GMR91

I first saw the OT in around 1998 when I was around 7. My mum would always go out with my gran on a Friday night so my dad would look after me and my sister. We’d go to the shop across the road and grab a ton of sweets and fizzy drinks and sit down in front of some great older movies. Close Encounters, ET, the Indiana Jones trilogy, the 90s Batman & 70s Superman series, and of course Star Wars. Out of all of them, I adored SW the most (though I still love Indiana Jones with the exception of Indy and the Goddamn Bombproof Fridge).

Being young I was somewhat unaware of the fact that they were making a new series film until that ENORMOUS marketing push. I’m not ashamed to say I swallowed the hype - I was a kid, and almost everyone swallowed it. Even my normally level-headed dad did. Even ‘invested’ in a nearly-complete collection of the Commtalk action figures that have never left their packaging. Not even ashamed to say that as a kid I was enraptured by the prequels on screen. Nowadays I can see them for the flawed films that they are, though I do still enjoy RotS more than I probably should.

Of course I was more than aware of the potential for a sequel series and was distinctly unsurprised when Disney announced it after their purchase. Once more though I was spirited away to that child-like hype state no matter how much I tried to temper it with adult skepticism. On seeing TFA on opening night I was like that awestruck child in that cinema seat. My smile on the opening crawl and that stirring John Williams theme didn’t fade except for at that moment on the catwalk. I was much more cynical about Rogue One, but coming out of seeing it I was stunned - it was the prequel we deserved.

And now I’m itching for that first Last Jedi trailer to come out so I can go back to that Friday afternoon in school. zoning out of maths and looking forward to seeing what comes next in the saga.