30 Years of Star Wars!

[Lonestar]

Heard it on the Radio this morning. How awesome is that?

[The Spartan]

To answer your question, it fucking rocks!

I'm going to celebrate this weekend by watching the OT and probably follow that up with the PT, I've got 4 days to do so.

[Darksider]

I'm going to celebrate by attending a four-day Star Wars convention in California.

[jegs2]

From this piece in BBC News, a man gives his thoughts about the movie after watching it for the first time:

3.40
A door explodes and some strange people in white outfits and matching masks burst through, firing red lasers. They look a bit like Darth Vader so maybe they're friends with him.

4.50
Darth has arrived - they were his helpers after all. And it turns out R2-D2 is the one which looks like a dustbin and also strangely like Metal Mickey, a star of ITV's Saturday teatime schedule in the early 1980s. C-3PO's passage across the corridor as he struggled to avoid the crossfire was rather slinky.

5.55
It emerges that Darth can not only kill a man with one hand but also that he wants the plans to the Death Star back. Now.

11.45
There's some kind of cloaked cat behind the rocks. R2-D2 has worked this out and is rolling along quite cautiously now.

11.55
The cats have guns and they've killed R2-D2, the brutes!

27.05
Another set of baddies, judging by the urgent music. They dress differently from the others and use woolly mammoths as their transportation of choice. Surely those animals won't be any match for Luke's floating red spacecraft?

32.30
Swoosh! It's a light-saber. It looks cool. I wonder how it works, though - does its laser burn enemy combatants or does it shoot some kind of fatal beam? And will it be used to save Princess Leia?

47:30
Han Solo - or Indiana Jones as I had thought of Harrison Ford until now - has arrived as captain of the Millennium Falcon. This is a very fast ship which Obi wants to charter. But he's not very good at bargaining. Hans wanted to charge him 10,000 units but Obi offered 17,000, the cash-rich fool.

48:55
Han owes Jabba the Hut some money. Jabba's turquoise "enforcer" turns up to collect it, but Han won't have it until he's taken Obi to Alderaan. The "enforcer" gets blown up, which makes it two murders in five minutes. Must be a rough bar as nobody bats an eyelid.

79:30
The Stormtroopers find C-3PO, who squeals like a pig immediately and reveals his friends' plans. This is a very poor showing from the golden pessimist. Don't androids have any guts?

86:45
"I've been waiting for you, Obi Wan." It's red versus blue in the lightsaber stakes as Darth and Obi square up to see who's really the master.

89:10
Darth takes a final swipe at Obi to round off their laser-jousting, but ends up cutting through an empty cloak. Is Obi dead, or has he used some special Force power to escape?

108:30
The pilot trying to find the two-metre shaft missed first time and lost his starboard engine. Now he's been shot down. It's up to Luke to step up and save the day. Is he on a suicide mission, as Han predicted?

111:30
Luke switches off his tracking device and tries to use the Force. But Darth has shot R2-D2, who was riding pillion-style on Luke's plane. No!

115:30
There's a big fanfare as a special ceremony begins at which Princess Leia presents her two "boys" with medals. She's fixed her hair differently so we know it's A Big Deal, but then the film ends without telling us whether she falls in love with Luke or Han.

Talk about a cliffhanger. I'm going to have to watch the second one now to find out if they get it together. Anyway, R2-D2 is fixed and gleaming, Darth Vader is out of the picture - without any mention of what happened to Luke's dad, mind you - and the Force is very much with everyone once again.

I really quite enjoyed that.

[Jericho Kross]

Going to go home after school and watch all 6 movies

[Ritterin Sophia]

Going to go home after school and watch all 6 movies

But there's only 5...

[Ace Pace]

Going to go home after school and watch all 6 movies

But there's only 5...

Sorry, ANH was not a bad dream.

Considering my cable provider showed ANH/ESB/ROTJ the past three days, I guess I'll do EP1-Ep2-Ep3 this long weekend.

