It was 30 years ago today.....

Just take in that video in for a sec. Bask in the greatest special effects 1977 had to offer. Take a minute to think about your relationship with these movies..... I will give you mine.

I was born in '79 so I really remember ROTJ most vividly. The sand, little yoda, Gammorean guards, Jabba, Emporer’s Royal Guards, chase in Endor, ect. I don't know if my parents brought me to subsequent rereleases of Empire and ANH, but I know we had them on VHS. I remember receiving C-3PO's action figure when I was up coughing at 3AM. I remember a Han Solo figure on a car ride. I remember the Darth Vader carrying case for all my action figures. I remember the X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Ewok village playset. I remember collecting the POTF line in '95 with my brother. I remember somehow knowing that Obi-Wan and Anakin fought on this lava planet. I remember knowing that there were episodes 1-3 and 7-9, assuming they were in book format. I remember seeing the Special Edition of Empire in the dead of winter at the Madison Theater. I remember the announcement that there would be new Star Wars films.

It's a factor of your age for sure. I can imagine what it was like for people older than I to go into the theater and see the effin' Rebel Blockade Runner enter from the top of the screen, followed by the Imperial Star Destroyer. What an assault on your senses! Audiences had never seen anything even close to that.

Now I'm 28 and I focus more on Lucas' sins. Why was there so little product directly from him post Indiana Jones? Why not continue to push storytelling further as Spielberg did? Where was the magic in episodes 1 and 2? There was a little in 3, and maybe that was just nostalgia tweaking my nose. Maybe you just can't go home again. But this is the anniversary of the original, lets forget about all that and salute him and his crew for creating The Star Wars.