opening scene we were all like completely awe! LOL! I think some of us were screaming cause it was so loud and I was wondering, “How did that giant spaceship enter the cinema?” muahahahaa … kids …
Carl – I spent a LOT of time playing with LEGO as a kid. As I recall, I was also playing with LEGO the first time I saw Labyrinth. 😀
I was 9 at the time and had only seen one other movie at a theatre when Star Wars was released. My dad, a big Star Trek fan, took my brother and I to see Star Wars. It was such a big deal for my brother and me! We loved it. Mark H was my first (and pretty much only) “movie star” crush.
Are you jealous, Carl?
I was around for the first release. Went on a first date with a guy that I worked with…we were so blown away by the movie that we stayed up all night talking about it, and then had to drag ourselves into work the next day on no sleep. Hehehe.
The boyfriend didn’t last, but SW sure did. Both my boys were raised as avid Star Wars fans. The older one had trouble with his pronunciation, and had trouble explaining to us what the “Livingroom Balkan” was. Any guesses? 😉
I’ve watched all these movies way way WAY more times than I can count. My kids had them on every chance they got. I have a wonderful memory of going with a group of friends and our then 8-12 year old children to a triple feature at the “big” theatre in Edmonton — and every last one of us didn’t move a muscle for six solid hours, entranced as we were by all things Star Wars. 🙂
Cdnreader: I’m jealous, would love to have seen all three original SW films in the theatre as a triple feature!
That’s hilarious! The livingroom balkan was always my favorite ship! 😉
Mary: Jealous? Not when SW offered me Leia in that slave bikini! Yowza!
Aichaku: That was definitely an iconic moment in cinema!
wow. star wars…
born in 1978 i first saw it on video. in that wonderfully ignorant bliss of being a child, i hadn’t known of it at all until i actually saw it. when i saw it for the first time it wasn’t star wars in giant capitals with a big reputation. it was just another film. needless to say it didn’t stay that way.
i saw it at my friend quintin’s house – he lived right around the corner so we were always at each other’s houses. it must’ve been somewhere around 82/83…? my memory of actually seeing it is very patchy. i remember a few things, though! i definitely remember all the characters – they were so colourful and seemed much more real than any other character i’d seen in films before!
some moments stood out and made a massive impression, though! the final sequence when they attack the death star; the sequence where the good guys get stuck in the trash compactor – i loved it (and was frightened to death by it) for some reason!!? and then, of course, when luke learns about the force for the first time. that was just magical. i loved it and was captivated by it! i remember feeling it was extremely significant – and was rather surprised that no-one had mentioned this concept of “the force” to me before!!
The first time I remember seeing Star Wars, was at my Uncle’s house. It was on one of the original Laser Disks. The kind where you had to flip it over halfway through the movie.
Well…
It was 1998. I was 18, at work at a rubbish data-entry job and chatting to the guy at the next desk when it emerged that I’d never seen any of the films.
“That’s it,” he said. “I can’t talk to someone who’s never seen Star Wars. I’m sorry.” He actually did shut up for a couple of hours… which was quite a feat, for him.
I recounted this at home (not much else amusing had happened that day) and my brother, who was 13, decided that it was time to remedy this gap in my education, so he hired all three on VCR and we watched them over two evenings.
Obviously, I didn’t have a totally fresh response to the films – I knew who all the characters were, and so forth – but I did enjoy them. I love the way the film uses music, in particular.
Great memories, Jean-Pierre.
I’m glad, kk, that you actually ended up enjoying them after being somewhat coerced into seeing them. I know several people that never saw them and didn’t like them when they finally did and others who still refuse to ever see them. Since I have my own little foibles I try not to judge…too much. 😉
And if you like how the music worked in the film I highly recommend checking out the fourth disc in the Star Wars trilogy DVD set. It is a documentary about all the groundbreaking things that happened in the creation of Star Wars, including stuff on sound.
I don’t know when the exact first time I saw Star Wars was, but it was one of the movies/series that my dad and I would always watch together – that and Indiana Jones, mostly. So my first real memories of Star Wars are all associated with my dad…
I wish SO badly that I could have seen the original Star Wars movies
on the big screen. There my favorite of the group. I am very glad though
that I got to see the other ones in theater–I will always remember waiting
eight hours with my dad and friend to see the third episode. What GREAt
FUN that was 🙂 .
I wish I could win that prize–I guess it would look bad if I won it though.