Drawn to Star Wars

The music

 

Hmmm well Star Wars *is* a classical score, George Lucas even used temp music from famous classical pieces like Gustav Holst's "The Planets" as reference material for John Williams. The cue from the Death Star trench run is almost directly lifted (some people say plagiarized, I say inspired) from Holst's "Mars: The Bringer of War"

Here's a comparison:

begin at 4:17

begin at 8:12

pretty cool eh?

 

I don't know what you mean by 'classical music' because Star Wars is a classical score, technically called "neoclassical." Do you mean George's intention was to use the popular classical pieces inserted into the movie as part of the final cut? I've never heard that before but he definitely used a lot of popular classical pieces as temp tracks before the original score was written, which I don't believe he ever intended to stay in the final cut. I'm pretty sure the intention was to always have an original score for Star Wars, because a lot of the pieces he used as temps tracks were pretty well known even in the 70's.

Here's another awesome example. Before John Williams wrote the main theme for Star Wars, George had placed the theme from the 1942 film "King's Row" into the opening crawl to give John Williams some direction:

Also back to topic, the other things that drew me to Star Wars were the production design and sound effects. It's visually one of the most poignant things ever made.

 

I'm pretty sure he always wanted an original score but might have been willing to settle for popular classical pieces if the money wasn't there. It's a lot easier to pay for something that's free haha

 

I remember what my first Star Wars Experience that stuck. It was during the re-releases in 1997. We went to see it at the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha Nebraska. What was special about this was that the Indian Hills theater was one of the last Cinerama theaters in the US and had one of the biggest screens in a theater before IMAX came around. It is now a parking lot for a hospital though. But I remember that day like it was yesterday. Since then I was everything Star Wars. I remember trying to read everything I could about SW to learn more about the universe it is it. I was very happy when Wikipedia came around. Spend days reading SW stuff.

 

The first time I saw ST:ANH was in 1980 or 1981, and I was 4 or 5 at the time. The film played on TV here in Norway, and for some reason I was allowed to stay up and watch it. I don't think I understood much of what was going on, but it impressed me a lot. The garbage scene (and Darth Vader according to my father) scared me shitless, but the next day I was out in our backyard fighting stormtroopers (or "whities" as I called them, not knowing any English at the time and having no clue what they were called in the film - I distinctly remember kicking a carbord box around, which had something to do with fighting the "whities"). So yeah, I was hooked. Actually, I have few memories from the 80s that were not Star Wars-related.

 

@Angelman,just gold mate..gold.
I to remember playing as a youngling,obsessed with the force.
I made x-wings out of clothes pegs and matchsticks for the wings,flying them around my nan's backyard.finally my mum would buy me one figure per week on shopping day and built up a great collection of the original 70's figurines.my nan took us all to see ROTJ when it was released,I was young and it blew me away.the magic is what hooked me,it was believable magic .luke was my hero and envy,I wanted a lightsaber more than anything in the world.
Excitement..adventure,damm straight I crave these things.i wanted to strap Yoda on my back and run through the forests that I grew up in.
My nan was a huge movie fan,I think I caught the bug from her.I still watch all my favourites from the eighties thru the nineties over and over if they are ever on tv,that time in cinema will never be repeated,just re-made,star wars is the greatest story ever told.some people don't get it and i'v never understood why,I truly feel sorry for them for not having this magic in their lives.
I'm the only true fan in my family,I'll tell you something that meant alot to me(off topic)
Dad dropped me at the airport,I was in my early thirties,I was going interstate to see my mother-in-law,she had cancer and didn't have long.my dad knew I was going thru a hard time ,he hugged me goodbye and looked me straight in the eye and said 'may the force be with you'.
I'll never forget it,it was exactly what I needed ,and this was coming from a man that's never sat thru any of the movies.the force surrounds us and binds us ,some of us just don't realise it's there.
MTFBWY...all.

 

One of my best memories from the 80s is when my family decided to rent a "movie-box" (VCR) some years later, and each of us kids were allowed to rent a couple of VHS'. I rented Star Wars as I did every time we did this, or, I was about to rent it when the store clerk cassualy mentioned that perhaps I'd like to try ESB this time? "Huh?" I said, "why would I rent another film?" The clerk, already regretting interacting with this stupid kid, mumbled, "well, it's the sequel, so..." Me, "WHAT! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!?!?!?!?" Good times

 

I had a buddy that had the original trilogy on VHS and I would watch them over and over and over. Finally, for Christmas one year I received the original trilogy on DVD and have been watching them several times a year ever since.

I would say the draw for me was Vader. His presence, the breathing, James Earl Jones. It was hard to imagine character could be so evil.

 

Oh, back in the day, when the middle class didn't necessarily own their own stuff, you could rent a lot of things

 

The thing that drew me to SW was the alien action figures. When I was little and I got my first Greedo figure, I was hooked. Then came Hammerhead and from there on I became a fan. I hadn't seen the movies so I never really cared for the guy with the sword or the black armored dude. My collection was made up of guys like Greedo, Hammerhead, Bossk, Yoda and 4-LOM (Zuckuss at that time). My very first human figure was the Hoth Rebel Soldier yet I always loved the alien figures more than anything. Even after watching the movies and falling in love with them and learning more of SW, I was always atracted to the aliens. I was a kid who passed down figures like Jedi Knight Luke, Lando in disguise and Chewbacca for dudes like Nikto, Weequay, Ree Yees and Squid Head. For me the magic mostly comes from the awesome alien races of SW and I have to admit that that very same reason has me a little bummed about TFA aliens sinse to this day none of the ones I've seen seem to capture the magic of the Cantina aliens or those from Jabba's palace. I hope I'm wrong and get surprised on Dec 18 and my mind gets blown away with awesome new creatures!

 

Neek me shawa wormo! Binks is poodu!

 

I remember I just happened to catch Star Wars on TV and watched it with my parents. My family had a New Year's tradition of letting us pick a movie to watch and of course, we were able to stay up until midnight. Naturally, my sister and I wanted to see more of that "Star Wars" movie. My parents were thrilled with the idea and we watched it as a family. Nostalgia explosion.

I couldn't wait to see the next two films and find out more about those "big secrets" my mother told me were coming. I was completely shocked by the Vader revelation and even more so by the Skywalker siblings. What a great feeling to experience unpredictable twists like that. I think part of the nostalgia is the fact that I could watch the movie with BOTH my parents and my kid sister, yet we all found something to enjoy in each film. We could enjoy it as family, for both different and similar reasons.

I loved everything....a badass brunette princess I could relate to, robots with personality, spaceships with purpose, battles, adventure, good vs. evil, and cheering and laughing with my entire family.


Oh, and my very first crush....Han Solo. I didn't get romance or thinking guys were cute until that scruffy bastard appeared. Never got over him. I remember one of the top priorities on my "future boyfriend" checklist was "must love Star Wars".

As I grew older, the internet evolved and I discovered Star Wars subcultures. I remember being startled to discover so many fans existed online. Sometime after my discovery of Star Wars, the theatrical releases came out and "Star Wars '97" was inscribed on my 8th grade binder. Clearly a cool kid.

To this day I use Star Wars references in my vocabulary, won't cut my hair because then I can't do Princess Leia styles and f*** that, seek out the toys as collectibles, fans as friends, and thrill to the joyous pandemonium associated with every new Star Wars release.

It's more than a movie.