ORIGINAL Star Wars Opening (1977) - 16mm Film Preservation
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- čas přidán 29. 12. 2020
- ORIGINAL Star Wars Opening (1977) - 16mm Film Preservation
This is the original opening scene for Star Wars as seen in the original release. This clip came from Puggo Grande, a 16mm print of the film. It was scanned and then uploaded to archive.org by a user named Puggo. You can watch this version for yourself here: archive.org/details/StarWars16mm
For those not aware, better versions of the Theatrical Releases exist and I talk about them in my video here: • A Brief Review of all ...
I do not own the rights to or to distribute Star Wars. That ability belongs to the Disney Corporation. This video is purely for preservation purposes. The music in this video belongs to John Williams, and therefore Disney. - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I Transferred the 35mm print with mag sound for VHS duplication
Q: Do films sound and look better 1st gen before the transfer or is DVD Blue ray pretty good?
I was hope with film.
@@sammencia7945 That is a very good question. The theatrical versions that were limitedly released on DVD were the Laserdisc transfers (and in the same resolution they were already in). VHS tapes of course, they wear down.
Now, to be on DVD, it had to be re-encoded as MPEG-2, bringing up the question: Side-by-Side, would, in this case, the Laserdisc look slightly superior? Because, MPEG-2 is lossy, and I'm being presented with the same non-animorphic resolution.
The remastered versions are FARRR superior when it comes to picture and sound, but as we all know, they contain edits.
How did you do that? I've been wondering how to make new VHS tapes for a while.
That opening scene is a seminal moment in my life. We sat in that theater in 1977 with our jaws hanging. We had NO idea what we were in for.
Boy, ain't that the truth. My brother just grinned at my reaction...THEN came Close Encounters....and my jaw hung open again....
@Vaderd2k yes I sat in back row master forcing so exciting it was with the force in the odeon cinema that had Overhead surrounds Oh yes Overhead surrounds have some of that disney
I was 9 years old and upon seeing this movie I knew my life would never be the same. I'm 53 now, and still obsessed.
I was 6 yrs old and had only seen disney movies up until May 1977...my mind was blown! I believed it was real 😂😂😂
Midnight Matinee.....myself & the girls from work.... Forced to sit in the very front row, which is my least favorite..... But for this movie, was the equivalent of IMAX, with the crawler opening and that humongous battlecruiser looming overhead.... It would have been good from anywhere in the house but from those seats, we were "right there" for the entire movie....
Am I the only one that gets chills hearing the 20th Century Fox fanfare from this era of film?
I'm so glad I still have the dvd copies of the originals. Its always gives me goosebumps to hear that intro
No your not alone.
For me, can't say for others; **"It Ain't STAR WARS CANON unless it's opens with fanfare!"**
.....all but Rogue One, Solo and The Mandalorian series.
For a long time I didn't even realize the 20th Century fanfare was separate from the movie. It was all one experience for me. It still gives me chills!
It gets me every time
I'm 58. I saw the original Star Wars in 1977 when I was 12 at a theater in the mall.
Two hours later, I walked out of the mall, and it was if every dream I ever had was possible! Man, I loved those days. And it's still with me. I just finished a 3 foot Star Distroyer that sits proudly on my desk. Thanks for the memories.
I'm 57, saw it in 1979 in Hungary, when I was 13 years old, fortunately it was subtitled. In the coming weeks I watched it 9 times. The opening sequence still has an effect on me.
@jamesedwards5702 the world as I knew it (also 12 in 1977) changed after I saw this movie. Small town Texas movie theater with a 12-foot screen and semi-stereo sound. Personally, I could not wait to see more of the adventure. Space battles, walking-talking robots, Darth Vader, the music, and princess Leia; total awesomness.
I remember that day as well.... never saw a preview (TV just was not that important) and when those Stormtroopers came busting thru my eyeballs were glued. Coolest day ever. Still remember the song that was playing in the car on the way to the Theatre. 'Feels So Good" by Chuck Mangione.
Me too! I'd heard a top of the hour news report while riding in a car with my mom, that it was the top movie and when I heard the title "Star Wars", it was so mysterious and attractive, I could not wait to find out what the movie could possibly be about. It was so imaginative and I was about 12.
i was eleven. they ran the movie in only 2 big screen theaters in kansas city. We went when it was first released before sell outs and long waits to get tickets. that opening scene with the massive destroyer in pursuit blew me away. We had no idea this was an epic movie.
For a 22 year old in 1977, that opening shot, seen for the first time, of the star destroyer coming over the top of the screen and filling it, was truly thrilling in away that nothing else in the movies had been-or has been since.
My Dad was also 22 in 1977, and this is how he's always described it... and, even better, that was the first movie he ever saw with my Mom.
Mate, I was 20 in 1977 and what you said is exactly what I was thinking. I was in awe of such realistic looking planets and spacecraft. And that Star Destroyer flying in from overhead just seemed to go on and on and on. Truly massive. All this is the first few minutes. Few movie experiences have matched this for me over the decades. Cheers.
Wow, I too was born in 1955. After leaving the theater, for a second, my Datsun pickup became an X-wing flying down the death star trench, I mean freeway.
I was 5, this was the first movie I ever saw... I woke up and my sister was excited, getting ready and my brother and my sister told me, "Get up! We're going to a movie!"... My mom came in and helped me tie my shoes and I asked her where we were going?... and she said... "We're going to see a movie.. you'll see what we're talking about." So, I had already heard of Star Wars and was excited about it, but I had NEVER been to a movie... so we went to the 7 Eleven and got a newspaper to check showtimes, and I remember my dad running in to get the paper... we get to the theater and I see all these kids there and these huge Star Wars posters and I was excited but also confused, I had never been to a movie... we walked in after my mom paid for the tickets... My dad says..."Do you want some popcorn and a soda?" I said... "They have that here?" It smelled so good!... so we got a medium Coke and a medium popcorn and to me they were huge... we walked through the corridor to the theater... I held my Coke in one arm and held my mom's hand... my dad held my popcorn... I turned around and saw my brother and sister walking behind us, and they had these huge smiles on their faces (They're older than I am.) My sister nodded her head at me and smiled... we sat down and the theater wasn't very dark, kids were laughing, and talking I sat right between my parents... My mother kept trying to set me back into my seat but I saw this "HUGE TV"... So... the lights went down, all the kids were excited and talking and I could hear people going .... "SHHHHH!"... My mother set me back in my seat, with my soda in her hand holding it for me to drink and my popcorn between my legs lol... then I remember the movie starts... I don't remember the trailers... or if there were any, I didn't pay much attention to them... I was sort of shocked at what I saw... but didn't know exactly what I was seeing.... then THIS starts... My mom read to me the scrolling texts....and I see the two ships and lasers... my mouth dropped open.... my life changed forever...
