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In May of 1977, Ray Harryhausen, Charles Schneer and Beverley Cross were touring the globe, promoting Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger. I met them at a weekend-long convention in Troy, Michigan, USA.
At that point, nobody had yet seen Star Wars, but the convention was abuzz with everyone talking about it!
Even Ray was asking if anybody had seen it yet.
News broke out that the Star Wars trailer (the first one posted above) was going to be shown in a particular ballroom where a line-up of Harryhausen films was being presented. Everyone packed the place to watch that trailer, and all of our socks were knocked right off!
It all looked so dazzling, fresh and new back then!
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Posted: |
May 27, 2016 - 10:48 PM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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Having grown up with the original PLANET OF THE APES (which I first saw when I was just shy of eight years old in April 1968), I was about to turn eighteen and getting out of High School when STAR WARS came out. I remember seeing the trailer before the movie opened and all it looked like to me was updated Flash Gordon like stuff with the inclusion of funny robots.
It didn't excite me, but I wanted to see it.
Seeing it turned out to be kind of a pain in the ass, as there were lines which meant the theater was crowded, but I'd been through this same thing a couple years before with JAWS.
So as to the movie itself, I recall when I saw STAR WARS for the first time I spent a lot of the time during it wonder when a big reveal would arrive, something that would tie this to the earth and to make the movie relevant to us and the real world.
Chariots of the Gods had been a big thing back in the mid-seventies, and I thought the reveal in STAR WARS would be that these people in the movie were the vistors from space that visited the earth thousands of years ago and seeded our planet. But with STAR WARS it never arrived. It would be "Battlestar Galactica" that would do that.
So for me, STAR WARS will always be a thing with no real life relevance, just fantasy, not meaningful Science Fiction.
However, had I been eight in 1977 instead of eighteen, I would probably have a different opinion of STAR WARS.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2016 - 1:08 AM
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By: |
Mike_J
(Member)
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I distinctly recall seeing this and how excited I was about the movie.
To put things in context. I always loved going to the cinema as a kid but when my mum died in 1976 - when I was 12 - I sort of threw myself into going to the movies a lot and would go probably once a week, which was unusual in the UK back in those days for anyone, particularly a kid.
In those old, pre-Internet days, the only way I knew what was showing was by the advert in the local paper, but the trailers would give you an idea of what was coming up and what to look out for. If my memory serves correctly, back in those days, it was the norm to get trailers for movies that were opening the following week or so and it was pretty rare that you would get a preview of something that was months away from release.
I can't recall what film I saw when the Star Wars trailer was screened but I do know it was at the Odeon, St Albans and that I was sitting in my favourite seat - which I always tried to grab, even if it meant getting to the cinema ridiculously early (you couldn't book seats in those days either).
I always looked forward to the trailers in any event but this one just absolutely blew me away. I couldn't wait to see this Star Wars thing because it looked unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
Sure,maths trailer is badly edited and a bit cheesy now. But try to put yourself into the mindset of a youngster growing up in the 70s. Back then, it was pure magic.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2016 - 1:25 AM
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By: |
Ian J.
(Member)
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...
So as to the movie itself, I recall when I saw STAR WARS for the first time I spent a lot of the time during it wonder when a big reveal would arrive, something that would tie this to the earth and to make the movie relevant to us and the real world.
Chariots of the Gods had been a big thing back in the mid-seventies, and I thought the reveal in STAR WARS would be that these people in the movie were the vistors from space that visited the earth thousands of years ago and seeded our planet. But with STAR WARS it never arrived. It would be "Battlestar Galactica" that would do that.
So for me, STAR WARS will always be a thing with no real life relevance, just fantasy, not meaningful Science Fiction.
However, had I been eight in 1977 instead of eighteen, I would probably have a different opinion of STAR WARS.
It's interesting you say this. I've heard it from others too, a feeling that for fiction to be relevant (and not just science fiction) it has to be linked to us as humans on Earth otherwise why bother? I was eight when I saw Star Wars in 1978, and enjoyed it immensely and never had a problem with trying to link its characters and events to Earth - that simply wasn't needed - and in my view it's one of Star Wars' strengths.
My subjective opinion has therefore come out differently to yours. As an adult I believe that fiction away from Earth doesn't need to be linked to us here in order for it to have resonance. Characters don't even have to be human, though they do need to have human traits for us to become engaged to a story.
Back to the trailer, I seem to remember seeing it at some point, though as SW wasn't released here in the U.K. until into 1978 I'm surprised a new trailer wasn't available by then with music and such.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2016 - 6:05 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Don't get me wrong, folks, I was as excited as any kid in '77 (and '78, '79 etc.) when those trailers and re-release trailers were on tv. I suppose the trailers now don't look so exciting or maybe as polished as ones produced in recent years where everything is so much slicker even if the movies themselves are lacking.
jenkwombat: you the nail on the head when you said that Fox (and perhaps even Lucas himself) didn't know what kind of movie they had because that first attempt is cautious and cagey as hell. Has George Lucas ever commented on the advertising for the first film?
