I've been lucky enough to see most of the Star Wars films on the big screen by now. Only three of them, however, have played before my eyes on premiere weekends. Recent theatrical re-releases have raised the number higher, but until this weekend, A New Hope was not yet on the list.
Climbing the steps of the Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) in Syracuse, New York, Saturday night, I knew before going inside that I wasn't prepared for the experience I'd soon endure. The Star Wars Day weekend event was full, complete with a cocktail hour before the movie started (and a costumed Darth Vader that sounded suspiciously like Kylo Ren). Someone complimented my Ahsoka Tano hat. I felt like a little kid, too excited to venture toward the offered snacks or, admittedly, even the alcohol. In my mind, there's only one Star Wars experience you shouldn't walk into sober, and I learned that the hard way by watching The Star Wars Holiday Special alone and without substances to enhance the one-time viewing experience.
The MOST is home to the National Grid ExploraDome -- a theatre and planetarium that is, as its title implies, a dome-shaped room that takes a few blinks to orient yourself to once you're seated. We climbed near the top and sat ourselves in the middle for an optimal viewing experience. I'm prone to motion sickness, but Star Wars was worth the risk, and I ended up faring alright. The projection doesn't take up the whole screen, so as long as you focus on the movie and not too much on the curved walls around it, the risk ends up being quite minimal.
My dad has been telling me all my life about how he saw A New Hope -- they just called it Star Wars back then -- 11 times when it came out in 1977. It's not unheard of for dedicated fans to see one of these movies over and over in a theater these days, but it was different in 1977. It's been described to me as a phenomenon. Every time I ask someone I'm interviewing about their early Star Wars memories, many of their faces light up describing this experience. Everyone you knew was talking about this new thing called Star Wars. My dad saw it nearly a dozen times because it was probably one of the coolest things he'd ever seen up to that point. Of course it was; I didn't exist yet.
I tried to begin this experience through the eyes of my dad. As the previews rolled, I thought of how similar this experience was to his in some ways -- surrounded by my fellow moviegoers, really just happy to be there watching something good. The difference for me, of course, was that I'd seen this film before. I already knew I liked the ending. But so did every other person in this sold-out theater. It hasn't quite been 50 years, but sitting there surrounded by fellow fans, even before the movie started, the energy in the room buzzed. And then those 10 words hit the screen -- A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away -- and I held my breath.
Nothing has or will ever rival the feeling that overcomes you when that iconic logo blasts in with the first note of John Williams' iconic theme. "Joy" is a mediocre word for it. It's not nostalgia, either. It's something I don't think anyone has yet found the perfect name for. It radiates from you as if it's embedded in your cells. It erupts in the form of a laugh or a smile or, even sometimes, tears. Those first notes hit, and my husband and I immediately turned to each other. The grin on his face is wondrous and child-like in a way only Star Wars can extract from a mature grown man with a fancy day job and a mortgage. I'm sure my smile is just as explosive.
I'm not the best at differentiating between different cuts of a Star War. It takes me until "Macklunkey" to decipher which one we're on, and I'm not mad about it. One thing you often forget about this movie is how funny it is -- but when the whole room laughs at C-3PO and R2-D2's endless bickering, the timeless humor is palpable. And because I've never seen this movie on a giant screen before, I find myself noticing little things I swear I've never seen -- certain things in the background that you miss when you're casually viewing in your living room while also staring at your phone, as one does.
But then there are the iconic Star Wars moments that just hit different at a literal larger scale. Luke staring off into the twin suns. The Millennium Falcon going into hyperspace for the first time. All those S-foils locking into attack position on the Death Star approach -- it really felt like I'd never actually seen any of this before. Much like the experience you have when you know all the often quoted lines from an iconic film but have never actually watched it all the way through until now. I've said it before, and this experience more than confirmed it for me: Star Wars movies are meant to be viewed on the big screen. It makes them shimmer. It brings them fully to life. In front of them, you're so small, now part of this much larger universe you can only see but never actually touch.
The ExploraDome's surround sound, crisp projection, and spacious atmosphere truly made this one of the most rewarding Star Wars viewing experiences I've ever had. Walking out of the theater upon the movie's conclusion -- at which point we all clapped and cheered -- I overheard members of the audience reciting back their favorite quotes. Talking excitedly about a galaxy far, far away as if this truly was where we all belonged.
To be a Star Wars fan and to get to experience Star Wars as a collective, captive audience is both a pleasure and a privilege. I'd do it again a thousand times. If I'm lucky, I most certainly will. Play Star Wars anywhere, and fans will show up. They'll even pay for it. Because these aren't just fun nights out. We're not just hobbyists seeking a really good time. Star Wars is, in so many ways, woven into the fabric of who so many of us have grown up to be. I couldn't have been the only one thinking about a family member or friend who passed their love of the franchise down to me as that opening crawl began. We're everywhere. We, in turn, will likely -- if we haven't already -- have the chance to introduce this and other movies in the series to our own kids for the very first time someday.
What an honor it is to be here in this moment. To get to enjoy not only the Star Wars of the present, but also, simultaneously, the Star Wars that started it all.