That is an amazing story. Im glad you remember your first SW experience
This reminds me of my last jedi screening. It left a big impact on me. I remember what I did before it. Thought during it and talking (and yelling) about it with my brother on the way home. I remember so much of it.
It was one of those theater experiences ill always hold to me and will be special. Prob cause I got intrigued into everything going on and then the way they got paid off was... odd to me and leaving me disappointed and confused. Took me a while to appreciate the film and its lived in my head rent free for a long ass time. And it still does. It prob isn't the best one imo (3rd prob) but is my personal favorite. It gave me a memorable and special theater experience and actually felt like, holy shit im watching a new star wars movie.
7 had its moments but had little impact on me. Hell I said a few weeks later the film was overrated
"my life changed forever..." You and me both, my friend. You and me both.
Wow, that's so amazing! It's incredible how vividly you remember this experience!
@@Z-Mikes00 I have to say I didn’t like TLJ when I saw it in the theater, but a year later after seeing it again made me love it. It’s the best of the Disney era films.
A lot of people probably didn’t know that it wasn’t called A New Hope in 1977 it was just called Star Wars
Yeah, it’s rather unfortunate. I personally prefer no title, but it makes sense why it was added.
It was so confusing when the second movie came out and started with “Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back”
That's how us 8 year olds knew it back in the day.
@@KevyNova I was 10 years old when Ep4 came out and I wasn't confused at all. I guess by the time Empire was released most of the Star Wars fans were aware of Lucas plans for a trilogy and maybe someday, a prequel trilogy.
I still call it Star Wars and then the next one I call The Empire Strikes Back or simply Empire.
There’s something magical about seeing this in the lower res, and original sounds and such, with all the “flaws” included. I am not old enough to have seen this originally in the theater, but I appreciate this a lot.
Star Wars was insanely epic for its time.
If it’s lower res it’s due to the nature of how this was recorded. It was shot and replicated on film, so even in 1977 it was very “high definition”.
@@thomasharris9059 film was always hi definition. We just got used to low resolution from television, vcr, and dvd. I don’t think todays digital HD even compares to film
@@RageTVHTX
No, you just dont know nothing about resolution
@@HolaMundoTheMisteriousAG well, 35mm film is equivalent to between 4K and 5K resolution. 70mm film is even higher so I’d say he does know what he’s talking about
I'll never forget the opening of that movie, simply jaw dropping compared to anything seen or heard before. It was a quatum leap in terms of special efffects and sound quality. Cannot begin to describe how good it was seeing that movie for the first time in 1977.
Quantum means smallest possible.
Remember that close encounters of the 3rd kind came out too in 77.
All the arcades within a few years was all space themed stuff. Miss the old arcade rooms. The sights and sounds.
@@planomathandscience But a "quantum leap" means a sudden and dramatic change and a significant advance.
Agreed, I was 12 and I was utterly blown away! No words can describe it, it totally awesome!
I was eleven and my jaw did drop in the front row
My grandmother took me to see it when I was 10. The Tusken scared the heck out of her, but despite that she fell asleep somewhere during the rescue of Leia and I had to wake her up at the end. That's one of my favorite memories of her...she took me to see Star Wars. RIP Grannie.
I'm sorry for your loss.
I remember the first time I ever fell asleep at the movies, it was during "The Dark Knight". I didn't like the movie. I thought it was plain boring. But also it was one of the best naps I ever had, hope your grandma felt the same that I did lol 😂
My Granny took me to see the original "Alien" when it came out. I was 12. She had no idea what the hell was going on through the whole movie. She said if there were boobs, we were leaving. 🤣
♥
LOL that reminded me of my grandma . She took me to see ESB . I was about 9 . She loved the taun tauns and Yoda . She passed away last year, she was 101 . The force was definitely strong with her. .
Just imagine sitting in a theater with no idea of what was about to happen & then seeing that Star destroyer filling the screen. It sent my little 7 year old mind off into a world of imagination. This is why over 40 years later i still love this movie.
I am 65 and I will *never* forget that. It was absolutely stunning ... still is, in fact.
It was awesome!
I still remember, seeing that Star Destroyer entering the screen in 1977. It enters, it enters.., it enters..., and finally it enters.
Right there with ya, man. I was 7, too, and like so many other people, had the creative borders of my mind forever flung wide open after seeing this picture. John Williams remains one of my two biggest heroes to this day.
@@mnirwin5112 53 here and what a series of amazing Saturdays I had in my local twin cinema seeing this repetitively over several months each week! I wonder if my grandkids will ever experience the same awe as we did?
As a guy in his 30s growing up in the Prequels era, I am thrilled to see the Episodic title missing in this one.
Still one of the best opening scenes for any movie ever made. If you didn't see it in a theater in 1977, you missed something very special. Cinematics would never be the same.
Born in 83, never saw the original 3 in the movies but it still is magical watching it on tape
I can't wrap my head around just how good that opening shot still looks. The planets, the lighting, the scale. It all feels so real. Absolutely insane.
And the music - which makes the whole film work!
My same thoughts, like there were nothing out there like this at the time, nothing that could immediately immerse you in this different world so convincingly. The practical effects absolutely hold up, especially when masked by the quality of projectors back then.
I was 4. I started to feel warm so my dad took me outside and we walked around in front of the stores at the plaza. Never saw the original in the theater until 1997.
@@MopBucket1014 I was 4 too. TBH I can't actually remember if I got taken to see it or not. Maybe, because I was certainly a fan by the time TESB came out. That one I do remember going to see. I remember missing the first 10 or 20 minutes because my brother got us there late! 😠
The only memory I have from 1977 is attending a street party for the Silver Jubilee.
First saw this at the local cinema age 11. Queued round the block with my Dad. An amazing experience, life changing!
44 years later, the special effects here STILL look good.
Old school rules when it was done right.
And CGI from 4 years ago is obvious and dated...
Jar Jar Binks CGI got old 1 second after I saw it.
@@davedogge2280 the Special Editions look older then the Originals.
The Music is still perfect.
I was 17 when I first saw this. As a science-fiction aficionado I had never seen anything like this before in my life! As a man in his 60s no one believes me when I tell them “Star Wars” was originally a standalone movie.
A-Ha! I remember my Dad telling me when I was a kid that the original never said "Part IV, a New Hope" on it. I told kids in college that (that was around the time of the "remastering" rereleases) , and they told me I was wrong. I'm feeling very vindicated right now 😂.
Haha, it must be hard for kids to grasp that it was originally just STAR WARS, no episode title, no decades of world-building!
