But the best part of it was just the experience of seeing the films on the big screen--and the air of excitement that surrounded it. Star Wars posters all over the lobby, lineups stretching out the doors, john williams tunes playing from speakers outside the theater. The crowds were truely varried--40 year old men, 8 year old boys. It made something like $30 million that weekend, while the number 2 film was Jerry Maguire which pulled in something like $8 million. Everyone was seeing Star Wars--yes, "Star Wars," not "episode iv." It was fantastic. I remember in November of 1998 i saw the trailer attached to the Stallone flick Daylight and it just took my breath away because i had never seen Star Wars images on anything larger than my parents 27" tv. I went with my little sister on opening day and everyone in the theater just had a tremendously great time. A few days later i went back with my dad. He had seen the film when he was only 24 years old, on one of his first dates with my mom--now he was seeing the same film in a packed house with his 13 year old son. This truely was a unique moment in cinema history, where such a "vintage" film was so much more immensely popular than anything contemporary. It was more than just the simple re-release of a classic film.
I remember it was also the first time i saw the films in widescreen--i started noticing so many more details, due to the full ratio and the large size, that i truely couldn't tell what was added for the SE and what was not. It was the re-watching of my favourite film but it was also a re-discovery of sorts.
I think the SE was a very important moment in Star Wars history, and a positive one, no doubt about that. If Lucas had done it, released it, put out a video version of it and that was all, it would be a great move, a fun "enhanced" or "alternative" version of the classic film but instead he started getting high and mighty about "the other versions don't exist."