Issue 12, Decemeber
jedi-scholar
In 1977, I was nine and unaware a phenomenon called Star Wars existed. But that changed during my family’s vacation, when we decided to see a movie together. I headed to the theater filled with dread…because my stepbrother was keenly interested in Star Wars, I knew it’d be awful -- after all, seeing Jaws on his recommendation left me with nightmares about man-eating sharks!
I cried, begged, and pleaded not to see the “scary” movie and my prayers were answered when Star Wars was sold out. My mother bought us a Star Wars souvenir booklet and all thoughts of the film were forgotten until the next morning. I bravely looked at the booklet, discovering to great astonishment that Star Wars wasn’t scary at all. In fact, it was so intriguing I read the booklet several times and decided I had to see this movie!!!
I soon asked for the Star Wars novelization, and holding that magical paperback with its shiny cover…I knew I was in for a treat. I read it rapidly, ingesting every strange detail, completely entranced. Upon finishing, I begged to see the movie. After several days that seemed like weeks, I saw Star Wars. Even now, I remember what it felt like to see that giant Imperial ship looming onscreen…
From then, I was hooked, seeing it many more times and even having my room outfitted in Star Wars wallpaper. Star Wars has been part of my life for 28 years; I cannot imagine life without it.
Issue 11, Novmeber
Anakin_Skywalker20
When I was young, I remember watching the Star Wars trilogy on television. All I could really remember was little images of scenes from Return of the Jedi. As I was growing up, my dad had rented the whole Trilogy and we watched Episode 4 to Episode 6 and I was just, "Wow." Then in 1997, I was drawn again when I went to see Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi (Special Editions) in theatres. A few years had passed and I found myself drawn away from that galaxy far far away.
It wasn't until I entered high school in 1998 and when May 1999 came around, that I had an idea that there was another Star Wars movie. I saw it with my Dad and my brother and I was like, "Hey! Yoda! It's Obi-Wan!" I was excited and TPM drew me back into Star Wars. I saw AOTC five times and thought Hayden Christensen potrayed Anakin very well. I guess some people forget how a teenager acts when they don't get their way.
Now that ROTS has completed the circle, I'm sad that this is it, but Star Wars will always live on forever. May the Force be with us all always and forever.
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Anapad_Nabooine
I was nine years old in 1977-1978 when Mother and I were spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's. On Friday evening, Mother suggested we go see this movie called Star Wars. I thought to myself then, "Star Wars?" I'd never heard of it. I was lukewarm at the prospect of the outing, but any time spent with mother was great and I usually enjoyed anything she suggested doing.
We drove or took the bus (I forget which) to the movie theater and lo and behold there was a line so long it was unbelievable! I thought, "What is this movie about? Is it really this good?" Mother said, "Let's come back tomorrow with Dad." We just couldn't deal with that line right then and if we did have to deal with it, we wanted to do so in the daytime with Dad.
So we returned the next day and the line was just as long, circling around the entire building. Well, we finally got in and sat shoulder to shoulder with the entire world it seemed. Suddenly the famous words, "Long ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared onscreen. Then John Williams' first horned note blasted us, the opening scroll filled the screen, and my eyes and ears got sucked right into this marvelous sci-fi fantasy world full of humor and valor and a mysterious black metal clad "villain." I was completely enchanted and have been ever since.
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TragicLove
I'm actually a fairly new Star Wars fan. I had seen the OT at a young age, saw The Phantom Menace with my father, but missed Attack of the Clones when it was released. I liked the movies as a kid, but was never really a true fan until recently. My obsession with the saga didn't start until the hype surrounding Episode 3 began. When I first saw the teaser trailer, something struck a chord with me. Obi-Wan's voiceover, the clips from ANH and the rest of the prequels, and finally hearing the booming voice of Darth Vader once again. Everything in the trailer had this really epic feel to it. This was the last piece of the puzzle, the one that would bring this whole story full circle. After that, I went back and re-watched all of the movies. I was especially enamoured with the love story between Anakin and Padmé. I could see how they, as Padmé put it, truly, deeply loved each other. However, knowing that they would not have the happy life together that they hoped for gave their relationship a really tragic sense. And so ever since then, I've been completely obsessed with Star Wars!
Issue 10, October
Slychick6
No one else remembers the first Star Wars experience I myself remember -- four years old at a New Year's party, a giant man in full Darth Vader costume picking me off the ground and me being so scared I cried. You might not think, then, with an experience like that, not only would I end up liking SW, but coming to love Vader more than any fictional character yet.
