How many times did you see Star Wars in 1977 ?

[Nostalgiabuff]

I did see Jedi on opening night in 1983. that was fun

[MIB41]

I saw Star Wars maybe three times over the course of that first year. But I also remember the movie being a kind of sleeper hit (by today's standard's anyway). People tend to forget there had never been anything like Star Wars before that first film, so it took a few weeks for it to coalesce and pull the curious in. I myself vividly remember seeing the trailers and not being able to make heads or tails out of what Chewbacca was. But what I will NEVER forget was Siskel and Ebert hating it. They use to have this series called "Sneak Previews" that was carried on PBS back in the 70's (It would later get syndicated and become "At the movies" in the 80's with the spread of cable television). Anyway, when they first reviewed it, they laughed at it. They thought the dialogue was terrible, the acting was campy, and the movie a sure-fire bomb. Why would I remember something so mundane as a movie review? Because I used that as the reason not to go when some of my friends invited me and was blown away at their reaction when they got back home. They were absolutely out of their minds. From there it took me several more weeks to get in because theater availability in those days was not like it is today. And even on that first night, I think I waited in line for at least an hour. This was back in the days when you could tell how big a movie was by going past your local theater and seeing if there was a line wrapped around the complex. This was before the internet and social media so you had to pretty much have eyes on the experience to know about it. Once the movie broke big, Siskel and Ebert mysteriously revised their review and NEVER gave any subsequent entries a poor rating again. Funny how that works.

[Mikey]

I could never understand the value of a movie critic

To me it's like a food critic --- people like what they like and another person's opinion is meaningless.

Siskel always said Saturday Night Fever was his most favorite movie of all time --- I thought it was boring as hell (sans the music)

[ubermanx]

Here's a list of those original theaters. I wonder how many have survived.

In case any Canadians are wondering ...

Openning day in Canada was June 24,1977 (except as noted belowe)

ALBERTA
Calgary at the Uptown, North Hill and Stampede Drive-In
Edmonton at the Odeon, Meadowlark and Twin 1 Drive-In

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver at the Vogue, Dumbar, Fraser and Westminster Drive-In

MANITOBA
Winnipeg at the Grant Park and Kings

NEWFOUNDLAND
On November 4, 1977 at the Avalon Mall

NOVA SCOTIA
Halifax on July 15, 1977 at the Casino

ONTARIO:
Toronto at the Varsity (one screening in Dolby stereo!), Fairview, Finch, Sheridian Mississauga, Danforth, Skyway Plaza, 400 Drive-In and Te Pee Drive-In
Ottawa on July 22, 1977 at the Somerset, Aladdin Drive-In and Auto Sky Drive-In

QUEBEC
Drummondville en Français Decembre 23, 1977 at the Drummond
Montreal in English on June 24, 1977 at the Place Bonaventure, Place Victoria, Cote De Neiges, Ciné-Parc Chateauguay and Ciné-Parc St. Eustache
Montreal en Français on Decembre 23, 1977 at the Champlain, Verdun, Odeon Laval and Brossard
Quebec City en Français on Decembre 23, 1977 at Le Dauphin
St. Hyacinthe en Français on Decembre 23, 1977 at the Cinéma de Paris
St. Jean en Français on Decembre 23, 1977 at the Capitol
St. Jerome en Français on Decembre 23, 1977 at the Rex

SASKATCHEWAN
Regina on July 29, 1977 at the Roxy

SOURCE: http://movie-theatre.org/canada/starwars/starwars.htm

I saw Star Wars three times that summer. The first was a total surprise as my Mom just told me to get in the car. Dad drove us to downtown and let us out. I had no idea what I was in for but it significantly changed my life. Gone were all other toys. Sheets, blankets, posters, toys, PJs ... all Star Wars.

Another cool fact is that my Mom, being a Polish immigrant with not the best language skills assumed Star Wars was re-released in 1978 and tried to surprise me again. This time however the movie we saw was the theatrical release of the Battlestar Galactica pilot recut to a feature film (I later found out this was only done up here in Canada, Europe and in a few Latin American countries).

- Marty

[SentientApe]

I once cooked for Gene Siskel, and he was very pleased with the meal, so sometimes they are BOTH.

...And on that day, I left the kitchen to meet him, and told him that I appreciated his reviews. Specifically, that whether he had the same opinion as I would have (as we often disagreed), at least I knew whether or not I wanted to go see it. He responded: "So you think I'm a bad critic?", and I classified: "Not at all... I always listen to what you say about a movie because, whether you liked it or not, the information you provide in your reviews is always sufficient for me be able to tell if it is something I want to go see."

