JAWS...no.

STAR WARS - Yes! And Empire, and Jedi as well!

I was 6 in 1977 - the only thing I really knew about Star Wars was from a comic that a cousin had - it was a giant sized collection of issues 4, 5 and 6 of the Marvel comic, that basically covered the second half of the movie. I ad!mit to being traumatized by the panel of Darth Vader cutting down Ben Kenobi. The comic didn't show Ben disappearing...oh no...it was a POV picture of Ben as the lightsaber hit him and it looked like Ben was melting/exploding...something! I couldn't get that picture out of my mind...it scared the hell out of me, and I didn't really want to see Star Wars...or did I?

I still remember plain as day when I decided I wanted to see it - my mother was washing my hair and I just piped up and told her I wanted to see Star Wars. She asked me if I was sure, wouldn't it scare me...but I was determined. I all of a sudden wanted to see it. So she agreed, and I saw it in the theater. How was it? In a word - magical. From the opening crawl to the destruction of the Death Star...I was riveted. The lightsaber duel was suddenly my new favorite part, and Darth Vader was my favorite character by virtue of wielding a red lightsaber - thanks to him, I would color many cardboard tubes to look like his lightsaber and whack my sister with them! And toys, I had to have the toys! I worked like a slave to earn the figures my mother had bought and stockpiled away. And no matter what, I behaved as much as possible just to try and get back to the theater to see it again!

And when I did get to see it again...I just couldn't get enough of it. From the Battle of Tatooine, to Mos Eisley, the escape from the Death Star, and the Battle of Yavin. It was the greatest story ever - it just hit all the right notes.

When Empire came out, I was simultaneously excited and let down - excited, because it was MORE STAR WARS!!! And let down because...there were lines around the movie theater to get in to see it! I had never seen anything like it before in my life (all 8 or 9 years at the time). But a friend's father got us some tickets on the third day, and I can tell you - you could have heard a pin drop when Vader dropped the bomb on Luke. I can recall going to see the Special Edition of Empire years later, and at the same scene, a little boy next to me was wide eyed with his mouth wide open... and I knew that boy was me 17 years previous.

Jedi...well, I was spoiled for Jedi in the sixth grade because before the movie came out, I was able to order the storybook for the movie before it came out, and actually got it before I saw the movie - and yeah, I read it first. I simply had to know the answer about Luke and Vader!! And it didn't help that my report card wasn't stellar at that time...so as punishment I had to wait. But when I did get to see Jedi...I loved every bit of it...well, maybe except the Ewok song...

 

That's so cool! And yeah, I can only imagine how shocked people were when VADER dropped the bomb.

 

The Vader revelation is still, at least for me, the single greatest moment in cinematic history. I've seen the movies hundreds of times at this point and it still hits me square in the chest every time.

I saw each of the original films in the theater when they were first released. I don't remember Star Wars as I was only 4 at the time, but I remember each of the times I saw The Empire Strikes Back in the theater as well as standing in line to see Return of the Jedi on opening weekend. That line went around the corner of the building. There were maybe 15 people in front of me. Longest line ever for this 10 year old (at the time)!

 

I wish I could go back to 1980 and spil the Vader/Luke Twist to everyone like Homer Simpson did.

I would then be Scumbag of the year.  

 

I must have seen Ep 4 when it was re-released because everyone says it originally came out in 76 and I was two then. But I'm pretty sure I saw it in either 78, 79, or 80.

Back before VHS, DVD or the internet really no movie making experiene prepaired you for that opening crawl. In fact to this day the 20th Century Fox bump fills me with anticipation, because in the next second John Williams opening notes will clean blow your head off. When I was a kid it was like a punch to the chest.

And my preschool reading skills,,, god I'm sure I could read that crawl but the memory is faulty.

I remember as the last of the crawl pulled off the screen I watched it receed into the distance and felt like I was falling UP away from the World Trade Center.

Then the blockade runner, ran me over.  

It's still one of the best movie opeings ever. Period.