Since I was born years after the original trilogy ended, SW was always there, my childhood dotted by experiences like the Vader guy, seeing the A New Hope trench run on a SW toy commercial and getting excited, then sulking when I realized the movie wasn't actually on. The first turning point came with the Special Editions, seeing ANH at the cheap movie (an experience my sister rues me for to this day). Even with the crappy quality it was still SW in big-screen glory, and it was the coolest thing ever.
The Phantom Menace opening day saw me bobbing in my chair in excitement and loving it from the opening crawl onward. TPM began steering my love of SW as a cool action film toward the story of a boy, knowing what he'd become, that he'd grow up, fall in love, and lose all that -- from then on, I've loved Anakin, and have more with each film. (Hayden's played no small part in that, much to my boyfriend's annoyance. ;))
Issue 9, September
Arathen
I first saw Star Wars around the age of 8. I remember being in my grandmother’s house, with my brother and dad. I thought it was weird, but sort of interesting, maybe. Later, my older brother got some of the toys and we played Star Wars. That’s what really got me into it, and when I saw it later I understood it better. I loved playing Star Wars because I could be so creative; from what I remember, I nearly always made up a new character, always a good guy Jedi. It was loads of fun, even though my brother overpowered me mercilessly. Anyways, that is what I loved about Star Wars – the Jedi. I loved Yoda, still do. Obi-Wan was nice, and Luke was always my favorite character. For a long time ROTJ was my favorite of the movies. I loved the end fight scene so much! I loved the ideas about good and evil and how you can change (i.e., Vader).
So, naturally, having liked these characters, I loved Episode 1, saw it on opening day! I loved the Jedi, especially the idea of the Council. I enjoyed Episode 2 a lot, but I LOVED EPISODE 3! Gosh, I cried, it was so well done! Anyways, I love Star Wars. After being almost the same age as Ani when Episode 1 came out, I’ve grown and matured as each movie was released, which may be part of why I love it, I’ve grown up with it. Interesting, eh?
Issue 8, August
Susan R.
I discovered Star Wars in 1980, at the age of 14, while babysitting for a family lucky enough to actually own a VCR. I remember opening a generic case, hand-labeled Star Wars: A New Hope, to find a plain black tape inside. Even with all the negatives -- poor tape quality, the kids running around, phone call interruptions -- I was hooked.
Up to that point I had no interest in science fiction at all. Star Wars changed that. The very next day I went to the theater to see the newly released The Empire Strikes Back and left hopelessly in love with Luke Skywalker.
Waiting 3 years for Return of the Jedi seemed endless; I confess to filling my time with Star Trek reruns (which were new to me, but filled my sci-fi craving and made the time pass quicker). The premier of “Jedi” found me waiting in line with a whole host of kindred spirits. For the first time I was surrounded by people who loved Star Wars as much as I did. My new friends and I met many times at the theater that summer, holding unofficial competitions about who could see the movie most. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
Since then I’ve found other friends to share my interest in Star Wars. Experiencing the release of the Prequel Trilogy in their company has been even more fun than getting in on the tail end of the Original Trilogy experience.
Issue 7, July
Sithcount
I saw Star Wars: A New Hope back in 1977 when I was in the Marine Corps stationed at Cherry Point in North Carolina. I remember driving past the theater, thinking to myself that I had to find an opportunity to see that movie. I finally did and thought it was great, especially Darth Vader as the ultimate bad guy. Though I saw and enjoyed the entire Original Trilogy, Star Wars wasn’t much more than a set of cool movies to me back then.
Then, in 1998 I married a die-hard fan. When our friends caught Episode I fever and bought us all tickets to the midnight premier, I gamely went along. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and once I saw Darth Maul and his double-ended lightsaber I was hooked. By the time Episode II came out, my wife and I could often be found shopping for the newest action figures at Wal-Mart in the late night/early morning hours. Just for fun I made myself a Darth Vader costume and now I’m constantly looking for ways to improve it and make it more authentic.
Now that the saga is complete, I consider myself a true fan. The wrong choices Anakin Skywalker made are the choices we all face and his fall reminds us that we could share his fate. Knowing that even Darth Vader was not beyond redemption gives us hope and makes Star Wars an enduring myth for our generation.
Issue 5, May
AnakinAdvocate
My genesis as a Star Wars fan began a few days after Star Wars' 1977 debut. Two radio DJs were talking about the new science fiction movie in terms I had seldom heard. This jaded pair was almost giggly about the film, but what got me was the comment, "How about that battle at the end -- was that some kind of rumble or what?!" I'm indebted to these anonymous jocks, because from that moment I was hooked and had to see what caused such a reaction.
