I was the perfect age in 1977... a senior in high school. By the time the movie came out, I was already hyped for it because for an entire year it had been plugged by the late TV show (Creature Features) that I watched. The host (Bob Wilkins) kept saying there was this movie coming out that was going to be incredible and we weren't going to believe our eyes. He was right.

The only thing at all similar was "2001". But it was a different sort of thing because it was so cerebral and slow. Certainly a fantastic movie, and I saw it in the theater too (I was 8), and loved it even at my young age. But Star Wars promised to be more entertaining, accessible, and with ground-breaking special effects.

As it turns out, when the movie hit the theaters I was away from home for a high school math retreat, with about 75 other "nerdy" kids like myself. You can imagine how many times we would walk en-masse to the theater to watch Star Wars. I know I saw it at least 3 times just in the week it came out, and more times thereafter. (the walk to the theater involved going through a cemetary at night, which sorta added to the intensity).

When I got home, I dragged everyone in my family out to see it. I'd like to know what percentage of the U.S. population then saw it - 90%?... you just HAD to see it, there was never anything like it before. Even people who didn't like sci-fi went to see it. It was in the theater for many months.

Then for the next several years there was all this Star Wars "stuff" you could get - trading cards, figurines, lunchboxes, board games, etc. etc. Video games didn't exist yet, so it was all this other stuff. The characters became icons and part of our daily language. Everyone knew "the force" and "Darth Vader" and "R2D2" and what a "Princess Leia hairdo" was, and "ObiWan Kenobi", and "light sabers". I swear there was probably a segment of our population that thought it was all true.

Of course, I also saw the PT movies, more than once. But there really is no comparison. They were fun movies but just didn't (and couldn't, for that matter) have the impact, and I think over time they will fade into obscurity because at their core they simply weren't nearly as good movie-wise (script, acting, etc.).

Star Wars was by far the most memorable movie-going experience in my life. It is one of my fondest memories. And, my greatest regret is that I never saw it on 70mm... I'm jealous of everyone who did!!!!