I'm a Special Edition baby. I was born in August 1987 so I would've been 9 when they came out. Mum took my sister and I to see ANH, and I remember this for two reasons: 1) I was confused because I thought we were going to see Star Wars Trilogy and b) her car broke down on the way there, blocking one of Wanganui's bridges! We had to go back another day.Harvey Mushman wrote:Please, share some of your own!
I don't remember watching it. At all. I don't remember seeing Darth Vader for the first time, or my first encounter with a lightsaber or TIE fighters. I have no recollection of watching a whole planet get destroyed in an instant. I do, however, remember getting out the ESB SE video from the New Plymouth library, and mum taping ROTJ (the unaltered version) from TV(3?) and consequently watching it over and over again from 1998/99 onwards.
My first toy was the Darth Vader with "remote control" base and light-up saber. I always wanted the Obi-wan or Luke to connect to it. Later I got Boba Fett and I remember taking him to a friend's house where we discussed "bounty hunting" - "a bounty is, like, a big hairy animal" I said! My sister and I each had electronic weapon toys too - I don't remember whose was whose but we had an E-11 and Vader's saber. I remember getting really excited when my sister's friend's brother had the Luke saber....he also said he had the big Falcon, but given he was a pathological liar and that he never showed it to me I didn't believe him.
I saw all three prequels in the cinema - AOTC in Japan, cos I was there at the time - and have seen TFA and RO twice each, once in 2D and once in 3D. I didn't go to the midnight screening of TFA because I wanted to share the experience with my now-wife. That meant I didn't use Facebook, Twitter or visit any forums between going to sleep on Wednesday and about 10pm that Saturday. It was hell. But worth it as I got to experience Episode VII with my fiancee - I almost crushed her hand at several points from excitement, I was giddy and shaking with excitement, and I unashamedly cried when Han died. Is it still too soon? I only ever read a small handful of EU books when I was a teenager (yet I knew, before TPM, that the Emperor's last name was Palpatine), never any comics, and have only vague memories of Droids and Ewoks. But I played lots of games - the first two Battlefronts took over the lives of my friend group for a long time.
Star Wars has been part of my life for two-thirds of it, and the news that Disney and Lucasfilm were planning a new movie every year until whenever made me incredibly happy.
I love it. Bring on TLJ!