I was 27, raised on the likes of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. My gold standard of science fiction was Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds, and Star Trek. It's hard to convey to those too young to remember the pre-modern special effects days just what effect the opening shot of Princess Leia's spaceship and the pursuing Star Destroyer had on people like me. I had been raised on Emperor Ming the Merciless' spaceships suspended by visible strings. Star Wars was quite the epiphany for me.
Lucas had me from that moment. And yeah, I thought the "rumble" at the end was incredible, just like the DJs. Since then, I've followed the saga faithfully, raising a new generation of fanatics (my three kids). However, though I know my kids love the saga, I somehow regret that they -- having grown up in the post-Episode IV era -- never quite experienced the thrill my generation did following those opening credits. What a rush!
Issue 4, April
dark_heavens
The first thing I remember about Star Wars is it being shown on television a lot -- this would have been when I was young, maybe 11 or so. My sister and brother showed a lot of interest in the films and would always watch them when they came on, so that started getting me interested. Then I remember seeing the actual movies themselves lying around the house, probably in my dad’s room. I learned that my dad was a massive Star Wars fan and had been since the movies came out, so that piqued my interest a little more. I remember watching the movies here and there on TV, but I actually got into them when I saw them on tape. Empire Strikes Back was my favorite of the films from the first time I saw it; I liked that it was dark and that it didn’t end on a happy note. I also loved Luke Skywalker -- he was, and still is, my favorite character. When the Original Trilogy was re-released in theaters it made a strong impression on me. Everyone in my family was excited about it so, of course, that got me excited too. I saw A New Hope in a stadium theater and it was awesome. There were so many people there and they were so into the movie. So you could say that even though I was always aware of the saga, that was when I officially discovered Star Wars.
Issue 3, March
Darth Pipes
I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars. But I know I've been a fan as long as I can remember.
Star Wars was my absolute favorite growing up. Along with Raiders of the Lost Ark, I watched it constantly after school. This interest was shared with my brother and the rest of my family and friends. I would go out for Halloween dressed as a character, and for Christmas every Star Wars toy imaginable was under the tree. I had piles of Return of the Jedi cards. Even after interest in the saga waned in the late-80s, I still occasionally came home from school and popped in the films.
With the Special Editions, I finally was able to see the films on the big screen. It’s an interesting experience watching a movie in theaters that everyone has seen countless times. They know when to laugh and cheer. Seeing Star Wars on the big screen was probably the most fun I ever had at the movies.
Star Wars is why I’m such a big fan of science fiction/fantasy. It's a movie where you just lose yourself in the action and go along with the characters for the ride -- it’s the ultimate adventure. As I’ve grown older, I’ve also learned to appreciate themes that are prevalent in the film, such as destiny, friendship, and redemption.
I’ve become a fan of many different movies and book series over the years, but it’s always Star Wars I return to.
Issue 2, February
rhonderoo
I remember the summer of 1978 as probably one of the best summers of my life so far, if not the best. I remember my aunt, who was a Star Wars nut, telling me we going to see Star Wars. I was so excited.
By the time Empire Strikes Back came out, you were nobody if you hadn’t seen Star Wars, and everybody who was anybody was talking about the fact that Darth Vader had lied to Luke and told him that he was his father. I remember saying there was NO WAY that Darth Vader could be Luke’s father. He wasn’t human!
When Return of the Jedi came out, my cousin Kenny and I bet each other a buck over the fate of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Kenny was convinced this was Luke’s last hurrah. I had faith in the villain that had stolen the show in Star Wars a few years back. Empire Strikes Back had taught me that if Vader could let Piett live, there was good in there.
In my wildest dreams I could not imagine how it would have turned out. I won that dollar and the right to say “I told you so” all summer. I still hold that over Kenny’s head, and he holds the fact that I cried like a baby through the whole unmasking scene, and still do to this day, over my head.
Issue 1, January
Keith Palmer
If it wasn't earlier, it was at least in 1981, when I was five, that I was taken to Star Wars at the movies. Like the date, most of my first reactions to what I saw are now hazy. It's obvious I liked it from the start, though.
The movies were very well established by the n. I played with action figures and was jealous of my friends' vehicles, intermittently bought the comics for substitute doses of adventure, and read the storybooks to remind myself what had happened. In the midst of this, I never thought to ask to go see Return of the Jedi, but that seemed fine at the time. I eventually saw it on videotape, and that seemed just as good.