I’m 38 and so the first trilogy was already out and the second trilogy was still years away when my parents were trying to explain it to me as a little kid circa 1992 or so.
“But it was the FIRST Star Wars movie, right?”
“Yes.”
“(Thinking I’ve really caught them in an inconsistency) Then. HOW. Is it. Episode FOUR?!”
They were like “because he started the story in the middle and no one knew it would be such a success, now he can go back and write the beginning of the story before Luke and Leia are even born.”
I thought about that. But I was still like,
“But how come it’s not episode ONE if it came out first? Terminator 1 came out before Terminator 2!”
I don’t know how they finally got through to me. I think at that time they expected an Episode One release or maybe 1996-97 or so. It was on the horizon for sure.
But I do remember exclaiming excitedly,
“Well when are episodes seven, eight and nine coming out?!”
They were like, “years and years from now, maybe never.” 😂
“So once they do episodes 1,2 and 3, then the movies will go in order again?” Good thing kid me didn’t know about Rogue One, Solo, The Mandalorian, The Obi-Wan series, and all the other stuff that doesn’t exactly “go in order” 😂
Now I have Exhibit A for all my young friends who claim "but it was always Episode 4: A New Hope." Nah, children. It was Star Wars. Pure and simple. We came out of that movie theater jazzed but had no clue we'd be getting sequels. Back then, that wasn't the norm!
Even if it had remained a stand alone film, it still would have been perfect.
@@carolynhotchkiss4760 Sequels were rare - sequels that were even better than the original masterpiece were almost unheard of (though many point to The God Father, but I don't). Empire made me feel like Star Wars was just a warm up!
That three minutes took me back forty-three years.
What an impactful comment.
Yep, I remember the first time I saw it in the theatre, and that massive underside of the star destroyer passed over... I was hooked. I saw it 24 more times in the initial and extended runs over the next year.
A long time ago...
That opening scene of the star destroyer chasing the corvette was like nothing we had ever seen before in ‘77. From that moment on, the sold out theater (for two years, BTW) was glued to the screen. The whole audience cheered for Luke, applauded when Leia kissed him, booed Vader, and erupted when the DeathStar blew up. A magical experience. It just doesn’t happen any more.
What corvette?
I agree. Films today do not spark such emotion.
Americans.
I was too young for the original, but had seen them countless times on VHS. The '97 Special Edition was probably a close second to that, as being able to see it in the theater for the first time drummed up alot of hype. Went to the midnight showing for that, it was packed and very, VERY loud, audience and the movie! Best movie experience for me was then!
@@jwbogacki well it's certainly more than just a "transport ship" considering it's armed.
That opening scene was the most amazing thing I had seen, as a teenager I remember gasping out loud “WOW”, to this day it has not been equaled!
My mom took me to see it when it first came out and that's the exact word that she used...WOW!!!
The opening scene of Episode III was -sort of- the equivalent for MY generation.
The only shame about this is that nobody nowadays will ever understand the awe and excitement this had when we saw it for the first time. Wonderful beyond measure to see it like this again - heartfelt thanks ❤
I was 11, my parents didn't have any money, so I got a job at the store next door, taking out trash and other odd jobs for 50 cents a week for the elderly lady that owned it. I saved my money until I finally had enough to go see Star Wars, and I was blown away. It was the greatest movie my 11 year old mind had seen up to that time. I still remember the look and smell of the theater, and the excitement I felt as the movie filled my heart with a sense for adventure.
Your not alone in that experience, I used to catch the before 6 pm shows for around $1.25, did a lot of chores , saw it about 5 times that summer.
I was 11 as well when this came out, my aunt took my brother and i to the movie with my cousin!
we Saw Star wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind on the same day :)
What a Day in History :)
@@expfighter5112
George Lucas thought that Close Encounters of the Third Kind would be more popular and traded 2% of gross with Spielberg.
I was 12 about sounds about the same as what I did.
@@RickW-HGWT Yep.. the'walk-ins' were a buck twenty-five for us kids at that time and about a whopping $3.50 for our folks as I recall. One of the walk-in theaters in my CA neighborhood would show double (and occasionally TRIPLE) features. I lived in a small cul de sac and each house had boys and brothers where my brother and I were all the same age range and all walked to elementary school and played little league together. On Saturdays, we would all meet in our backyard fort, have a very important 'official' meeting, make sure we each had our buck twenty-five plus concession money, and then proceed to walk about 2-3 miles to the theater. My fondest memory of that is when all of us walked to the movies in our little league caps and took up the entire back row to watch our new 'same age' heroes.. The Bad News Bears! Three our four of us were on the same team that year and our uniforms were identical to the Bears.. (minus the Chicos Bail Bonds endorsement.. haha). 😎
That opening scene changed so many lives...and changed cinema forever...
I can still remember the audible gasps and "whoas" in the theater.
The fact that the opening theme starts at the same energy level and roughly same notes as the 20th century fox fanfare feels special
Greatest start to a film EVER!!
I was 8 in '77. Man, I remember seeing this opening sequence & my eye were like saucers as I gripped the seat.
Me too, on both counts.
I was 6 in 77. My mom took me to see it and this opening scene and several others from the film I remember so vividly to this day. She also took me to see Superman The Movie and Star Trek The Motion Picture.
@@Vampiracho Make it 3 ! (I was 9 , close enough !)
Same here as well on both counts. All Disney has to do to take my money is release all 3 EXACTLY like it shown in the theaters. No "episode 4" junk and especially none of Lucas's later "additions".
When you look at sci-fi movies made around the same time, the visual FX and overall presentation of Star Wars must have blown people's minds back in 1977
It blows my mind today.
I'm so unimpressed with modern graphics and CGI, everything doesn't look real, just like watching a video game.
it did
Yup
it did ... i was there ...
I was in high school, starved for good sci-fi and this was amazing.
Thanks for posting. I could watch the entire film this way!
You can! Check the link in the description. If you like this, then Project 4K77 is definitely something you should check out!
Me too. I love the artifacts and scratches, it reminds me of my childhood seeing Star Wars on it's second run after it had already been run through projectors 300 times.
Ditto!!!! Vintage at it's best. No restoration, just pure vintage. Oh man, just the crackling sound alone makes me want to see the whole film like this.
@@SG10FilmArchive thanks for the link
Can you find ESB and ROJ original 👍
Here you are, these are the 16mm scans: archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Puggo%22 :)
I was 11 when this came out. I’ll never forget it. Everyone in the theater was blown away and the stood up and cheered at the end.
