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Describe your history with Star Wars

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Thought it might be interesting to have everyone compile their Star Wars stories in one thread. There will always be similarities, but lots of quirky side-stories, too!

I was born in September of 1977, so I kinda missed out on the first run. As I grew up, I was much more into cars and trucks than sci-fi of any sort and it was only around 1986 or so that I saw anything Star Wars-related for the first time. We didn't have cable or a VCR until the early 90's (we were a busy family living way outta town, so it was never a priority), so when I saw it, it would have been either at someone else's house or maybe on TV, I guess. No idea about that anymore. I loved it right away and that basically started my love of sci-fi, which is great! So basically, I became a big fan during the "dark ages."

It may sound funny, but for someone in my position, one of the best places I turned to to see Star Wars-related things was the "Muppet Babies" cartoon. They did a lot of parodies/homages to Star Wars on that show. Not being able to pop in a tape whenever I wanted, it was always fun when they showed clips from the movies and acted out the scenes. At a time when it wasn't commonplace, any reference to the trilogy on TV always put a smile on my face!

Next came Timothy Zahn's books, which slowly started a general revival in interest in the series (I loved the books, even though he used the word "gingerly" too much. Heh!). I read a huge amount of the subsequent novels, too. I then subscribed to the Star Wars Insider and Star Wars Galaxy magazines for around 4 or 5 years (stopped Insider when the OT kinda got pushed to the side and stopped Galaxy when they basically turned it into a collector's guide).

The prequels then hit and my interest dropped dramatically, I admit, even for the OT. "The Phantom Menace" killed my enthusiasm for the new stuff and left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth for anything to do with Star Wars. I entered the theater excited and left confused and underwhelmed. "Attack of the Clones" was better, but still nowhere near the experience the OT gives (saw "Spider-Man" the same night and enjoyed it more). With "Revenge of the Sith," I definitely was expecting much more, and got it to an extent, but I was impressed with the vehicle and character designs more than anything as I watched it, which is kinda sad. I guess the story wasn't surprising enough. All in all, I don't even think the PT deserves to be directly compared to the OT. The feeling is way too different for me.

Now I'm here (lurked for a long time, too) and my interest in the movies - specifically the O-OT - has increased dramatically. Knowing there are fans out there who want to preserve and even improve the classics in certain ways is very reassuring. Thanks to everyone who runs and posts in these forums. You've made me excited about something I love again!

My crazy vinyl LP blog

My dumberer blog

My Retro blog

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Good topic.

I was born in '82. I remember watching ESB and RotJ at home with my parents when I was probably about three years old. I somehow made a mess of ESB's plot -- Han was put in a refrigerator, there were multiple Darth Vaders and one was a robot that looked like Luke, and Yoda was Luke's old friend -- but I did better with RotJ. I knew all the Ewoks by name, and pointed them out during the battle. The Emperor, or Vader's father as I knew him, was really scary. The torture-by-lightning was painful to watch. But it's good for kids to see scary movies sometime, especially if the good guys win at the end. It's cathartic.

I pretty much ignored Star Wars until I played the X-wing PC game. Then I caught a trilogy marathon on USA and actually paid attention to it. I loved it. That's also where I developed some of my long-standing OT opinions, such as the importance of Han shooting first. It might not have been evident when there was a three year break between each movie, and it might not be fresh in the mind of George and the fanboys, but really watching the trilogy for the first time all in one night -- Han's arc was a real stand out, and ruthlessly frying Greedo is the only way to begin that arc.

Soon I delved into fandom, which was resurgent, but not yet popular. I slogged through Zahn's tortuous tomes and wasn't terribly impressed. A few other books from the local library didn't sell me on Star Wars literature, either. I found that I preferred (and still do) the shorter, punchier stories in the Tales From series, and the one-shot novels. I also picked up a few of the WEG sourcebooks, even though I never really got into gaming. I fell in love with Dark Empire's style, and TotJ's storyline (the original, and still the best, KotOR!).