[Bounty]

Going to go home after school and watch all 6 movies

But there's only 5...

Two, actually. And another three or four Star Wars-ish half-sequels.

Time to dig up A New Hope, I think. Trench Run!

[Elfdart]

Every time the blue letters "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." flash across the screen, I feel like a kid again.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Bah, Jegs... I can't believe you left this out:

101:10
Luke lifts off with the rest of the squadron. Their ships all have red go-faster stripes this time. He's hearing Obi's voice in his head, with another reference to the Force being with him. It's the 491st mention of the Force so far (I may have lost count somewhere in the middle, though).

Lol, WH40k reference.

[CaptHawkeye]

30 years later, and still nothing comes close. Nothing in the entire world of anime, video games, TV, and books still comes even close to what Star Wars is and what it always will be. Even when Wars is at its worst, it's still miles ahead of the competition. It is rivaled by none.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Going to go home after school and watch all 6 movies

But there's only 5...

Sorry, ANH was not a bad dream.

Dude, I swear, there's only ANH, TESB, ROTJ, AOTC, and ROTS.

[Ace Pace]

But there's only 5...

Sorry, ANH was not a bad dream.

Dude, I swear, there's only ANH, TESB, ROTJ, AOTC, and ROTS.

YIPEE!

[Noble Ire]

It is a testament to the sheer quality of the original films and concept that thirty years later, even after a comparatively lackluster sequel trilogy and an expanded universe marked by several periods of profound inadequacy (and outright, corrosive stupidity on occasion), the franchise, and the world-wide phenomenon it created, is still going strong. Good show, Mr. Lucas, and everyone else who has contributed positively to the series. Good show.

[Johnathon_Chance]

Stravo?

Lucas' awareness of the populist strain in his fan base extends to StarWars.com, the movies' Web site. Starting today, the site will contain an online video-editing tool enabling visitors to meld their own footage to more than 250 scenes from Star Wars movies and create their own Star Wars fan films. They will also be able to savor five years of Star Wars Fan Movie Festival Shorts along with other "user-generated Star Wars videos from across the Web, including such cult favorites as 'Chad Vader.'"

Get cracking dude.

[Surlethe]

Every time the blue letters "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." flash across the screen, I feel like a kid again.

Whenever I hear the fanfare and STAR WARS, in gold letters, appears and starts moving down the screen, I can't help but grinning and feeling giddy. Hell, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. Here's cheers to thirty years of it.

[nightmare]

It's been a long ride. For the good times, I will be re-watching ANH. I probably don't have time for more than that, but you can't go wrong with the monomyth.

[darthbob88]

Bah, Jegs... I can't believe you left this out:

101:10
Luke lifts off with the rest of the squadron. Their ships all have red go-faster stripes this time. He's hearing Obi's voice in his head, with another reference to the Force being with him. It's the 491st mention of the Force so far (I may have lost count somewhere in the middle, though).

Lol, WH40k reference.

Actually, no. Racing stripes, red or otherwise, were invented in the 50's by Briggs Cunningham as a means of identifying his team's cars quickly and easily during a race, and this was quickly imitated by other teams. They are also referred to, especially by Britons, as go-faster stripes.

[Stark]

Fanboys will co-opt.

I hear some people seeing ANH for the first time these days don't like it. I fear for the human race when people honestly prefer the largely boring prequels, particularly the Worst Acting Ever One. 'Oh darn we've been captured we suck' INDEED.

[Warsie]

To answer your question, it fucking rocks!

I'm going to celebrate this weekend by watching the OT and probably follow that up with the PT, I've got 4 days to do so.

+1!!

