BIG THANKS to my sister Heidi, we got to see “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Sunday night, the third day of its opening. No spoilers here, don’t worry. I’d hate to get beaten up like this guy or put places in lockdown like this guy. And it’s just a jerk move. But the movie was awesome! We had such a great time, had great seats, and my wife and I may have played with my Star Wars app photo maker a little bit, lol.

Originally, we weren’t even sure if we’d be able to go see the movie, especially opening weekend. But my niece’s youth group had somehow rented out one of the stadium theatres for the kids and their families, and my sister was kind enough to get us all tickets. She also got there ahead of us and found us some great seats! She even got to interact with actors dressed as Darth Vader and a stormtrooper that greeted people as they arrived. They had moved to another area when we arrived, so we didn’t see them.

We sat second row middle seats in the second section. The first section only had about five rows and then the walkway. But we were plenty far from craning our necks (I had that unfortunate experience before from getting stuck in the front row some years ago when I watched the third “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie). Our view of the big screen was perfect, and we were exactly centered for the THX 7.1 Dolby surround sound as well. Maybe we can go back another time to see it in IMAX 3-D to complete the effects!

Being there reminded me of seeing the original movies when I was a kid. It felt just as exciting. Now, I’m gonna talk more about this in a minute, but my wife had never seen any of the Star Wars movies (poor girl!) until I caught her up at home the last couple of weeks. She immediately became a die-hard fan (even without my prompting) and was just as stoked to see “The Force Awakens” as the rest of us. I do want to say here that if you haven’t seen the previous Star Wars movies, do not go see this one yet! This is NOT the movie to introduce you to Star Wars. You will not really understand it nor be able to fully appreciate it. But I’ll get back to that in a moment.

The room was abuzz with excitement. Then the lights dimmed. The intense anticipation was almost palpable. The curtain rose, and the projector started up. First were the theatre’s ads about concessions, gift certificates, and not ruining the experience for other patrons. And they always have to show off how proud they are of their audio system with not one, not two, but three different demonstrations! I agree the surround sound is pretty cool, but it always cracks me up to spend that much time on it.

By now we’re all about to chew the furniture in anticipation of the movie. But of course, we first have to have the previews of coming attractions. Really?!? Come on, not this time! It’s Star Wars! Bring it on! Show me the money! I’ll throw in a little aside here that one of the previews was for the next Star Trek film. I’m also a Star Trek fan, but I saw an interesting post on Facebook the other day comparing the old with the new:

Personally, I found it to be fairly accurate, but I leave that with you. Let’s get back to Star Wars.

Finally, at last, the feature presentation began. A hush came over the room as the famous tag line crossed the screen: “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” A few excited whispers and murmurs thrilled across the audience. Then thunderous applause erupted as the famous title and music burst forth like a sprinter’s pistol. Tingles coursed through our bodies as the first images appeared onscreen:  

Okay, maybe not those images. 🙂 But the experience was exhilarating. Now, I have to say I’ve never really gotten into the Star Wars books, comics, and side stories that have come out over the years for the “Expanded Universe”, as it’s called. For me, if it wasn’t part of what’s on the big screen, it was all just entertaining conjecture for back story and didn’t really matter. And recently Lucasfilm (creators of Star Wars) pretty much confirmed, or as the Daily Dot called it, “nuked” it anyway. Seeing as how this movie was to be the first one to start moving away from the original story into undiscovered country, namely what happened after the original, I wasn’t sure I was going to like the movie or the new characters in particular. And there’s been the big question of whether Disney could remain true to the brand since they took over. But let me say unequivocally that I absolutely loved it! All of it! There’s just enough new, just enough old. And I really, really like the new characters! And kudos to Disney for a job well done! I figured they’d be smart enough not to blow something as huge as this. Hopefully, they’ll continue to deliver. They already have the next five years or so scheduled:


After the movie, we took some time to stage a few photos. I got my daughter Lauren in front of the marquee for posterity. She’s another huge fan, and we had taken her to see the prequels when she was young. She had the biggest crush on Qui-Gon Jin, but that’s a whole different story. My son Josh had to work, so he wasn’t able to join us this time. But he’s also a big fan.
There was even a mock R2-D2 set up by the cardboard movie poster, so my wife Angelica and I got our picture taken there as well. R2 was a little too shy to sign autographs for us. Overall, we had an absolutely splendid time!

For those who haven’t seen any Star Wars movies, heed my advice!

If you haven’t seen any of the Star Wars movies before, wait to see this new one until after you’ve watched the previous ones, at least the first three originals even if you don’t see the prequels. The storyline from the originals is key to everything else. Despite how George Lucas all but ruined the movies in the enhanced “Special Edition” versions, there is still a reason why he did the movies in the order that he did, and to experience them any other way really misses out on the intended effect and takes away from the full experience. The very first movie “Star Wars: A New Hope” explains so much about the Force and the plot that isn’t explained as well even in the prequels. And the shock value of certain elements in the second original “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” would be completely undermined if you see the prequels first. I pity those who just watched the previous movies in numerical order of I-VI instead of release order of IV-VI and then I-III. I made sure I showed them to my wife in release order so she could share as much of my own experience  as a child as possible, and it was worth it. Just ask her.

I want you to be able to enjoy the movies, stories, and characters to their fullest, so please take my advice here. Spend a couple of days to catch up on the first movies in the release order before heading into the theatre to see the new one, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed. The only other thing I could offer is to keep an eye out for the supposed upcoming release by Disney of the unaltered versions of the original movies so you can actually see what you really missed the first time around without hokey CGI and storyline changes. May the Force be with you!