My love of Star Wars gaming and Dark Side lore dovetailed into an online community called the Emperor's Hammer. I think they're still around. I made a TIE Fighter mission or two, wrote some Mary Sue fiction, and made some pretty good (but long gone, and much missed) online friends. I even rebelled with them when my Dark Jedi House decided to run off and establish our own Imperium. We had weekly IRC meetings with awards, trivia, and Star Wars chat. I bragged that one day I'd use two VCRs to edit Han shooting first back into the movie; no one believed that a person without professional editing experience could do that. (The laserdiscs were still quite expensive back then, and I never thought of using them.) I also collected the fantastic Star Wars CCG by Decipher; I only knew one person to play it with, but the cards were cool enough on their own. Good times.

The good times pretty much ended by 1999. The Imperium was winding down, WEG lost their license, Decipher would soon lose their license after numerous disappointing mini-sets and a failure to launch the Shadows of the Empire set, and the atroci^H^H^H^H^H^H Phantom Menace was something of a disappointment. In fact, after seeing TPM, I put my Star Wars tapes away and didn't watch them for three years. After AotC, I "kind of" forgave Lucas, and rewatched the Trilogy to see whether I was being fair to the prequels. After all, weren't the old movies just as full of bad dialogue, cheesy humor, awful acting, and inane plotting?

No, of course they weren't. I'd had three years to divest myself of nostalgia, sever the fanboy connection, and frankly, I was negatively disposed towards Star Wars at that time. But the OT endures. And that's why sites like this one will.
"It's the stoned movie you don't have to be stoned for." -- Tom Shales on Star Wars
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived.
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august 1997: watches trilogy for the first time while recovering from a broken arm, '95 Pan and scan VHS.

January 1998: purchases the Pan and Scan SE VHS.

May 1998: watches the entire trilogy back to back in one day to celebrate the end of the school year.

May 2004: after returning from a Casino trip in which I won $200, I read the offical announcement that the films were going to be destroyed for the 2004 DVDs. Promptly registered for Ebay for the sole purpose of obtaining a THX '95 Widescreen VHS set.

July 2004: hires a friend of my uncle whos in the DVD burning business to copy the VHS to DVD, but the Discs end up glitching and failing very quickly.

September 2004: bought the 2004 SEs since ANH and Empire were largely unchanged in story and no scenes were really destroyed unlike the ending of RotJ.

June 2005: saw Episode III in theaters.

March 2006: purchaces OCP's classic editions.

May 2006: reserves Official O.O.T set of Return of the Jedi only, but canceling it until I get some screenshots and clarification on the quality.

June 2006(yet to come): with all 6 movies on DVD, I am free to establish my routine of celebrating the anniversary of the firing of three very mean former teachers of mine:

5 days before: Phantom Menece
4 days before: Attack of the clones
3 days before: Revenge of the Sith
2 days before: A New Hope(OCP)
1 day before: The Empire Strikes back (official DVD)
the day itself: Return of the Jedi(OCP), Followed immediately by the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" Segment of Walt Disney's "Fantasia"

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Summer 1977: A neighbor invited me to see "Star Wars" which was all the talk. I was 9 years old, and had seen very few movies prior to this. We went to the Dickinson Glenwood theater in Overland Park, KS, a grand theater of the 60s with seating for 816. As the Fox Fanfare began, 40 ft tall curtains slowly retracted to reveal a 70 ft wide x 35 ft tall curved screen. I was so enthralled with the movie that for quite some period I was completely unaware of my environment, except for the movie itself, which was something I had never experienced before. Although I believed it to be a 70mm Six-Track presentation, and the Glenwood was equipped for 70mm presentations, current evidence suggests that the Glenwood never had a 70mm print of "Star Wars" so evidently what I saw was a 35mm Dolby Stereo print. Regardless, seeing "Star Wars" began my love for movies, for science-fiction, and my love of orchestral movie soundtracks. "Star Wars" was the first of many movie sountracks which I purchased. Over the next year, I spent many days standing in lines that completely circled the outside of the theater, often closing in on the ticket counter as it was announced that the theater was sold out. As I recall I saw "Star Wars" 7 times at the Glenwood during the first run. I saw it once or twice in smaller theaters after the Glenwood's run ended.