For all the other things I became interested in, I never lost my attachment to Star Wars. Eventually, though, I was challenged about why I still liked it. It took time to figure out, but finding the well-expressed thoughts of others finally helped me. It just meant a last, conscious step away from the simple war of good guys versus bad guys, back to realising redemption was an equally valid tale. Now, there was a fall to give a beginning, and my interest in the new and old movies alike could finally become two halves of a whole. I don't have to chase the unattainable feelings of uncomplicated youth. My understanding is now much deeper than that.
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Lady Aeryn
I don't remember a time when I haven't known and loved Star Wars. I was raised on sci-fi by my dad, a longtime Star Trek fan; he was probably who first introduced me to the movies.
My first clear Star Wars memory is when the USA cable network, more than ten years ago, ran the entire original trilogy back to back twice in one day - I watched every bit of both broadcasts, fully entranced. I remember watching the A New Hope trench runs literally on the edge of my seat, not believing Dad when he told me the pit in the sand in Return of the Jedi was a living creature, and getting my first ever spoiler when he said that Luke and Leia were brother and sister.
One day in 1997, Dad came home with a now-familiar black and gold box: the entire original SE trilogy on video. Now that I had access to them every day, a seed that had been largely asleep for most of my childhood awakened with a vengeance. Craving more than the OT could give me, I had a several-year fling with the Expanded Universe, which led me to online fandom. But in time with repeat viewings of Jedi and the release of the prequels, I drew away from the EU and fell in love with the journey of Anakin Skywalker - and realized this was why I loved Star Wars.
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Sarah
As every Star Wars fan knows, The Phantom Menace came out in the year 1999. In the summer of that year, when I was 11 years old, I got introduced to Star Wars. Of course, there wasn't really any way I couldn't have got introduced to it...it was everywhere. You couldn't walk into a shop without seeing shelves full of figures in red-and-black packaging, couldn't open a cereal or crisp packet without something Star Wars-related falling out. The movie itself was great fun...I remember that I needed to go to the toilet at some point, but as it was the part where Obi-Wan was hanging over the pit, I couldn't possibly.
Come 2002, I hadn't forgotten about Star Wars, but I had discovered the Internet...and its various fanbases. So after seeing Attack of the Clones with a friend, I went searching for the Star Wars fandom. I found it. I instantly ordered the OT from a video store (they delivered them quickly, for which I am grateful) and I sat down and watched them. To this day, the ROTJ SE ending is my Favourite Ending to Anything of All Time.
So, here I am two years later, eagerly awaiting Episode III and the end of this fine saga. Well, not quite eagerly awaiting...I'm going to be sorry to see it go, after all. But I love the Prequel Trilogy with a passion, and I want to see the fates of its characters played out on screen. As do we all.
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Sean Dineen
In 1977, I was a four-year-old disabled kid. Star Wars gave me hope and pride. I spent hours pretending my grandfather’s garden stakes were lightsabers, and looking for new figures. Three years later, Yoda became my teaching model, and in 1983, the saga's happy ending gave me strength to overcome using a wheelchair.
After so many years, the saga returned, just as my teaching was beginning. In a world of mindless fluff, it reminds many about universal issues and the power of forgiveness. Sir Alec Guinness retained his love for that even as he grew somewhat disappointed with Obi-wan over-shadowing his other great roles.
As the saga comes to an end next May, we shall find the force within ourselves to overcome fear and step into the night of a better nature.
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Sgmsky
When I was a child (between eight- and ten-years-old), I used to spend a lot of time home alone because my parents worked all day. In the evening it was just me and the television. One day I found two videotapes that my brother had borrowed from a friend: Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Not really knowing what it was at the time, I inserted the tape and watched. For four hours I only stopped staring at the TV to replace the tape. I was absorbed, amazed, hypnotized. When my brother came back home I persuaded him to help me finish the trilogy and the very next day we were at the video store renting Return of the Jedi.
That was it. I was officially a fan, even though I didn’t even know what being a fan was. Everything I did had a little bit of Star Wars in it. When outside, I would pick up a stick and make it my lightsaber; I used to picture myself as a rebel fighting the Empire or as a Vader ally trying to protect the rebels from inside the Empire. A child’s mind is wonderful.
I grew up but the Star Wars bug remained. I no longer travel with my imagination to the Star Wars galaxy. Instead, I have the Internet where I can share this passion with other people. It sure feels good. Thank you George Lucas!!
