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Another UK Star Wars Marathon Review Posted By Britany on May 18, 2005
Philly sends in an emotional review of the May 16th Star Wars marathon at Empire Leicester Square in London.
by Philly Lilley
STAR WARS CELEBRATION DAY. The biggest Star Wars events in any galaxy.
For me the day started about 4am. As soon as I woke up, I thought, 'Today, I'm seeing Star Wars!'. Any day is good for seeing Star Wars, but this was the biggest Star Wars event ever. The first time anywhere in the world, that all 6 episodes would be shown, back to back. AND, one of the first public performances for ROTS. My mate and myself couldn't believe how lucky we were to get the tickets on the 26th April, when they went on sale. Two major fans, at this events. Awesome.
We had my mobile phone alarm set to 5am, and it played the theme music. My mate woke up and giggled, and got ready and headed off to London (we stayed on the outskirts). On the way in, I forget the amount of times we said, 'We're seeing Episode 3 today!'.
As we got closer to Leicester Square, we could see the occasional lightsaber, and hooded cloak. And as we got around the corner, into the square itself, there were hundreds of cloaks and saber's. As we got closer, we could see that the cinemas entrance was shut off by about 30 Storm Troopers. And they all looked really good. (Photo included).
So we mingled about, and then, at about 6:40am, the staff let us in.
I cannot describe the buzz that was there. There were about 1,000 fans, all with big smiles on their faces, knowing what we were about to do. Not just see ROTS for the first time, not just see all 6 episodes back to back, we were about to experience a Star Wars film, for the first time, for the last time. We we're all smiling, but at the same time, you could tell there was a little sadness in the air.
Me and my mate got to our seats, we were near the back of the front area, just to the left. Not too close, and not too far away. Since the tickets were allocated on the day, we did OK. People started coming in and the cinema started to fill.
7:00am came and everyone was pretty much sat down and ready to go. A British TV and radio presenter came to the front of the stage and said Hello. We all said Hello back in a nice, organized manor. No, wait, we all started yelling and screaming. :o) He said a few words, and then he said along the lines of '...this is the first time anywhere in the world that these films will be shown, back to back...', well, before he could finish, the audience was a noise of cheering, whistling and yelling, and all you could see was flailing lightsaber's, it was great.
After Richard, was a member of staff from the cinema announcing the times. It was really funny, coz it went like this...
A New Hope, 7 am Cheering Empire Strikes Back, 9:25 am Cheering Return of the Jedi, 11:50 am Cheering The Phantom Menace, 2:45 pm Boo's, followed about laughter at the way we all felt Attack of the Clones, 5:15 pm Cheering, but not as enthusiastic at for the first 3 films Revenge of the Sith, 9:00 pm Deafening is the best word
Then Richard did a count down, and it began. On the curtains for the screen it had the British Film Board Classification certificate that said, Star Wars, Episode 4, A New Hope. Again, deafening describes the atmosphere.
And we were off. All 1,300 fans in that cinema were about to make Star Wars, and sort of, cinema history. They were about to follow, in all its glory, a set of films from the beginning, 30 years ago, to this day. Wow!
As one of the other guys said, as all the main characters appeared on the screen, the audience acted accordingly. Vader, Boo's. Luke, cheers. Obi-Wan, cheers. Han, cheers. The Death Star going up...cheers. I was surprised there were no boo's for Greedo shooting first...that was odd. Being British, we don't show our emotions very often. But in that cinema screen, every one was going crazy. I don't think I've ever heard people in a cinema go nuts like that DURING a film, with the exception of Back to the Future, when George punches Biff. So was soo good to hear everyone going crazy.
So A New Hope finishes, and we all had to get our Galactic Passports stamped and we had to get a bit of fresh air, so most of us went outside. In the lobby were a couple of Troopers and R2, which was really cool
Then it was Empire. The film that all the fans, really love. And seeing it on the big screen again...incredible. For this on, Yoda, massive cheer. Lando, cheer.
Then, after that, we went out side, and had a look around the Square, and I said to my mate, 'Look, it's Jeremy Bulloch!', so I got a photo and was so close that he signed my Galactic Passport, and then my mates...we were so chuffed. Neither of us have met any one that famous, and we now have a GP singed by Boba Fett, (sorry his picture wasn't very good).
Then it was Jedi. Again, on the big screen, incredible. I was gob smacked at how it looked. I loved the fact that at the line, 'I am a Jedi, like my father before me! , we all went nuts. I think it was a great moment to go nuts.
I will say at this point, that the copies we watched were the 1999 Special Editions, but not the DVD Special Editions, i.e. Anakin had eyebrows and we had Sebastian instead of Hayden, but that didn't matter, it was still so cool to see Star Wars on that big screen.
As we came out for lunch, as we got outside, we could hear Mr Williams score and the London Philly or Symphonic Orchestra was there playing it all live, with massive TV screens, showing clips and original art work, it looked great. And Anthony Daniels was there, but he was doing press and stuff.
