We Remember STAR WARS
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is skyrocketing into stratospheric box office numbers worldwide, breaking record after record. And before the weekend is out, it looks like it will be the biggest movie of all time, outpacing Avatar with box office receipts.
It’s a phenomenon that doesn’t show any signs of stopping anytime soon. But what was it like back then? Back in 1977 when Star Wars was just… Star Wars. Some space movie from the guy who’d made American Graffiti? We’ve collected some of our memories here so you can go back a long time ago…
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Angie Fiedler Sutton:
I was three when the first Star Wars movie came out. I don’t remember going to see it: I grew up in a small town that didn’t get new movies right away, so I have no idea how old I was when I actually did see it, but I do know we did – both of my two older brothers have talked about it before.
Empire Strikes Back, however, I remember seeing with my dad at a drive-in. This was 1980, and by this point my parents had divorced. So this must’ve been a special ‘date night’ with the kids, and all I really remember is sitting in the back of his station wagon, the walkie-talkie-esque speakers running into the car.
But it was Return of the Jedi I remember waiting in line to see. While others may give grief about the Ewoks, I remember loving Wicket – and having a stuffed version of him that stayed with me until my fire of 2002. Many people make fun of the fact of them saving the day on Endor, but I always felt it was a great way to show that friendship and love (family as well as romantic) could overpower anything.
As I grew older, Empire slowly became what I felt was the best of the movies, but I always considered Jedi my favorite.
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Jen Wise:
When I was growing up, my parents unwittingly fostered in me a fascination and passion for Star Wars far greater than any other passing interest I held, and for the primary reason that Star Wars was a special treat: if we were good through the holidays, then on New Year’s Eve we could stay up watching the full original trilogy until midnight. My parents would set up dinner, snacks, and pillows in the living room for my sisters and me, but because I was the youngest, I had a tendency to fall asleep pretty regularly. I think Empire was my favorite for so many years wasn’t because it stood out as the paragon, but more because I would fall asleep for most of Return of the Jedi and wake up very near the end.
My oldest sister had Anne Rice to get her through the days. My middle sister defaulted to Star Trek as her favorite. I, on the other hand, came alive after Thanksgiving, helping where I could and keeping my room clean and orderly, so I could get my once-a-year fix of a galaxy far, far away (and sleep through most of the Ewoks).
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Maia Ades:
I was probably one of the last people in America to see the first Star Wars movie. I had been attending a horse riding clinic in Topeka, KS. We had some time off and a couple of friends took me to the movie. Remember, everyone else in the theater had already seen it, probably several times. When it came to a gotcha moment, I gave a small scream. Everyone in the theater laughed because I was the only one who didn’t know it was coming.
This time around, I won’t be the last person to see it. I won’t be the first. But I won’t be the last.
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Blaise Lapinski:
I remember the summer of 1977 quite well. After all the anticipation and waiting for Star Wars to hit the theater, the excitement and wonder of finally seeing it for the first time, the amazement at the awesome special effects, and maybe even feeling a bit queasy in the stomach when the rebels were flying into the canyon on the Death Star, it and Smokey and the Bandit were the only movies at the Cinema all summer. I think I saw both of them at least five times and could easily recite any dialog passage.
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Teresa Wickersham:
I was confused by the movie at first. The words on the screen were corny. But you know how they talk abut the suspension of disbelief? The first spaceship flying over my head yanked me out of my seat and into outer space. I was totally and uncritically into the movie after that. I’ve never had an experience like it.
I was also with my little sister and she went to the restroom two times during the space bar scene. I think the aliens scared her.
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Jeff Hackworth:
My earliest memory of Star Wars was in 1995 when I was 5 and my brother was 2. The movies had just been released on VHS for the last time and my parents went to Blockbuster Video and rented all the original trilogy for my brother and me to watch with them. I remember being so visually taken by the battle of Hoth and I remember crying when Han got frozen in Carbonite. It was a great bonding experience and I’m glad my parents let me watch at such an early age. When the prequels came out, I saw them with my parents and some friends on opening day. My most embarrassing memory looking back was when I was Jar Jar Binks for Halloween after Episode I came out. Nobody really recognized me and the mask was super tight and kept breaking and wasn’t very good to breathe out of.
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Heather French:
I have so many Star Wars memories, but I think my personal favorite happened on March 28, 1985. It was the FIRST time the trilogy had been shown in public, and it was happening in my hometown of Dallas! I was a senior in high school, and the one potential drawback was that the showing was on a Thursday… but I wasn’t about to let school stop me!
