How did I end up here?

Last week, I saw Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D on the big screen or as the cool kids would call it TPM3D.  My buddy Josh and I reminisced before the show about our first experience when TPM3D was just TPM for the first time in May 19^th, 1999.

How did we end up being the first in line for TPM?

Like everything in life, it was a process.  I remember seeing TESB (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back) for the first time and just blowing my 5yr old brain away.  I spent hours playing with my Star Wars action figures in my sand box and building sand castles/bases for my Star Wars figures to explore whole new worlds.  We would get new sand every year and it was like finding a long lost treasure as I dig through the sand and find some of my old Star Wars figs that didn’t quite make it back from the last mission.   “Look sir, Droids!” as a famous stormtrooper once said.  I would also put my Star Wars figures in a glass of water and freeze and unfreeze them countless times reenacting my own twisted version of Han Solo in Carbonite.   There were many winters I spent pretending my sled was a snowspeeder racing down the hill dodging the ever imposing AT-AT’s leg from crushing me.

But life moved on and my love for Star Wars faded as I grew older, well I should say it was buried under all that growning up being teenager stuff.  One day, I was in the high school cafeteria and my lunch acquaintance was deeply entrenched in a book, so I was curious on what had him so engrossed.  He simply stated that it was a Star Wars book.  “A Star Wars book?” I questioned quizzically.  He was reading Timothy Zahn’s - Heir to the Empire which came out in May 1992.  He started talking about there was a clone jedi in the book and the Imperial City, Coruscant and I was like I must read this now.  So I have Timothy Zahn to thank for my putting my interest back into Star Wars.  Soon after that the EU (Expanded Universe) exploded with Dark Horse Comics and Del Rey books expanding the Star Wars on amazing levels.

Then came my second jolt, toys. In 1995, Kenner release the Power of the Force 2 Action Figures.  Now I was that 5yr old kid again playing in my sand box, but this time my toys didn’t have broken limbs or sand imbedded in them.  I kept them nice and bought two, (applying the rule of two of the Sith, a master and an apprentice) one to display and one to keep pristine.  It was a sickness or the force, or my addictive nature, but my love for Star Wars was ever present and it never changed.

Around this time, there was rumors that Lucas was thinking about re-releasing the Sacred Trilogy or Original Trilogy with additional footage.  Soon that rumor became reality and in 1997 the 20^th anniversary of a New Hope the Special Editions were released to some controversy because the little tweaks made to the films, but as a rabid Star Wars fan it was just awesome to see them back in the theaters on the big screen.   

Soon after that there were rumblings that a Prequel was planned when in fact Lucas started writing the draft in 1994 for TPM.  The “internet” this new tool of information was all a buzz about when principal photography began.  There were rumors of the film melting in Tunisia aka Tatooine cause it was so hot and that there was a sandstorm and everything was ruined.  Despite all that I try not be distracted because focus on the positive; that there was going to be a new Star Wars film in 16yrs.

Then, which is so common place now, the “trailer” was going to be released on the starwars.com and I would look daily on the internet to gooble up any morsel I could get of TPM.  I wanted to be a purest and I didn’t want to know everything, but I wanted to know everything when it came to the film.  Once the trailer was released, I must have watched it a 1000 times analyzing every single frame of film to see if I can fill in the gaps of what I read and what I felt the story was goig to be.  I went even so far as to see a terrible movie, Wing Commander in March 1999 with Freddie Prinze Jr. just so I can see the trailer on the big screen.

As the countdown, began for May 19^th, 1999, Star Wars was in a fever pitch. The fanboy in was like wait a minute half of this people didn’t know what Star Wars and just along for the ride.  But I felt cool, like you were part of something special when us kids that saw it when it first come out and now going to be able to share that with their kids or just people who never got it the first time around.  Hasbro was releasing the first set of action figures on May 3^rd.  Toysrus had a midnight release and you best believe I was there in line.  A bunch of grown men throwing their money on plastic toys and it was Star Wars nirvana.  It was awesome.

So as the days approached, it was determined that we had to be the first one to see the film. Now granted, I was not going to go as far as camping out for days, weeks, months in front of the Chinese Mann Theater in Hollywood, CA where Star Wars was shown first on the big screen in 1977 to see it first like some dedicated fans were doing.  I still had a day job, but I was going to see it at Midnight.  So we figured out the logistics and had our tickets pre-purchased.  The Paramount Theater in Kankakee, IL was going to be our destination.

Now when I say we, I mean my close friends: Micah, Luke (yes, Luke is a biblical name as one of Jesus’s 12 disciples, but a little bit of me thinks that had to do something with Luke Skywalker) and Josh.   I can’t remember who or how it was decided, but we had to wait in line and get there early.  Of course, we had our ticket and of course we would be able to get in, but this was Star Wars and we wanted to be the first.  There was no plan, there was just like after work we just go wait in line.  And we just showed up, for all thise time to wait, we really didn’t think about it, just had ticket in hand we are ready to go.  In retrospect, you would think we had a better game plan for waiting in line, but I guess we just blinded by the fact we need to see this movie.

Why do people go see bands? When they can listen to them anytime on the radio, digitally or whatever means…it was for that experience to feel the music to soak up the energy to be with people that equally enjoy the music and want to have a good time…the same can be said with going to see a midnight release.  These people are crazy/stupid as you to wait for hours, to see a movie.  And we we were there and just sat and talked and reminisced on Star Wars and had our own theories on the TPM plot.  Of course, being the resident expert on EU, I had some serious backing to my theories but again, there was still that unknown….

As time progressed, people showed up some more prepared then us, but we were the first and that all that mattered.  As the sun faded, and the lights began to turn on, the marquee was changed to read to read simply Star Wars.  It was finally here, now the line began to wrap around the building it was 100 strong, and we would take turns and walk down and see all the costumes the bad and the good and see everyone as excited as us.  The local paper interviewed us and we super stoked we are going to be in the paper, local celebrities, ha.  Instead of your local hopped up cars, blasting rap music ….now it was Imperial March being blasted to roars of the crowd waiting along the building.

About 9pm, the energy was electric and the anticipation was overwhelming.  By 10pm, they let us into the theater and we were the very first and the Force guided us to our prime seating of course.  Like a heard of Banthas, we invaded the theater.  The theater was filled with every walk of life, just as Star Wars with unique and interesting characters.  The staff was doing its best to get everyone to push in cause it was packed house.  Everyone had their toy lightsabers out and making their Star Wars sounds and quote references.  The staff a let a couple people on stage for a costume contest.  We even had a couple peeps get on the stage and do a little lightsaber.  A fanboys dream, a dude in a Yoda costume got on his knees and fought the infamous Darth Vader entertained the crowd with a fierce lightsaber battle.  Everyone wishing they could control time with some power of the Force, desperately looking at their watches and phones…waiting for time to change, but despite their best efforts, the clock still clicked a second at a time.

Finally at 12:01 am - May 19th, 1999 was upon us….then the 20th Century Foxfanfare came on with wild cheers of 500 people strong, then LucasFilm popped up and then the roar got louder and there is this second pause and the screen goes pitch black and my heart skipped a beat when the famous John Williams score started and Star Wars flashed upon the screen, and a tear of joy was shed as a new Star Wars, a new generation of fans was going to happen, and once again, I was that 5yr old boy seeing The Empire Strikes Back  for the first time….pass the popcorn please.