May The 4th Be With You
By Melvin Ah Ching
2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of the highly successful George Lucas creation known as Star Wars. May the 4th is celebrated by Star Wars fans world wide in various ways. Most likely fans will flock to watch showings of the 8 Star Wars movies produced over the last 40 years.
In Honolulu The Movie Museum, a small theatre with plush lounge type seating will be showing the 7th installment of the Star Wars saga today: The Force Awaken. From The Last Outpost Hawaii science fiction and fantasy club on Oahu:
Thursday, 4 May 2017, 11am, 3:30, 6 & 8:30pm
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015-United States) 135m *** 1⁄2 D: J.J. Abrams. Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill. This rousing space adventure is set 30 years after the defeat of Darth Vader (in RETURN OF THE JEDI). Luke Skywalker (Hamill) has disappeared, and the Resistance is still fighting the Empire, now renamed the First Order. Two unlikely heroes, a scavenger girl (Ridley) and a disgruntled Stormtrooper (Boyega) join Princess Leia (Fisher) and Han Solo (Ford) in the intergalactic battle against evil. PG-13.
The original Star Wars film from 1977 will be shown later this month, also at The Movie Museum:
Saturday, 20 May 2017, 1:15 & 6:00pm
Sunday, 29 May 2017, 11:00am, 3:45 & 8:30pm
STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE (1977-US) 121m **** D: George Lucas. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, James Earl Jones. This is the megahit that changed film making history. Not just a film franchise—the characters and music of this immersive universe are seared upon the world’s collective consciousness. Farm boy Luke (Hamill) happens upon spunky droid R2-D2, who leads him into a grand intergalactic adventure with smirking mercenary Han Solo (Ford) and courageous Princess Leia (Fisher) to battle dastardly Darth Vader (Jones). Don’t miss this 40th anniversary screening! Winner of 6 Oscars plus 50 more awards. PG
The latest installment of the Star Wars saga debuts this coming December when Disney / Lucasfilm releases Star Wars: The Last Jedi (teaser trailer above). You can bet that thousands of fans will be lining up on the first day at Hawaii theatres to watch this exciting film.
THROWBACK THURSDAY (#TBT) COMMENT
Like many people I am a huge Star Wars fan. Saw the first movie in 1977 at the Cinerama Theatre and the two sequels at the same place in 1980 and 1983. Those movies were glorious, the lines were long and the people were excited. The Cinerama Theatre was a single screen palace with a wide angle, curved screen. The original Star Wars movie was the first I saw that featured Dolby surround sound. I remember the ads touting “70mm 6 channel Dolby Stereo”.
Today all theatres have enhanced sound systems, bigger screens and higher image resolutions. Movies have transited from projected film to digital files.
Prices have dramatically creeped upward since 1977.
The cost to watch the original Star Wars was $3.50 per ticket. Today most movie tickets cost around $14 with higher prices for 3-D, high definition pictures, and IMAX versions of films.
As Star Wars fans go, no price increases or long lines will keep them away from catching a Star Wars movie on the first day. “May the 4th” Be With You.
