Star Wars 1977 movie opening reactions and lines

[@johntash5895]

In '77 the first 10 minutes screen time already amazed me, I felt like I was IN the movie. We didn't know anything like such special effects before Star Wars.

[@jesustovar2549]

Thank Industrial Light & Magic for creating the special effects, and also Ben Burtt and Skywalker Sound for creating the sound effects, I really recommend documentaries like Empire of Dreams, which narrates how George Lucas struggled to get the films made, and also Light & Magic, behind the special effects of Star Wars and other movies.

[@carlosdecelis4962]

Yes...11 years old....i was in other world in the first 10 minutes...that dark sky...sounds....Battle space ships....😮😮😮

[@johntash5895]

@@jesustovar2549 According to the documentary I watched in that decade, Lucas began work on Star Wars in '74. I imagine the engineers had to build the production technology from scratch at the time.

[@johntash5895]

@@jesustovar2549 Empire of Dreams, thank you. I will find it.

[@nitevibe9886]

You knew something like it from 2001

[@Dismantled95]

"I think it's gonna be a science fiction classic"... Couldn't have been more right, my dude!

[@solvapydoom8077]

Not really science-fiction though.

[@zordock]

Yeah, I know right? It's a true story.

[@curiousnomadic]

@@zordock It happened a long time ago though.

[@curiousnomadic]

@@solvapydoom8077 It's more like a history movie right?

[@KaimIICOD]

@@solvapydoom8077 my dude please

[@kennethclark4599]

One of my teachers watched it when it first came out. He told me, "When that music and the crawl came out, I knew I found something awe-inspiring."

[@grondhero]

I was 5 when it came out. Because it was released around my birthday and various relatives visited at different times, along with my dad being in the Air Force (and Air Force bases showing movies at later dates), I was able to see the movie 11 times in theaters. It was a great time to be a kid!

[@kenlompart9905]

@@grondhero I was 12 when it came out, one of my friends two doors down saw it over 20 times in the theater.

[@grondhero]

@@kenlompart9905 I remember when it came to television for the first time. It was a huge event. Recorded it on the VCR. Watched it another 55 times (for a total of 66) before the VHS tape was gone. When it finally came out on HBO, I stopped counting after my 100th viewing. 😁

[@kenlompart9905]

@@grondhero Wow, now that's what I call a fan.

[@luketimewalker]

@@grondhero your VCR went full "execute Order 66!"

[@texaswunderkind]

I was only five when it came out, so I only saw it once in the theater. I saw Empire at least five times, and then by Return of the Jedi I was old enough to ride to the mall and use paper route money to buy my own tickets. Saw it at least eight times in the theater. Star Wars toys and discussions pretty much defined my entire childhood.

[@vampirerobot]

I think it did for a lot of children

[@only257]

As a huge Star Wars fan this is awesome i showed this video to my family member they said vcrs were expensive at the time looks like it’s film no way it can be vhs❤

[@jedijones]

I was 6 when ROTJ came out. Only saw at once, but had the audio cassette version of the movie to listen to repeatedly at home. The cassettes are also the first way I was able to experience ANH and ESB. ROTJ was definitely a phenomenon in and of itself that went beyond simply watching the movie. Me and the other kids all had toy and merchandise collections we worked on and played with for the next couple of years, and we of course thought about and talked about the movies often.

[@whispersmusic6173]

Sounds like you lived a good life my man 👌

[@MsTimelady71]

Like you I saw Star Wars 1 rime as I was five years old and ran out everytime Darth Vader was on screen. My friends and I saw TESB and ROTJ at least 4 times each. My parents bought us the action figures, ships and records. Millennials today don't realize what a freaking big event each movie was and how the space battles were like nothing anyone say before. Glad to have been born to see both Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the theatre. I remember Raiders as being the most fun theatre experience ever. People were whopping, clapping and generally having a good time during it. Innocent times.

[@barkley8285]

My dad has said that he has never been more excited for a movie then when he saw empire strikes back.

[@jesustovar2549]

His reaction finding out Vader was Luke's father?

[@audiogus2651]

I was super excited. Family was on a road trip and we were going to see it but when we showed up to the theatre it wouldn't start for another three hours and my parents bailed. 😢 eventually saw it on VHS...

[@11C1P]

It was definitely up there for me, same with Terminator 2. Luckily Empire Strikes back was actually a really good sequel, unlike Terminator 2.

[@audiogus2651]

@@11C1P my hot take detector just vibrated off the table

[@whasiannate]

@@11C1Pi’m sorry what 💀 Did you really just say that Terminator 2 is bad?

[@knuteboy3778]

I was 7 years old. We saw it in the theater. I remember there was a collective "ahh!" from the audience when the Star Destroyer first flies overhead in the opening sequence. No one had seen anything like that before. It definitely had a magical quality.

