How has Star Wars aged with you?

I think over the years it has been diluted, the childhood wonder has given way to thoughts of "fucking hell, not another milking" - as such, my emotional attachment has become quite severed and with Indy IV basically cutting respect for any more releases of anything. It's trite.

Back in the day I would've wet myself with all the media available today - I was an avid collector - any picture I could see from the movie would get me excited - this was the days before a VCR in every home.

To answer the question "do you like it as much as you did at the beginning, or is it one of those pleasures that have never been topped?" - no, i don't like it as much as I did at the beginning. Something that hasn't caught the cancer of franchising, something like Back To The Future, gives me far more nostalgia today than the fucked up Special Editions.

Would I go and see "untampered" editions of the original Star Wars. No. I just cannot be arsed with that shit anymore. George has proven time and time again that he is a fortunate businessman and little more.

Time may change me but I can trace time (not like that rank amateur Iggy Car-rust)

I was 7 when it came out. I saw it in a drive in although I fell asleep during the Death Star attack. :(

I collected the books and comics and watched the holiday special when it premiered.

ESB I saw in a theater on my birthday. One of if not the best cinematic experiences I ever had. I feel lucky to have seen it when the surprises were surprises. ROTJ didnt have such an impact on me--I liked it at the time but after a while I could see how it doesnt really follow ESB in tone, and both sequels are rather different from the original 77 movie which stands on its own as a separate complete movie experience and story. It felt like an infinite universe of adventure and possibilities.

I didnt favor SW media  over anything else though--I liked Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Spider-man etc...

I would say SW has aged well for me--I used to dislike Hamill's performance in SW but now see it as appropriate, and I can appreciate things that I hadnt thought of before(like its connection to spaghetti westerns).

The big change was that for years I saw Lucas as a secretive Tolkien like creator who had planned out everything years ago-and I had anticipated the prequels for many years--but now I know he made it up as he went along and benefited greatly from collaborators. I now feel that MacQuarrie was probably the single most important contributor to the SW experience with his designs(especially Vader and the stormtroopers).

I think the artwork surrounding SW is a separate media phenomenon all its own--the light saber, the ships, Darth Vader etc..

I dont revisit SW films often-and dont bother checking out expanded universe, comics or anything associated with the prequels so it doesnt feel all that tarnished.

If one image sticks in my mind from SW above all others its the shot of the Millennium Falcon blasting off from Mos Eisley with the aliens and storm troopers watching in the foreground.

All the dumb outside baggage aside, I like those 3 movies just as much as I ever did. It's a little scary that I'm still not sick of them, instead they're oddly soothing. But that's not unique to Star Wars, I feel the same about a lot of quality pop art like Jaws, Indy, Superman etc. I'd be equally pissed if any of them were presented so poorly.

For me, the original Star Wars Trilogy hasn't aged; I still very much enjoy the 1977, 1980, 1983 theatrical movies. I have fond memories of all the Kenner figures and vehicles I played with in the early 1980s, and listening to the SW LP again and again.

I can't say how many times I looked at the few pictures of the Millennium Falcon in an old model magazine, admiring its awesomeness and wanting to build a replica (the Kenner toy was functional, but big and bulky) :)

The modern Star Wars I just can't stand. The prequels are offensive. After the "special editions" I lost all respect for Lucas and LFL. The non-anamorphic "bonus" DVDs just sealed my disdain for the modern franchise as it had become.

So for me, there's the "golden age" of SW, from the early '80s to the mid-1990s. After that, I don't want to know.

I saw Star Wars as a 5 year old in '77, so I have been there from the start.  Here are some random thoughts that come to mind when I was a kid:

-I always wanted to get as many stormtrooper action figures, so I could re-create when The Emperor enters DSII and they are all lined up like a huge army.

-When SW appeared on HBO in February 1983, it was an event!  Very few people at the time had VCR's, so it took 6 frickin years to see SW on a regular basis!  I probably watched it everytime it was on during that year, as my brother and I would see the 20th Century Fox logo and then hear the music, "Star Wars is on again!!!!"

-I remember in the summer of 1982 hearing the 3rd SW movie was called, "Revenge of the Jedi."  And that was the first time in my life I couldn't wait for a movie to come out when it was still a year away!

-I still remember exactly where I sat in the theater when I saw Empire and Jedi, but faintly remember where I sat for SW.  Empire, we sat on the right side about 10 rows back, and Jedi I sat in the middle/left about 20 rows up. 

-Around 1985-86, I was hoping for the Sequel Trilogy, and really wasn't that stoked for the Prequel Trilogy.  At that time we were suppose to get 9 Episodes, but it wasn't decided which trilogy Lucas would do first.

-My mom gave all my SW action figures to either a neighbor or one of my cousins, and we still joke today how much my collection would have been worth:   The Death Star, Millenium Falcon, Hoth, X-Wing Fighter, Tie Fighter, and every action figure.

-SW, Empire, and Jedi are the only movies that I have seen a zillion times and STILL not sick of them.  Even great movies from that time like Superman, Back to the Future, and Raiders, I gotta take a break from them.  If the OT is on Spike, or if I pop in the DVD's, still just as great as they were from 77-83. 

Haha I remember where I sat when watching Empire and ROTJ too.

During Empire there was a guy in front of me to my right who had a really weird ear-cauliflower ear or something-and during Jedi this idiot kept talking behind me with his girlfriend about some boy in the audience who he said had a girl's hairdo. I was so uncomfortable I wondered if he meant me. lol

Also someone flooded the washrooms in the mall where I saw Jedi.

Cant really do that with many other movies.

I saw Raiders in my pajamas.