Inaugural Issue, December
ami-padme
My father is a huge Star Wars fan, so Episodes IV and V simply always existed as far as I knew; showing on television, soundtracks spinning on the record player, toys lying around the house...It wasn't until the theatrical release of Return of the Jedi that the saga broke out of this background, and really made an impact on me. But what an impact!
Jedi is one of the first – if not the first – movie I clearly remember seeing in the theaters as a young child, and watching it at the drive-in still ranks as one of my all-time favorite movie-going experiences. The movie itself was instantly one of my favorites, and remains so to this day. Vader saving Luke at the end was quite a revelation; it came as an honest surprise to me that the "bad guy" could still be a good dad to Luke and a blue-ghost friend to undeniable good guys like Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The rest of the movie – with fighting Ewoks, the frightening Emperor, a Jabba-choking Leia, some action-packed space battles – was thrilling and great fun, and cemented Star Wars as my favorite film series.
As an adult, the Special Edition and Prequel Trilogy made me fall in love with the saga all over again, and from some different perspectives. But at the core of my love for Star Wars is a four-year-old girl sitting at a drive-in, amazed by a Galaxy Far, Far Away…
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FernWithy
Star Wars came out the year I turned seven.
I was living in a small town, and by the time it came to the only movie theater in the county, everyone knew there was something special going on. My mother and I went with another single mother and her son, Jacques. When we got to the theater, the line stretched around the block twice. I'd never seen that many people in Warsaw, New York, at the same time. They let all of us in--the theater was badly oversold. The solution they came up with was that the adults got the seats, and the kids went up to the very front of the theater and sat on the floor. It took up the whole world. It was the biggest, most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I remember that, riding home, I shoved Jacques aside and told him to "get that big walking carpet out of my way!"
For both Empire and Jedi, we went into the city for opening weekend, making an event of it. It was Jedi that made me a fan for life--the redemption of Anakin Skywalker brought the story home to me. My friends and I started a little SW club and wrote a story about the next generation. We promised to meet up when the rumored prequels arrived, and we kept the promise.
The prequel trilogy revived my love for the saga, particularly for its grand mythic themes, and the undercurrent of compassion and kindness.
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lazypadawan
In May 1977, Star Wars opened in only one theater in town. Immediately there were huge lines and soon there were reports of people waiting all day to see the movie. My dad came up with the idea of playing hooky from work while my brother and I would be pulled out of school for a "dentist's appointment" on the theory that it would be easier to get into the theater on a weekday.
It worked. Like everyone who first saw the movie back then, I was sold from the moment I saw the Star Destroyer enter the screen. As a fantasy-prone kid who watched horror and sci-fi movies as well as shows like Star Trek and Space 1999, it was an easy sell. Afterwards, my brother and I couldn't stop talking about it. The first thing we did when we got home was draw all of the characters. A New Hope was more than pure entertainment for me; it was an epiphany. From then on, this one film and its progeny would come to be a dominant force in my life for many years afterward.
A New Hope made an impression on the world because it was so unique. It introduced a great fantasy world with great characters that you wanted to visit over and over. It was also the starting point of a long personal journey. I've grown with that universe and its characters and that has led to me to many interesting people and experiences.
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Reihla
In 1977 I was a nine-year old tomboy. The thing I remember best about my first Star Wars experience was the amazing lightsaber. I spent countless hours crafting my own out of clear plastic tubing, a flashlight and lots of duct tape. Of course, I had to make one for a friend so we could duel.
Three years later, when Empire was released, I realized there was more to the saga than cool weaponry. My pre-teen imagination was completely captured by that movie – the romance, the action, the revelation that Vader was Luke’s father. Fortunately my friends were equally enthralled and we spent weekend after weekend sitting in the new Cinema 6 watching consecutive showings. Just like that we became part of the Star Wars fandom. We quoted dialogue line for line. We scribbled characters names and sketches in all of our school notebooks. We bought packs of Topps bubble gum just for the trading cards. We wrote stories about our favorite characters and even made up a few new ones. It was a glorious age to be a Star Wars fan.
Then the hype preceding Revenge of the Jedi began. Oddly enough, we barely noticed when the title changed to “Return” upon the film’s release. This last movie had everything we could’ve wished for: Luke Skywalker in Jedi black, Han and Leia reunited, Jabba and the Emperor destroyed, and finally, the redemption of Darth Vader. This marvelous conclusion cemented our adoration and we all became fans for life.