This movie opening still looks and sounds incredible
Yep, I was there in '77. Not only the visual of the Destroyer sailing overhead but really the first time Dolby Surround took hold. Never had you heard something coming at you from behind like that destroyer did. It was mindblowing and the audience sat there stunned at what they just saw and heard.
You could almost feel that gigantic ship fly overhead!
Yea I bet u have
Ditto - Cordova Mall, Pensacola, Florida. Mom, me and a friend who lived down the street. We walked out of the theater and not one of us had the slightest idea of what we had just seen. Fairly sure we only had the Mono Mix, not the Dolby or 70mm 6-track, but it didn't matter. The experience wasn't simply entertaining - it was Transformational.
That star destroyer just kept going and going... one of the best opening shots of any movie, ever. The experience of seeing that in the theater for the first time was really something.
It just *rumbled* . And I saw it in the same theater that a couple years before had hosted "SenSurround" films like _Earthquake_ and _Midway_ . I think they kept the bass drivers from that project...
My wife and friends saw this with me in theaters in 1977. Believe me, it was life changing, cinema wise. Like nothing anyone had seen before. I drove very fast on the way home, making pew pew sounds.
lol
At the age of 12, as I exited the theatre, I ran down the dark exit hallways as if they were the Death Star's trench and I was in an X-Wing.
I think the only movie that maybe tops this visually was 2001 a space odyssey. The effects for that movie in 1968 was and the accuracy of space for that time when we hadn’t even been to the moon was genius.
@@Wailwulf that's awesome cosplay.
Just goosebumps, I remember how great this was... before the dark times, before Disney.
pointless Disney bashing... after 1-3 crap from Lucas, they saved it and brought stories out I always dreamt of as a kiddo in the 80ies.
so save your pointless Disney hating
@@Greetling Sorry, you sound like a shill. Do you work for Disney? I watched SW in '77, was thrilled by the following 2 shows. The prequels were visually stunning, had a few problems that should not have been introduced, but otherwise OK. The sequels were, admitted by Disney, not thought out, and as about everyone knows, filled with too much nonsensical idiocy as to constantly suspend belief. If you enjoyed them, more power to you. I watch and enjoy many movies that are shot down by the 'critics'. As to Disney bashing, they make it so easy now. Hard not to when one simply talks about any one of the movies being released in the last few years.
@@Greetling the disney movies are soulless.
@@Greetling Be prepared for the next one thousand years of Disney Bashing.
I gotta show my dad this. This must've been exactly how he saw it in 1977. Incredible.
I think most of us who experienced that first cinema viewing as a child in late 77 will confirm and say that their lives were never the same again.
it's true
Exactly
This brings back memories when I went to see this movie back in 1977. It will never be the same. It will be an event I will never forget.
Will it be "a day long remembered"? (boom tish).....I'll see myself out.....
Me too...just like yesterday...I remember how I felt....where I sat....
Lost my dad a year ago. One of my fondest memories of him was he and I going to this movie when it first came out. Seeing this how it was then flooded all the memories of that day. It was such a life changing day for both of us. We both loved sci fi from then on, and especially Star Wars. I had tears watching this again. Thank you for sharing this.
On the original versions of the first three Star Wars films when my brother and I used to watch them as young kids, when the text at 0:20 came up, my brother used to say “green letters”
On May 25, 1977, history was made.
Should have been 3 weeks earlier...
I was 9 and my dad brought me to watch it in the biggest cinema at that time (Emperial cinema in Copenhagen, Denmark). I will never forget the size of that stardestroyer. It just kept on going forever! Or Darth Vader, the laserguns, the millennium falcon, the light sabers, the death Star, C3P0 and R2D2, the desert people, Chewbacca, X-wing fighters and every detail and second of that masterpiece of a movie! R.I.P. dad❤️
C3PO and R2D2 at the time reminded me of Laurel and Hardy. I think Star Wars represented the power of the imagination. It was space, the future, yet it happened in a galaxy a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …
Subconsciously, a film like this was something consolatory after the debacle of the Vietnam War, in the middle of the Cold War. Perhaps it hinted, at the time, of the benefits of Western Civilisation.
Was the film in Danish or English?
I wonder what were people of 1977 thinking when they found this was only Episode 4 a few years later?
Having seen SW before it was cool, and became "Episode IV A NEW HOPE," I thank you for this.
A friend made me a copy of the movie, years before it was released on video for sale. The images were too large for the TV. When I asked him where he got the copy, he said "You know better than to ask me things like that." To which I responded "I know better than to ask you things like that." The dark side of the Force was with him.
I greatly prefer this version to the "A New Hope" nonsense.
"Dad, can we go see Star Wars tonight?" "Sure." Just like that, off we went in early July 1977 to see that opening scene at the Holiday 1 theater in Cheektowaga, NY (South of Buffalo)...I think it cost $1.75 for a ticket. What an incredible opening. Thank you for posting it.
17.50 a ticket in the 21st Century. Lol
I remember the day we saw it for the first time. It was 1977, we had just stood in line for 5 hours waiting to see this new movie that was so hyped. We saw it at Grauman's Chinese Theater, & that very opening just as was shown right now, still gives me the chills that I felt the first time we saw it. No movie I had ever seen had ever started like that. During the scene of the death star chasing the rebel ship, the entire theater gasped as it kept going & going & going as it turned out to be FAR MORE MASSIVE than anything our imaginations could wrap our minds around. It might seem old & outdated as it was just shown in this clip, but it was far more impactful in its approach to no nonsense seriousness of a story that promised to be grand in scope, depth & content like no story ever was shown. It was the greatest movie I had ever seen in my life, & that year, I & an entire generation competed to see Star Wars as many times as we could. I saw Star Wars exactly 47 times in 1977. My father was just as impressed as it was him that took us each time. . .
Thank you for sharing this amazing story
Grauman's Chinese Theatre?! What a way to see it FOR THE FIRST TIME! I can't even imagine what that could have been like!
What I really loved was that this film grew so fast by word of mouth.
....that's one hell of a Dad you had there 👍🏼 You Won the Mega Million and PoweBall lottery with that pick 😊
My dad, love him, barely understood any of it, he was from a different era, and wasn't very sophisticated when it came to themes, or science fiction, or technology.
Up until that time Sci-fi was done with cheap, cardboardy sets and tiny models that LOOKED like tiny models (2001 notwithstanding). This movie was a quantum leap in quality and visual excitement.
My parents told me how everyone was blown away by the opening of this movie. I've seen it many times but I got to say I can try to imagine it. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever have something like this again.
Unfortunately, we only got the special edition from Star Wars trilogy on Disney +.