We had a bite to eat and went back in and waited for...Menace. It was weird, coz it was like everyone knew they had to watch it, but no one wanted too. But seeing it on the big screen, it was cool. I figured watching it again, you take Jar Jar out, and it's a belting film. And as you can imagine, Jar Jar, major boo's (and what was funny was, the first time you see Jar Jar, there's a lot of noise as the transports move along the ground, and then there's a quiet point were he chases Qui-Gon.. and this was the moment everyone waited for to boo, hehe). In fact, as Jar Jar was talking to Qui and Obi, I shouted 'Kill him now!' which got laughter and applause. Darth Maul got a major cheer and boo at the same time, with a big cheer at his death.
Then we went to Clones. Now, way much better on the big screen.
As Clones came to an end, the cheer was deafening again, because we then knew, that the next time was saw the 20th Century logo and hear Alfred Newmans march, IT WOULD BE TIME.
We had a live video feed into the cinema for the premiere across the Square, which was cool. We heard interviews from the man himself, Hayden, Ian, Rick. .it was great to hear them all.
Now at this time, myself , my mate and a guy next to us, got talking. At this moment in time, I had been awake for about 16 hours, and in a cinema for most of them, so I was pretty tired. But we got talking about what we were about too see. This was it! This film was what we had been waiting for for about 30 years of our lives. This was the one that tied them all together, this was the one that made the sense of every thing. As we talked, I started getting a little emotional. I love Star Wars, and this was the most important film since A New Hope originally came out in 1977. If this one sucked...we would have to kill our selves. 8:30, came and went. We knew we were having special guests, but no one knew who. 8:40, came and went. 8:50, 9:00...
Then we had an announcement, Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome, the producer of Star Wars, Rick! Flashes from cameras, lightsaber's and more noise than you can imagine. Rick made his was to the front of the cinema. He said, 'I only have two words for this film...****ing awesome!'. Everyone seemed to agree... Then he said, 'And I'd like you to meet the one that ****ed it all up and caused all the problems, the Emperor himself, Ian!'. There were boo's, but they were nice boo's. The kind of boo's that said, We all love to hate you!. Then Hayden came out. Again, to a massive welcome. And then, The Man. The one man that started all of this. The one man that made a movie that changed cinema, changed lives! It was George. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. We were all dedicated fans, from all over the world (we had guys from the States behind us, that flew in just to see it), and we were all there because of George. As he started talked, everyone did go nuts, but then let him talk. I can't remember exactly what he said, but soon everyone started shouting, in unison 'Thank you George!', it was great.
The guys left, whilst being mobbed, and then we sat down to start.
I was tired, but I was totally ready for this.
The BBFC certificate was missing, to it started with the 20th Century logo, and the music, possibly, I couldn't hear it. Everyone was on their feet. Every one was shouting. Everyone was waving there lightsaber's about. THIS WAS IT! I was shouting so much, I was getting horse, and at the same time, I started sobbing. THIS WAS IT! And the more I shouted, the more I sobbed. It was an amazing feeling. After this one, everything should make sense.
I'm not going to review, since there are loads of them.
I will say this though (I'm starting to fill up just thinking about this) GEORGE DELIVERS! This is the movie you have been waiting for. I can't understand how Menace, was so crap, Clones was OK, and this was great! And they are all from the same man! They are 3 totally different movies. You will love it!
As it came to an end...the words Written and Directed by George Lucas appeared, and the place blew up. I was so emotionally drained, I just sat there, with my head in my hands...sobbing. This was the end. But it left me wanting so much more. It was incredible. I'm seeing it again on the Wednesday night, with mates for the first time again. I don't know how I'm going to cope...
Then, George and Rick came out. It was nice to think they had watched it with us, but we don't know if the had. Rick said, 'I'm sorry, we didn't hear you, did you like the film or not?', ask a silly question, get a silly answer. By now, I was able to compose myself and yell and clap and scream. George said a few words, but I couldn't tell you exactly what was said. The crowd started chanting, 'WE WANT 9!'. I do remember him saying that he was starting work on some thing Indiana Jones 4...not sure what that'll be like. The crowd seemed to go nuts for it though. :o) He did make a joke abut seeing them in the correct order, and the he would start it now if we liked. And to be honest, we all could have.
And that was it. We had been a part of Star Wars history.
It was the most amazing day to experience. And I was just glad enough to have been there. And for all the fans waiting to see ROTS...you'll love it.
Rebelscum Breast Cancer Awareness Charity Patch Posted By Philip on November 25, 2014: Thanks to everybody that ordered patches. I sent a check for $1,600.00 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation on Monday. While it's not as much as I hoped for, it's still very much appreciated. They will remain for sale in the store for anybody that still wishes to purchase them. Details after the jump.
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