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| Revenge of the Sith... | | Date Created: May 20, 2005, 09:22 AM |
 I'm sitting on my parents porch one summer evening in 1977. I'm waiting for my brother to show up. He promised me that, once he got home from work, he'd take me to this new movie that was out called "Star Wars."
I've been told that I had been to movies before that time, but I don't remember them. Star Wars is the first movie I actually remember going to see. And, remember that this is before Cable TV, and before VCRs. So, the only movies people saw regularly were in the movie theater, or the John Wayne flicks on Sunday afternoon television (and of course, The Wizard of Oz every Easter.) So going to the movies with my big brother was a Very Big Deal for this little 6 year old.
My brother pulls up in his 1973 maroon Pontiac Catalina. I get in and we drive to Greenville, to the Silver Theater, a once beautiful movie palace that had fallen on hard times.
We get our popcorn, our tickets, and find our seats. Soon, the music starts and the famous "Star Wars" crawl starts across the screen. A ship of unbelievable size makes its way accross the screen and within moments, Darth Vader strides onto the deck of the Rebel Blockade Runner.
To say that was movie magic to my little 6 year old brain is an understatement. I was a confirmed geek for life from that point on.
I didn't get any Star Wars toys for Christmas that year. Almost no one did. That was the year of the "empty box." Kenner didn't have enough toys, so they shipped empty boxes with certificates in them for the actual toys when they came out a few months later.
I started collecting the action figures with my small allowance. It would take weeks for me to save up for just one figure. (I still have them, and I set them up in little vingettes on my book shelves. I also still collect the Lego Star Wars toys. I've got a 15" tall Lego Darth Vader, several ships, and a battery operated R2-D2.)
A few years later, I'm in Sandusky, Ohio, vacationing with my family at Cedar Point. One evening, we get in the car and my parents surprise me with a trip to the movie theater where "The Empire Strikes Back" is showing. This movie blew me away. Was Darth Vader really Luke's father? Surely he was lying! Who was this "other" that Yoda spoke of?
By that time I was collecting the figures, ships, and playsets in earnest. While my friends Bill and Mike collected the typical figures, I went for the unusual ones. Everyone had an R2-D2, but no one bothered to buy R5-D4 and the insect-like Death Star Droid. I had the complete collection of bounty hunter figures, which were shown on-screen for about 10 seconds. (I had to save Proof-of-Purchase seals to send away for the Bossk figure.) That Christmas I got a Tauntaun, the Probe-Droid play set, and a Twin-Pod Cloud Car. Everyone had X-Wings and TIE-Fighters, but not many can say they owned a Twin-Pod Cloud Car.
A few years later, and it was over. "Return of the Jedi" came out, which we all believed would be the last Star Wars film ever made.
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Last night, I'm sitting on my couch in my own home, waiting for my husband to show up. He promised me that, once he got home from work, he'd take me to this new movie that's out called "Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith."
It is, we all believe, the last Star Wars film that will ever be made.
The circle is now complete.
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Great movie. Well worth the hype. People who saw the original movies when they were kids have criticized these prequel movies. These movies, they say, are nothing like the originals. They're filled with silly dialogue, and favor fancy computer graphics over plot.
I think people have just forgotten what it's like to be 6 years old.
The original movies (dare I say it?) were not well written. Lucas can't write dialogue. Lines like, "Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board." were a staple of Star Wars.
"Revenge of the Sith" lives up to the hype. It's a great movie that ties up all the loose ends, and brings to the screen the moment that I'd been waiting to see since I was 6 -- the climactic battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. The movie is filled with lots of little fanboy-geek moments (like the moment when the helmet is finally lowered on Darth Vader. The sound effect they use is identical to the one they used in "The Empire Strikes Back.")
Perfect movie? No. And, it would have been too dark for my 6 year old brain to handle. But it was almost perfect for my 33-going-on-6 year old brain. |
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