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re: Star Wars questions for any old timers
Posted on 12/27/15 at 9:43 pm to RandySavage
Posted on 12/27/15 at 9:43 pm to RandySavage
The answer to your question can easily be found online. The history is written. Star Wars was a phenomenon that evolved over time. Word of mouth was the driving force behind the original film's success.
1
Posted on 12/27/15 at 9:45 pm to RollTide1987
I was really too young for the real Star Wars. But remember it was a long three years waiting for ROTJ.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 9:46 pm to RandySavage
It hit pretty early, but consider it opened in 32 cinemas on a Thursday, broadened to 40 by the weekend, as the kids were all getting out of school for the summer in 1977...
...and then, all hell broke loose. Within a week or 2, people started organizing group events, multiple viewings, the punks were sneaking in or hiding to watch it over and over again - groups would stay at the cinema all day. It is the "moon landing" of films - in that, I was a kid and I can remember what going to films was like before that, and since (especially for a big, hyped film - which Star Wars really wasn't - there wasn't such a thing as overhyping a film - we watched 2 or 3 hours of television a day - maybe - and maybe a few more on the weekend, everything shut down at midnight, most of America was in the pre-cable era, with 3 to 5 broadcast options in most markets).
So, it was part marketing and part word of mouth, and all phenomenon.
...and then, all hell broke loose. Within a week or 2, people started organizing group events, multiple viewings, the punks were sneaking in or hiding to watch it over and over again - groups would stay at the cinema all day. It is the "moon landing" of films - in that, I was a kid and I can remember what going to films was like before that, and since (especially for a big, hyped film - which Star Wars really wasn't - there wasn't such a thing as overhyping a film - we watched 2 or 3 hours of television a day - maybe - and maybe a few more on the weekend, everything shut down at midnight, most of America was in the pre-cable era, with 3 to 5 broadcast options in most markets).
So, it was part marketing and part word of mouth, and all phenomenon.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 9:55 pm to Ace Midnight
Where were you seeing this?
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:16 pm to prplhze2000
quote:
And I think it ran well past six months at the theatre.
it ran in some for over a year. I think it played at Lakeside Mall until October of 78
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:17 pm to H-Town Tiger
I saw it as a little kid at that big theater behind Bon Marche. It only had two screens. Was real nice
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:20 pm to Fewer Kilometers
quote:
Where were you seeing this?
Alexandria, then coverage on the television.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:31 pm to Fewer Kilometers
quote:
Where were you seeing this?
Yeah this movie had a ton of hype behind it. There were lines like crazy for the first few days of its wide release. Just google it if need be. I remember seeing some stories recently on reddit about it. Lots of old-timers online have been talking about their experiences for the first one.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:33 pm to ReturnoftheMuschamp
quote:
Yeah this movie had a ton of hype behind it. There were lines like crazy for the first few days of its wide release.
Nope. The hype came later.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 10:39 pm to RandySavage
Keep in mind that these were the days prior to every theater being a multiplex.
Outside of the huge cities, you'd have Star Wars available at one theater, possibly two.
Outside of the huge cities, you'd have Star Wars available at one theater, possibly two.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 11:10 pm to Uncle Stu
that does look pretty horrible.Posted on 12/27/15 at 11:17 pm to Fewer Kilometers
quote:
Nope. The hype came later.
No the hype was there when it went wide. Unless the thousands of people who have shared their stories about waiting in line for hours on opening night for a pack theater are lying, then yeah the hype was there at the start.
Posted on 12/27/15 at 11:41 pm to ReturnoftheMuschamp
quote:
No the hype was there when it went wide. Unless the thousands of people who have shared their stories about waiting in line for hours on opening night for a pack theater are lying, then yeah the hype was there at the start.
So do you think that those of us that were around in '77 are lying to you? Or do you think that there was massive hype prior to the opening of Star Wars and no one in this thread seemed to notice it?
Outside of the sci-fi mags (which few people read) there wasn't much buzz about Star Wars. The producers themselves were caught off guard when it was a big hit. There may have been big openings in New York and L.A. and the like, but around here it was all word of mouth.
This post was edited on 12/27/15 at 11:42 pm
Posted on 12/27/15 at 11:54 pm to Fewer Kilometers
There may not have been big hype in Louisiana, but there was plenty of hype elsewhere. It was no where near what it was for TFA if that's what you were asking, but there were lines all over America opening weekend. Just Google it dude. Believe me or not, it happened, your personal experience isn't the definitive take on what happened. OP question was answered anyways.
Posted on 12/28/15 at 12:41 am to ReturnoftheMuschamp
quote:
There may not have been big hype in Louisiana, but there was plenty of hype elsewhere.
Eventually there was hype: LINK
quote:
It’s hard to remember a day when Star Wars wasn’t a towering cultural and marketing event, but on May 25, 1977, it was a smallish movie opening on a Wednesday in just 32 theaters.
There was no premiere.
“Theaters didn't want the movie. We were lucky to get thirty theaters to open it,” Charles Lippincott, former Lucasfilm promotions chief later said of the troubled and much-delayed production.
That's how much hype there was. Theaters didn't even want it.
quote:
There were rave reviews in many newspapers and Time magazine’s May 30 cover proclaimed it “The Year’s Best Movie,” but the movie began playing in mostly-empty theaters.
This website has a good rundown of the slow expansion of Star Wars in the Summer of '77.
LINK
They had to open as they were able to make new prints of the film. The studio wasn't prepared for such a wide distribution. They started in April with 32 theaters and made enough prints to expand to over 1,000 by August.
There was little hype because the studio didn't know what they had. Once the national papers and magazines picked up on it the buzz started. But that was after it had been in the theaters for a month.
Posted on 12/28/15 at 12:48 am to RandySavage
it was marketed (on the radio) as a cowboy movie in space. I remember my dad took me to see because he thought it was a western...
after it blew up and all the toys came out was when it became a phenomenon.
after it blew up and all the toys came out was when it became a phenomenon.
Posted on 12/28/15 at 1:27 am to cgrand
That's one of the worst trailers I've ever seen. Why is there no music? And the lightsabers don't have color - had they not finished the special effects rendering upon release of the trailer?
Posted on 12/28/15 at 1:34 am to cgrand
No,no,no. This guy has told you that the hype was huge before it was shown in only 32 theaters. People were lined up and even camping out in places other than Louisiana. Theaters across the nation declined to run the film because it was to huge to accommodate the anticipated crowds.
Really though , he is confusing the hype that occurred a month after it had been in theaters with the actual release date. But I don't think you can tell him that without him insisting you are wrong.
Really though , he is confusing the hype that occurred a month after it had been in theaters with the actual release date. But I don't think you can tell him that without him insisting you are wrong.
Posted on 12/28/15 at 1:36 am to Dick Leverage
But he Googled it.
Posted on 12/28/15 at 6:32 am to RandySavage
I was around 10 when I first saw the trailer, and I just remember being afraid of Chewbacca.
I remember having the soundtrack album, which was a pretty big deal back then because who buys albums of orchestra music?
I remember having the soundtrack album, which was a pretty big deal back then because who buys albums of orchestra music?
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