I was 7 when my family went to see it as well. Star Wars then shaped my childhood playtime, as well as all of my friends. Every birthday party involved going to see it, and my count was 13 times on the big screen. I don't recall the excitement for Empire at all, except some about the Boba Fett action figure.

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

I remember thinking that Star Destroyer was going to go on forever as it passed over the camera. It seemed enormous.

[@omnipop4936]

I was 8. It was incredible.

[@richardsoult5678]

Born in 1970 so was right there with you friend only i seen it at the drive in when smokey and the bandit was playing on the screen behind us.

[@carbonking53]

I was seven as well. It was mesmerizing. I went back every week for weeks that it was in the theater. Some days we stayed and watched it twice back to back. I had Star Wars sheets, curtains, and pajamas.....lol

[@Mark73]

Not just a sci-fi classic, but a redefinition of how all movies are made.

[@BabuZeko]

Uh... No

[@Mark73]

@@BabuZeko Yes, it did. Star Wars invented the Summer Blockbuster. It showed the viability of big budget, effects-driven movies.

[@lucone2937]

I think "Star Wars" (1977) effected that sci-fi movies weren't treated as small budget B-movies like before and film studios were ready to invest more money to them. The 1979 "Alien" movie was also a big success mixing science fiction and horror elements.

[@surfboardjoker6299]

​@@Mark73dude, I love star wars, but c'mon. It didn't invent the wheel, let's put it that way lmao. Its narrative structure is based on models/rules that have existed for literally thousands of years. Like, from the epic of Gilgamesh, to Romeo and Juliet, etc.

[@scumdog666]

​@@surfboardjoker6299 we're talking about the technical aspects of film making here, not the storytelling aspects of it. Star Wars reinvented how big budget films are created.

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

Saw this in the theater with my father and brother. I was amazed. The most thrilling movie I’d ever seen. When Empire Strikes Back was released I was working at Burger King. They were offering a Star Wars drinking glass promotion which I thought was cool. Saw that film with my high school friends. And, when Return of the Jedi was released I was home on leave from the service to see that with my fiancé. Best trilogy. Ever.

[@vampirerobot]

Great comment!1 Love it actually!

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

@@vampirerobot Thank you. Those highly entertaining films made a big impression on me.

[@jesustovar2549]

I wonder what were your impressions about the prequel trilogy, and now with the sequel trilogy handled by Disney.

[@armybeef68]

@@jesustovar2549 I myself will never see them.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

@@armybeef68 Have you never seen any of the prequels? curious to know if you have ever been curious to? what about when first released?

[@gomcse]

As a 12 year old seeing this in New York, nothing had ever hit me so hard about the possible future we looked forward to. It changed my life.

[@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449]

Same for me. It was an extremely positive and uplifting film.

[@sneak1970]

I was eight years old and every time when I see and hear the intro I get goose bumbs. Thank you George for one of the best experiences in my childhood.

[@geraldwilson681]

I was 12 years old when Star Wars came out in 1977 and I will never forget the effect it had on me then. You never witnessed in film anything like this before... EVER!!!

[@patrickkeens8670]

I saw it 4 times at the theater during its' original release. I was absolutely blown away. This is the movie that made me fall in love with movies.

[@armybeef68]

5 times.

[@HelloSnake]

But do you have hundreds of science fiction books at home?

[@KennySanders-x2r]

was was 12 yrs old when it came. Nothing like it had been on the screen before, lightyears ahead in special effects technology, no one could do what Lucas envisioned, so he started his own special effects group to invent the technology. My mother told me that the ONLY time a movie made the audience audibly gasp was the Wizard if Oz, when Dorothy opened the door to a technicloor world from black and white in 1939. To this day I can still get goosebumps.... it was so cool to see that big rebel ship come into screen flying over Tatooine, but when the Imperial Battle Cruiser came into screen...and came on... and kept coming and coming and coming did you realize how HUGE that thing was! It gives me goosebumps just typing right now! And when Darth Vader first appears.... there were gasps and then boos from the crowd!? If you were there in 1977, in a big theater.... we didnt WATCh the movie... we were brought INTO it! When Luke hit the exhaust port and blew up the Death Star... the applausde was like a football game! Had to be there.

[@thecandyman9308]

This is a great telling of what it would have actually been like. Thanks so much for posting this. ♥

[@kensanders930]

makes me smile still. Thanks for reply

[@thepianist7084]

I would absolutely love to have the experience of a bunch of strangers being in theater, all clapping together at the scene!

[@luketimewalker]

Toto, I have a feeling we're not on Dune anymore! Amazing story about Wizard of Oz, thank you and May the Force be with you always

[@KanoSaKusina]

@@luketimewalker Thanks for the nice words. The Memory seems like yesterday!

