Well until a few days ago it escaped my attention that this month was the 30th anniversary of the first Star Wars. Now many refer to it as A New Hope. However, until the first prequel everyone refered to it as Star Wars. I have always been a science fiction fan and Star Trek is my all time favorite. These days good science fiction is everywhere but in the 1970's the best sci-fi was from the 1960s Star Trek and even it was starting to look dated. Then came George Lucas and Star Wars.
I remember seeing the TV commercials for it but they weren't aired that much and it didn't seem to be showing in any theatre near me. A few weeks later my cousin Steve called. He had seen in at a theater too far for me to travel but saw that it was playing now closer to my home as it had opened in wider release. They had not expected this little science fiction film to do well but it did so they released it to more theaters. He wanted to see it again and asked me to go with him. Neither of us had our license to drive so he took the bus to my house and we walked almost a mile to the theater. Along the way he took a picture of me as a memory of that day. We got there and it was being treated as a bigger event then any movie I had seen at that time. I had never been to a movie where they gave away anything then and they were giving away a booklet with photos from the movie. Once inside as the movie began my bounderies of my imagination were streached as I saw the best science fiction movie I have ever seen. THanks to Star Wars the Star Trek franchise was given new life. Star Trek fans had been wanting a big budget movie version for years but Hollywood didn't think there was any money to be made from it. Syndication had encreased its fan base and with Star Wars a hit it wasn't long before the Star Trek franchise was given the green light for a movie. But back to Star Wars.
A few months later I was old enough to drive and took a part time job at that very theater as an usher. I was there to see one of the first people ever to dress as Darth Vader for Halloween. He just came in on a slow night and shook hands and waved to the people there and left. We never did know who it was who showed up that night. In May of the following year we celebrated the 1 year anniversay of Star Wars at that theater.
When I worked there they allowed us to take our breaks and go into the movies to watch them for a bit. It seemed that no matter when I took my break I would always see the scene with Luke and the gang about to be crushed with the garbage. No matter how hard I tried to time it to see another scene it was always the garbage scene. I almost got tired of seeing it. Eventually I did see other scenes on my breaks. Most of the time when I saw the film it was with someone who had already seen the movie. However, there was one time when I introduced someone to the movie for the first time. I took my friend Linda to a school dance. Half way through the dance we were bored and decided to leave. During our conversation on the way tomy car I found out that she had never seen Star Wars. So that is where I took her for the rest of the night. It was also the first of thankfully few times I was pulled over by the police. On the way to the movie he said I went through a red light. I truthfully told him I thought it was green and when he asked Linda what color she thought it was she said was looking for a tape to put in the 8-track (remember them?) player. I guess he didn't get a good look at the light so he let us go. Anyway I saw the film about 7 or 8 times. 7 times with seeing it with friends and dates and if you add up all the scenes I saw on my breaks you can add on an additional time to make it 8.
When I worked there they allowed us to take our breaks and go into the movies to watch them for a bit. It seemed that no matter when I took my break I would always see the scene with Luke and the gang about to be crushed with the garbage. No matter how hard I tried to time it to see another scene it was always the garbage scene. I almost got tired of seeing it. Eventually I did see other scenes on my breaks. Most of the time when I saw the film it was with someone who had already seen the movie. However, there was one time when I introduced someone to the movie for the first time. I took my friend Linda to a school dance. Half way through the dance we were bored and decided to leave. During our conversation on the way tomy car I found out that she had never seen Star Wars. So that is where I took her for the rest of the night. It was also the first of thankfully few times I was pulled over by the police. On the way to the movie he said I went through a red light. I truthfully told him I thought it was green and when he asked Linda what color she thought it was she said was looking for a tape to put in the 8-track (remember them?) player. I guess he didn't get a good look at the light so he let us go. Anyway I saw the film about 7 or 8 times. 7 times with seeing it with friends and dates and if you add up all the scenes I saw on my breaks you can add on an additional time to make it 8.
So this month is its 30th anniversary and as Bob Hope would say to George Lucas "Thanks for the memories."
Happy Anniversary Star Wars.
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