20 Years Ago.....

[JediMichael]

Didn't see a thread about this....So its been 20 years ago today that Star Wars The Phantom Menace came out.
All those months waiting, only for so many to be so disappointed. Either way, it had a huge impact on film for many different reasons.
Hard to believe all that hype was now over 20 years ago.....
I was still in high school and wasn't able to see the midnight showing, so had to wait til the day. Watched it 2 times in a row....While there are things I love about Episode 1, there are plenty other parts that leave you feeling empty.
Pod race still has some of the best sound in all the movies.
Working at the theater at the time, I would go behind the screen and lean against the giant subwoofers during the pod race.

 

[Darth Lars]

You make me feel old ...

We didn't get it in theatres until September over here. The Internet had taken off and shaky camcorder videos of it from theatres were pirated like crazy. I held out, keeping myself spoiler-free, until it came out, and then one day more to get a good seat ("If I have waited 16 years for this movie, I can wait a day more").

Heh. While I sat down in the theatre, knowing nothing, early in the movie I formed two theories ... that turned out to not be true later on in the movie.
* Because "Pada-Wan" and "Obi-Wan" rhyme, both must have been ranks, right? So "Pada-wan Ben Kenobi" would become "Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi" later on ...
* Because Amidala and her handmaidens looked so much alike, the handmaidens must all be clones, right? ... and that is why Darth Sidious was so interested in snatching Amidala : to get hold of Naboo's cloning technology for the upcoming Clone Wars ...


The next three years, instead of being spoiler-free, I embraced everything. The crazy fan theories on forums created around every little tidbit were fun. When I heard that Luke's uncle Owen and aunt would be in Episode II, I registered the name "Darth Lars" at a Star Wars forum with the intention of trolling about Owen's father being a Sith Lord. But instead of making fun of it, I fell in love with the community ... and then I found one part of it that did costuming and props.

 

[Apollo]

It’s a day I try to forget....

 

[Strikerkc]

And things just got better from there... a few years later, me and my nerds went to watch revenge of the sith, in theaters, opening night, because we were bored... We got there a half an hour before show time and we're the first in line...

 

[JediMichael]

You make me feel old ...

I know how you feel though. About to turn 38 in 2 months, but most everyone at my job are 18 to 23. Only a few of us are in are 30s.

 

[StevenBills]

I remember seeing it at the Cinerama in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend. I loved the podrace, the lightsaber fight at the end was something that blew my mind, as we'd only really seen slower, less intense fighting up until then.

SB

 

[Axlotl]

My boss took us all to see it - on a work day.
I remember coming out of the theater feeling just confused.
It's Star Wars, I should like it, but I didn't.
You know that Picard "WTF is this S____????" meme?
That was me. Multiple times during that first viewing.
God, I hate this movie. SO. MUCH.

 

[Psab keel]

I can't believe it's been 20 years already! I was just graduating high school and skipped class to watch it opening day. I enjoyed it at the time, but I was just in denial about it for a few years because I wanted to love it so much.

The good part about it though was it reinvigorated Star Wars on a massive scale, got me into making costumes, and I have some great memories with my friends and for those reasons I can't hate it entirely. So I can say that even if the film itself was a disappointment, the aftermath of it is what I take away as a good thing!

 

[robn1]

I was just graduating high school and skipped class to watch it opening day.

I skipped class the last week of my senior year to see ROTJ on opening day. Mom wrote a phony excuse note, she's cool like that.

 

[Kylo1]

20 years WOW already!! I remember seeing (and recording on VHS!!) the trailer for the first time and replaying again and again the snippet where Obi-Wan and Darth Maul lightsaber duel. That bit blew me away! May not be the best SW film but it was great to experience the excitement of a new Star Wars film again since ROTJ.

 

[JediMichael]

I love the soundtrack. That was a really good thing to come from the movie.

 

[Psab keel]

Yes! John Williams scores for the whole Prequel trilogy are to me right up there with his scores of the Original Trilogy. Brilliant themes and just exceptional music!