[@jamesmyers2087]

“I think its going to be a Science fiction classic…” prophetic

[@davidjames579]

It's actually space fantasy. There's no science in it.

[@sethwiseman1017]

In fairness, That’s not some incredible insight. It’s not like there were many science fiction films to choose from, and none with that level of technical achievement. The movie was instantly canonized.

[@jamesmyers2087]

@@sethwiseman1017 Perhaps. But its unequaled in any sense of the imagination. I thought it was cool when it came out. But I didn’t even have a sense there would be a sequel.

[@tony_47]

@@sethwiseman1017he has foresight because he has read hundreds of books of sci fi not because there were not many around

[@zerimar26]

Just realized that in 2027, Star Wars will achieve it's 50th year anniversary. Incredible.

[@bbtb785]

You just realized math? Spoiler...in 2077 it will be the 100 year anniversary.

[@zerimar26]

@@bbtb785 Calm down. Get the stick out of your ass.

[@zerimar26]

@@bbtb785 Calm down. Get the stick out of your ass.

[@zerimar26]

@bbtb785 Well excuse me I'm so smart. Go on with your life ma'am.

[@11C1P]

@@IdlesQueen If I were to rank the original 6, I'd go like this. 1. Empire Strikes Back 2. A New Hope 3. Attack of the Clones 4. Revenge of the Sith 5. Return of the Jedi 6. Phantom Menace. Of the rest of the movies I'd put Rogue One as 7 & the rest aren't even worth mentioning. First 2 seasons of Mandolorian were great, but after they fired Gina, I won't watch anymore Star Wars crap, at least if Disney still owns it or is involved in any way.

[@CyborgFranky8]

Imagine being able to say today “I watched the original Star Wars in cinemas”

[@colehall2209]

Going tonight for my birthday and seeing ROTJ. I was born way after the Original trilogy so this will have to do lol

[@barneyevans6940]

Was 19 when it came out!

[@Lori5564]

I was 13 when this movie came out and did see it in the movie theater.

[@tghecko5258]

Saw it with my dad on my 11th birthday, July 7, 1977. Dad and I dragged my mother out to see it the following night.

[@norcalroamer5774]

@@barneyevans6940 you were the same age as Luke. It must have resonated with you greatly!

[@kickingfatality]

I was 9 years old. I went with my mom and my friend Danny. It was absolutely magical. Completely awestruck. We went and saw the movie in the theatres about 4 times at least and saw it a number of times after that. We bought our first vhs just to watch Star Wars in 1982

[@chucksmash1]

My godmother who was a huge sci-fi movie fan, insisted on taking me to see Star Wars in the theater when I was 7 years old, after she had already seen the film a dozen times with her various coworkers, family members and neighborhood friends. It was a fantastic experience. She's also took me to the theater to see Close Encounters. For me, it was the best of times for sure.!!!

[@jublywubly]

I saw both movies at drive-in theatres, on massive outdoor screens, while sitting in a car. Close Encounters of the Third Kind would have come out just before Star Wars, but the director wanted to fix up some parts of it before they released it, so they ended up waiting about a year before they released eventually the film.

[@ChicCanyon]

​@@jublywubly"the director"

[@v-town1980]

​@@jublywublyUm, Steven Spielberg.

[@robertcovino4889]

I was a young kid when this came out. Saw it several times over the long period of time it was in theaters. It blew us away back then.

[@mikekennedy4572]

I attended the first Star Wars on opening day in Orange, California, in 1977, but it got off to a bad start. Somehow, the theater had oversold seats by over 100 people, maybe 150. Luckily, we got seated, but the people who had nowhere to go were extremely angry and yelling at theater staff. Also, they refused to leave the theater, many just standing in the aisles refusing to budge. Finally, after several minutes, bout 15 or more helmet-clad police carrying tactical batons arrived and ordered the people without seats to vacate the theater. The manager promised either refunds or seating for another showing. I can't recall how late the movie started but was around 30 to 40 minutes late because of the mixup. The movie, of course, was great.

[@quantumphaser]

The opening scene with the massive Star Destroyer coming in overhead and hearing the oohs and wows eminating from everyone in the theater is my greatest memory from Age 7. Thanks, Dad.

[@quantumphaser]

I wae 7, saw it with my Dad It was the biggest experience you could possibly imagine for a 7 year old.

[@Dawg2005]

I cant imagine the awe these people must have felt

[@redadamearth]

It was pretty awesome.

[@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449]

It was one of the few movies where you actually felt chills. "Aliens" with James Cameron was another.

