Happy 40th Birthday Star Wars - May 25, 1977

Star Wars (I refuse to call it "A New Hope") was released on May 25th, 1977.

I didn't see it until later that summer. My mother had to go see it first to see if it was OK for two young boys. I'm pretty sure my brother and I saw it sometime in July, after a family trip where some of my relatives had seen it but we hadn't - they were talking about these things called "droids" and I had no idea what that was but very much wanted to find out.

When we went back to school it was all anybody wanted to talk about and by then I was fully up to speed.

Any other memories of the summer of '77?

 

I barely remember it. I was only 4 years old when I saw it. The only memory I had of the film at that time was a mis-remembering of the scene in which Luke tells Han that he couldn't see a thing in the stormtrooper helmet. The way I remembered it before I had a chance to see it again, probably when it was first broadcast on television, was Luke running through the Death Star repeatedly yelling, 'I can't see a thing in this helmet.' But I was there, and I've seen every subsequent Star Wars film in the theater. Happy anniversary Star Wars!

 

I only recognise the original 3 movies!!

Star wars
Star wars 2
Star wars 3

BEST 3 PART MOVIE EVER MADE!!

 

I refuse to call it it 'Episode IV: A New Hope' too, but in fairness, both Lucas and former producer Gary Kurtz have said they wanted that subtitle on the opening scroll from the start, mainly as a homage to the old Republic cinema serials that influenced them, but FOX thought that it would confuse people, it was restored for the 1981 re-release after The Empire Strikes Back became 'Episode V' and Vader became Luke's father, thereby (lamentably) setting up the prequel trilogy.

Interestingly, the first couple of drafts of Empire's script had the subtitle 'Episode II' so who the hell knows anymore?

I'm sooooo thoroughly and absolutely bored of Star Wars at this point, but yet I still love the original (and only) trilogy... if only the theatrical versions were available, alas...

 

I saw it at the drive-in with my family. I was captivated but, unfortunately, it was the second of a double feature (following Smokey and the Bandit) and my 6 yr old self struggled to stay awake and alert through the whole thing. I remember at one point asking my parents to wake me up when the sword fights started.

I was primed and ready for Empire, though. As a 9 yr old, that movie made one hell of an impression on me.

 

I remember seeing it, the theater was older looking amongst the shining gloss of SW on the movie screen, the fashion of movie goers was even a mixed bag of ages. No one talked during the film, what was a Wookie. Where did Darth Vader come from?

Happy 40th Birthday Star Wars(The Original!)

 

We in the UK got Star Wars a lot later in 1977 November time I think. I was 7 years old and was taken with my two brothers to the Dominion Theatre in Central London. I was spellbound for the 2 hours as it was unlike anything I'd seen beforebin the cinema. It was the first time the I'd ever experienced a whole audience standing and cheering/clapping during the Throne Room scene at the end. Unforgettable!

 

I was ten years old and didn't see it until mid-summer, but what an experience!

 

I guess that makes me the third that will not call it that...

 

I was 10 years old when I saw it with my parents and my brother. At the time, I actually wanted to see another movie that was out at the same time instead of Star Wars. As a 10-year-old, I never paid attention to previews and hype leading up to releases of movies. I remember saying to my parents that I didn't want to see an outerspace war movie. I wanted to see Rollercoaster, the '70s disaster-suspense movie. I was on a big kick back during the '70s, wanting to see every disaster flick made and it being about a rollercoaster was icing on the cake. When we arrived at the cinema complex, there was a showing of Star Wars and one of Rollercoaster starting at the same time and my parents told me I could go see Rollercoaster by myself while they and my brother saw Star Wars. They tried to convince me to see Star Wars, promising me that I would really like it and would regret not seeing it at that time. But, the decision ultimately was mine. At the very last minute, while standing in line to buy our tickets, I changed my mind. I can't remember the reason why I changed my mind, but I do remember seeing and hearing all the people in the lobby talking about Star Wars and no one talking about Rollercoaster. Also, no one in line was buying a ticket for Rollercoaster (I probably would've been one of only a very few people seeing it.) That may have been the main reason I changed my mind, along with the fact that I saw a classmate in the lobby who was seeing Star Wars with his family. It was the best decision I ever made regarding a movie choice.