The rest of it just seems to be like being in the right place in the right time in history. Like WW2, Elvis, Woodstock,,,

Seeing SW (the original trilogy specificly) in theaters, with no internet spoilers, lines around the block, people camping out for tickets, the schoolyard lightsaber fights, the neon, the popcorn, it was a cultural moment. And sadly I don't think ANYTHING can be done to bring that type of experience back again.

Today when Katy Perry appears on Sesame Street, it's part of a marketing campaign, when R2D2 & C3PO showed up on Sesame Street it was because of the voracious demand for ANYTHING SW.

And kids of the internet generation cannot comprehend a world w/out spoilers. Word of mouth could not work fast enough for the whole Vader thing, minds were blown. If I can I'm going to try to keep my kid away from SW as much as I can so that at some point I can lay the whole trilogy on him in a weekend.

 

I can't say that I react any different to having seen a Movie in any place before another. It's like saying there's a huge difference seeing something 1st in HD or SD por on TV before or after DVD.

The only experiencial difference that comes to mind is if you watch a TV show series back to back (like via boxed sets) and not weekly - that can feel quite different - but mainly as you pick up any inconsistancies quite easily.

But some TV shows really Demand to bee seen sequentially I think Falling Skies is better watched back to back as otherwise it's so dull it's hard to stick with it and what tiny plot elements it does have are a bit more obvious.

Besides when you have a Movie in front of you with control at your finger tips you can skip the rubbish bits like the palace band in ROTJ or the cave Dancing in the Matrix sequel.

Many people don't thing going to see TPM in Movie Theaters was a positive experience more like a huge disappointment.

I've taken more note of Lucas endless fiddling with his movies than I have of any memory of seeing any movie in a crowd.

I suppose some young audiences in '77 would have got quite excited though. Looking back I'm beginning to wonder if a whole host of other movies have "Stayed with me" more That Star Wars but I suspect that would not be the case if not for endless bad videogames and flawed prequels.

Tron's Sequel for me didn't detract from Tron in anyway. I can't say the same about the Star Wars prequels or even Ghostbusters 2 though.

 

Saw the holy trilogy in theaters the first time around, was a fetus when Jaws came out.

Star Wars, man, it used to be so fuckin' beautiful. Now it's just dogshit  

 

What I wouldn't give to see Return of the Jedi in theaters.

 

I got to see ESB at an old drive-in theater back in '80 when I was 7. That was back when you had that crappy little speaker that you hooked onto your window. I also got to see Smokey and the Bandit at that theater. Good times, good times...

I saw RotJ at a regular theater. That was such an epic day, I still remember so many minor details vividly. My mother surprised us that Sunday afternoon by announcing that she was going to take us. I remember that it was raining that afternoon. I remember that we went to an out of the way theater hoping it would be less crowded. But when we drove up there was still a huge line. But it all turned out great and we had a fantastic time. That was a good day. =)

 

I saw Star Wars when I was 5 in 77 and I was totally blown away.
I saw Jaws, too, around the same time and it scared the crap out of me.
I was too young to see it and we lived by a lake so I was afraid of the water for some time.

Somehow my parents took me to see Empire on opening night. We walked right up to the box office and went inside the same as we did for every other movie. However, when we got out of the movie the line to see Empire stretched out into the parking lot and around the building.

My uncle dropped my cousin and me off at the theater to see Jedi at 6:45 in the morning. It was the first time I had ever done anything like that.
We were third in line to buy tickets yet we ran up to the front row.

After a while there was HBO.
I remember I watched Star Wars three times in one day.  

 

Smokey and the Bandit is so fucking good.

EDIT: Gawdammit Smasher  

 

I know, right?
er...

I mean 'what did I do?'

 

Was alive when they were released but didn't see them then. Didn't see Jaws until the mid 80's. Not sure if I saw Jaws 2 or Jaws 1 first.