[@vince7416]

At that time, there was nothing to compare it to. No other movie to that point had comparable special effects. It was pretty cool watching it in the movie theater. Everyone was blown away.

[@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449]

@@vince7416 If most films at that time were at level 5, Star Wars suddenly appeared at an easy Level 10 and rocked everybody's world.

[@v-town1980]

​@@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449Alien is best.

[@jaknazryth2488]

I was 9 years old when Star Wars came out. In my small town there was only one movie house with 2 theaters inside. In one theater, they played all the other movies that summer, in the other... they showed Star Wars non-stop. They even had to add new times slots for more showings... on the weekend, people would start lining up on a Friday night, camp out, while the line slowly creeped up every 2 or so hours, to finally see the movie on a Sunday... Yep. It was mayhem in my little town in the summer of 77!

[@perseus9428]

My dad had a driver. His driver got us three tickets to see Star Wars during its first week of release. My brother, my best friend and myself felt like freaking kings as we were shown to our seats. Still one of the best memories of my life! RIP dad !

[@Scottwilliamson-bi3vi]

74 graffiti 75 jaws 77 Star Wars 78 close encounters 81 empire 82 ET 83 temple 84 Jedi 89 last crusade. Thx George and Steven for a great childhood

[@chris101gray3]

"I think this is going to be a science fiction classic". The understatement of the century

[@OffendEveryoneImmediately]

Star Wars can’t even be narrowed down to mere science fiction. That’s just its superficial aesthetic. Speaking strictly about the first 6 movies, at least.

[@dave6790]

Was 13 when my friends and I saw it at the Granada theatre in sherbrooke, Quebec. We were on the edge of our seats, and when Luke blew up the deathstar, the whole place stood up and cheered like it really happend!

[@dave6790]

@@eternaldarkness3139 well no, but yeah, we all knew it happend, everyone just couldnt believe he got it on the first shot. The Gilligans island people seem fine, I checked in on them the other day by satelite, nothing new, cept Skipper is up on battery charges against gilligan, Mr. Howell & the professor just submitted dna samples to see who fathered Gingers baby, and the island public toilet is plugged again.

[@danheaton2522]

I was eight years old and saw the film in theaters three times that year. The toys started coming not long after that. It was a great time to be a kid.

[@dolemite10005]

Being a kid in the 70’s and 80’s was magical to begin with. This movie was a gigantic cherry on top

[@jntdhome]

I was eight and, as I recall, it was the first movie my family saw twice in the theater. It was definitely something special.

[@velocitymg]

Yep, saw it in 77 as a wide eyed kid, saw it again as a 52 yr old…never, ever gets old

[@sinjin1259]

Timepoint 0:27 I knew that Officer, J. Sanchez. He trained me 30 years ago. Ladies man.

[@thetrickster9885]

Ladies man Lmao

[@therealstaticthreat]

1:11 He wasn't wrong!

[@texaswunderkind]

With that shirt and moustache, that guy must have been chasing ladies away with a stick.

[@cian2741]

@@texaswunderkind man knew his star wars tho

[@nicksmith4378]

​@@texaswunderkind He was a part time porn star.

[@Allen-eq5uf]

He was kinda wrong; it’s a bit more fantasy than science fiction, but that’s definitely more than ok with me.

[@VeI_2.0]

CHAD.

[@bryant8235]

Saw it at age 13 opening day with my big brother and a buddy of mine. We waited in line for around 4 hours and were close to the front of the line but ran once we got inside to get good seats. Nothing like it had ever been seen before - It was a cultural earthquake! So much fun and long, long lasting good memories.

[@scotto6314]

I was 10 years old in 1977 , and walked out of the theater blown away ! Felt somehow, somewhere in the galaxy this world of Jedi existed.

[@9ner]

must've been incredible. I was huge into star wars as a kid from when I was 4-5. When phantom menace came out I begged my parents to go see it that summer. I absolutely loved it not realizing it was a massive step down in quality from the originals. I imagine that's how it felt seeing the original, im grateful I saw PM when I was 8 lol

[@slingblade6858]

I still remember walking home with friends afterward, we were blown away because there was nothing like it before that. All since never really left me as thrilled as I was in '77. I was 15 then. Ah, youth.

[@julien23lastchristmas2]

In 77 i was only 8 years old, my god how years goes so fast !

[@X-Gen-001]

This was actually the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater. Me and my older brother have been obsessed with everything Star Wars ever since.

[@theusher2893]

I remember watching a documentary on the special effects and how they did them, and how each effects department was so compartmentalized that they never got to see how their own work fit into the movie as a whole. When they were able to finally see the movie, even they were astounded, with one technician joking "is THIS what we were working on?" I think that says everything about how Lucas' vision was so far beyond anything that had come before, that even the people working on it were shocked by the final product.

