So how long was yours?

[Awax]

A week or two after release in 1977 I saw it in Mission Valley in San Diego.. I remember walking out of the theatre the happiest eight year old around. The lines were long, but I think we saw the 1st showing of the day.. It was raining when the movie let out...

 

 

[DeliBebek]

When we arrived at the theater to see Star Wars for the first time, the line was about 6 cars long.

 

Sat on the hood of my father's '76 Plymouth watching it while he talked on the CB during the whole movie.

[lizards2]

I saw it first run in Bend, Oregon. I don't recall any lines or waiting.

[MR SigS]

Medford, OR. Saw it early in its run. No massive line. But then the buzz began and it was held over at the theater for 5-6 months. Went back and waited in line about two-blocks in length. Not to bad.

 

 

Medford, OR

 

I know where that is.

[Crows]

I was 7 years old and just barely remember. My mom took my brother and I to the drive-in to see it.

The line up was long, and when we finally got to the booth to pay, they said they were full and we left

We went back another day and got in but I think I slept through most of it.

[mrlatko]

I remember it like it was yesterday, well not really. The details are fuzzy. My parents did take me to Star Wars during the initial run somewhere in the NW suburbs of Chicago. I don't remember where. I was not initially excited because I was 6 years old and had no idea what the hype was all about. I have no memory of a long line, but do remember that the place was packed with people in the theater. We were late so I missed the beginning 5 or 10 minutes. That didn't matter, because I was immediately amazed by what I was seeing on the screen. I sat through the best movie-going experience of my short life to that point, then begged my parents to let us stay so I could see the beginning of the next showing that we missed. They were super cool and said that we could stay. In those days, they didn't care if you just sat there and waited, so we did. As it turned out, we stayed for the entire second show, not just the beginning. What a great day for little me.

 

Empire Strikes Back: Line wrapping around the building at Woodfield Mall outdoor theater with my father. We got in and it was better than Star Wars!

[Whizzer]

I saw it on a warm summer evening with my Dad in 1978 (it was still on at our two screen fleapit even in '78!).

 

I remember it because it was the same night as the opening night of the 1978 (soccer) World Cup in Argentina.

 

It is also my first memory of doing anything with just my Dad. I was 9 years old.

 

 

 

[VintageComics]

The first time I remember seeing Star Wars was in the early 1980's when "pay TV" started in our area (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

 

It was a "new" concept where if you paid extra you'd get a decoder and get all these special channels that non paying customers couldn't get.

 

Well, my parents were pretty strict about television so they never opted for the Pay TV channels or the decoder. This forced me to watch all these feature length, blockbuster movies scrambled, where the screen would wiggle and jiggle and was never vertically straight.

 

I kid you not, I watched Star Wars several times that way all the way through uncoded. I knew the lines before I knew the pictures.

 

 

When I finally saw the entire movie was probably the mid 1980's as a teenager on someone's VHS. I ate up ever moment of it.

 

 

[MisterX]

1977, somewhere in the whitebread suburbs of New York, maybe Yonkers or Scarsdale.

 

I was six. There was a huge, full-page ad in the Sunday New York Times that fascinated me. My parents went to see the movie first. The next weekend they brought me.

 

The theater was some kind of old-school, neighborhood rinky-dinky joint. I could swear they also showed art house movies and foreign films. The place was packed with grown-ups. I could also swear they were smoking.

 

Anyway, I'm not sure what happened next. I entered some kind of trance state. And then suddenly, the Cantina scene began and Life Finally Had a Purpose.

 

Empire was out of control. Big, big lines for that one. You'd see people coming out of the theater freaking out, because, we'll, you know...Darth Vader said some things...

 

 

[gyro-1]

It was all over the news for weeks before I saw it

I was in a small town and saw it at the drive in

I think a we snuck under the fence but may of driven in

I dont remember realy liking it to start took 3 showings to love it

 

[nwpassage]

Never seen it. I know, I know, my life is incomplete.

