CDavid
Well-Known Member
So, do I convert my Betamax off-air recording of the Star Wars Holiday Special, or let it die a merciful death?
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Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV
- Thread starter WDW1974
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So, do I convert my Betamax off-air recording of the Star Wars Holiday Special, or let it die a merciful death?
Loved your story. Didn't cry, though.Here is the epic tale of the first time I saw Star Wars. Be prepared to cry like a baby.
I was 10 when Star Wars came out, and I too saw it with my family at one of our two local drive-ins. 10 year old girl. Not into sci-fi/fantasy. Still blown away. I was equally blown away a year later when I saw Superman (at the same drive-in). I was totally going to grow up and marry Christopher Reeve. Or Han Solo, if Superman wasn't interested.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Thats easily found on the Pirate Bay. My copy is on DVD
luv
Well-Known Member
Dork.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Preach it.
I distinctly remember when I saw Star Wars in late June, 1977. It was at the giant Cinerama theater in downtown Seattle. I went with friends who were very hip and fashionable (for 1977), with the other man being the son of a prominent 1960's-70's Senator. The stylish young wife of that man raved about this incredible new sci-fi movie she'd already seen and insisted we all had to see it.
I remember the street where we parked the giant boat of a 1976 Cadillac we drove down there. (Whose Caddy was it? Penny's? Roger's? It certainly wasn't mine. Gawd that car was huge.) I remember waiting on the sidewalk of 5th Avenue to buy the tickets, watching the Seattle monorail go by every few minutes. I remember the navy blue sportcoat with very wide lapels I was wearing. We waited in line for tickets that stretched down the block, and got 4 tickets for a later showing at 10PM. We had dinner at Trader Vic's and then a drink in the Westin Hotel nearby to wait for 10PM, and downtown Seattle in 1977 wasn't as sleek and glamorous as it is now so it wasn't that fun killing time downtown. I remember what the cocktail lounge in the Westin Hotel looked like (very brown, with lots of brass accents) while we had Side Cars and waited for 10PM. I remember the cocktail waitress in the ruffled blouse (and short skirt and shellacked feathered hairdo) who served us at the Westin. I remember nearly all of it, 36 years later.
The sun doesn't set in Seattle in June until near 10PM, and we went into the theater around sunset.... and my mind was blown. The best movie I'd ever seen. And I remember that night like it was two weeks ago because of that. It changed the world.
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Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
Oh, I understand Dark Rides, they are my favorite. I just don't understand the love for the Omnimover. I LOVE big physical sets and AAs (mostly animal AAs as I still think that human AAs still don't quite look "real".) It is just that I prefer isolated ride vehicles. The never ending train of Clamshells just feels so functionality based and removed from the story the attraction is telling.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
Hmm.... I can agree with that on the current The Seas With Nemo And Friends, because the vehicles don't rotate or pivot to face the various scenes. It's just a train of cars passing by repeating audio/video. And I can agree with that on the current Little Mermaid ride on both coasts because so much of the ride is brightly lit and you can see the colorful clamshells around you, even though the vehicles rotate to face the various scenes.
But I think on the Haunted Mansion, and to a lesser extent on Buzz Lightyear, the Omnimover works well because the lighting is very low and the vehicles are designed to blend in with the scenery (Buzz Lightyear) or become basically invisible with their matte black paintjobs (Mansion). The old Adventure Thru Inner Space ride at Disneyland, which I loved and still regard Monsanto warmly because of, also had the same Mansion-like effect with the vehicles. The Omnimover worked just as well on Horizons as it does on Mansion, because on Horizons the other vehicles were always unseen due to the box-like structure you sat in that obscured from view the vehicle next to you.
In most traditional instances the Omnimover system worked brilliantly. Only in more recent years, when they try to retrofit a limited scale version of a budget Omnimover into something does it fail to be as effective. The Omnimovers of the 1960's and 70's however were vastly more successful artistically and aesthetically than the cut rate Omnimovers of the 21st century.
lebeau
Well-Known Member
Betamax was actually the superior format. VHS became dominent because adult films were more available on VHS. My parents' old Betamax machine from the early 80s still works. But the tapes have degraded.
