Star Wars is 30 today!

SlamGlam said:

Ummm...the Strategic Defense Initiative wasn't launched until 1883 there, cowboy.

Wrong Site!

So, this is where the funeral for Star Wars is being held, right?

Is it a national Holiday yet?

JediTodd said:

when i was little, my mom made me an R2-D2 cake for my birthday one year. it was pretty damn impressive.

Anxiety said:

I think I had a dream I was R2D2 for halloween. Or was that a xmas party?

30 years...

Lemme hug you, Chewbacca!!!

damn, i can remember seeing star wars for the first time. i was 7 years old and i didn't want to see it!

i remember whining to my parents as we went in the theater, "i don't want to see a stupid movie about people in white clothes!"

three hours later, i was begging for action figures.

2the9s said:

Ahem, and what strategic defense system would that be? The pony express?

2the9s said:

retina said:

Go away.

Anxiety said:

That's my "Star Wars" experience exactly.

I was 7, my dad wanted to take me. He said it was like "Star Trek," and I hated "Star Trek" as a kid. I pouted the whole day, but probably didn't blink my eyes from the moment those 2 ships flew into view.

Fans celebrate 30th anniversary of Star Wars
Updated Fri. May. 25 2007 8:27 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff


These images provided by the U.S. Postal Service show a sheet containing 15 postage stamps commemorating the Star Wars movies. The 41-cent stamps will be released May 25. (AP / USPS)


A mail collection box wrapped in a special covering to look like R2D2 from the 'Star Wars' movies. (AP Photo / USPS)

Star Wars "super fan" Shawn Crosby is celebrating the 30th anniversary of one of the most influential pop culture phenomena in history.

"Star Wars," now re-titled by director George Lucas as "Star Wars: Episode IV-- A New Hope," first hit screens on May 25, 1977.

Crosby, who on Friday's anniversary dressed as the Jedi knight Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi, with a matching beard, first watched the film when he was just 10 years old.

"As long as the film's been out, I've been pretty heavily into it," says Crosby, speaking in the same soft tones as Alec Guinness when he played Kenobi.

Crosby told CTV Newsnet he still remembers first seeing the film's famous yellow text float onto the screen.

"Not only do I recall it, but I recall the theatre I was at and who I was with," he said.

"We were at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, which is largely considered to be ground zero for Star Wars at that time. The minute we saw the opening credits roll past, and we saw the giant star destroyer move overhead, I think everyone in that audience was hooked."

In crafting the Star Wars plot, Lucas was heavily inspired by Joseph Campbell's writings on classic mythology. While Lucas placed his characters in a place "far, far away," they could still fit in to any earth-bound fable.

And now, 30 years later, the odds names of Yoda, Darth Vader and Chewbacca have entered the cultural lexicon.

When "Star Wars" and its first two sequels first appeared, it's doubtful even Lucas thought they would have had such a strong impact. For many, they were just a great way to escape reality for a couple hours.

"They provided a certain escapism that, up to that point, we hadn't been afforded in science fiction," said Crosby.

"We had read a lot of books and seen a lot of stories, and of course a lot of us were 'Star Trek' fans, and fans of other science fiction media. But 'Star Wars' had a certain innocence and excitement to it, where you jumped right in, you got to the derring-do, and for the next couple hours was just incredible escapism with a strong moral code.

"The performances might not have been the best ever, and the script might not have been the best, but it was probably the most fun any of us had ever had in a movie theatre."

To commemorate the anniversary, the U.S. Postal Service has released a set of 15 Star Wars stamps.

The stamps are issued as a single sheet resembling a movie poster, and feature both main characters and space ships like the Millennium Falcon -- arguably a character in its own right.

www.ctv.ca

It took 3 different trips to the mall cinema before I got to see this movie. I think finally in October there were tickets available. Granted this was in Dayton Ohio which was bout 20 miles from my home. My parents didn't make special trips to the mall just to see a movie. By the time i saw Star Wars I had read every review and seen every thing on tv bout it. I remember waiting in line for the 3rd time and being told that the showing WASN'T sold out.

The next hour in a half was branded into my brain. From that moment on for probably the next 3 yrs EVERYTHING was Star Wars. I think it was the first time that the Hype was worth the wait. God to remember when an audience actually applauded at an end of a film.

By the time Return of the Jedi came out, I had already figured out that Luke and Leia were twins, I mean really after ESB and with the L's it was kinda obvious.

And even to this day I still stick up for the Ewoks and the notion that when threatened even a primitive civilization can rebuke a technology smart empire.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

P.S. I still have my original landspeeder toy sitting on the dresser in my bedrooom.

I didn't see the movie in 1977, but I did collect the trading cards then.

(I saw the movie at a movie theater rerun a couple of years later. )

And now it's been 30 years since I bought those trading cards. (And I still have 'em - the complete set.) That makes me feel kind of old.

30?

wow.