It is indeed hard to convey. It's like trying to explain to someone how amazing it is tasting ice cream for the first time, to someone who has eaten quality ice cream their whole life. They just cannot fathom, 'life before knowing what ice cream tastes like".
Thanks to George Lucas! lol. Kind of Ironic that the man and the franchise that revolutionized film making has done so much now that the "Awe and wonder" part of it will be gone forever. My 3 year old watches kids programs that are now easily made with special effects that would have blown our minds back in the 70s and 80s, but it's all common now. Special effects are no longer special.
It was a perfect storm of visuals, sound effects and the epic music of John Williams. I saw it in the theater and it changed the play lives of all the guys (and probably some girls) in my school. During recess, we talked about it, acted it out. If you had the Star Wars toys everybody wanted to come over to your house and play. It really changed so much.
It really was an awesome experience. The Tantive IV (the Corellian corvette) looked great enough on its own as a spaceship, but that star destroyer just kept going, and going, and going. I still get chills watching it.
I saw the first showing on opening day. There was only 10 people in the entire theater! Told all my friends. It was so awesome. We went back a week later to see it again. It was standing room only!!!!
I defy anyone to find a better opening shot. Absolute magic.
Reading these comments about people, and their experiences witnessing this for the first time in the theaters in 77 brings a sort of curious yet joyous emotion to me, it makes it more immersive. Glad this version exists. Thank you for sharing this with us all.
It changed my life. I was 10 years old. I became a Computer Programmer because there were "Computers" in Star Wars.
I remember like it was yesterday. I was 16 and said “this is incredible” as the star destroyer entered the scene. Still my favorite movie.
i remember when I saw this in the theatres for the first time. It brought chills to me as a kid. I was in awe.
I can still remember as an 8 year old kid being mesmerized by this opening sequence.....like nothing we'd seen before...that big opening note from the symphony, the STAR WARS letters flying into space right into the groundbreaking special effects of the opening scene. I remember just wanting the movie to go on forever
For anyone wondering, films shown in theaters were 35 mm, so much better quality than this 16 mm print. They had surround sound too, so really the theater presentation in 1977 wasn’t significantly different than today’s digital projection. Except the 35 mm prints could get scratches and dirt after dozens of showings, or if you were really unlucky the film could break. Then we’d have to wait while the projectionist spliced it.
There were 70 mm projectors too at some theaters - they were the IMAX of their day.
Thank you for stating this for others to see. I was afraid that people may have thought that the 16mm version is what they saw in theaters.
The first release of star wars in theaters was not surround sound.
@@txdraw That's correct. Most theaters had "Rushed released" prints of the movie which were monaural sound only. The "Showcase" Theaters that had 70mm projectors got a print with 6 track magnetic soundtrack and later 35mm versions of the film used a Dolby Stereo 'matrixed" sound track from the 70mm prints. So there were really 3 versions of the sound track in existence when the movie was released in 1977.
Some good films both in sound and picture are made in 16mm...Top Gun for example.
Nothing like focusing in on that hair dragging on the bottom of the viewer while watching ‘Any Which Way But Loose’ for the fiftieth time that summer. Right turn Clyde! ✌️
My Grandpa had a VHS labelled "Star Wars" and I was so eager to watch it on my own time. Once I put it in, though, the first thing I saw was "Episode IV: A New Hope" and I immediately popped it back out because I didn't want spoilers...
(senate voice) Ironic
But the first version of it was called Star Wars
That actually ruined a lot of the experience for me the first time I saw Star Wars. When we rented it on video we said we wanted the first movie (back then I had no idea how many movies there were), and when I saw the movie it said it was number four. This stayed in the back of my head though the whole movie.
Maybe it was because I saw it on a TV-screen, but I don't remember being blown away by it. For me it was just another adventure and science fiction movie amongst several others.
I first saw ANH around 1986 (when I was 6) and I couldn't understand why the video store didn't have Episodes 1-3.
I saw SW for the first time back in 1980 as a double bill with Empire - aged 7 - you can NEVER know what thats like unless you have experienced it - no feeling like it!!
I was a 12 year old girl in Germany and my biggest dream came true watching Star Wars at the cinema back in 1978. Will never forget the impact that movie had on me. A beautiful memory in my life.
Still Gives Me Chills... I was 10 and absolutely blow away by that movie. It changed me.
I hope we see an official re-release of the original 1977 film at some point. That would be pretty awesome.
Check out Harmys Restauration Project of the Original Trilogy. It is a little complicated but that man and others did an amazing Job restoring the Original Cut of the Original Trilogy
@@spikeyfied That would be great to see! The differences in the original films to what we see now are lost to the recesses of my memory. Just as I didn't realize The Emperor was an entirely different actor with a different look when we first saw him... not until I saw the clip here on youtube!
If you can find it one of the DVD box sets has the originals on it.
Maybe when George Lucas dies, then we will get a remastered scratchy film called Star Wars, maybe. Then they will have a 16k remastered version called the Special Edition.
Official re release would just give Disney the money.
And there's not a lot different.
Imagine being a 13-year-old sci-fi and comics nut in 1977, and you get this......that was me. Ah, to go back.
@Tektoniks Architects Star Wars isn’t Sci-Fi. And it pisses me off that people are STILL making that mistake.
@@thomaskilroy4573 Back then genres weren't as pointlessly nuanced
Grow up.
I was there in 1977. I love all 9 movies. They weren't MY movies to write or produce, so I never polluted my mind with my own ideas of how I thought the stories should go, so I was never disappointed with where the film makers took me. However, the one thing the sequels lack is that classic 20th Century Fox fanfare. When it played, the anticipation and excitement hit you immediately, first time, every time. It was as chilling as the movies. I didn't even want to see Star Wars. My friends dragged me, kicking and screaming lol. Then we had to sit in the 4th row of a packed theater, surrounded by a huge curved 70mm screen which I thought would make for a horrible experience but turned out to put me "into" the movie, and I was completely awed by the massive Star Destroyer as it flew overhead in the opening scene; it just kept going and going. A jaw-dropping, life-changing experience from the first moment. Nothing like it since, and there will never be anything like it again.
This title crawl was achieved using physical models for the letters and words laid out across the floor, and the camera moving longitudinally across them to give the appearance of a crawl. It was painstakingly difficult to achieve the smoothness of movement that we see here. This was achieved more simply with CGI in the prequels, and most versions of the OT that can be found today also use the updated CGI crawls. It is a truly special occasion to view the hard work that went into making the original three title crawls.
Can never forget seeing this in 77 as a 7 year old. Simply blown away by the star destroyer going across the screen.
Betraying my age, I was 16 then…and when that Star Destroyer appeared, it was “Oh man!”
