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| Note how small and informal it looks |
In fact, much of the country hadn't heard about Star Wars by this point. It just picked up speed. Truth be told, I remember hearing more about Jaws before it was released than Star Wars. I only knew about Star Wars because my best friend's godfather worked in Hollywood and had given him the heads up. He even had a couple posters on his bedroom closet door.
Unlike most movies, real 'Star Wars mania' didn't hit until well toward the end of 1977, and extended all the way through '78. It was still quite the fad by the time The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980.
But in June of 1977, count me as one of the millions who hadn't seen the movie yet. I had heard about it from my friend, but only went to see it because a fellow who knew my parents recommended it to them. He said, "If he likes Star Trek, he'll really like a new movie coming out called Star Wars." So my Mom took me to see it at the old Mansfield mall theaters later that summer, even though I really didn't like Star Trek. I even got a full color Star Wars fan book. I wish I still had that. Would probably be worth a pretty penny.
And no one called it "A new hope". I was going to make a comment about studios allowing a movie find its audience but that would be rewriting history. "Jaws" and "Star Wars" were the first summer blockbusters. Back then BIG movies came out during the holidays. "Star Wars" found it's audience because theaters didn't have anything to replace it with. I remember first finding out about it when "Time" magazine had "Star Wars" on the cover. I remember thinking that was the coolest thing that I had ever seen. While I think that Empire was a better movie it didn't have the impact that the original did. Now 40 years later we are being told to be hyped by yet another "Star Wars" movie or the next entry in whatever franchise people are into at the moment. It makes me think of another movie (which has fallen out of favor), which might be one of the best of all time but, definitely has the best ending of all time, "Gone with the Wind". Margret Mitchell had the guts to not keep telling us more of the story but to leave the end open ended, but with hope for the future, because that is the way life is. When a man dies not all of the threads of his life get tied into little knots but life goes on just the same. "After all, tomorrow is another day."
ReplyDeleteGone With the Wind is still one of the greats. My boys watched it years ago, when they were in Middle School/higher elementary. They were stunned at how depressing it was. How many of the main characters died? How many did they care about? They said that about Jaws. The first time they saw that, they were shaking. These are kids raised in the modern, but they said there is something about the movies today - the characters don't seem to be real.
DeleteAs for Star Wars and New Hope, that's what I tell my boys. It wasn't the New Hope. It was just Star Wars, and the phenom continued through 78, and really continued until Empire. Empire wasn't the same, and I remember some being upset because it was set up as a necessary sequel with no clear ending. Plus many felt that Lucas's last minute Father twist changed the feel of the series. But that's history. To be sure, most products today are pre-sold (I seem to remember Burton's Batman, with Jack Nicholson, being an early example of hyping the movie in the hope of turning an early profit, just in case they couldn't make back the money it took to get Nicholson on board).
Andrew you would probably enjoy this video essay on the making of sw and it's history.
Deletehttp://sfdebris.com/videos/special/herosjourney.php