There was line, a long, long, long line.
As we stood there contemplating whether or not to wait, a friend of Cindy's and her date walked up. Her name, again IIRC, was Debbie and she looked into her huge purse and pulled out a deck of cards, saying laughingly, "We do have a foursome for Bridge!"
So, we stayed, sitting on the floor (I was much younger and way more limber in those bygone days--) playing many games of Bridge. Also, while Cindy, Debbie and her date kept our place in line, I went and got us some drinks.
My apartment was near the Galleria so it was no chore to whip up and disguise some adult beverages to keep us hydrated and lubricated for the more than 4-hour wait in line.
Once inside the theater, when the opening scene had Leia's ship fleeing followed by that huge, huge Star Destroyer slowly blasting its way onto the screen, the audience broke into applause. It was exciting as hell as I had never seen such special effects before and I'd been back and forth to La La Land numerous times.
Needless to say, the film, as the well worn phrase says, blew my mind!
So, for the sake of argument, Star Wars, not "New Hope" nor "#4," but Star Wars is my one and only favorite, period.
The rest all pale in comparison to that fantastic enjoyment I experienced in the initial Star Wars film. And to rank them I guess it would be Empire Strikes Back as #2, Return of the Jedi #3. Rogue One I would rank #4 with both the The Force Awakens and Last Jedi in a non-numbered jumble with the 'sequel trilogy' (nowhere as good as the first three) way down the line in a messy bunch.
Have not seen Solo but am intrigued enough by the trailer to suspect that I might like it, especially with Alden Ehrenreich looking to my mind a viable young Han.
However, when I saw Last Jedi on DVD, I was temped to fast forward through what I considered way too long, boring passages. Thinking at the end, is it my age of 70 or just bad filmmaking that has me finding Star Wars not enjoyable as it once was?
Praying, that is, I live long enough to find out if the next 5 or 10 coming Disney Star Wars flicks pan out--
For me, the Ewoks ruined the third of the originals, so I would put it as:
1) The Empire Strikes Back.
2) Star Wars
3) Rogue One
4) Chipmunks with Spears vs The Empire
I think that Rogue, Star Wars, Empire make for a better trio of movies. Alas, you'd have to somehow edit out the Chimpunks in Space parts of ROTJ and graft it on to the end of Empire to make it a cohesive trilogy.
I got off that “Star Wars” bus after #3. I thought that was boring as hell.
I saw it at the Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. the Friday after it opened. There was a guy in line behind it who had already seen it 3 (or was it 4?) times since it opened Thursday.
Nice memories! Thanks for sharing.
I recall missing the boat for the first showing at the Seattle Cinerama and standing in line waiting (with various degrees of patience) for the next showing. When the doors were flung open and the ebullient crowd streamed out from the theater I knew that my wait had been worth it.
I remember thinking (as I watched) “I’ve seen better” but the experience raised the bar on my viewer satisfaction. It’s like Rocky Horror - basically a stupid movie rescued and brought to life by the enthusiasm of its viewers.
The first one is still the “best”.
---SNIP---
The rest all pale in comparison to that fantastic enjoyment I experienced in the initial Star Wars film. And to rank them I guess it would be Empire Strikes Back as #2, Return of the Jedi #3. Rogue One I would rank #4 with both the The Force Awakens and Last Jedi in a non-numbered jumble with the 'sequel trilogy' (nowhere as good as the first three) way down the line in a messy bunch.
LOL, I first saw the original Star Wars at the Galleria on a Saturday in the summer of '77 as well after my Freshman year in college. When it was first released, I dismissed it as some cheezy mindless sci-fi movie. Then accolades started rolling in, and the ad in the papers in the movie section had some critic's blurb declaring it to be "the year's best movie". I decided to check it out one weekend and was stunned to see the lines to get in at the Galleria. At least I know there was a good chance I'd enjoy the film.
What I liked about it was that it was like a lot of the old adventure movies I regularly watched on TV at the time on the Late Show. It was like Saturday matinee entertainment (as was Raiders of the Lost Ark a few years later). I liked it so much, I drove over to Roy's Memory Shop and bought the original 1-sheet poster for about $5.00 (I later foolishly gave it away to my sister).
I consider the "prequels" utterly worthless. I also don't like the Lucas re-edits of the original trilogy. When I watch the Original Trilogy, I watch Harmy's fan re-edit (The De-Specialized Version). I have yet to see The Last Jedi. Not sure I'll even bother with Solo.
LOL! I spent a good portion of my 30s dressed up as Luke Skywalker at Media West in Michigan every Memorial day Weekend. Made my first professional writing money as a SW writer for West End Games. Hey...SW is family! The first two, at least, the others I can do without. I DO love the new Solo movie, however.
However, when I saw Last Jedi on DVD, I was temped to fast forward through what I considered way too long, boring passages. Thinking at the end, is it my age of 70 or just bad filmmaking that has me finding Star Wars not enjoyable as it once was?
.......
I’m 65. I recall the same excitement as you with the first star wars. I have gone to all of them since but with less and less enthusiasm. during the last film I thought after about 2 minutes that I didn’t care about any of the characters. I have not seen the one in theatres now. I may go to it. the ratings on rotten green tomatoes movie audience review (NOT critics review) are in the 70’s. I’ve found that at minimum a movie needs audience ratings of 80’s to be watchable and audience 90’s to make you feel like you got your money’s worth. the critics reviews just tell you whether the critics consider the movie to be politically correct or not.
The stinking prequels, ugh maybe someone will “reimagine” better versions of them someday, I don’t understand how Lucas could mangle his own creation so much.
“The taxation of trade routes to
outlaying star systems is in dispute.”
This is a line from the crawler for Episode One. WTF? Now as a political type I could have actually gotten into that, but it was just BS to set up the “greedy” bad guys, it was never explained or made any sense. Garbage except for the awesome Lightsaber duel.
Rouge One I found very unnecessary. But it was worth it for that awesome Vader scene. The “Leia” lookalike was creey as hell though.
I thought Last Jedi was a deal better than Force Awakens (I didn’t even dislike the Casino part) I’d easily put it in as #4 after the original trilogy, and it gives me hope for #9. But no they don’t compare, I don’t think it’s your age. Though I wonder what the real youngins think, ones who grew up with the....prequels, the pitiable souls.
Critics seem to unanimously rate Empire as the best one but the original (I don’t like calling it “A New Hope” wither) will always be my favorite. I first saw it during the 1997 release, I was 13 I guess, I had somehow never seen it on TV so my experience was much the same as yours in 77 I imagine. A powerful enough experience to keep paying 15 dollars to see the new ones in the theater (All but “Sith” which I absolutely loathed at first viewing, turns out it was a pirate version with some scenes cut out, be it still sucked).
Lucas should be arrested for the character assassination of Darth Vader.
Star Wars was overall a rather adolescent themed film. Not that this is bad, as adolescent boys were the target audience. As adults, we were impressed with the cinematic and technical aspects of the film and not really looking too deeply into the storyline(s), and there were three distinct lines. First was the good vs evil. The second was boy meets girl. The third was overcoming insurmountable odds to win. Technically, Star Wars was a masterpiece for the time. The story was appropriate for young boys as the target demo. That it has withstood time speaks for its elegant simplicity. The follow-on films were much thinner in the storyline and just a redux of the previous glory.