I remember seeing this in the theatre in 1977. Absolutely EPIC! If you did not see Star Wars in 1977 in the theatre, you missed out on the most epic movie theatre experience ever.
And, I was born in 1997.
I was born on 2011 :( I WANTED TO BE BORN ON 1954!
@@TheRealZeliusX oddly specific
I didn't see it in 1977 (my parents maintained that it was "inappropriate"), but I did see it when they brought it back to the theaters in 1978. Indeed, it was epic.
I didn't see it until second release. Even then it had ticket scalpers and got a standing ovation three weeks in at a sold out matinee.
I was 9 years old when Star Wars came out on my birthday in 1977...and I never got to see it.
Nope.Never saw it.
Was obsessed with it,got the picture book,was the perfect age for it but never got to see it.
Broke my heart but sometimes life gets in the way of your childhood.It's a long story but I envy all the kids who got to experience that magical moment .I think I was the only kid back in 1977 who missed it.Lol.God bless.
I was 11 or 12 or so in 1978 or 79 before even heard of Star Wars I think. And I never saw it in the theater. Unless it was years later during a re-release.
5 years old when I saw this at a drive in, 1977. It's still my earliest memory.
In 1977, I had read about Star Wars in Time magazine. I had the paperback (unread) with the original artwork. But when I saw the spaceships in battle, I was blown away. "I've waited my entire life to see a scene like this" came to mind. Star Trek had space battles but never like this. My first viewing was on a Thursday, and on Saturday I went to see it again.
I think everyone was waiting for a descent movie and couldn't believe that they actually made one.
So this is what time traveling looks like... Neat.
its good to see these works of art are being preserved.
Not a big SW nerd. I just accept it as one of the greatest part in cinema history and popculture.
But these comments are so heartwarming!
So happy for you! 😊
I was born in December 1974, meaning I was too young to have seen Star Wars in the cinema in May 1977... And being raised in a single-mum-with-two-kids household meant money was tight, and I didn't see a cinema screening of ANY movie until about 1982. I saw Star Wars for the first time when it was shown on TV here, which would have been some time in the early eighties, and I was never aware of the hype until MUCH later than that.
I am today though a huge fan of film in general. I watch a movie a day, on average (no exaggeration) and I am a devoted fan of Star Wars!
My point with this little tirade:
I wasn't there to see it in 1977, but that really doesn't matter! Through seeing thousands of movies from every possible decade, I can easily imagine what it would have been like, sitting in a movie theatre in 1977, watching this unbelievable thing unfold on the screen! There is NOTHING like Star Wars from that time period! Nothing that comes even CLOSE! It is, for lack of a better way to put it, an entirely new kind of film that was invented right there. And watching it for the first time in 1977 must have felt like stepping through a portal into another time!
The only three real life movie experiences I have had that comes close (but still could not possibly be the same) are:
1) Toy Story. Something that is taken for granted now, but back in 1995 it looked so incredibly bizarre! It was like animated claymation, but 1000 times smoother.
2) Terminator 2. I saw this with ZERO pre-knowledge, which of course made for a great twist with the good guy/bad guy switch. But also made my eyes almost pop out of my head when the T-1000 walked through those bars. That was something I had never seen before!!
3) Jurassic Park. My all time most memorable cinematic experience. As a kid I loved dinosaurs (what kid didn't, right!?) so I was eagerly looking forward to a Spielberg movie with DINOS!! Again, zero pre-knowledge, I hadn't even seen a trailer! About 20 minutes in, when everyone climbs out of the jeeps and the camera pans around to show.....a REAL LIVE DINOSAUR walking across the field.... I swear I almost started crying. My mouth hung open for such a long time I actually drooled on myself before remembering to close it.
-Still.... Star Wars must have been something even MORE special than that!
Im couple years older , and I can assure you it was like u said. I couldn't sleep for 2 days....reenacted everything for months......I was trampling in my seat... The only time I had a similar experience was with Terminator 2 like you said after which I started running in the parking lot like crazy and then recently with Avengers... I started trampling from Joy.... That whole movie just gave me the exact same feeling as a kid ..and a almost at same level was Endgame...trampling in my seat....I'm just a kid ...
I can only imagine how totally blown away everyone was in the theater. No one had seen effects of this caliber before, so to see this must have been like the most amazing thing ever!!
Well, technically they had seen effects of this caliber: from "2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968. I'd say those effects are just as technically accomplished, and hold up just as well. But of course, that was a very different kind of film, and didn't have anything like the impact that Star Wars did. This was the first time effects of this caliber were paired with a classic, action-adventure story that drew very consciously on mythic archetypes that go back thousands of years, and therefore resonated with audiences like nothing ever had before. I was an eight year-old kid when this came out, and yes indeed, I was completely blown away. I saw the movie five times before it left theaters, and some kids I knew saw it even more than that. No other film before it had ever gotten a response like that. There were lines stretching around the block at some theaters. It took the country by storm.
The original Star Trek series also in 1965 used the same method of moving the camera top give the illusion of movement, only much cruder. They used cameras on a rail system pushed by hand. That being said, for a TV show the effects were awesome and superior even to movies of the time. They were getting much better and mastering the effects before the show ended. 2001 really developed the technique. Star Wars though integrated computer control to the camera's movements taking everything to a new level. The opening shot of a mile long Star Destroyer passing by never gets old.
@@Hibernicus1968 You were 8 - I was 9 & had the same reaction - absolutely stunned . I saw 2001 at about the same time - I didn't have the same reaction but that was a proper sci-fi movie not action/adventure and I was very taken with it - it seemed like a much more 'intelligent' film , the 'Dawn of Man' fascinated me . HAL was deeply sinister . Even Darth Vader had emotions - neutral , angry or irritated . HAL was just all cold logic.
Unless old audio just wasn't as clear, some of the wrong notes as soon as "Star Wars" pops up,l always gives me chills. Just shows how old and original it is
Two of the seminal cinematic moments of my life that I still remember vividly to this day...7 yr old me seeing Jaws in 1975 and 9 yr old me seeing Star Wars in 1977. Both wonderful.
I remember seeing in for the first time in ‘77. The fanfare, the scroll, then the Star Destroyer that comes in at the top of the screen and keeps coming and coming and coming. One of the best movie watching moments ever.
I was there, aged 9. I can't describe to you the moment that great battle cruiser stretched across the cinema. The entire audience was awestruck. This film left a lasting impression. Thankyou for posting.
I was there .....it was larger than life...looked so good ..sounded amazing.... We were watching Star Trek before...with people rocking their chairs on the bridge....this was so much more real, larger, mighty!!!
I remember seeing the opening back in 1977. Everyone in the theater cheered.😂It was awesome.