[@luketimewalker]

oh wow TheUsher, I never knew that, thanks

[@user-xg6yc8ho3w]

Younger people will never know what a really huge event Star Wars was back then. I saw it when it came out in the cinemas and never since have I ever seen lines going around the block and people camping out in front of theaters just to see a movie. And this went on for weeks if not months. When the sequel Empire Strikes Back came out , it was almost the same.

[@antayat]

ET had bigger lines where I grew up. Also Batman in 1989 had long lines. Nothing near Star Wars and ET however.

[@11C1P]

I think anyone born after stuff like cell phones & internet became huge (along with cheap big screen T.V.'s & home surround sound) won't understand what it was like back then where you had to coordinate with your friends ahead of time where & when to meet, then with parents or older siblings to pick you up at a certain time & place. Few people had truly big screen T.V.'s (50+ inch) let alone good surround sound to even approach the experience of quality theater viewing. Not to mention that if you didn't see it in the theater back then your only options to watch it after it left theaters was stuff like a drive in theater, VCR or laser disc.

[@redadamearth]

Yep. It was amazing. So glad I grew up with the first three.

[@rovhalt6650]

The Lord of the Rings had a similar effect on the crowds.

[@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449]

@@rovhalt6650 No, sorry it was not even close. But, let's not take away from Lord of the Rings. It was an amazing trilogy!

[@outlander2878]

All done with scale models and practical effects, and it blew my nine year old mind

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

One of my favorite fun facts about 2001 A Space Odyssey (1969) is that despite having no digital effects in the filmmaking itself, it did have ground breaking CGI... but only because the computers used in the movie have screens with Graphical User Interfaces. GUI's were science fiction at the time. Xerox wouldn't make a computer with a GUI for another 4 years. You take it for granted watching it that Stanley Kubrick is just casually predicting the future of computer screens.

[@ctvxl]

Star Wars in 1977 was a singular event in cinema history. I was 7yo and remember driving past the movie theater in town and seeing the ridiculously long lines of people waiting to buy tickets. It was like that every day, for every showing, for weeks. I remember because my parents refused to wait in the long lines so we had to wait for the excitement to die down before they took me to see it.

[@keumalacmhl8574]

1:15 - He is right, it is now a science fiction classic 👍

[@Springbok295]

I went to go see it with friends in late July or early August '77. None of us had any clue what it was about or what it was going to be like. It was a pivotal point in our 9-year-old minds. We left the theater changed, to say the least.

[@Scripner]

Yep. I was a little kid too and it blew me away! I’ve been a die hard fan ever since. I even enjoyed the prequels everyone bitches about just because I’ll take any Star Wars I can get.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

@@Scripner what about the sequels?

[@ingleringlet-snipps3rd449]

@@Mr.Goodkat Sequels were good, but my classmate spoiled it for us by opening his big mouth and bragging that Darth Vader was Luke's father. Return of the Jedi for me was even better than Empire Strikes Back, because it ended with the rebels winning....just like in Episode IV.

[@redadamearth]

"The theater manager has yet released the exact amount of profits." I'll BET. lol

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

He probably made like a WOPPING $10k or something lol. It's 1977, the tickets are $3.50 lol.

[@cygil1]

Zero if it worked like modern distribution deals, Star Wars movies demand 100% of ticket price from the cinema for at least the first two weeks.

[@henryball3275]

Mother took me to watch this movie when I was 10 God rest her soul. It was the greatest movie I ever seen

[@ugaais]

I was 7 in 1977 I wasn’t and still am not a big Sci Fi fan..but this movie and the Empire Strikes Back are amazing

[@mikecronis]

Yep. These lines continued for over a year and tickets were sold out always until 1978. The movie kept playing in cinemas until 1984.

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

Lot of people don't even understand that at this point in time, once a movie left the theaters that was it. It's gone now. It might come on HBO if your family pays for it.

[@acerimmer8338]

@@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat Umm, they did have VHS and rentals at this point in time.

[@snichelsticks8653]

@@acerimmer8338 in 1977 vhs and betamax were premium items. it wouldnt be until the mid 80s that they were widespread

[@rikk319]

@@acerimmer8338 VCRs weren't common until the late 70s, but my family didn't have one until the early-mid 80s. Rentals didn't start up until the mid 80s, and peaked in the mid 90s.

[@bdso9593]

Unless you were there, you'll never really know what it was like. A space in time that rarely happens. Glad I was a 9 yo kid who was able to be part of it. Magic.

[@JohnnyBeane]

So cool to see footage like this!!!

[@ralphhenderson5276]

I watched it in the theater at least twelve times, but one of my high school buddies saw it at least 20. Every audience stood and applauded during the credit roll and would not stop until the projector was turned off.