For Star Wars, I saw ESB in a military theater in 81. Had no idea what it was. Later because of kids in school, became a fan of SW & then saw ANH & ESB when they were rereleased. Same theater but this time I knew what was going on. ROTJ was the first SW movie I saw in a regular theater during its first release. Was the perfect age because I loved the Ewoks & still love them today. Might be heracy, but I find the ESB Dagobah scenes extreemly boring & I never liked Yoda.

 

Agreed, especially the sheriff.

 

Infosaur, youre not wrong. I had a friend who i thought flubbed the year that ANH premiered but then i realized, in my part of the world it took a year for the latest movie to get here then. SW was just this new type of boxoffice phenomenon, I remember ppl saying in some places ANH was in their theatre for a year. Ppl just kept going back n back. It was just a different time.

Personally, the movies that i saw in theatre as a kid were superman 3, motu and ET. My parents werent much of moviegoers. I caught on to SW (starting with rotj), the indy movies n clash of the titans cuz the rich kid in the neighborhood got a VCR. Us kids would be hollering at the dinky by modern standards 20" tv. Once i was old enough to go to movies on my own (junior high) i would go to movies on my own n watch bttf2, t2, gb2, the 1st batman movie, etc.

Being born in 75, its amazing the difference in attitude somebody born in 85, a mere 10 years diff. Has towards the theatre experience. Much less somebody born in 95. There were no blatant media tie ins, overnight review so unless a dick at school spoilt it 4 u the actual movie experience was a genuine ride. If youre between 15 to 25 now youve likely never watched anything that was a genuine surprise; its hard to insulate yourself from aggressive marketing n u always kinda know what kind of movie ur going into. Id say the last movie that i was surprised by was the 1st matrix. When neo flew into the audience n the music came in u were like OH SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME. The net then was just for cybersexing on mirc. Whereas these days when u were on a high coming out of the avengers movie it was more like MAN THAT ACTUALLY DIDNT SUCK. Expectations are just different these days.

 

I loved seeing The Sixth Sense in theaters, some how I'd avoided any reviews and was kinda/sorta dragged by other people that REALLY wanted to see it. And it was kinda a "phenomenon" movie, that peole were flocking to see. So here I am in a darkened theater and I GET IT! And I kinda let an "Oh shit!" slip out.

And litterally 5 seconds later the theater starts murmoring. Then gasping.

So I have SCIENTIFIC PROOF! I'm smarter than the average person.  

OMG Smokey & The Bandit in a DRIVE IN! That's fucking genious! We ought to rent one and have a cruise night! Black Trans Am's get in FREE! And Truck parking!

 

The only classic movie I have seen in cinemas, was the 2010 re-release of Back to the Future part 1. Best 13th birthday present.

Sadly, I've only ever seen Episode 3 in cinemas.

 

I saw Star Wars in the theaters back then. I was so crazy about it I saw it about 8 times. Spent a lot of allowance and did a lot of bribing of my mother to give me a ride down to the theaters. I remember watching shows on how it was made and was amazed they could do stuff like that for a movie. My how times have changed.

 

I saw Star Wars the summer it was released and I have to say that the experience made me the man I am today. At 6 years of age, I was whisked away to that galaxy far, far away and fell in love with Sci-Fi and everything that was great about being a geek.

It was R2-D2 that peaked my interest in robots. I only wish I still had my first AF of him. It was also the first movie that I saw more than once in the theaters.

My folks thought Jaws was a little too scary for a kid my age at the time so I missed the original release of it. Tho I did see it a couple of years later at a Drive-in.

 

Didn't see the original Jaws in theaters, tho I did watch 2 and 3-D on the Movie Channel back in the late 70's.

Star Wars, tho...we saw in theaters 4 times, 'cause my little brother, being two, kept falling asleep right at the beginning of the trench run so we had to keep going back until he stayed awake the entire movie.   ESB came out the same month we were moving to another state, so the first thing the family did when we got here, even before moving into the house, was walk to the theater from the hotel.

I still regret breaking off my original Luke's head while using it to dig a 'base' in the dirt.  

--Moony