Happy Star Wars Day!
This is not a Sith joke……. but the day to rattle your light sabre, don your human hair ear muffs, have dinner with your favourite droids under multiple moons and practice your Wookie.
As most of you know, I am not a big science fiction fan. However, the original Star Wars movie, now called Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope is one of those movies that holds a special place in my memory. It really was a ground breaking movie for its time when it was released in 1977, both in terms of special effects and in terms of introducing relatively new actors to the scene in Harrison Ford, Carrie Fischer and Mark Hamill.
It is special because my late father loved science fiction. He could never convince my mother to go with him to such a film and so it fell upon me to accompany him. Star Wars (all original three episodes, being IV, V and VI) was our little father/daughter adventure, an experience we shared – just him and I. We would talk about each movie for weeks beforehand and plan the time we would see it. Dad would make each excursion special by buying a bucket of popcorn so big that it could accommodate Darth Vader’s mask.
Dad used to marvel at the special effects, which given the advance in technology since, are now laughable. Remember sensoround sound? Dad could never resist telling all and sundry about the magnificence of the scene where Luke is piloting his X-wing fighter down the narrow alleys of the Death Star chased by Darth Vader and his wingmen. My father was a natural story teller and he had a great knack of making something seem relevant even when it was not. Want to talk about the price of fuel? Clearly, Luke’s flight through the Death Star is relevant.
I will also always remember that Dad and I first saw Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back in Tokyo, Japan. We were on a holiday and couldn’t resist the temptation to go see the movie upon its release. I imagine we were the only two people in the theatre who did not require the Japanese subtitles.
This day therefore holds some poignancy for me and I have since shared the three movies with my sons.
There is one more reason why Star Wars is memorable and why I saw it four times at the cinema. Remember that those were the days before videos and DVDs. For you my blog readers, I will reveal a never before told secret. Yes, it’s true…I had a MAJOR crush on Mark Hamill, his Luke Skywalker character and James Earl Jones’ voice. Oh yes, oh my… “Luuuuuuke”.
Do you have any particular Star Wars memories?
Raising the Curtain 
Oh yes, there are lots of memories pertaining to Star Wars.
I had it on my computer for a number of years, until the stupid machine committed suicide that is.
Set sometime in the distant future and yet they were all wearing seventies hairstyles, ha, ha, ha. I suppose it’s become an iconic movie to some, but for me, I just love watching the special effects and all the sets, not much in the way of computer generated imagery in those days, they built those sets. Things have certainly changed, haven’t they. 🙂
Japan, cool. Imagine if they had dubbed it into Japanese, wouldn’t that have come as a surprise. He, he.
Enjoyed this post a lot, thanks for the memories. Blessings, Geoff.
If they dubbed it into Japanese we would have that whole lips out of synch thing happening, which is hilarious. “Luke, I am your father” just wouldn’t have the same delivery 🙂
No, I don’t have a thing for Star Wars. I only saw the first movie. In our family, my son-in-law has all things Star Wars.
There’s always one in every family 🙂
I loved the first three movies (Episodes 4, 5 and 6). I saw “The Phantom Menace” and swore never to see any of the others.
I never saw 1, 2 and 3 either. I didn’t see any point.
I saw the first in Boston on the weekend of its release. My friend and I got buttons that said “May the Force Be With You” which would probably be collectors items had I kept them. Oh well. Great movie, though. I LOVE Harrison Ford!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Oh well, LOL.
We saw the very first one in Japan. What a great experience to see this with kanji going up the sides! Love, love this post. I am a big fan of Star Wars. I have seen all of them and would sit down now and rewatch all of them. The special effects were awesome for that time! Whenever I am at Disneyland I will head over to Star Tours just so I can experience that fight scene once more, and then leave singing the “ba-ba’s” to the Star Wars theme. Thanks for the post and the memories both that I have and also those with your Father. He was not the only great story teller.
DAF, I am glad that this one nut did not fall very far from her tree – thank you!
Are you ready to hear this news? I have never seen a Star Wars movie.
Pick me up off the floor and call me stunned, LOL 🙂