[@andrewpippa5590]

I was in the audience during the first week's release. EVERYBODY in the theater was flabbergasted with the first 5 minutes. We all knew this movie was something speacial.

[@leegraves101]

When I first saw it we got the last 2 seats in the house, middle of the front row and staring straight up. We didn’t care, it was great.

[@stumac869]

Watching Star Wars in 1977 was a Kennedy moment, you remember every detail of when, where and who you were with..

[@lastword8783]

its sad that original movies of this scale and scope dont get made anymore. Not unless its based on some pre-existing book/comic book

[@spb7883]

The irony? You have Star Wars to thank for that.

[@funkg]

I was 8 years old when I first saw Star Wars with my sisters in London back in 1977. Although I had heard about the film and was curious to see it, we originally planned to watch the Spider-Man movie, as we were more familiar with that character. As ‘luck’ would have it, we missed the showing for Spider-Man, so we ended up seeing Star Wars instead. We were absolutely blown away-none of us had ever seen anything like it. The film was so incredible that we watched it twice in a row, as back then, you could stay in the cinema for as long as you liked!

[@brentcooper4345]

I was 14 in 1977. Both my older sisters had seen it. I had begged my Dad to take me. I had the Marvel comics adaptation and the John Williams soundtrack. I would listen to it while reading my comic book over and over. Finally late that summer Dad took me to see it. It was glorious! What a time it was.

[@funshine817]

I agree! I was 14, also. 😁😉❤👍

[@bobmack5196]

was a senior in high school when i saw it in 1977 at a movie theater. havn't missed another one since. I'm 64 now and still hooked and remember the first star wars like it was yesterday.

[@JamesBondStarWarsFan1985]

Star Wars 1977 along with 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Godfather, Jaws, Alien, The Shining, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner, Scarface, The Terminator, and Full Metal Jacket are my top 12 all time favorite films and I really love Star Wars with a passion. Star Wars 1977 is my absolute favorite Star Wars film, George Lucas's direction for the film was great, and the Tie Fighter attack scene was absolutely brilliant. The music score by John Williams was excellent, the acting from Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Alec Guinness were all stellar, and Darth Vader is the best sci-fi villain of all time. George Lucas as well as Stanley Kubrick are both my all time favorite film directors, George Lucas did a very good job with American Graffiti, and I loved Stanley Kubrick's work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket.

[@Anonim99435]

All those films blow modern films out the water

[@pryingopenmythirdeye1830]

You really aint lying most of the time I'd say you are just a typical person believing your time is the best era confusing with nostalgia. But not in this case . I was born in 89 and I feel the 90s was the end of quality movies. We still get some these days .. but today movies also aren't as popular due to the fact of more options of entertainment . Back then all you had was tv and movies and music , sports which was on tv . So there was more passion put into the movies. But sometimes when I watch an old movie like star wars I'm fascinated at how In 77 its seems almost as if star wars was real and they were in a different galaxy .. it's amazing how they were able to bring that world to life by execution of all the things you listed before, absolutly incredible powerful music that created intense emotion, acting, Direction, characters , character attachments, Darth vapor , the screen play and the picture was beautiful and most of all this incredible story of a completely made up reality. Everything combined brought it to life in a magnificent way. (Also i find it funny how bad guy is basically the goverment, the Empire . Cause its the same in our reality unfortunately people cant see that but they put truth in plain sight. )

[@islandboy4445]

​@@pryingopenmythirdeye1830 Darth Vapor has to be one of my new favorite autocorrects 😂

[@goku8621]

Film bro list

[@michaelbrinks8089]

@@islandboy4445 That's the perfect name for a new weed or nicotine flavored vape or a vape company name.... "Darth Vapor Vapes." Make the vapes so they sound like Darth Vader when you puff on it. 😂

[@Ahmet_Koctar]

Really cool! Too bad we'll never experience a phenomenon like this ever again.

[@jesse_-]

I remember going to see this with my dad when I was 4 years old. Star Wars still going strong!

[@tombrown1119]

I did see original Star Wars in the cinema. I started waiting in line for the 16:30 screening at 9am. I will never forget it.

[@fredpagniello3267]

In the MYC area THE theater to see Star Wars was the Loews Astor Plaza in Manhattan. With state of the art 70mm 6 track Dolby sound and 1440 seats, you had an experience...and then some. In the summer of 1977 I saw the movie 14 times, only one of which was with a date in a local house (only 35mm print). For $10 you could go by train to the city (round trip ticket), see the movie, and get a bite to eat with change left over. By the way, the buildings on both sides of the gave the appearance of the Death Star trench...so guess what I imagined while walking...

[@vampirerobot]

Lucky you...that sounds so awesome Fred.

