Star Wars was released May 25, 1977. I was in my early teens, dead center of the target audience. I had read (and saved!) the promotional article in Time magazine, and I couldn't wait for it to come to the theater. My parents took the whole family to see it.

It completely blew me out of my seat. I have never had a movie experience like that again.

When I see that big 4-0 up there, I feel old.

Well technically 39 years and 361 days old.

While I was alive for ANH's release, I somehow never heard of Star Wars until 1981. At least I don't remember knowing about it. It wasn't until Empire's release or maybe it was a rerelease that I discovered it. I went to kindergarten in 1980 so there had to be at least a few kids into it. 1981 I saw ESB and remember kids having the figures. LOL I was drawn to Power Droid, probably the most boring of the early figures.

I wasn't too young to see Star Wars and Empire in theaters but one of my earliest movie going memories was my mom leaning over and reading Jabba's subtitles to me when seeing Return of the Jedi in theaters when I was about 3 years old.

Growing up in the 80s both me and my brother had many of the Star Wars toys (we couldn't afford a lot the the most expensive ships). We even *GASP* took them out of their original packaging and enjoyed them!

They really should have re-released it in theaters for this special anniversary. If only for a week.

I didn't see it opening day. For some reason the hype turned me off (even though I remember thinking the commercials looked cool). But a friend saw it and insisted I go see it with him. I did (and there was no "Episode IV" in the opening ) and I loved it. Saw it a number of times after that. But damn ... 40 years??

Never heard of it

I wasn't quite 2 years old when it was released but I did see it on a rerelease before The Empire Strikes Back was released. I do remember getting all of the Toys for Christmas.

I was 3 months old when Star Wars was released, but I had the toys since before I could remember and saw them all in the theater during re-releases in the 80's. I can't say that I ever saw it before Episode IV was added to the crawl though.

I was nine years old in the summer of '77 when my cousin took my older brother and me to see it.

It was one of the first movies I really remember seeing in the theater (we lived out in the country, and it was a 25 mile drive to the movies---we didn't go very often,) and no movie since has impacted me that much.

Not to sound TOO much like a lame old guy, but I do feel a bit bad for later generations who have had all the home video options. Back then, seeing a movie was a pretty magical experience, and you knew you weren't going to see it again for at least a couple of years when it showed on TV.

As a kid my entire year revolved around the yearly showing of Superman The Movie on TV. That and the Wizard Of Oz were big deals in my household.

I was 5 years old when it came out and feintly remember seeing it in the theater. I had all of the toys (the Death Star was probably the coolest toy).

What's funny is I didn't see The Original Star Wars again for another 6 years until it came to HBO in 1983. It really shows how different times are as these movies are available in home video and streaming in 6 months compared to years in the old days.

I was 8 when it came out. I didn't see it until later that year when it hit the $1 theater. I went with a family friend that had already seen it 10 times, and had all the sci-fi magazines with all the inside info and he knew everything about it.
I remember walking through Grant's (dept store like Woolworth's) and seeing it for sale on 8mm and wanting it sooo bad, but I think it was a couple hundred $'s, and my parents thought I was crazy.

Star Wars? Is that the movie that George Lucas never really finished?

Hey, placing a rock in front of R2-D2 and having Luke yell after his hand was cut off and he fell on Bespin was only the stuff of the wildest imagination back then. Those wonders only occurred in dreams!

He could only do so much with the technology he had!

Movies do feel a bit more disposable in that sense. But the whole industry has changed so much over the past few decades that I'm grateful for the home video market since it's difficult for me to see everything I'd like to see in theaters, especially with limited engagements on IMAX screens, Dolby Cinema, etc. (I get the reasons why, but still don't like it).

Oh sure, I totally love home video and seeing all those movies that I love whenever I want. But, there is something lost, too.

Yeah, in the days before VHS and DVD, the only way I could relive Star Wars was through the Marvel Comics adaptions:




And, of course, the Storybooks:





And bonus points if you saw C3PO's hand...

As a kid in the '70s, I relived "Star Wars" through a couple of comics, the storybooks above, the "Story of Star Wars" on LP, the soundtrack on 8-track, and a few action figures.

"May the 4th be with you".....oh wait..

It took another month for Star Wars to come to Canada. It didn't start playing in Toronto and Vancouver until June 24th.




Other cities, like Regina, Saskatchewan didn't get it until July




And poor Windsor didn't play Star Wars until the end of August, summer practically over.





In these days of wide releases, it's hard to imagine a movie as big as Star Wars took so long to get around to all the theatres.


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"Recommended as adult entertainment"

Boo hoo for Windsor. If you really wanted to see it, Detroit is right across the river.

Saw it at a Drive In Theater at the age of 7. I may have even been in my pajamas. It was one of those Drive In's with the new Audio System that played through you car stereo via "roach clips" on your car antenna. I remember it sounding pretty damn good.

Poor Star Wars. It had to open against Slap Shot in Canada.

Carry On Doctor followed by Star Wars. How I wish I saw that double feature.