 

My parents took me to see this when it first came out, and I was either 6 or had just turned 7. Was too scared to watch it (We left the theater and I think they took me to see Pete's Dragon instead). Funny because I became a huge Star Wars fan later after seeing it when it was re-released in '79 leading up to Empire.

 

I was only 1 when this day passed some 40 years ago. I first saw Star Wars when I was 6 (1982) upon re-release to theaters in the ramp up to ROTJ. I saw ROTJ the day it opened and remember the line to wait for tickets for an early evening showing. Back when blockbusters were a real thing.

 

Same here - I remember waiting in line for ROTJ & having to wait until 3 showinng had taken place before I could get in to one. Sort of a part atmosphere with radio stations doing remote broadcasts & tons of people in Star Wars costumes there.

I've also seen episodes I, III & VII on release day since. Not quite the same.

 

1977 audience recording synced with video. It's pretty cool to hear the audience reacting to this climactic moment in the film.

 

It took a few weeks for it to reach my neck of the woods. Not unusual in those days' films like "The Godfather" and "Patton" took a few months. My younger sister and I went and I remember saying to her before it started "I hope the robots they have aren't too nauseating". Nowadays each movie manages to stink worse than the previous one. Finally saw "Rogue One" and my only hope is Peter Cushing's family got some money for him being re created.

 

I was 12 years old when I went to see Star Wars in '77. I'm not sure what month I saw it in. I do remember not thinking that I would like it much because of the big hairy thing, Chewbacca, from the preview I had seen. After seeing it I was hooked and became quite obsessed with the trilogy. I never thought I'd live to see the prequels made, much less long enough to see more Star Wars movies made lol.

 

They missed a perfect opportunity to re-release the original unaltered trilogy on DVD/Blu Ray today.

I saw Star Wars during the summer of '78, so I don't count.

 

I thought it was good.

Empire has always been my favorite Star Wars movie.

Hard to believe it's been 40 years!!

 

Of the original trilogy, Empire was my least favorite because it was such a downer. The kid in me wanted a feel-good ending like the first one and Return of the Jedi. As an adult, there is no denying that Empire is the best made of the three and is very essential to the entire Skywalker story. But I never captured any of the excitement from Empire, like I did from the first one and Return of the Jedi.

 

I was 27 when I first saw Star Wars, went back to see it and Empire and Jedi multiple times, really enjoyed them.

 

I was 12 in summer 1977. It was kind of a bad time for me for reasons I won't go into, but during this bleak period my mom took me to see Star Wars in a regular theater. My mom chain-smoked and we always went to drive-ins at the time. So it was a treat for me to go to a regular theater!

I really liked it, and was impressed by the way it looked. It was unlike any movie I'd seen until then. I saw it just that one time in 1977.
I just never cultivated the Star Wars mania. I didn't see the other 2 original movies until my now ex-wife bought the VHS box in the early 90s. I really enjoyed those too, but still wasn't hooked. I haven't seen any of the Star Wars related movies. I imagine they are perfectly good and fun to watch.
I'm just not a rabid fan of special effects and big explosions. But it's a classic and deserves all the kudos and the status it has.

 

I was 6 years old.
My dad came home and raved about this film.....said it was amazing. For the only time I can remember, my dad watched the movie twice in the theater (He took me).
Also, my dad hates Sci-Fi.
I remember him taking me and I liked it. But being 6, I had no context compared to other films of that era.

 

Agreed. When they came out, Empire had a down ending....and then you had to wait 3 years to see Return of the Jedi.
I remember arguing with a friend if Darth really was his father. We didn't know.

 

Won't be long now...

 

Won't be long now until what?