[@fredpagniello3267]

@@vampirerobot I would always sit through two showings of SW at the Loews (a ticket cost $4.50 then). And the walk back to Grand Central for the train home was a treat, for it went straight to the Pan Am building, now the Met Life, which I imagined as my making an attack on the Death Star. Then September arrived and suddenly it was last summer. The song "Suddenly Last Summer" by the Motels can take me back to those days, something like a last summer of innocence. Check out the movie 5/25/77, the plot of which is based upon the filmmaker's experiences.

[@brittscott4673]

I saw Star Wars A New Hope 3 times in theaters in 1977. The soundtrack was a big hit too . I remember several people buying the album of the movie score.

[@keithhaggard323]

We went as a church group to see this movie in Shreveport, Louisiana . Someone brought cupcakes that had pot in them. I don't remember anything about the movie but the light show was incredible I think.

[@texasbeast239]

Gospel of Ganja

[@davidjames579]

You sure it wasn't 2001: A Space Odyssey?

[@mistysouders7823]

I was nine years old when my mom took me and my sister along with our friends and their parents!! Their was not one boring moment the first screen grabbed us and never let go. Whe Luke destroyed the Death Star the audience actually stood up and started high fiving each other.😊

[@Movie_Games]

Imagine having to wait in line all that time just to see a movie instead of just buying the tickets on your phone and sitting down.

[@XHALE303]

It had it's charm. Inspite all the CGi, it was a more magical time for cinema.

[@davidjames579]

Sounds depressing

[@quantumphaser]

In 1977, it wasn't a question of have you seen Star Wars but how many times you've seen it. Watched it 8 times, including 3 in one day, 1pm Matinee $2 ticket, stayed in the theater for the 4pm and then the 7pm. Funny how unsupervised 7 year olds could do that then.

[@lairddougal3833]

And that escapist delight, enthusiasm, joy and sense of adventure is what Disney has taken out back, beaten unconscious then unceremoniously killed.

[@UncleFeedle]

It's hard to convey what it was like to those who didn't experience it. The 1970s was a pretty miserable era - a lot of strike action going on, the oil crisis, etc. In the UK, we used to get frequent power cuts. Star Wars made everyone optimistic again. It was absolutely the right movie at the right time.

[@arrowcrusher]

Imagine people today having to wait in a long line like that without any cell phones to distract them

[@hughjass8383]

They would have to talk to other people in line what a concept

[@NisJol]

god shut up lol

[@StarWarsObituaryNews]

Imagine any movie now being good enough to even have a line.

[@rotyler2177]

​@@StarWarsObituaryNews what about The last jedi?

[@jublywubly]

and everyone was paying with cash!

[@sto620]

I did! I was in awe watching the opening scene of the little rebel ship being chased by the gigantic imperial destroyer. I still love that shot.

[@princess4u62]

Growing up in a small town in So. Calif. during the 77’s are the best memories ever! Star Wars was showing at the movie theater in the next county. Me and my high school boyfriend went to see it. I walked out of the movie theater so confused, I couldn’t keep up, him on the hand, thought it was the most amazing ever made! 🤣😂🤣😂

[@funshine817]

Indeed, the 70's were magical. I grew up in Tustin, So.Calif. I remember the Santa Ana winds, orange groves, no traffic, biking all day, everywhere, great weather for Halloween, SPACE...when Calif. was KING! Sigh. No longer. 😢

[@emgall8523]

My husband and I saw it when it opened in Queens New York in 1977. I remember wishing the movie wouldn’t end because I was so engrossed in it. It was a big deal back then to see it because it was so popular.

[@kristinaF54]

Fox were so mad they signed away the merchandise rights to Lucas when it became clear the movie was a major hit. Yet before its release they were threatening to axe the budget, shut down production and driving Lucas into a nervous wreak.

[@GoBudsGo]

This video is better than anything Star Wars Disney has made.

[@cineman73]

I was born in 1973 so I was too young to remember seeing it in the theater but my mom says she took me 5 times to see it because I would beg her over and over. By the time Empire came out I was a little older and I was all in.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

Sounds like you were already all in, I can remember things I seen in the theatre when I was 4.

[@damianvila]

I was also born in 1973. I can't remember much, but I can clearly remember watching the scene when the stormtroopers board Princess Leia's ship, and those troopers impressed me so much that when our parents offered to buy each of us (my brothers and me) one of the Kenner figures, I asked for a stormtrooper. Later in life I got my own piece of stormtrooper armor, and got into the 501st Legion. The only other movie that was as special as this one was probably The Matrix.

[@funshine817]

I was 14 when SW came out. It was incredible. I fell in love with R2D2 😂🤣 I miss those days!