Summer 1980: Saw "The Empire Strikes Back" twice at the Midland theater in Kansas City, MO, in 70mm Six-Track. I was dissapointed it didn't show at the Glenwood, but the Midland had an exclusive run. (Both theaters were in the greater Kansas City area.)

Summer 1983: I received a ticket as a gift to see "Return of the Jedi" at the Dickinson Glenwood, on May 24, 1983. This was a benefit premier sponsored by the Variety Club of Kansas City, the night before the official release. It was the first showing of a brand new 70mm Six-Track print in the best theater in Kansas City. Extra ushers were on duty, all wearing white gloves, and giving extra service such as opening doors for the patrons that evening. I still have my ticket from this one, Number 700. The 70mm print was later stolen from the Glenwood, which made big news in Kansas City. Patrons for the next couple of weeks had to watch a 35mm print.

Sorry George, but I did fall in love with this inferior, substandard, incomplete, rough-cut, garbage that you forced on the public a couple of decades back.
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I guess I should be thankful I got to see the original trilogy in the theater as they were originally released. I can't imagine only experiencing these on VHS tape and Laserdisc. I also can't imagine seeing the series in order from I to VI as George Lucas suggests. I seriously doubt that "Phantom Menace" would have drawn me back to the theater to see it again, or to see any sequels had it shown first. Really, would the revelation of Darth Vader being Luke's father in ESB have meant anything if you had already seen the first three episodes? For three years, I eagerly awaited ROTJ to see if Vader's statement was really true, or if he was just trying to deceive Luke. Anyway, I just don't believe I would have been such a fan had I not seen "Star Wars" in a theater first.

"Star Wars" is really the only movie of the series that can stand completely alone. "The Empire Strikes Back" is probably the best sequel ever made, especially considering "Star Wars" was made with no expectation of a sequel (despite what Lucas might say to the contrary now). "Return of the Jedi" ties up the loose ends of ESB, although in some ways it's not as strong as the previous two, it's still a great movie.

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July 4th, 1993: I am 10 years old. My father asks if I have ever seen Star Wars before, and I say "No, it sucks." (I was thinking it was He-Man due to the Laserdisc cover). I went outside to play in the 96 degree weather just so I could avoid seeing that horrible movie. I get tired and hot and came back inside during the trash compactor scene. I fell in love at first sight. I kept asking questions about what is going on and my dad says "well you should have been here for the first part of the movie."

The next day I watched ESB and was a little confused (because I only saw the second half of ANH) but love it anyway. I wanted to know what happend to Han, but my dad did not own ROTJ an I insisted that we go rent it right then and now. I had to wait for the weekend. It still rocked though.

Flash forward about 4 years.

1997: As everyone knows this is when the SE came out. I was stoked and saw ESB and ROTJ twice in the theater (I was too late for ANH). Bought the soundtrack and played it non stop.

1998: Me and my 3 best friends whom all loved Star Wars make a spoof movie called "Spar Wars" and spent all summer basically being SW nerds. There was even one night when we all paraded down street branishing lightsabers and blasting the Star Wars soundtrack from my jambox.

