TOPIC: Finally, More of The Galaxy Far, Far Away!

I don't remember exactly what year I heard that a new Star Wars trilogy was being developed, and that the first film in the series was already in pre-production. I want to say it was late 1995, or early 1996. Of course, I was overwhelmed, excited, and ecstatic all at the same time. Much the same as I was when I first heard that The Empire Strikes Back was coming. This time though, there were a few big differences in my life.

By this time, I had been out of the service for over 10 years, married again, graduated from college, started a career in Information Technology, bought a house, and became a father! I was, if such a term could apply, all grown up! The thought that really struck me at the time was this: By the time this new movie came out, my son would JUST be old enough to see it. He might not understand everything he saw, but if he was a chip off the old block, he would love it all the same. Not long before it was to premier, I started him on the Original Trilogy. He watched all three movies over the course of a week, and as expected, could not get enough! There were a couple of scenes in ANH (Panda Baba's severed, bloody arm on the floor of the cantina, and Owen/Beru's burned skeletons lying on the ground) that I had him cover his eyes, but other than that he watched all of it with enthusiasm over and over again.

Back then, the word "Spoiler", or the phrase "Spoiler Alert" were not as pervasive in the vernacular as they are today, but I have to wonder if the marketing for The Phantom Menace might not have been the inspiration for it. A few weeks before the movie was to open, toys of all sorts, figurines, toy ships, and all manner of movie related things went on sale, including the soundtrack. I got my first look at the titles for tracks, and there were indeed a couple of mild spoilers there. That was the last time I peeked at the soundtrack before a release. However, a bigger spoiler was still yet to come.

We got our boy a Phantom Menace coloring book one fine day, without paying much attention to what it really was. Along with quite a few other Star Wars related gifts, we gave him the coloring book for his birthday. Not long after that, I was in his room watching him color, and looking at the books with him. It turns out that it was a synopsis of the movie itself, including the fact that Qui Gonn dies, and exactly how! Man, I was bummed! I still loved that battle when I finally saw it, but I am sure it would have been much better if I did not know how it ended!

Anyway, after years of anticipation, and a trailer that made the movie look very good, opening day finally arrived. Of course, back then, the early shows did not start until midnight, so it required some commitment, but there was no way I was going to miss the first showing! My son was a little young for such a late show, and I really wanted to see it before he did anyway, just to make sure there were not any scenes which might be upsetting to him, so I went with a group of guys from work. We were in line outside the theater for about three hours, and at least another two once we got into our seats, but once the lights went down, and that Fox fanfare blared from the speakers, the entire audience erupted in cheers and applause.

Now, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I knew that there was something different about this Star Wars outing that felt...out of place. Yeah, you would think it would obviously be Jar Jar, but I only found him a minor annoyance. There was just something about the formula that was just kind of....off. It was a good movie, but after the shine wore off a few hours later, I had to admit that it was not a GREAT Star Wars movie. There was a lot to love about it, and things that were done to perfection. There were also things that were executed badly, paced badly, or just superfluous in the story telling, and character development. I knew I had to see it again to get a better handle on how I felt, and since I still planned to see it with my son, that was to happen the next day.

My recollection about that day was that he woke up much earlier than he normally did because of the excitement, and anticipation. He wanted to leave for the theater before he had even wiped the sleep from his eyes, and changed out of his jammies. It was all we could do to get him to eat breakfast, and get himself dressed, but we finally made it out the door. We got to the theater about an hour before the show started, and got to our seats about 30 minutes prior to showtime. Those last few minutes were the hardest for him. He was hardly able to contain his excitement.

I was already thinking of my first viewing the night before, and hoping that my feeling about the movie would not color the experience of seeing for the first time with my boy. I was also thinking about 1983 when I saw the last premier of a Star Wars movie, and how much things had changed since then.

It probably goes without saying that he was absolutely mesmerized by what he saw that day. It was a difficult concept for him to understand that these events were taking place before the adventures of Luke and Leia that he had already seen, but in the end, it really did not make that much difference. He loved every minute of what he saw unreservedly! I will never forget his words when he saw Darth Maul fall down the reactor shaft. "Daddy! He broke!". When it was over, I realized that I had enjoyed the movie much more this time, than I had the first. Mainly, because I was seeing it with someone completely unconcerned with pacing, plot points, superfluous characters, etc. He just loved Star Wars, and his enthusiasm became my own. I was able to see the movie through his eyes, and that made it a much better movie to me.

In the ensuing years, I have had plenty of time to articulate what I liked, and did not like about TPM, but the one thing thing that will always be unique to this movie was that it was the first Star Wars movie he ever saw at the theater, and the first one that we saw together. That is something so special that not even Jar Jar could not screw it up!

So it WAS you who related the "Daddy! He broke!" story. I had seen that, and was thinking about that wen I started to read this story, but I didn't realize it was you. Again, good show. You certainly know how to tell your story.

RyanRising wrote:
Yup, that was me in a previous conversation about TPM, but there was no way I could write this account of the experience without that detail.

Qui Gonn dies? Okay, just kidding.

I think my favorite part of this story is the perspective a kid brings. He didn't die...he just broke. I love the optimism of kids.

Great story Brax! I've only been able to share Episode IV with my own son thus far. But I can't wait until he's old enough to watch the rest. I'm thinking he might be old enough to see Episode IX with me in theaters when it is finally released.

My main frustration in that although we all know how the movies end and all the big "reveals", he shouldn't. And yet, the proliferation of Star Wars is so profound, that the kids in his day-care all talk about Vader being Luke's dad and Leia being Luke's sister. I feel like he's going to somehow know who Rey's parents are before I do.

So I'm really curious to see if the moment in Empire has the same affect on him that it had on me when I was a kid. I hope it does.