[@TheLadymiss22]

I remember a friend thought Darth Vader should’ve been killed. I said that there would probably be a sequel.

[@jesustovar2549]

You should have bet your friend at that time, wonder their reaction next, finding out Vader was Luke's father.

[@superameric8]

I walked out of the theater stunned.

[@ghg1976]

For over a thousand generations, the fans were excited for Star Wars films. Before the dark times, before Disney.

[@IDontKnow92blah]

Cry baby fanboys. Glad to see you guys falling off

[@wizardsuth]

Not as clumsy or random as a Disney production... An elegant film for a more civilized age.

[@johnnycarter2283]

u mean before disney ruined the star wars franchise

[@imaouima]

When I saw it again (re-released) in the 90's I hated the added digital effects.

[@davidjames579]

A thousand generations since 1977. I think you need to go back to school.

[@chenzocosimo3250]

I didn’t get to see this in the theater but I watched over a 100 times before Empire came out. My parents called me off school to see Empire on opening day.

[@Mandalore.The.Hero7]

“I think it’s going to be a science fiction classic” and after 47 years later, it’s the best science fiction ever created 💯 I’m Captain Rex and I approve this message 🫡

[@DavidinSLO]

Yes, it WAS an event. I had the privilege of seeing it at the Plitt Century Theater -- less than a mile away from the 20th Century Fox Studios -- in Los Angeles. Amazing experience.

[@mistreme8341]

And to think after 46 years this franchise is still going! Star Wars became a part of world culture for decades after its initial release. None of us could have predicted this at the time. We thought it was one of a kind…then there was the Empire Strikes Back and we knew that this story had legs to span years!

[@armybeef68]

Nah, there's only three, the others are just trying to capitalize on the only three .

[@vampirepiggoblin7182]

From 1977 to today OH how far we have fallen.

[@dskywalker3397]

McDonald's Theatre in Eugene, Oregon. On campus. Right across the street from "The Animal House." We waited down the block. Then, we entered the theater and I remember words. Lots of words. You had to pay attention and read. Like so many movies of the 70's it involved more than one scene out in the desert.

[@squangan]

‘A new science fiction movie called Star Wars.’ Hearing those words spoken is almost surreal considering what Star Wars became over the decades.

[@nightmuffin937]

3.75 for ticket in 1977. That’s how much the morning matinee cost back when I work at the theaters back In 2009-2014

[@jedijones]

I seem to remember $5 being the standard ticket price throughout most of the 1980s.

[@PeacefulRallyCar-pw3cs]

$2.50 Tuesday! I went to see dune2. 40cad for 1 ticket coke popcorn. Theatre 1/3 full. Only good thing is 19+ showing.

[@Sashazur]

With inflation, that’s equal to almost $20 in 2025!

[@YeLizardLords]

I asked an uncle once what it was like seeing SW in theaters & he said awesome, all 3 times.

[@Tophergr8]

I was 5 when I went with my dad and his dental school buddy. We stood in line, and I remember being terrified by somebody in a full Darth Vader costume, which only added to the impact of his first appearance in the movie. The rest of my childhood was dominated by Star Wars.

[@mpetrison3799]

I think I silently cried in the theater, when the Jawas shot R2D2, and the droid collapsed, seemingly dead in my perceptions.

[@brotherless]

I saw this in a theater about a week after it was released. I was 12 years old. What an experience.

[@hereforit2347]

I was 11 when Jaws came out. Our local theater, in Culver City, CA, used to let us kids in to see R-rated movies unaccompanied by adults. Blockbusters like Jaws would either stay in theaters for months or get re-released periodically for the next couple of years. My friend and I went to see it by ourselves in 1976. I was afraid to get in the water for years after that. 😂

[@michaelkrolewski7406]

You're gonna need a bigger theatre. Lol 🤣

[@wizardsuth]

Jaws was rated PG.

[@hereforit2347]

@@wizardsuth: I know. I just happened to mention that my neighborhood theater let kids in to see R-rated films because I felt like it.

[@AlwaysVotingMAGA]

My Dad was 7 years old when the first movie released. He loved it as a kid & now he's over 50. Star Wars will turn 50 years old in 2027.

[@SerPounceToebeans]

$3 for a movie ticket back then, now it's like freaking $20...

[@dlxmarks]

$3.75 in 1977 which is, according to a couple of inflation calculators, $19.20 in 2024 so not much difference in relative value.

[@pauldavis5665]

Imagine not knowing about inflation.

[@pinkfreud62]

I was 14 and all the guy school mates in our crowd was nuts over Star Wars, lol.

[@mal74]

Stars Wars ran in the theater for over a year in Louisville.

[@randallmcmanamy6945]

I actually went back about 7 times to watch it in cinemas. I think a lot of people went multiple times. '77 great year