I was finishing up 5th grade I think it was. My dad went on a business trip to Denver, sometime shortly after that weekend, maybe into the summer, I'm not sure. But while he was there, he went to this movie that everyone was talking about.
When he came home, he was raving about it! My 11 year old self was enthralled by his excitement. Besides, I'd seen the trailers on TV and I just KNEW this was a movie I had to go see.
At some point, we ended up with the soundtrack album and there were some awesome pictures on it. This only proved to intrigue me further.
Finally, FINALLY, my dad took us to see it! I have no idea when it was, but sometime that summer of 1977 I'm sure. It was a the huge old awesome theater in Salt Lake, The Centre, and it was at a time when once you were in the theater, you could stay there until you wanted to leave. So we stayed through two showings of it!
That was the coolest thing ever!
And thus the Star Wars phenomenon began in my life.
The impressions of my nearly 12 year old self:
- I knew that Luke was the hero of the show, but even at not quite 12, I was especially taken with Hans Solo, yet I knew not why!
- The garbage shoot scene was my favorite!
- Except for the double sunset scene which always gives me chills... oh the music.
- The special effects were astounding.
- The sound and the music blew me away. This may have been the beginning of my fascination with sound and music in movies.
- The movie was full of so many emotions that I was overwhelmed.
I saw the movie in the theater that first run about four or five times, which is pretty amazing for a 12 year old back then, I think. Then a few years later, they brought it back to the theater (this was still pre-video days) and I went to see it another four or five times. It was the movie I had seen the most times up to that point. I was obsessed.
When the next movie came out, I was there. I couldn't BELIEVE how it ended with Hans Solo all carbonite- ed up! No way! And then the next movie (now I'm in high school) I was also there! And I was blown away by the excitement. The long long wait for the next trilogy was.... long.
Bottom line: I really really love Star Wars (the original.) Always have, always will!
What's YOUR Star Wars story?
I love this post!
ReplyDeleteI was eight when I first saw Star Wars, and it blew me away. My parents rented The Empire Strikes Back for me the next weekend, then Return of the Jedi the weekend after that. The scene between Luke and Vader in ESB absolutely destroyed me, since in my 8-year-old world, stuff like that just didn't happen between good guys and bad guys. I remember shouting, "Noooo!" right alongside Luke, then obsessing over it for days and days.
When I was fourteen, I learned that my closest friends had never seen Star Wars. We all watched it together, and they promptly became obsessed. The three of us were heavily involved in Star Wars fandom for quite a while. We ran an online RPG via e-mail, and we all wrote fanfic and the like. We became huge collectors, too. I had scads of action figures and random Star Wars stuff, most of which I've managed to offload in the last few months as I downsize my life. :)
It's been a few years now since I last watched the trilogy. I really ought to remedy that ASAP.
Memory: I love your story! :) I yelled NOOOOOO too... in the theater! I was about 17 then, and was SO very much into this story. It killed me!
DeleteI remember living in a small village where there was no movie theatre, but went to see it when I visited my parents in London. I thought it was amazing and loved Hans Solo. They all look so young in your blog pictures. Who would have thought that Carrie Fisher would end up as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig?
ReplyDeleteAnn
Ann: LOL about the Jenny Craig thing! I don't know, I'm not sure she looks so very good these days! Anyway, yes about Hans Solo, it appears we ALL had a crush him, no matter our age at the time.
DeleteI don't remember the first time I saw it because it was one of those movies that I watched over and over since forever but I remember when it was re-released in the theaters in the 90's and I took my brother to see it. I knew it was a big deal and that people took Star Wars very seriously but I didn't realize how serious it was until we got to theater. We figured there would be a line because we went opening weekend but I didn't expect people in full out costumes! I was so amazed.
ReplyDeleteI hate when I am talking about Star Wars to someone who is younger and they think I'm talking about episodes 1-3 (which were not very good at all). It makes me sad that I have to explain to them that I'm talking about the original Star Wars.
Kimberly: I agree with the confusion on which when we should call the FIRST Star Wars, the kids do think of that as the Phantom Menace movie, which is very crazy.
DeleteLOL - I was 1 1/2 in May of 1977 :)
ReplyDeleteSusan: Yes, and you SO missed out!! :) You were my little brothers and sisters age... you would have been the little sibling I took with me to watch Empire Strikes back... my dad left us at the theater while he had to go do something, and I had a whole crowd to babysit... there during the movie. That's my Empire story. :)
DeleteOh, Han. *swoon* And thus began my years-long devotion to Harrison Ford. (He was SOOOO much cooler than Mark Hamill.)
ReplyDeleteAnd I think I wanted to *be* Princess Leia.
(Granted: I was only 5 in 1977, and didn't really get into the whole Star Wars thing until Empire Strikes Back a few years later... But that's just splitting hairs. I love this movie.)
Melissa: See, I was swooning over him at age 11! But it seemed so normal to be doing back then! I have loved him ever since too, but in recent years, it has lessened a bit. He's become too grouchy.
DeleteI don't remember dates or ages, but I do remember that I didn't really watch Star Wars from beginning to end until my first year in college. That was when my obsession began. I love your story!!! :)
ReplyDeleteBecky: The invention of the video machine! That was cool so you COULD watch them just as you describe!
