It’s like Lucas used an Excel template to make trailers… (“The future is coming”…“A love story filmed on location in the 21st century” lol)
I was 23 when Star Wars was released. Having been spoiled by 2001: A Space Odyssey way back in '68*, I was meh on SW based on the trailers. Friends convinced me to see it…and I was still meh: coupla whiny kids and a gearhead dick from Modesto battle the Luftwaffe – in space!
* Purely by chance, I attended the April 2, 1968 world premiere of 2001 at the Uptown Theater in D.C. Big (BIG) screen and kickass sound – people in the audience were fainting from the intense experience! That was a Tuesday, and I thought, “Best day ever, cool!” Then Thursday happened…worst day ever, shit.
Yeah, I don’t think it will perform well at the box office at all. Let’s face it, science fiction just does not sell movie tickets. Now that new movie with dreamy Burt Reynolds and America’s finest comedian, Jackie Gleason, hoo boy! Hold onto your hats!
I remember seeing a commercial on TV a few times. Spaceships shooting at each other. Totally good enough for me, age 12. Was not disappointed. My mom couldn’t get over the very smart dog.
I don’t remember it at all (I was 7 at the time). I must’ve heard about it, somehow: I had built a Lego spaceship and showed it to my parents, who said it looked like something from Star Wars. I can remember asking them, “what’s Star Wars, anyway?” So it must have been in the air.
Anyway, shortly thereafter, Dad took us to see it and that was at the end of the summer of '77, like a day or two before school started.
I am astounded at how awful some old trailers are for really great movies. They got much, MUCH better, but nowadays seem to all use the same template again with a few that stand out as something different.
Here’s the trailer for Ghostbusters which manages to make it neither scary nor funny. (Once again, who picked the narrator? We really got spoiled by the good trailer voices later on!)
I distinctly recall not wanting to see it based on the trailers (maybe it was this one). I had to be dragged to the theatre by my parents. After 15 minutes, I looked like this (sans 3D glasses):
Wow, that’s…wow. I don’t remember ever seeing this. Probably just as well.
I was eight at the time, and didn’t watch much TV. And had no interest in movies. Especially “made up” ones (didn’t mind documentaries; yeah I was THAT kid). In fact I had to be dragged to see Star Wars by my hippie uncle and aunt who were visiting us (in the Midwest) from the Left Coast (where, not all that coincidentally, I now live). Absolutely blew my mind. Had to do a lot of extra chores over the next couple years to earn spending money so I could see it again and again. Pretty sure if I had seen this, I would have resisted more, to the point it might not have been worth it to drag that cranky kid to the movies.
Also: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was awesome. Fight me.
Also also: loved Last Jedi. Recognize its various flaws but still think it rules. Again, fight me. Or don’t.
I’m the same age as you, I really don’t remember. I think it was more kids that I went to school with saw it first, then my mom took my brother and me to see it at some point. And then we saw it two more times…
BTW, I’ll go on record right now - I didn’t like Last Jedi.
Gee, it was nice to see a new SF adventure film back then, one that didn’t have “canon” to worry about or continuity with a “franchise”. Wonder when I will get to see another one?
Yes, I saw a trailer (probably this one) at a showing of “Elliott’s Dragon” or some such kids show. My impression was that the movie was about robots standing around on balconies shooting at each other. Of course, the movie turned out to be uninmaginably better than the trailer. The film’s score added tremendously, as others have observed.
I was in remedial math in summer school on opening day, and all the kids were talking about Star Wars, and I thought it had something to do with Battle of the Network Stars, that celebrity gauntlet competition they used to air.