My brother and I saw it the weekend it opened in a nearly empty theater. It was far beyond anything that had come before in so many ways that it's hard to register. The very next weekend there were lines around the building to get in.
Greatest movie opening of all time!!!
I was a kid once again!
Notice that without the Episode title, the crawl is synced with the music. The Star Wars theme was written to narrate the crawl.
Yep, that's exactly how us 'old timers' remember it.
No "Episode IV".
No "A New Hope".
Just this incredible music, a mysterious opening title crawl, and a F/X shot that absolutely blew our collective minds.
No one had seen anything remotely close to what we experienced when this shot first hit our eyeballs. It is impossible to articulate to modern movie-going audiences just how much this cinematic moment changed the game forever back in '77.
I love it. Its so honest. It was the one and only and no one, including Lucas, had any idea about any other installments.
His ego got the better of him and he inserted IV A New Hope so he could let us all know that he knew all along that he had the entire Star Wars universe created on day one.
I saw it on it’s opening day, and then again several times in ‘77 while it remained in theaters. You are absolutely correct, it was a total game changer. I always think of movies… any genre really, in terms of “before Star Wars” and “after Star Wars”. It completely upped the ante in almost every way in the film industry.
People ask me "What was it like?!" (I saw it on the 28th, 25th was 'a school night', and the closest theater was a 1/2 hour away. So to make it up to me, Mom took us both to the Valley Circle in San Diego.) She really liked it, (which was high praise from my non-sci fi mom), the thing changed my life, my career, my spouse, all "Star Wars". What was it like?
Imagine that you bought your tickets for the 5 p.m. show, went and ate and when you got back you walked right in. The next day, I dragged my Drama Club Geek Buddy to it, walked right in, and were never the same again, we LIVED in theaters all summer. Lines started about a week/10 days later, and one of the local news stations had a field reporter named Kathy Kennedy. She flipped when ... after some years had passed ... I told her we'd met before, at the Valley Circle when she interviewed some of us in the first Star Wars costumes ever made. "You interviewed me, when I got home my mom said, 'YOU were ALL on the NEWS!" I got a very big hug and a "I can NOT believe this! I'm so happy to see you here!" from Kathleen Kennedy, and I was writing for "Star Wars Insider". (It IS "True, All of it. Let it happen.)
Totally agree. Saw it seven times in the theater.
Hoping that one day they will finally release the original theatrical version.
i dont. i remember seeing it on a small tv in saudi arabia about 18 inches in a copy betamax. you lucky gurrr that wass in 1979. i got to see the origionAL STAR WARS MOVIE BUT WITH THE HORRIBLE CHANGES MANY YEARS LATER IN UK. I STILL THINK EMPIRE THE DIGITAL REMASTERED VERSION WAS THE BEST AS THE EXTRA SCEENS IN HOTH AND THE BLUE OR GREEN SCREEN ENHANCED THE BATTLE AND SAME WITH THE WINDOWS IN CLOUD CITY.
I saw it opening day May 25th, 1977 at the Lowes in NYC. I was 19. I did not know what to expect, but it was science-fiction and I was going to go see it with my buddies. We were part of the first 200 people to see it and we got a “May the force be with you” button that I still have to this day. , cursing out loud as they did the scroll of chapter 4, yelling, “what am I gonna have to read this damn movie “. The theater rumbled as the imperial battle cruiser appeared on the screen. When I saw the engines fill up the screen, I knew there was going to be different than any movie I ever saw. I saw it every day thereafter and sat in the same seat for a week. Is Groundhog Day was real that would be the day I’d want to relive over and over and over again.
I grew up in a small town that didn't have a movie theater. We were dirt-poor and although all my friends eventually were able to make the hour-and-a-half trip into to the nearest town to see Star Wars, I didn't see it until almost 2 years after it released because we were dirt-poor and I had to work on my parents farm when I wasn't in school. When I turned 15, I couldn't stand it anymore and, against the wishes of my parents, I snuck out after dinner as I'd arranged a ride with my older brother's friends to go see the film. What I saw was mind-blowing and that feeling of wonder and joy watching this story unfold was incredible. When I got back around midnight, my mother was frantic and I knew there'd be hell-to-pay for disobeying mom and dad, but that movie was well worth the punishment I got. As soon as I was of age, I got the hell out of there and started a new life in California and have never looked back. I've seen all the Star Wars films in the theater several times now, but I've never, ever felt the same wonder of it all as I did that summer night way back in '79.
The passion that this fandom has for preservation and franchise history makes me proud to love Star Wars.
I was 8 in 1977 and this was the most amazing movie. I saw it 23 times in the theater. I begged my mother to ask ever friend she had if I could go with them when they saw it. Looking back 23 times wasn’t enough.
I had heard there were some who saw it a lot, a friend I met in high school told me he saw it almost 20 times.
1977. No CGI no disney meddling. Pure excitement. Before that I also remember seeing Earhquake in 1974 with the first sensurround speakers in the cinema. pure gold
2001: a space odyssey did the same to me at a theatre. It was a downtown Cinerama theatre, super wide curved screen. There was no picture, but the soundtrack was playing, the prologue music. Then the theme plays, titles, and planets lined up. It blows my mind every time I watch!
I didn't see 2001 until the actual year 2001 in a special screening at the cinema. It left a big impression on me.
When Luke responds to Ben Kenobi: YOU FOUGHT IN THE CLONE WARS?!
1977 people be like: ????
2002 people be like: ugh, those clone wars
2020 people be like: MEN! NOT CLONES, MEN!
@@andrewdussault2315 what?
Little did they know the "clone wars" would have a whole new deeper resignation within this movies universe almost 50 years later
That’s the whole problem. They probably made it up back then just because it sounded sinister and eerie in the 70es. No-one actually thought they’d go back and make three explanatory rubbish films decades later...
Darth @@bbp2930 oh my
2:16 When this scene appeared for the first time on screen you had the feeling we were now moving into a new age. The future finally arrived in 1977 and it was George Lucas who brought us there. Thank you for this wonderful posting (it brought back some great exciting memories), and thank you George for such a wonderful trip. The young fans of today will never experience the thrills their parents and grandparents did all those years ago.
All the special effects you see in movies, TV shows and even TV commercials nowadays can be traced back to this one movie.
Indeed. As I had written in another comment, the state of Hollywood and special effects are in a sorry state. Nowadays we are presented with CGI-heavy drivel, and younger audiences have become so cynical as to be blind to the wonder seen in this film.
Or, to put it simply, the "Marvel" format has conditioned the masses. Yet many still eat it up, compelled to "consooom product!"