I have 3 daYS , BUT i'LL TRY TO WATCH ALL 6 Movies. Maybe use my HDTV and/or go downstairs with speakers (upstairs speakers w/HDTV wstill good)

Hopefully I'll do it sunday and I'll also watch the CW cartoons with it, in the In-universe Chronological Order hopefully in 1 day

BTW everyone do you other have this enlightened feeling after watching SW (or bad-ass movie trilogies/series/etc in one day)

[Darth Ruinus]

Someone around here mentioned that convention in the LA Convention Center (or whatever its called) when does that start, end, and how old do I have to be to enter? Also, does it cost money?

Star Wars is fucking badass!

2 of my teachers ditched today, I both know where they went...

[Raesene]

Star wars on the History Channel

World Premiere Monday, May 28, at 9pm ET/PT


Thirty years ago, an unheralded film known as Star Wars opened in theaters and took audiences on a groundbreaking journey to a galaxy far, far away. It instantly seized the public's imagination, and three decades later still claims that grasp.

On Memorial Day Monday, May 28th @ 9pm, The History Channel premieres STAR WARS: THE LEGACY REVEALED, a 2-hour special exploring why the emotional impact of the Star Wars Saga remains as relevant as ever.

Through interviews with politicians, academics, journalists and critics, we'll learn about the similarities between the tales of Luke Skywalker and King Arthur and Buddha and Yoda. We'll see how Star Wars' intensely compelling stories - borrowed from diverse traditions, from Greek mythology and American westerns to the Bible and even Vaudeville - force us to explore some of the biggest questions of our time.

Uncover the Legend Monday, May 28th @ 9pm and watch how Lucas re-introduced the world to the modern myth.




Interviewees:
J.J. ABRAMS Filmmaker

TOM BROKAW Journalist

STEPHEN COLBERT Political Satirist

DR. JOAN BRETON CONNELLY Associate Prof. of Fine Arts, NYU

LINDA ELLERBEE Journalist

STEVEN GALIPEAU Author, "The Journey of Luke Skywalker"

NEWT GINGRICH Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives 1995-1999

MARY HENDERSON Author, "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth"

EDWARD L. HUDGINS Executive Director, The Atlas Society

PETER JACKSON Filmmaker

DR. JOHN C. LYDEN Prof. of Religion, Dana College

ELVIS MITCHELL Film Critic

DR. CAMILLE PAGLIA Prof. of Humanities and Media Studies, Univ. of the Arts

NANCY PELOSI Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives

DAN RATHER Journalist

DR. CARL A. RUBINO Prof. of Classics, Hamilton College

DR. CARL SILVIO Co-Editor, "Culture Identities and Technologies in the Star Wars Films"

KEVIN SMITH Filmmaker

DR. KEVIN J. WETMORE, Jr Author, The Empire Triumphant: Race, Religion and Rebellion in the Star Wars Films

JOSS WHEDON Filmmaker

LEON WIESELTIER Literary Editor, "The New Republic"

DR. JONATHAN YOUNG Founding Curator, Joseph Campbell Archives

sounds interesting...

[Mange]

Stravo?

Lucas' awareness of the populist strain in his fan base extends to StarWars.com, the movies' Web site. Starting today, the site will contain an online video-editing tool enabling visitors to meld their own footage to more than 250 scenes from Star Wars movies and create their own Star Wars fan films. They will also be able to savor five years of Star Wars Fan Movie Festival Shorts along with other "user-generated Star Wars videos from across the Web, including such cult favorites as 'Chad Vader.'"

Get cracking dude.

I can't seem to be able to use that feature. Perhaps it's because I was banned?

[Elfdart]

If anyone gets the Encore channels, in about one hour is a special on Encore Westerns about the making of The Searchers, followed by a widescreen showing of the film. It was one of the biggest influences on Star Wars and is a great movie in its own right. In fact, aside from SW, it's one of the most imitated films ever made.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Dude, I swear, there's only ANH, TESB, ROTJ, AOTC, and ROTS.

I'm sorry the Phantom Menace did happen *pats* It's okay man, in time you'll come to see it has a part of the whole...