Happy Birthday to Star Wars. No, not Episode IV or A New Hope, just Star Wars. It's a shame there's a whole generation of kids that will never see the movie as it was on May 25, 1977.

I remember staying in the movie theater for two showings in a row (back when you could do that). I was 7 years old and was completely blown away by the film. I remember going with my Grandfather and I just couldn't speak after the first showing. It was the greatest movie I had ever seen at that point. I ended up seeing it 14 times that summer. Twice at the Drive-In.

Happy Birthday Star Wars!

Saw it when I was seven in July of '77. It's the movie that made me a movie fan...I guess for all the problems I have with George over what he's done to the original (and the franchise) over the past 35 years, I have at least THAT to thank him for.

Star Wars? Is it good?

Saw it in the summer of 77 with my mom, uncle, and sister. I was 6. I had NO IDEA what was going on, except that I loved it. Many, many times that summer. And throughout the following two years.

Was born in 1982 so missed out on it, but when I got the VHS, I was watching it twice a day for a week. Seriously.

I remember Star Wars playing at the now defunct Cinerama Theater. I was 6 years old and my parents took my brother and I to watch it. The line to buy tickets circled the block. While the line at the opposite end to go in circled the other way so eventually the line buying the tickets and going in met each other. Good times.

Kinda telling how George has run it into the ground that this thread has a measly 6 replies and the day is nearly over.

I wish I could've been around to experience what many of my friends still talk about, which is seeing this a gazillion times in theaters when it came out.

As for me, the first time I saw SW was when I borrowed a friend's VHS tape... in 2002. When I was 20.

I saw it the day it opened in Chicago, at the Esquire Theatre. I was a big fan of American Graffiti and science fiction in general (saw 2001: A Space Odessey in it's first run in Cinerama, 7 times, also in Chicago.) Hated it after about 10 minutes and nothing I ever saw of it after that through the years, and sequels, ever changed my mind.

Happy Birthday!

I was born in September '74 so I wasn't quite 3 when this movie came out. Don't remember seeing it in the theater, though I do remember seeing Empire in 1980.

Saw the movies on vhs in the early 90s when I was a kid and loved them. Then went to see the special editions when they came out and I was about 10 and loved it. And I love the prequels (much less so of course). Star Wars has been some of my most fun memories in the theaters.

Saw it at age 9 duirng the summer of '77, and I think I can safely say no movie before or since had that big of an impact on me. I'm sounding like an old curmudgeon, but there was really something magical about seeing films at the theater in that era, when there was no vhs or dvd prospects to watch it again a hundred times in a couple months. Instead, you got the comics and novel adaptations, magazines, and you bought about 1,000 packs of Star Wars cards, never knowing when you'd see the film again.

I saw it not long after it opened at Loew's Astor Plaza in Times Square, a large single-screen theater with a huge screen, which had only recently opened and went against the soon-to-explode multiplex trend. That theater is now the Best Buy Theater, which offers live musical acts, most of which I've never heard of.

My Personal Star Wars Timeline

•late April/early May '77- near the end of 4th grade, the class was handed out some scholastic book magazine type thing, and one of the items it ran was about an upcoming sci-fi movie along with the low angle picture of the Stormtrooper on top of the Dewback. Even though I was big into monster movies, Sci-fi kind of left me cold. My interest was piqued, but I wouldn't remember the name of the film or it's connection to this image until much later.
• mid summer '77 - My best friend invites me to got see this while I'm over at his house. I pretend/fake call up my grandmother, who I was spending the summer with, and after I hang up the phone I tell him "sorry, my grandmother really wants to see Island Of Dr Moreau instead , so I probably should just go with her to that."
• a short time later, I'm in a Waldenbooks looking over the table of new releases and see the novelization to Star Wars. I pick it up and read the back cover synopsis. "Luke SKY-WALKER? They named a character Sky walker? Han SOLO? How gay is that? How can so many people be going bananas for this movie when the characters names are so queer?" I toss the book back on the table with a sneer

Eventually, probably mid-late August after my summer vacation was over, the months of relentless hype got the best of me and I decided to gamble $.30 on the 4th issue of the comic adaptation.
Slowly I came around, and by the time our small town, 2 screen theater actually got the film (probably late August/early September), I was fully hyped for it. And loved it of course. Many fond memories of walking home from 5th grade, stopping by the Majik Market and picking up a new pack of Topps cards ("OMG! They have a new series out!!!).

Would have been fun to celebrate with an anniversary screening tonight. Too bad the film no longer exists.

Happy Birthday Star Wars, the battle between good and evil is actually pretty relevant today.

The Cinerama Dome? If that's the one in Hollywood it's still there.

George Lucas, in keeping with his insane desire to rewrite SW history, now insists the movie was released in 1975 becuase thats the way he originally intended it.

1977 being the days before wide movie releases, most places didn't get Star Wars sometimes until weeks or months after the May 25th premier.

My town didn't get it until the end of June



I notice that at the Drive-in, they didn't do a double feature when showing Star Wars, screened it twice instead to get twice as many vehicles through the gate.

My father took my sister and me to see it. I liked it well enough, but LOVED the action figures.

Star Wars is like the kid whose popularity peaked when he was in high school.

I saw an early showing in May '77. My parents took me out of school and we went to the Alamo Theater in Houston to watch it. Remember like it was yesterday...man I'm old.

The first time I saw them were in the early 90's, but I really paid attention to them when they released the THX enhanced versions in 94 or was it 95?

Yep pretty much while Star Trek was like the kid who started doing its stuff in gradeschool, then got overshadowed in high school and but now has a great career ahead!

Fox had expected Damnation Alley to be their big movie that year. Rollercoaster is a great movie too, but heard it got overshadowed by Star Wars since it was released at the same time.