Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?
-Princess Leia
Star Wars is the first movie I remember seeing. It was 7th birthday in 1978, and my dad took me to the Westmount Square cinemas in the basement of an office tower I now know to have been designed by Mies Van De Rohe (I would never have noticed such things then). I had been going on and on and on about wanting to see it for months! Star Wars was everywhere! Never before had I, or anyone else, seen anything like it. The opening scene still takes my breath away. When rickyd and I were driving cross-country in 1996, we stopped in Winnipeg, and saw an Imax movie about special effects in which George Lucas had reshot the scene. Seeing that iconic scene on the giant screen awakened the little boy in me; I may or may not have let out a squeal, and I may or may not have shed a tear. (I did and I did.)
George Lucas, in one of the most remarkable attacks of prescience in the history of man, negotiated from 20th Century Fox 40% of the net box-office, ownership of all sequel rights, the final cut, and most importantly, all the merchandising rights, all in exchange for a tiny director's fee. And like every little boy, I bought wholly into the merchandising; from me alone, Lucas was probably able to get his kids braces. I had every action figure, a sand cruiser, an X-Wing fighter, a Millennium Falcon, and I think may have even had a Barbie-sized Luke. I even saved up my allowance for a couple of months specifically to get a Boba Fett. (Oh, if I had only kept all that. I’d be rich!).
I’ve seen the movie at least 50 times, and most probably more. Truth be told, The Empire Strikes Back is a better movie, and in fact one of my favourites of all time. But Star Wars is the first to have captured my imagination so completely.
These are the Westmount Square towers, reveling in its mid-century modern glory!
The opening scene. Zap! Pow! Whoosh!
I saw Star Wars on my 7th birthday too! Of course, that was 9 months earlier...
ReplyDeleteI remember that Christmas I really wanted R2D2 and C3PO action figures, but I had to settle for a voucher! The toy company hadn't expected the movie to be such a hit, and hadn't made enough toys for the demand. Kudos to them, instead of selling them for $20 a pop, they gave out vouchers instead...
Saw it in the theater 4 times. And I have no idea how many times total. I was 7 also and Han Solo was the hottest thing I had ever seen. I think gaping over Han Solo was, for my parents, my first confirmed straight moment. My sister who is 15 years younger than me watched it for the first time in her early teens and said it was borrrinng! It killed me.
ReplyDelete