Opening Night - The Phantom Menace
May 19, 1999, 12:01amor thereabouts
It's been 16 years since the last installment of the Star Wars saga. In the meantime, a generation has been born. Those that saw the original trilogy in theaters are in many ways barely the same people they were then.
We had the opportunity to stand in line on opening night. We share some of our impressions from that night here. (We didn't stand in line to get tickets; perhaps, a fluke. :-) We're sure our experiences were repeated across the country, perhaps even more so at Mann's Chinese, in Hollywood.
As with the original movie, Episode IV: A New Hope, commonly known as ANH, this felt like an audience participation movie. (Actually, ANH was more so.)
We are in northern California. We got to the theater at 10:45pm, May 18, prepared for a chill outside the theater. There was already a long line for the 12:01am showing. We had tickets for 12:30am.
Outside the theater entrance, a couple of teenaged girls had green lightsabers in full swing, accompanied by a full complement of giggles, and occasional laughter from the crowd.
As we got in the 12:30 line, there were about 100 people already in front of us.
This was a school night. One of our friends, a high school student, remarked, "Wow. I'm the youngest one here." We looked around us. Lots of fans in their 30s and 40s, even 50s. We could imagine them (and us) being 20 years younger and being captivated by ANH when it first came out. In the intervening years, gray hairs (or lack of hair) and wrinkles have evidenced themselves. Experience and age have hardened the mind. But the wanderlust of exploring a different galaxy in a different time has remained. In this respect, there was no difference between the 50 year old and the high school student.
A mild breeze made the chill more evident. Behind us, a man in his 30s wore shorts. He got into line, bringing his folding chair. After he sat down, he put on his headset to his Walkman, turned on and adjusted his portable reading light, and pulled out his trade newspaper. (He was reading InfoWorld, a computer industry newspaper.) The breeze did not bother him. He was prepared to wait for a long time.
More people got into line. With them came sounds which we did not imagine 20 years ago. Through the chatter and joking would come high pitched stacatto beeps. And then someone would pick up his or her cellphone and answer it. Lots of cellphones in the line! Both before and behind us.
We looked around us again. Our friend was no longer the youngest. There was at least one junior high school student behind us. Obviously, this would be a night to be long remembered. It would soon see the end of the 16 year wait. It would be the beginning of a new body of lore.
No skipping school for these students, but there might be urges to yawn in class which they would have to control. No missing work for a lot of these fans either. Perhaps a deliberate yawn followed by sheepish grin, followed by someone asking, "What did YOU do last night?" ("Oh, I went to see Episode I.")
In the dimly lit parking, we caught a figure tracing the same path over and over. "What is she doing?" "She's walking in circles." "She's trying to stay warm."
About 11:30pm, a roaring cheer suddenly went up from the 12:01 line. Several lightsabers of different colors pointed in the air. A pair of theater doors had opened. The line slowly filed into the theater.
It took a long time for the line to enter the theater. We could imagine. Only one pair of doors. Every person's ticket needs to be checked. The people need to get seated. People need to get out and get refreshments, come back, and get settled again.
No wonder they needed to allow a half hour before show time for the line to file in.
When it was our turn, a cheer went up from our line.
Each ticket was checked twice. At the door of the theater, it was checked by one of two attendants. Since the movie was showing at two times, another pair of attendants made sure our tickets matched the correct showing.
Furthermore, they looked at the front and the back of each ticket, and shined an ultraviolet light on it to ensure that it wasn't a forgery.
Furthermore, if we went out to get refreshments (or other personal business), we could not get back into this showing without the tickets.
Furthermore.... naw, that's enough.
People got settled in. Since we were in the 12:30am showing, there was a somewhat better selection of seats. It was apparant that this was overflow from the 12:01am showing.
Now we could get a better view of the audience and appreciate its diversity.
A few families had come for the first showings. They were not waiting for the weekend. In front of us, one family had brought a booster chair to place on the theater seat. A small child was lifted into place by his father. Behind us, we heard someone say, "Isn't it past his bedtime?"
A group of college students sat closer to the front, actively trading barbs, making jokes about each other. When showtime arrived and the theater had not darkened yet, they began to sing...
... the opening notes from the John Williams film score. A hint to the projectionist that the aubience was ready and waiting.
In a few more minutes, the theater grew dark. Previews of coming attractions. More previews. More previews. Okay. Some of the previews were pretty good.
Finally, the 20th Century Fox fanfare. Cheers from the audience. And then
A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away....
You know what comes after this. And beyond that, we won't spoil it.