As far as I know, there were no advance sales, so after Chemistry I booked it down to Northpark I & II (I miss that theater terribly!) and got in line to buy a ticket. This was the first time I had ever been around such a large gathering of fellow fans! Here we all were, waiting in line on a beautiful warm day to buy these beautiful tickets. I still have mine, tucked safely away in my Star Wars box. I think I was number 686 or so to buy a ticket.
Then came the wait… I think I was probably in the first 200 people or so waiting until 4pm to go in and get our seats. I spent that afternoon talking and laughing with my new SW friends… 4 hours or more, but none of us cared! We talked about what we loved about the movies and how excited we were to see them all together on a HUGE screen. This was before the ease of watching on DVD or cable or Netflix and even video was scarce for us!
And Northpark I & II was THE place to see a film! It was one of the first three theaters in the nation to be equipped with Lucasfilm Ltd’s THX (which was always turned up to an 11 to perfection!) and was personally done so by Tom Holmin, who was head of that division at the beginning. The screen was, at the time, one of the largest in the nation, larger than IMAX! The theater sat 1080 people, and that day it was filled! I can’t believe we all filed in so orderly and found seats, but I’m sure it had to do with this overwhelming sense of joy and excitement we all shared.
When the film began, we were all silent for “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” and erupted into a thunderous cheer at STAR WARS! I think George Lucas must have heard us back in California! The next three film are a blur of happiness! When I finally got out for the evening, somewhere around 11:30 pm, my geek soul was soaring and my life changed! Before this day, I was a solitary SW fan with a few isolated friends who were also fans. But now I saw how big the community was, how much it was loved, and that I was part of a glorious greater good. It was actually one of the best days of my senior year, and it set the stage for so much more! (I returned to see the trilogy there again May 27, 1993, for a charity showing. Jennifer and I saw the trilogy TWICE in one day… fabulous!)
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Sonya Rodriguez:
Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. We knew we would probably not see Star Wars in the theater. A friend of my dad who worked at the newspaper with him surprised us with tickets. She came to pick up my brother and I and we were off to the movie theater to see Star Wars. Since my father’s friend, Ronnie, worked for the paper, she knew a lot of people. We were ushered to our seats immediately! No long lines for us! What I really remember was the beginning of the movie, how the words scrolled back, not up, but back and just disappeared at the back of the screen. It was so magical. The whole experience was just magical.
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Jason Hunt:
Star Wars was one of the few times I remember my mother going to a movie.
I was seven years old, and the family went to the Northpark General Cinema in Dallas. I remember walking into the mall, but I don’t remember actually getting to our seats — old man’s memory here — but I will never forget that moment. When the words Star Wars hit the screen for the very first time. And for me, it wasn’t just the logo. The blast of sound that came with it was, for me, just as life-changing. A lot of people talk about seeing that massive Star Destroyer going on and on and on… but the music was just as much a part of why that first scene worked so well.
The rest of the movie was a whirlwind, of course. When you’re seven, you don’t realize you’re seeing something for the very first time ever and you’d better savor every moment. But when I got home, one of the first things I did was power up the keyboard and start plunking out the Star Wars theme. It’s the moment that started me on a path that has included composing music, writing and directing movies, making television commercials, and editing a couple of web sites with fellow fans.
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Please feel free to share your Star Wars memory with us in the comments below.
I remember the evening so clearly, Dec 7, 1979, a little more than a week after my 12th birthday. My father took my brothers & I to THE premier of the season, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There was a long line outside the building, & inside the theatre there weren’t 2 empty seats next to each. I sat between complete strangers, scared & alone in the dark, waiting for old familiar friends on the big screen. Then, the lights went down, & the screen lit up, & new friends flashed before my eyes. ‘It began as the story of a boy, a girl, & the universe. But, Luke, Han, & the Princess’ story didn’t end w/the destruction of the Death Star. It continues, next summer, in, “The Empire Strikes” back.’ And, the entire room, the entire audience burst out in thunderous applause, rising as one, to deliver a standing ovation to a film trailer. Suddenly I realised that I wasn’t alone, surrounded by strangers. I was in the company of nerdy, sci-fi family I just hadn’t met yet or knew existed. I don’t remember that 1st Trek film itself all that well, not from that viewing, but I do rembmer the Star Wars trailer, & the connection I felt to my fellow geeks. That’s the power of Star Wars & of Star Trek, too. . .