I have some widescreen VHS tapes of the original trilogy before Lucas messed with them. I actually prefer my tapes to my DVDs because they are the original versions.
lebeau
Well-Known Member
lebeau
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's not really a tear-jerker. I was just hyping it up. Glad you liked it.
I had a similar experience with Superman. I desperately wanted to see it, but sadly I didn't get to. I vividly remember being in a mall with my Mom and probably my younger siblings (my memory of them is hazy) and the mall theater was showing Superman. There was a huge cardboard standee of Reeve as Superman standing in front of Metropolis. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
By this point, the movie had been out for a while. We didn't really go to the movies, but I figured I'd try to see if we could make an exception. I could see my mom seriously considering my request. But she was probably Christmas shopping. I remember she said we were too busy and couldn't take the time for a movie. So no dice. I never did see the first Superman in the theaters.
A little while later, it debuted on OnTV. Anyone remember OnTV? It was the precursor to HBO. Anyway, my mom's parents had OnTV, so we went over there to watch it. I liked it, but it didn't blow me away like Star Wars did. Then my dad took us to see Superman 2 at the theater. I wasn't all that excited for it since my response to the first film was somewhat lukewarm. Superman 2 knocked me off my little feet.
I remember sitting in the theater wondering how the heck Superman could possibly defeat three villains who all had his powers. Especially when he was powerless! To my mind, there was no possible way Superman could win. So when he showed up outside the Daily Planet window and challenged Zod to a "step outside" I lost it. And when he kneeled before Zod only to crush his hand, I still get chills.
Over time, I came to appreciate the first film more with each viewing. It is now one of my favorite films of all times (infinitely superior to Man of Steel - sorry, kids). I especially love the early scenes in Smallville. But I think a lot of people under-rate the Metropolis scenes. Reeve as a bumbling Cary Grantish Clark Kent is one of the greatest light comic performances of that decade. And he and Kidder had amazing chemistry.
Kids today don't know what they are missing.
CinematicFusion
Well-Known Member
I agree, Star Wars was never sci-fi. It was Greek myth taking place in outer space. It's pure escapism and it hit the theaters at a time in 1977 that America needed to escape. It even opens up as a fantasy. A long time ago...in a galaxy far away.
Lucas made the Disney movie that Disney in the 70's couldn't make.
Star Wars is not sci-fi...it is complete fantasy.
cslafferty
Well-Known Member
Now THAT'S a park I'd go to!
englanddg
One Little Spark...
Yes, I was aware of this. My Dad's tapes, interestingly, still work fine with rare exception, but the media is only rated for 20 - 30 years before degrading, and so we migrated the whole library to DVD / Digital including a video upconvert to improve the quality (which didn't do a whole lot, which tells you something about the quality of the original media).
The project took 3 years to complete. Yeah, my Dad had a lot of Beta tapes...
FigmentJedi
Well-Known Member
Reeve's Superman is great, but his Clark is really just "trying too hard" to a degree where it just seems like Superman is overacting in the role of mild-mannered reporter and it takes me out of it because you'd think that'd draw more attention to him when he's trying to blend in. I definitely prefer the DCAU's (The 90s-early 2000s cartoons) take on Clark.
MKtacosRthebest
Member
I was born in 1973, I didn't see Star Wars until I was 6. 1979, I saw it in the theater. Tell me the last movie that was in the theater that long. Original Star Wars is by far my favorite movie.
disney_NYC
Member
I can't read this whole thread. Did the OP ever come back and post (in one post) the information he alluded to in the initial post?
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Yes.
disney_NYC
Member
Okay. Thanks. I should have added...can somebody tell me on which page said information can be found?
tirian
Well-Known Member
Do a search on his name to find his posts.
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