 

[Halliwax]

Opening day of episode 1 was really important to me..

I was home schooled 6-8th grade in a small private home school group. There was 6 of us all the same age. And we would all meet up once a week for group school day.

Anyway, 1999 was my first year back to public school, really lost. Started over with zero friends, and now in real school I didn’t get to see my home school friends anymore except on AOL

So we planned on all meeting at the mall to watch episode 1. I skipped school and one of the home school kids older brother picked us up and brought us to the mall (this was all cool with my mom)

They had the Star Wars arcade game there so we played that until it was time to watch it

We all loved it, ended up seeing another show right after. When we went to the pay phone (that’s right payphone) to call my mom to say we were seeing it again the security guard gave us a hard time

Saying it’s against the law to have minors in the mall with out a parent.. so we had her talk to my mom and she allowed it that one time.. we had to stay inside the theater as well

Anyway.. we saw it 2 times in a row. And most importantly I was reunited with my friends I hadn’t really seen all year besides chat room conversations..

I’ll never forget opening day of ep1..

It’s not my favorite SW movie, but it’s my favorite out of all the prequels

 

[Darth Lars]

And things just got better from there... a few years later, me and my nerds went to watch revenge of the sith, in theaters, opening night, because we were bored... We got there a half an hour before show time and we're the first in line...

The line for advance tickets to RotS over here was 270 m (1/6 mile) long. Our group waited in line for five days, and were second. We helped getting people to line up right before the gates opened: I had to go around and wake people up. From the line, we saw a student carneval, a police raid and a fight between bikers, and we were treated to a tour of the old projection room at the cinema.
When the gates opened, a band played the Star Wars theme with the conductor dressed up as Darth Vader.
When we had got our tickets, we celebrated with Champagne and cupcakes. On movie night there was an official pre-party.
The actual movie was the least entertaining part of the whole week ...

 

[Laspector]

I was all into the hype at the time. I bought all the toys, all the fast food cups and stuff. I VCRed every late night and morning talk show that had the stars on them. Then I would edit them all together for another "making of Star Wars" videotape. Still have all the tapes (later converted to disc) but I pretty much got rid of all the toys later on, deciding on just keeping OT stuff.

My friends and I waited and went to see it at a noon screening that first weekend. I came out of the theater so pumped full of adrenaline that I actually thought it was good.

I remember I saved up and bought my first DVD player and a 25" (yes, 25 large inches!!) television just for the release of the DVD.

 

[JediMichael]

So for this movie, didn't dress up. For Clones, just wore a Jedi Robe, but nothing more. For Sith, My girlfriend back then and I dressed up like this and waited in line for 8 hours with other friends. Those were good times beyond the movies themselves.
Since I was still working at the theater, they let me wear the robe over my clothes....and our general manager hated Star Wars only let me do so because she knew I was such a huge fan. They wouldn't even let the fans in line bring any type of weapons, including lightsabers.
My Saber was actually just a papertube role painted....hers was a toy that we got a quick pic with and then had to put away. I was the only one that got to keep my saber since it was only just a papertube.

 

[Laspector]

Pretty good video on the hype of it at the time.

 

[jusdrewit]

I was 13 at the time, still remember being hyped when the first trailer dropped, and I think i had to download it off Quicktime using dialup which took hours upon hours lol, then just watched it over and over, analyzing every little detail. Watched it opening day, and many times after. I know many hated it, but being 13, I do have fond memories of it. it will never match the OT to me, but i still enjoy that era and the movie.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

My primary memory saw going to the very first “Star Wars Celebration”, here in Colorado, prior to the movie being released.

It was a disappointing, dark, rain soaked, and muddy weekend that ended up being the perfect metaphor for the film that was at the center of the celebration.

I still have my Celebration Sawg bag, that was issued to all attendees, that I have never opened, even all these years later.

 

[Win7ermute]

I wasn't even a huge fan, feel asleep at the drive-in for the original when I was 7 years old. But Jar Jar f'n Binks made me so mad I almost left the theatre. Lucas destroyed his legacy pandering to children.