1999: TPM comes out and me and my now remaining 2 best friends flip the fuck out and go see Episode I. We couldn't be more pleased with our life. We make another spoof movie called "The Franchise Menace." That was a lot of fun. We had elaborate costumes, saber fights, and the obligitory bad acting. I played Obi-Wan, my other friend played Maul, and my third friend played the Queen.
The movie basically end with the death of a chocolate chip cookie and a dance number.
"I am altering the movies. Pray I don't alter them any further." -Darth Lucas
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I was born in '88. I always knew what Star Wars were. I saw Star Wars at some age 5-6, but never really showed interest in it. Then in 1997 I won tickets from Pepsi, to watch the trilogy at the world premiere. I loved the movies, and have been a fan ever since, but since I live in Denmark, it's very limited to what I can get hold of, therefor I am just started to collecting merchandise. The coolest I've ever owned was a life-size cardboard Darth Vader.

It was so big, I hadn't space for it, I gave it to my brother. Until today, I regret this.

Now the coolest thing I got, is the life size cardboad of Anakin III of his shoulders up to his head, and his eye lights up in a red color.
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I was born in 1979. Sometime after that, I saw "Star Wars," either broadcast on T.V. or VHS. It blew my stupid little mind and quickly became the focal point of my tiny universe. I caught "Empire" on VHS at some friend of my mom's house. "Jedi" I actually got to see in the theater, first run, but I almost didn't go. I had seen Jabba the Hutt in the commercials and he looked scary. I didn't want to be in a dark room with that thing blown up fifty feet on a movie screen. Luckily, Grandma brokered a deal where if I agreed to go to the movie, I'd get the Admiral Ackbar toy I had suddenly decided I needed more than anything in the world. Here's to the wisdom of old folks.

My interest in "Star Wars" never really waned. I read the books, collected the toys, played the video games. I flipped out in '96 when the news about the SEs broke. I think the whole country did. That was the most fun I had my senior year of high school, seeing those movies on the big screen, finally, in packed auditoriums at the Saxon Boulevard UA Marketplace in Orange City, FL. I would have liked to have seen the SE of "Jedi" in the same theater where I saw the original; alas, that movie house (whose name escapes me at the moment) had become a night club called Tsunami Beach. I did see Nerf Herder there, so that kind of counts for something.

I sort of knew right off the bat that any "Star Wars" prequels would be really bad, so I didn't get very geeked out on "Phantom Menace" hype. I stayed home on opening day. All my friends thought I was crazy. Then word of mouth started getting around, and it was obvious I had dodged a bullet. It hurt hearing people say so many awful things about a "Star Wars" movie, but hey, it wasn't the end of the world.

Eventually I saw "Phantom Menace" and it almost stopped my heart. Glad I waited until it was on video. I saw "Clones" and "Sith" in the theater, hoping both times that they'd be better than the last one and somehow salvage the prequel trilogy. I left disappointed both times. There are a handful of really great, intense, special moments in those prequels. Unfortunately, those moments are surrounded by complete dogshit.

In 2005, I completed "Star Wars Ruined My Life," a book that's part reflection on, part critical analysis of "Star Wars" and the fan culture it created. I wrote it from a fan's perspective, and pitched it as such to numerous literary agents and publishing houses. I finally landed an agent about mid-year that year, but she had a lot of trouble getting publishers interested. Seems no one wanted it because I didn't have any "platform" (read: I'm not already famous for something). Talk about frustrating.

That's how I came to start the Great Star Wars Sychnronicity Project, the blog that's linked at the bottom of my posts. My agent suggested I enter the blogosphere and attempt to gain noteriety there, so I did. After I posted something about watching "Star Wars" while listening to a White Zombie album to see if anything matched up like "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wizard of Oz," a friend suggested I dedicate the blog entirely to that kind of activity. So I did. And it became an obsession.

Now I spend every night of the week watching my favorite movie and sometimes its sequels while listening to different CDs, hoping to find the one special album that produces just as many moments of synchronicity as "Dark Side" and "Oz" (that's sixty, if you're wondering) that will, in turn, get me some "platform" so my book can hit the shelves and I can start my journey to becoming a well-respected figure in "Star Wars" historical circles. I currently don't have any literary representation, but I'm hopeful for the future that something will happen. Even if I die horribly and someone publishes the book out of pity. I'd take that.

