Star Wars Now Showing

Gearing up for Star Wars Celebration V in August has started me reminiscing about my early Star Wars days. My experience with Star Wars began in a classic-style 2 Screen Movie Theatre in Hollywood Florida. I can still remember what it looked like inside that old theatre. The smell of old popcorn, hot dogs, and butter-soaked carpeting  that was familiar and even pleasing. I would return years later and see Empire Strikes Back at this same theatre, but that is another story. Anyway I remember the excitement and the wonder, but hey I was pretty young so I can’t remember everything!  I was lucky enough to have had a BETAMAX VCR (which didn’t go mainstream for many more years) in my household by the next year and also a bootleg copy of Star Wars which I proceeded to watch perhaps thousands of times, firmly cementing each line and scene and piece of music into my malleable brain.

Also, there was a toy and marketing blitz going on  of which I had never seen the likes of before in my then-short life. No other movie had toys and t-shirts and special collectible glasses at Burger King before, so I was kind of blown away. My brother and I started collecting  the Kenner action figures. I recall taking hours to decide on a single figure purchase…and if I only had that wall of unopened figures now. Sigh. Well I would love to hear your stories about when you first saw Star Wars. Don’t be shy!