[Dr. Balls]

I was only 4 when my mom took me, the only thing I remember is that it was sold out and the movie manager allowed more tickets to be sold for "standing room" in the aisles. I remember fiddling with the aisle curtain and that's about it. I don't recall the movie, but my mom does - she wanted to see what the hype was all about.

 

When they re-issued it to theaters (in the 90's I think) I asked my mom if she wanted to go for old times' sake, but she said she wasn't interested in sitting two hours through it again. I guess once was enough for her.

[Awax]

The first time I remember seeing Star Wars was in the early 1980's when "pay TV" started in our area (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

 

It was a "new" concept where if you paid extra you'd get a decoder and get all these special channels that non paying customers couldn't get.

 

Well, my parents were pretty strict about television so they never opted for the Pay TV channels or the decoder. This forced me to watch all these feature length, blockbuster movies scrambled, where the screen would wiggle and jiggle and was never vertically straight.

 

I kid you not, I watched Star Wars several times that way all the way through uncoded. I knew the lines before I knew the pictures.

 

 

When I finally saw the entire movie was probably the mid 1980's as a teenager on someone's VHS. I ate up ever moment of it.

 

 

You should have cut the orange wire..

 

(Not sure if anyone will remember that)

[VintageComics]

The first time I remember seeing Star Wars was in the early 1980's when "pay TV" started in our area (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).

 

It was a "new" concept where if you paid extra you'd get a decoder and get all these special channels that non paying customers couldn't get.

 

Well, my parents were pretty strict about television so they never opted for the Pay TV channels or the decoder. This forced me to watch all these feature length, blockbuster movies scrambled, where the screen would wiggle and jiggle and was never vertically straight.

 

I kid you not, I watched Star Wars several times that way all the way through uncoded. I knew the lines before I knew the pictures.

 

 

When I finally saw the entire movie was probably the mid 1980's as a teenager on someone's VHS. I ate up ever moment of it.

 

 

You should have cut the orange wire..

 

(Not sure if anyone will remember that)

 

 

Now you tell me after the damage has been done.

 

[jaeldubyoo]

I read Star Wars #1 before I went to see the movie. I was not impressed with the comic. But the movie was awesome. There was no doubt in my mind that it was the greatest movie I had seen up to that point. I was one of the crowd cheering at the end of the movie. It was one of those experiences that you had to be there to fully appreciate what was happening.

 

After the movie, I promptly ordered 50 copies of Star Wars #1 from an ad in The Buyers Guide. Over the years I gave away a lot as gifts to my friends and family. I still have a dozen.

 

 

[Ken Aldred]

Manchester Odeon cinema, January 1978, first week it was on.

 

Very long queue, longest I've ever seen at a provincial, English cinema.

 

Biting cold weather.

[Shaven Kev-migration]

I think I saw it on VHS first you guys are OLD

[Badger]

A friend and I went to the first showing on a Wednesday, aw summers, and stayed through every showing until 7PM when we had to get home. It seems like we watched it at least five times.

 

Just for giggles, here is the theater we were at. I do not remember it being a scary place; maybe it looked better in '79. This photo was taken in 2006.

 

[Buzzetta]

A friend and I went to the first showing on a Wednesday, aw summers, and stayed through every showing until 7PM when we had to get home. It seems like we watched it at least five times.

 

Just for giggles, here is the theater we were at. I do not remember it being a scary place; maybe it looked better in '79. This photo was taken in 2006.

 

 

Over Christmas, I was near the place where I saw Return of the Jedi with my brother and my Dad, it is now a car dealership. Actually I don't know if my dad saw it, I think he went to get popcorn and the line must have been incredibly long because he came back two hours later.

[The Amazing Chump]

I don't remember the first time I saw it, though my Mom told me I loved it (as opposed to ET, which I ran out of screaming). An early viewing I really love is laying in my aunt's living room floor on Long Island, warming my feet near her Franklin Stove as we all shared those lovely wide New York style pizza slices.

 

Another good memory was Wrath of Khan, holding my Dad's hand as we walked across the parking lot (just the two of us). And later, he told me that he'd protect me during the scene with the ear monsters (which is what I called them until about 14).