I'm going to love "Star Wars" until my horrible death, even if the OUT never sees the light of day beyond shoddy bonus feature and George decides to remake it with dogs and cats in the primary roles. It's like that, and that's the way it is. Huh.

http://jgtwo.wordpress.com

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Originally posted by: Skyranger
Although I believed it to be a 70mm Six-Track presentation, and the Glenwood was equipped for 70mm presentations, current evidence suggests that the Glenwood never had a 70mm print of "Star Wars" so evidently what I saw was a 35mm Dolby Stereo print.


Skyranger, Please do tell more . . . I'm fascinated.
No 70mm print @Glenwood ?!? Say it ain't so -- don't rape my childhood memories!

My story is similar to yours in several respects. I was eleven in the Summer of '77, and saw STAR WARS 3-4 times at the Glenwood, although it was later in the Summer so I didn't experience the queue around the outside of the building. Admission for kids twelve and under was a buck.
IIRC, Glenwood's exclusive engagement lasted for a whole year. I saw it another 1-2 times in minor theaters during Summer/Fall '78.
Not sure if the small theaters played the mono soundtrack or not, but I don't recall noticing any differences in sound mix at the time.

In 1980 I saw Empire Strikes Back at the Midland in an exclusive premier, the night before its official opening.
I won passes from AM radio station WHB by being the Nth caller and correctly answering the trivia question "What did Darth Vader describe as a 'technological terror' ?" I'm sure I've still got the movie pass; I wonder if I still have the cassette tape of me answering "Death Star" on the air ?

I graduated high school in '83, and wasn't very psyched for Jedi. I guess I thought I was "too grown up" now.
I did see it once that Summer, but don't remember where. Did the Glenwood have an exclusive run ?



In '97 saw ANH SE at the Glenwood. While I'm not now an SE fan, returning to the Glenwood was a priceless memory for sure.
Too bad it got razed.

However, in practice you must take into account the “fuckwit factor”. Just talk to Darth Mallwalker…
-Moth3r

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Mallwalker,

Good, Good... I was hoping I'd find someone else who knew the Glenwood, or at least someone whom had seen "Star Wars" in it's original theatrical presentation.

What I was looking at about the 70mm info was The Original First-Week Engagements of "Star Wars", which shows the Glenwood opened with a 35mm print on Thursday May 26, 1977.

I also looked at The Original 70mm engagements of "Star Wars", which does not show the Glenwood ever switching over to a 70mm print.

Honestly to be sure I'd have to go to the library, and look through the Kansas City Star on microfilm. Whatever it was, it sure was impressive on that 70 foot wide screen at the Glenwood. Too bad it's gone now.

I believe that the Glenwood showed "Star Wars" for the full 60 weeks of it's initial run (minus the first day). This would have been from May 26, 1977 through July 20, 1978. This matches both our memories of it showing for over a year. Was there ever another movie that ran continuously in theaters for over a year, save for some special venue showings? A 60 week run is still amazing to me. And for those of you who didn't experience it, that is how loved George Lucas's movie was, the movie which he now claims was just a rough cut that very few people would be interested in seeing. A theater in Portland, OR, ran it for 76 weeks.

If I remember correctly, the Glenwood had a short exclusive run on Return of the Jedi. I saw it later that summer at the Bannister Mall theaters, after having seen it a few times at the Glenwood.

I also saw the SE version of ANH at the Glenwood in 1997. The new special effects stuck out like a sore thumb, but it was good seeing it on the big screen again. I also saw "Phantom Menace" in Theater I at the Glenwood in 1999. Dickinson had already sold the theater, and the new owners had replaced the curved screen with a flat one. It added a few (undesireable) seats to a theater that they claimed they couldn't fill. It's strange that my favorite Star Wars movie started my experience with the Glenwood, and my least favorite ended it.