DeleteWow! How exciting I wasn't even born when they came out so by the time I saw them it was on our tiny little computer screen which we used as a TV. Even then they were still awesome!
ReplyDeleteJenny: So sad YOU missed out too! :) I mean, in the original excitement!
DeleteWow! Hard to believe that it's been 35 years! I don't remember the first time I saw the movie, but do remember developing a major crush on Han Solo!
ReplyDeleteAlexia: Yes, who would have thought that 35 years ago, people would still be talking about it and remembering it. I love it.
DeleteFantastic story :D I love that your dad was so excited to see it, I can imagine my mum and dad being the same xD
ReplyDeleteApparently I was shuffled off to a babysitter when Empire was released in 1980 so my parents could go see it and I doubt they would have taken 3-year-old me along to RotJ in 1983! My first actual memory of seeing Star Wars was when I must have been 6 or 7. We were at my aunt and uncle's place, and my cousins were watching the end of ep 4, when the x-wings are all leaving the rebel base and flying out to attack the death star. My brother and I were fascinated and hooked from then on (I think my sister was still too small at that stage) but I have been a complete star wars fangirl ever since :)
-Angelya
(www.oakenbookcase.com)
Angelya: Love the story!
DeleteI don't have any cool Star Wars story to share BUT you may find it interesting that my husband was born the day New Hope premiered. We celebrated his 35th birthday this weekend. :)
ReplyDeleteHolly: So cool! Happy birthday to him! :)
DeleteSo wonderful to read this. I was nearly 9 when the movie was released and my parents took my younger brother and I to the drive in to see the movie. I'm not sure that I saw it any more than once but it sure did stick with me. I remember right after that seeing Brian Daley's Han Solo novels on my uncle's bookshelves and remember borrowing them to read. I devoured them and the movie novelization over and over again in the years leading up to The Empire Strikes Back. I remember waiting in a long line at the theater to get inside and once inside this girl I knew from school ruined the surprise of Vader being Luke's father because she had seen it the day before. I was so angry with her. Still, I LOVED the show. I was always a big Han Solo fan.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood was filled with many days of Star Wars inspired imaginings. From reading many Star Wars-related books to playing Star Wars with the neighborhood kids to having my own adventures with the action figures, Star Wars was one of the greatest influences on my young life and that influence persists today.
Heck, I even remember buying and reading the Return of the Jedi novelization before seeing the movie. I wouldn't dream of doing something like that today, but I HAD to know how things were going to turn out.
I can pick up any of those SW books today and be transported back in time just looking at the covers.
While I'm frustrated with Lucas' tampering, I must admit that the original trilogy is still my favorite movie-going experience. I do so love it.
Carl: Thanks so much for your Star Wars story! I remember the books too, at least some version of the books, but I was always too leery of them, thinking even back that they they would "ruin" the movie story for me. Kind of backwards of what we are normally thinking...that the movie will ruin the book!
DeleteStar Wars came out the year before I was born. So, I didn't see it in the theater until the special edition was released in 1997.
ReplyDeleteBut, my oldest sister who was 22 at the time was obsessed with it. She saw it in the theater every Friday and Saturday for an ENTIRE year and then saw it every Friday or Saturday for about three months after that. Because of her love for the franchise, I grew up with a love of it too. She has quite a bit of memorabilia from those days. I swear she could make a small fortune on eBay. It's like walking into a Toys R Us completely of Star Wars (and Star Trek) toys.
She had this R2-D2 garbage can that she never use because it was there just for looks that I used to sit in and make beeping sounds. She gave me my own Leia Barbie doll, which I destroyed as a small child. (I still kick myself for that.)
I also LOVE the music. It was the beginning of my love for John Williams, then Indiana Jones, and Jurassic Park solidified the deal.
I also have the Meco songs! I have the Star Wars theme, Death March, and the Ewok song. I loved them!!! Unfortunately, they're on tape and the Ewok song isn't available on CD like the other two. I'm so sad I can't get it. Oh well.
Jenni: I love that those of you born way after it was popular are just as much into them as those of us that experienced it first hand. Not many movies can claim that. So fun.
DeleteFun story! I can remember cowering behind the couch while my siblings watched it, especially when Darth finally takes off his helmet. That was apparently the scariest thing ever. Wish I'd seen them in the theater, but I was a bit young.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I loved Star Wars as a teenager too, but it was when the Special Editions came out. I had seen Episodes V and VI on and off through my life, but I'd never seen Episode IV and my dad wouldn't let me until we went to the theater. I was biting my nails and on the edge of my seat! Are they gonna blow up the death star!!??! After that, I watched the whole trilogy on VHS once a week until I had seen them at least a hundred times :) I also had a crush on Mark Hamill. Oh the sadness when I realized he was as old as my dad. Star Wars forever :)
ReplyDeleteJessica @ Books: A true story
My Dad was a total nerd (I'm so grateful) and so I grew up watching Star Wars constantly. I love those movies so much! I didn't realize until I was much older that not everyone watched those movies when they were young. My husband never saw the originals until we were married!
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