I was 5 years old when my aunt took me, my brother, and cousin to see it. I will never forget how amazing that opening scene was to me.
This is the only time I’ve ever seen it called just “Star wars”. Not “episode IV: A New Hope” 🤯. Have wanted to see this for so long
I was 7 when I saw this for the first time in 77. Magic. That was before suburban cinemas and I remember the line going out onto the city street and around the corner.
I was seven too Nathan. Saw it in my local cinema in Ireland. I remember being in the queue for The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 too. The Cinema was three flights of stairs up and the line of people waiting went from there, down the stairs...out the front doors and two streets away! I saw The Rise of Skywalker on opening night....There were 7 people in a 200 seat room!
First movie I ever saw! Some theater in South Jersey. I’m told I fell asleep at the end. It was a Saturday night showing and I was 4.
Now here I am at 48 and playing with Star Wars Legos. My gosh they are way more complex then they were back in the day.
As I said in my comment, I had to wait until Labor Day to see it. Even then, we stood in line for hours for tickets. They didn’t sell advance tickets back then, you had to stand in line and hope when the previous showing let out. Then you had to hope the next wouldn’t sell out before you got to the box office. If it did, you had to keep standing there until the next showing’s tickets went on sale. I firmly believe Star Wars is singularly caused the creation of advance ticket sales.
I was 11, but after a few minutes I somehow knew I'd love it til the end of days
I remember the lines too but the matinees in the middle of the day were easy to get into, at least where I lived. They only had about 400 prints of the movie in circulation so most theaters that had one kept it for months... It brought in the crowds... Saw it in Leominster mass... we were stationed at Fort Devens... found memories.
The theatrical versions of the original trilogy are canon to the star wars timeline, I don't care what George Lucas and Disney say.
Edit: As pointed out in the replies, George Lucas said that the Special Editions are canon, not Disney (I said Disney because unfortunately they currently own the rights to the Star Wars franchise and put the Special Editions on Disney+ so they obviously consider the SEs canon) so I added George Lucas as well.
Han shot first!
@@rbbecker73 More than that: Greedo does not shoot at all. Han is a scoundrel
It wasn't Disney that changed them, or that refeused to give the original film stock to be preserved.
The only way to watch Star Wars, ESB, & ROTJ are with the unaltered original theatrical versions!
And Obi Wan is a bloody liar in any version!
That must have been amazing to hear that music in a theater for the very 1st time. I wasn't here yet but at age 10 I saw the first Jurassic park in theaters. I will never forget being surrounded by that Trex roar. It seemed to make your who body vibrate when he did.
Opened in the UK during Dec 1977. I watching it for the very first in February ‘78. A life changing event.
Nobody at that time knew this movie would be the phenomenon it still is. This intro alone is so powerfull. I still feel the magic through out the years.
I don’t really know how many people today realize how those first five minutes of the opening scene in Star Wars back in 1977 changed cinematic history forever! It completely changed the way we view movies on screen. I’m so glad I was witness to it as a seven year old boy watching Star Wars back in 1977 in theaters for the first time! We ALL knew it was something different and something we had NEVER really witnessed before then. 😉
I would have loved to go back in time to '77 and watched Star Wars in the theater. I was born nine years later and the first time I saw Star Wars was over at one of my childhood friends houses on VHS.
Gracias Mr. George Lukas, por regalarnos esta fantástica saga estelar.
This movie history never gets old
This took me back to me when I was 12 years old sitting in a packed cinema wide eyed and watching that cruiser fly over making my heart pound. It changed my life.
I was 10 years old and it changed my life. I became a Computer Programmer because there were "Computers" in Star Wars :)
Thank you. I was 9 in 1977 when this piece of film transported me to a galaxy far, far away. The beginning of what became the saga of a lifetime. Luckily, in my lifetime. May the Force be with you.
I was just about to turn eight in 1977 when my mom first took me to see this. Middle of the afternoon, packed movie theatre and when that Galactic Cruiser comes flying over the screen she blurted out "Wow!" You just never forget moments like that.
This is - TOO GOOD - i want the original versions on DVD. Way back in 1977 this movie blew the cinema
going audience away ! No one had seen anything like it. Back then you could stay in the cinema and watch the same movie again, i watched this twice in a row.
I did the same thing. I went to a matinee in Atlanta, GA about 2 to 3 weeks after it opened. I was by myself and was so blown away, I thought to myself, "I'm not moving. There's just too much to see and it's so good, I've got to see this again." And I did. Later that Summer, I saw it again at a packed midnight movie in a Dolby stereo theater with surround sound. I was knocked out by the sound. "Those in the know" said the best way to see Star Wars was in a Dolby stereo theater. They weren't lying.
I went every Tuesday night (it was $1 night) and sat through it twice. I saw it 32 times that way!
The original versions are on DVD, I own them. But they were a limited edition special that came with both the special editions of the films as well as the original theatrical cuts on DVD. I’m sure you can them on eBay somewhere.
I believe the versions you are talking about were in the 2006 DVD release. They're called GOUT DVD's and are only standard definition Laserdisc transfers from 1995. I've heard people say that this "Puggo Grande" actually rivals the quality on those DVD's, and I kinda agree with them. Its all preference though, no wrong answers.
as my baby came telling me they did another STAR WARS Episode in '15 and SHE GOT TICKETS for the movies ! ! ! ! I felt like been thrown back in time to an era far far away. We went to the show and . . . hell, I've been waiting for this since nearly 40 yrs. . . . I really couldn't enjoy the movie cause of high blood preasure and sweat all around and kinda being pushed to a dimension I did not know.
OK, we had to look it twice or 3 times in a row for me to realise this is the truth. We both were 3 or 4 years apart in age and she had grown up in the so called german democratic republic (ha !) - but she knew what STAR WARS was about and she loved it - from 77 on too.
Being a fan from the beginning on it will be deep inside me F.O.R.E.V.E.R. even if Disney raped Ep. 8 and 9 and I hope there will be NO Episode X !
When I was born, there were five Star Wars movies. Star Wars toys were still flying off the shelf and my dad couldn’t wait for Revenge of the Sith. Star Wars has been a big deal as long as I can remember, so it’s cool to see how similar this opening was before there was a whole franchise tacked onto it
I was 11 that summer. That opening scroll still gives me chills. Nerd for life
I feel SO lucky to be the generation that saw this when it came out. The impact was huge. I was 5 (maybe 6 it’s showed for a couple of years). I was lucky I had a parent that loved the cinema enough to want to see it and take me and my sister.
When the credits fly up at the end and the closing music kicks in, I can still hear all the squeaky cinema seats closing as everyone stood up. I can hear it clear as day 46 years later, proper sound association!! Great days.