May the 4th Be With You! Happy STAR WARS Day!

HAPPY STAR WARS DAY !

Star Wars Day is an informal commemorative day observed annually on May 4 to celebrate the Star Wars media franchise created by founder and former chairman and CEO of Lucasfilm, George Lucas. Observance of the day spread quickly through media and grassroots celebrations since the franchise began in 1977.

The date originated from the pun "May the Fourth be with you", a variant of the popular Star Wars catchphrase "May the Force be with you". Even though the holiday was not created or declared by Lucasfilm, many Star Wars fans around the world have chosen to celebrate the holiday.[3] It has since been embraced by Lucasfilm and parent company Disney as an annual celebration of Star Wars.

(Above courtesy of Wikipedia)

Well I don't know of any other Franchise that I have watched, and re-watched over and over again... and I do mean the entire STAR WARS franchise.

I have a limited edition Original Chewbaca Mug that was given to me as a gift soon after the movie's release (brand new in the box). I was sort of a geek for all things STAR WARS. And that may still continue to some degree even today. Heck some 25 years (or so ago) I was inside the Lucas Family Home that George Lucas grew up in. I was working in Modesto, CA. where of course "American Graffiti" was based on and a fellow employee of mine was renting that home (which by the way is very modest).

I cruised up and down the infamous spots (which is now illegal except on Graffiti Weekend (which is heavily policed).

But it occurred to me that perhaps the our membership might share some stories or maybe something STAR WARS related that you (or a friend) liked in appreciation of this day. I know one geek that had several character tattoos inked on his body, and another that did a themed Wedding.

I'll end this with one of my favorite Cigarbox Magician's named Dale Puckett creating a "R2D2 Cigarbox Guitar.
Johnny



scroll to 9:15 if you just want to see and hear the final product.

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

That's excellent, Johnny! I had forgotten about this commemorative day. I love Star Wars, but not to the extent of having memorabilia. I only had a gold keyring C3PO back in the early 70s and I would love to have the Lego Millennium Falcon... rare and costly.

May the franchise Live Long and Prosper! ✌️

and......
guess where I was at in 1977 ?
Had to take brothers (one at a time)
Had to take friends .
Had to take girlfriend .
For 2 weeks I lived at the theater .

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

Thursdays were my Star Wars day.

In my teens I used to babysit for a family friend. Easy money. Kids already in bed and a free pile of snacks. They were home by 10.30 so I was only there about 3 hours.

Anyway, they had a vcr, one of the old clunky ones in a wooden casing and a vhs copy of Star Wars that I watched over and over just because there was nothing on TV. .....and because it was Star Wars!

I liked the first three films. I've seen bits of the the fourth one but wasn't too impressed. I suppose I'll eventually get round to seeing the rest but the first one, in its day, was great.

Happy 4th.

I still remember lying on my back, playing with what toy I had at the moment.

TV was opened.

Then, I heard a music. It prompted me to turn and watch what was being shown on the screen.

That was my first contact with Star Wars. I was 7 years old, had already seen sci-fi movies, because I was already a fan of the genre, but something told me that this would be the greatest movie ever!

Jump to saturday, my godfather is home, and the trailer plays. I ask him if he's seen the trailer, and he tells me he would bring me and my brother to see it the very next day!!!

I was up at 6:00 am, already prepped to go to the cinema, and thought he had fotgotten about it...lol

That movie was the best experience I ever had in a cinema. Imagine that, at 7 years old only... and already I've been to the absolute top!

I remember being surprised by the pink explosions inside the the Tantive IV as I had never seen pink explosions before. And rarely since.
I remember being confused as to how a simple movie production managed to create real robots!

I remember Han shooting first, and the feeling of dread that I felt as our heroes, Ben, Luke and the droids would be at the mercy of a ruthless killer! Sadly, Lucas forgot how important that scene was as originally shot. Han becoming a hero should not have been retooled the way it was as it undermined the rest of the journey Han had.

I remember vividly the colors of the movie as in those years, desaturation seemed to reign supreme to make it more real, and gritty, I guess.
That's why I hate the discs versions of the movies as copies of copies tend to become... bluer... argh

On that note, you can find a 4k version scanned from 35mm reels that were conserved by various people, from the then projection of the movie. The colors are original, and the details... Oh my Lord!

A last note, on Disney+, the version of Star Wars you will see is one that has been corrected by Disney, so it is not the same version as the discs.
Colors are better, but he 4k version? I was back in the cinema when I first viewed it... Sigh

PS: Young people have no idea, but following the projection of the movie, Star Wars impacted every aspect of society. For a moment, lots of people around the world shared a passion and a love on a scale that might not be seen again before a looong time. I'm glad I was there. I'm still awed by it.

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

My favourite science fiction of all time was the original trilogy and while I was critical of the Prequel trilogy (Darth Jarjar should have been real) and it's midichlorians (Which ruined the mystical nature of the force) and it's younglings (well it was really for kids and they loved the prequels so we old fan's were a bit cruel to the movies there) they were far superior to what happened when Darth Mickey got his mits on the franchise and absolutely mauled it to death in sequel trilogy.

Still thankfully old Lucas is at least for now back in a command role and I really did like the Mandalorian and it's spin off the Book of Bobba Fett even if the latter could have been far better and did too much turning old Bobba into a good guy instead of the evil bounty hunter that was for many more ominous than Darth Vader he used to be.

Still given it's immense cultural impact in the west I think it is a great idea, that and of course for computer geek's there is always a sale of related games and other merchandise on these (Corporate) commemorative day's so there are bargains to be had for some.

That and as a little kid myself I used to ride my bicycle around with my friends in the dark using our bicycle lights as lasers and pretending to be x-wings and tie fighters for hours on end, amazing things a kid's imagination can do.

a reply to: LABTECH767

Every one of my friends wanted to be Han. That always left the spot of Luke to me, which was perfect in my eyes, as Luke is the real hero. hehe

I loved Star Wars as a kid. I was a big daydreamer and imagination was my thing when I was younger.

It is a shame what Disney has done to Star Wars.

Star Wars..The Best. Similar to a Japanese Opera in ways..but ultimately my favorite.

The toys I was lucky enough to have.(original Kenner stuff)
1. A well USED Falcon..haha
2.The B wing
3.The Imperial Shuttle
4. A small tacklebox with no more than twenty non main character figures, though I did have the Hoth Wampa.

Star Wars allways fought G.I. Joe because I had about the same assortment of Joes..not as many vehicles, but hey, theyre Joes , they didnt need them. Sometimes of course Joes would steal spacecrap.
I think I had..
1. Joe Hovercraft
2. Cobra Water Moccasin(Copperhead is my favorite action figure)
3. Conquest X-30

overall I think it was a pretty even matchup. Internet? Nope, action figures and sporting goods..I had pounds of gunpowder in my room starting at about 11 years old..lol..never had company though..

First three movies, I know verbatim. The new ones...after Phantom Menace, something was missing.

My two Star Wars cents.

Elbo Grees

I am wearing my new t-shirt:

"It's a Wedge Antilles thing; you wouldn't understand"

But today May the 4th be with you. Tomorrow Revenge of 5th, but This is the May!

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

This is the way.

This post is in memory of Mr. Biggs Darklighter.

He is still missed.