Nothing earth-shattering... that's simply my one and only interaction with Gene Siskel, when I happened to be a Film Critic Critic and (according to the feedback I later received) he reciprocated by being a Film Critic Critic Food Critic.

[Godzilla]

I think I saw it 7 times before Empire come out.

[Bruce Banner]

Yeah, a lot of people claim to have seen the cut Anchorhead scenes, largely because they were included in the Marvel adaptation, the novelization, and the Star Wars Storybook.

[Allie Fox]

I saw Star Wars maybe three times over the course of that first year. But I also remember the movie being a kind of sleeper hit (by today's standard's anyway). People tend to forget there had never been anything like Star Wars before that first film, so it took a few weeks for it to coalesce and pull the curious in. I myself vividly remember seeing the trailers and not being able to make heads or tails out of what Chewbacca was. But what I will NEVER forget was Siskel and Ebert hating it. They use to have this series called "Sneak Previews" that was carried on PBS back in the 70's (It would later get syndicated and become "At the movies" in the 80's with the spread of cable television). Anyway, when they first reviewed it, they laughed at it. They thought the dialogue was terrible, the acting was campy, and the movie a sure-fire bomb. Why would I remember something so mundane as a movie review? Because I used that as the reason not to go when some of my friends invited me and was blown away at their reaction when they got back home. They were absolutely out of their minds. From there it took me several more weeks to get in because theater availability in those days was not like it is today. And even on that first night, I think I waited in line for at least an hour. This was back in the days when you could tell how big a movie was by going past your local theater and seeing if there was a line wrapped around the complex. This was before the internet and social media so you had to pretty much have eyes on the experience to know about it. Once the movie broke big, Siskel and Ebert mysteriously revised their review and NEVER gave any subsequent entries a poor rating again. Funny how that works.

I'm not so sure. . .

HERE is Ebert original review of the film; inexplicably dated January 1, 1977. Nevertheless, he rates it four out of four stars.

This is an image of Siskel's original review as it appeared in the Tribune:
SiskelSW77.jpg

and here they are together defending the series against John Simon's pompous *****.

[MIB41]

^^^ January 1977? The film didn't even get previewed until late May and the Siskel review is already eluding to the Time magazine cover hype. The video is more a retrospect with Jedi being the latest release, which matches what I was saying about them supporting the franchise after that first miscue. Sneak Previews was something they did for local broadcasting. I sat there and watched them talk me right out of seeing it. This was before the movie opened or any buzz was apparent. What I do know is that was not their position after the fact. My memory is crystal on that. 70's media was not the 24/7 watchdog that today's social media provides. This happened and they absolutely did an about face when it was apparent they were the odd couple out. I'm sure that's also why they became such vocal champions of it to repay the slam.

[hedrap]

Saw the original run with the family at a Jersey drive-in. For years, I used to talk to my brother about the "Jabba scene". I insisted the comic adaptation it was wrong and Jabba was "the fat guy on Star Trek with the Tribbles"...which was my impression after seeing Cyrano in syndication a few years later. It wasn't until clips started popping on Laser Disc and whatnot that he realized it wasn't a hallucination.

EDIT: my parents were huge sci-fi fans. They made it an appointment to watch Trek during its network run. I saw countless movies at a quite young age because of them, like the Kong remake opening weekend in NYC, or re-releases of the Universal and Godzilla stuff. Unless it was straight-up scary, like Jaws, I was there. I distinctly remember Close Encounters as that was freaky-deaky. My brother was lucky enough to see the last POTA, Jaws and Alien in theater.

[Boy_Wonder_1978]

Sadly I'm too young to have seen Star Wars in 1977 (which actually feels good too say, lol). The only one I saw on opening day was Jedi in 1983.

[Vermillion-Windmere]

3 times.

[mirrorman]

3 or maybe 4 times, I don't recall exactly.

I do remember that last viewing was during that summer in a holiday area along the coast. It was screened in the local community hall, which double as the movie theatre .. with a large white sheet of material as the screen, and a sound system that consisted of a pair of plastic car speakers ( the ones you used to see half melted on the back parcel shelve of older cars) tacked onto the wall either side of the sheet.

I don't recall many people being in attendance, so me an my buddies were obviously able to sit as close the screen as we wanted and take in the superior sound .. lol

[BATMAN89]

I saw it once.