MikeJ: Always interesting to read the UK side of things. Iirc Star Wars opened much later over there. I also can say that I know I relied on movies, books--and to a lesser extent, TV, to deal with some seriously bad events in my own childhood.
RoryR: I don't have a problem with Star Wars not relating to we morons here on Earth. In fact, one of my pet peeves is when sci-fi writing panders to humankind. I'm paraphrasing here: "These humans are far more reselient than we, the superior alien race, initially thought! These humans are a most fascinating species, unlike any we have ever encountered before!" I've always hated that crap. LOL I understand where you're comng from re: the age one is when seeing these films for the first time. I always say that if I were a few years younger when The Goonies was released, I would have probably worshipped that movie; however, being a bit older, I much preferred Stand By Me's coming-of-age tale.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2016 - 7:52 AM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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It's interesting you say this. I've heard it from others too, a feeling that for fiction to be relevant (and not just science fiction) it has to be linked to us as humans on Earth otherwise why bother? I was eight when I saw Star Wars in 1978, and enjoyed it immensely and never had a problem with trying to link its characters and events to Earth - that simply wasn't needed - and in my view it's one of Star Wars' strengths.
My subjective opinion has therefore come out differently to yours. As an adult I believe that fiction away from Earth doesn't need to be linked to us here in order for it to have resonance.
Yeah, but the problem with your view is that everything in fiction is about humanity. Humanity is all there is. You may think right now, but what about other animals? But other animals don't have our minds. Only we have our minds and when we create fantasy creatures and alien species in fiction, we're really only recreating ourselves.
This is why PLANET OF THE APES had such an impact on me and others -- it's really about us. So, I like Science Fiction and Fantasy as comment, as critique on humanity, because until we actually find another intelligence in the universe, the reality is we only know ourselves -- and we're still working on trying to understand ourselves.
That's why I find STAR WARS actually kind of offensive, because the only thing of relevance that it has to say about we humans is "Boy, we love war! Isn't it great when we're at war? Let's always be at war!" It's the same thing that other fantasies like LORD OF THE RINGS and GAME OF THRONES are really saying, and the irony is, from what you say is your subjective opinion, is that it is still commenting on humanity -- and it's not saying a good thing about us.
I'm not trying to insult you, but you need to work on your subjective opinion a bit.
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Posted: |
May 28, 2016 - 11:43 AM
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By: |
RoryR
(Member)
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RoryR comes out of the 1960s and early '70s "All Sci-Fi Must be a Dystopian Allegory" and he is unable to enjoy anything except for what makes him miserable.
Just a wild guess, but as accurate as Luke's Force-guided torpedo into the first of so many damned Death Stars.
Oh, I guess I must have hit a nerve! Sorry.
I understand how much some boys and girls love STAR WARS and such things. I can understand it, but it's just not "my cup of tea," if I may use the parlance of what seems to be a few limeys I'm talking to here. (No offense -- I love the UK and most things British. But I also love calling Brits limeys.)
All I'm saying is that I prefer my Science Fiction and Fantasy to have some brains in its head! I like it to be intellectually intriguing. You know, stimulating to the mind. To have something to say beyond just "Let's escape our humdrum lives." It doesn't have to be deep or really substantial, or depressing, but what's wrong with asking that it have some modicum of intelligent comment on the human condition (and I mean the here and now as I live it day to day) to make it truly interesting and have worthy substance?
For me, STAR WARS is just too hopelessly juvenile. It's a modern extrapolation on the old fables of dashing knights and princesses in need of rescue and castles and dragons and magic wizards, dressed up in futuristic garb and pretense as Science Fiction -- exactly what Flash Gordon was and still is. Call me crazy, but I find it boring. I know there was an effort by Lucas back in the early eighties with Joseph Cambell to make STAR WARS more substantive, but I only think that was done because Lucas got pretentious.
So, this is why STAR WARS doesn't do it for me. I don't hate it, but I prefer things like STAR TREK. ST can get pretty silly (in fact, very silly!), but at least it tries to have scientific substance.
Now instead of attacking me, why not tell me what of substance there is in STAR WARS beyond just mindless "fun", I'd like to hear it, but what I guess you'll say is, "Yeah, it's mindless but what's wrong with that? Why can't you enjoy mindless escapism, too? There must be something wrong with you."
Well, up to a point I can enjoy mindless escapism, too, but I haven't been an eight-year-old in a long time, and I'd really rather have more nutritional value to the SF/Fantasy entertainment meal I'm offered. Can you live with that? Because I'm really doing fine with you and a whole friggin' lot of other people just crazy about liking STAR WARS, but I have my opinion of it.
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