...(any of the Star Wars movies)

How old were you?
What year?
What movie theater (if you can remember)?
What city?
Any other interesting info surrounding your first "experience?"


For me, it was 1977 at the Mai Kai (I think) in the suburbs of Detroit. I was 12 years old. My sister and her boyfriend and I went (I was the third wheel) LOL


**edited as I now remember it was the Mai Kai theater in Livonia that I saw SW at in 1977 at the ripe old age of 12.

I was 8 years old.
It was 1977.
Erie PA.
At the cinema 3 movie theater inside the Millcreek Mall.

The most vivid image i remember was the opening battle...the stormtroopers blasting into the ship...powerful stuff.

Went to see it again in 1997 when it was re-released. I was overwhelmed at how it brought back memories i thought I'd forgoten...it was like I was 8 years old again. A truely priceless moment for me.

An interesting side note...the other movie showing was Charlotts web..my younger brother and youngest cousin wanted to see that. My oldest cousin and yours truely wanted to see Star Wars.

My mom flipped a coin and we saw Star Wars...always wondered how I'd have turned out if we lost that toss.

I was 7 years old, and probably saw it about a week or two after it opened back in 1977. I saw it at my favorite movie theater in Nashville, the Belle Meade, an old school classic style theater with a balcony and huge 70mm curved screen (sadly it no longer exists--it was torn down long ago and there's a car dealership there now). Oddly enough the first time my dad offered to take me to see it I decided I wanted to go see "MacArthur" with Gregory Peck instead (I've always been a nuts about WW2).

I remember the commercials vividly--especially the shot of Luke and Leia swinging across the chasm because it reminded me of Errol Flynn in the "Adventures of Robin Hood"--still one of my all-time favorite movies.


Dave

Awesome. I remember thinking--as the opening scene started and the Tantive was skitting along shooting these little laser beams--"oh, it's gonna be one of these space films again..." and then the Star Destroyer glides overhead...WOW.

By far though, the life changing moment for me was when those troopers blasted through the door. I remember thinking that was the coolest thing I had EVER seen in my life.

I was 3, 4, or 5 years old. Late 80's I guess.

One day, my dad and I brought home a copy of ANH (in whatever the video format was at the time). I remember getting out of the car and excitedly telling my neighborhood friends we got it. Believe it or not, I clearly remember my dad saying before he went to play it, "I don't think you're gonna like this, but here you go."

Watching Star Wars for the first time is probably one of my oldest memories. The only scene I remember from my first viewing is when Obi-Wan pulls back his hood to reveal himself to R2. Not sure why, but I loved all the desert scenes the most.

Great topic BTW.

OH! OH! Another vivid memory was seeing the COMMERCIAL for Star Wars (ANH) during the summer of '76. I remember casually watching it when suddenly they showed the quick shot of Vader slowly turning his head toward the camera (toward Leia in the detention block cell--you know, with that red grate ceiling in the background) and I nearly sh*! my pants. It was so quick, and then it was over. I think I pointed at the TV, my finger shaking, staring at the screen, saying "Did you just see that?! That guys FACE?!!" and spent the next week waiting for the commercial to be shown again (and trying to describe it to whoever would listen). LOL

this is it!

LOL. Good stuff. Keep forgetting we got some old people in here as well... oh hell, screw it... I'm becoming an old fart too all too quickly... but here goes.

I was 8... had had the toys since I found them in a reduced sale box a few years earlier. I believe I got 4 or 7 figures that day. Wondered why I knew who was the good guys and who was the bad guys - always thought it was their looks that naturally spoke about whether they were good or evil. Wasn't until later I was told that I had watched parts of ANH when I was 4 and had been traumatized by it... no wonder I was afraid of black eyes.

Well... getting away from the story. I was 8... must have been in '87 or '88. Had bugged my parents for years and finally they agreed. It was IMPOSSIBLE to get ANH, so I started out with ESB and RotJ. I have to say... I was amazed beyond words. Never knew something like that existed. Over the next couple of years I was on the hunt for ANH - known as just Star Wars at the time - saw glimpses of scenes here and there, but always never being able to stay and watch.

Can't remember how many years, but finally we found a rental place that had ANH... and we rented it... and I was blown away. From the other two movies I knew that Obi-Wan was a ghost... but when I saw him in the flesh... man... he was great... and even though I knew... when he died... I just about died inside. Vader was so intense... the danger so real... and seeing him be the killer of Obi-Wan... just immediately changed the following two movies in my mind... they were great on their own but even greater with ANH.

I never got to see SW on the big screen until the dreadful SE versions were released.

That's my story.

I was -2 when it came out, I cannot remember the first time I saw ANH. I do remember the Tantive scene blowing my mind.

I nagged my parents constantly for years for a Darth Vader helmet, I begged theme to get me some 'chicken wire' to make my own. If only eBay had been around it would have saved my parents so much stress.

Joe

I saw star wars for the first time in 1977. This was the first film that had been "hyped" in the fact that almost any news program had shown clips of the film and footage of the massive cues.
The things that stuck in my mind was the quality of the images on screen and the sound quality. I was only 11 at the time. I loved the look and the mystery of both vader and the stormtroopers. It was never explained at the time what was beneath the armor. I wasnt sure if they were aliens or human?
The christmas just before the film came out my brother was given the star wars soundtrack and i argued that being a sci fi film it should have a synthesizer sountrack.....how wrong i was!.

The film got me into computers, homecinema ,prop making and sci fi ....

Im still as mad about star wars to this day....



cheers

The first sw movie i watched at the cinema was Return of the Jedi. I was 8 when it came out here in the uk and i dont really remember the first time i was StarWars or Empire.. Im geussing it would have been when they were shown on the telly or on vhs.

The only time i have seen StarWars on the big screen is last year at Celebration Europe at the big out door screening on the first night. That was a great night

I was 10 years old

Summer 1977

Henn Theater, Murphy NC

Saw it every weekend that it played that summer.

The most memorable scene for me was the lightsaber battle between Vader and Kenobi. It opened a gap in my imagination that has never been closed. I think because of Star Wars, 1977, I'll always be a big kid.

Interestingly enough, growing up in the back country, Star Wars didn't come out until Feburary 78 and played until Dec 78. Remember there was none of this nationwide release back then and theaters had to share reels.

Well I was "too young" to see ANH in the theater, but I did see ESB and RotJ in the theater. About all I remember from ESB was AT-ATs, Yoda, and getting Han being frozen in Carbonite. I obviously remember much more about RotJ.

It was back in 1977, in Madrid, Spain.

My father died a few months before... and my brother an I went with my mother.

I remember watching the teasers on TV before going... i was really excited about it !!!!


Since then, it has always been in my life, but in a more stronger way in the last 10 years or so...


Now i live with it since i have Vader, and some other lifesize characters in my living room !!!


Alfredo

I think I saw ANH in 1978 in a cinema, I was 6 at that time and completely blown away. I couldn't see ESB because it was rated FSK 12 and when it hit cinemas I was only 9 and so my father went alone....I nearly died when he told me about the space slug etc. But he kept Vader's secret and did not spoil that :-)

I was 7 years old and went with my twin brother and my dad. We went to the Empire Leicester Square in London in 1977.Taking us to see the original Trilogy was one of the only things I remember my dad doing with us before he left when we were 13........ Seen him once since.... At least I got to see the Star wars movies....I never recovered though, same as you lot I suppose!
I remember going to the local Department store and Dave Prouse was dressed up as Vader signing things.... For some reason I never got a autograph but I did get to shake Vaders hand! Pity I didn't get a pic of it happening but the memories are great!