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A Story from 1983 – Now with pictures!
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<blockquote data-quote="Snaketibe" data-source="post: 400652" data-attributes="member: 7379"><p>Part 3</p><p></p><p>We went inside the auditorium and eagerly took our seats, thoughts of new toys rapidly disappearing from my head as the reality of our situation hit home. Here I was, in The Odeon cinema Marble Arch, about to watch Return of the Jedi for the very first time! It's hard to convey just how exciting that feeling was. Star Wars was such a fundamental part of my life that to be there, aged eleven, about to watch my heroes embark upon a brand new adventure that I'd never seen before, was about as close to perfection as things got. If life got any better than this, I didn't see how. Excited chatter buzzed all about us as the cinema filled to the brim with eager people itching to see the new film. The minutes ticked by as 7:30pm approached. I was still holding out hope to see Mark, Harrison and Carrie, and thought this a real possibility as I noticed a microphone standing at the front of the theatre, clearly destined for someone to speak to us! And so it was with an underwhelming sense of disappointment, I'm rather ashamed to admit, that no lesser figure than the late Richard Marquand himself was introduced to the audience by the MC, and took to the stage to speak a few words about the film he had directed. I didn't know who Richard Marquand was and quite frankly cared even less. He wasn't one of the stars, and so all he was doing was delaying the start of the film as far as I was concerned, and so it is with embarrassment that today I cannot recall a single word that the man said.</p><p></p><p>And then it was time! Marquand had finished droning on about whatever it was he had said, and the lights dimmed! The cinema curtains pulled back! The bubbling chatter died down, and then the simply glorious sound of the Twentieth Century Fox fanfare rang out around the theatre! If there was a happier boy in the world at that moment, I'd be very surprised. But then, panic! I didn't know the films then as I do now, and so when the magical words, 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….' disappeared from the screen to be replaced by the massive legend, 'STAR WARS', 'Oh no, I thought! They're showing the wrong film! This is supposed to be Return of the Jedi, not Star Wars!'... But then the reassuring words, 'Episode VI – RETURN OF THE JEDI' scrolled into view and order was restored to my universe.</p><p></p><p>The film of course was amazing! I do remember being a touch disappointed that another Death Star was wheeled out right at the start of the film, as they'd already done that in Star Wars, but that was a minor gripe as by the end of the film I was already itching to see it again!</p><p></p><p>My friend and I couldn't find enough good things to say about it as we filed back out into the lobby, where those red ropes had been removed, bringing our attention immediately back to the goodies laid out on the tables before us like sweets. I politely queued at one table, waiting my turn until I got to the front, only to once again be slightly disappointed that there wasn't a single Star Wars figure to be seen. What there was however was a variety of other merchandise of different shapes and sizes. Due to my financial embarrassment, I hunted for some small items I thought I might be able to afford, and pointed to some pencil toppers. 'How much are these, please?' I politely enquired of the uniformed Odeon staff member standing behind the table. 'They're free,' came the astonishing reply! That said, I didn't want to be greedy, so I took only a few of the pencil toppers, and hoped I wouldn't be told I was taking too many! My friend by contrast didn't need telling twice and had no compunction about taking far more than me, and nobody seemed inclined to stop him! Perhaps this should have encouraged me to go back for more, as he made out like a bandit, but I didn't think I should go back to the table again for second helpings, and so my freebie haul for the night ended up being rather small! I do however still have those pencil toppers:</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]19032[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]19033[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]19034[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>And there you have it. That's the story of how I went to see Return of the Jedi in 1983. When I got back to school the next day another Star Wars mad friend of mine demanded that I recall every single detail I could about the film. I was sorry I couldn't have taken him, but I only had two tickets (and I wish I still did; the friend I did take asked to keep his, and I said yes, which is why I can only show you one of them here). And so I did as he asked and recounted the entire film to the best of my memory, as he drank in every last thrilling detail. Of course less than two weeks later I went round his house to find him watching the damn thing on pirate video, which took a little of the sting out of not being able to bring him with me to The Odeon!</p><p></p><p>I've always liked Return of the Jedi. It might not be the equal of Star Wars or Empire, but for me it's still a terrific entry in the series, and although I might not love them, I don't even hate the ewoks <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> And so, even though as an increasingly cynical, slightly jaded, but fundamentally decent middle-aged man all these years later, nothing can quite tarnish the special memory of winning that competition and seeing the film for the very first time. And for those hardy souls that have stuck with this tale to the very end, thanks for letting me share those memories with you.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snaketibe, post: 400652, member: 7379"] Part 3 We went inside the auditorium and eagerly took our seats, thoughts of new toys rapidly disappearing from my head as the reality of our situation hit home. Here I was, in The Odeon cinema Marble Arch, about to watch Return of the Jedi for the very first time! It's hard to convey just how exciting that feeling was. Star Wars was such a fundamental part of my life that to be there, aged eleven, about to watch my heroes embark upon a brand new adventure that I'd never seen before, was about as close to perfection as things got. If life got any better than this, I didn't see how. Excited chatter buzzed all about us as the cinema filled to the brim with eager people itching to see the new film. The minutes ticked by as 7:30pm approached. I was still holding out hope to see Mark, Harrison and Carrie, and thought this a real possibility as I noticed a microphone standing at the front of the theatre, clearly destined for someone to speak to us! And so it was with an underwhelming sense of disappointment, I'm rather ashamed to admit, that no lesser figure than the late Richard Marquand himself was introduced to the audience by the MC, and took to the stage to speak a few words about the film he had directed. I didn't know who Richard Marquand was and quite frankly cared even less. He wasn't one of the stars, and so all he was doing was delaying the start of the film as far as I was concerned, and so it is with embarrassment that today I cannot recall a single word that the man said. And then it was time! Marquand had finished droning on about whatever it was he had said, and the lights dimmed! The cinema curtains pulled back! The bubbling chatter died down, and then the simply glorious sound of the Twentieth Century Fox fanfare rang out around the theatre! If there was a happier boy in the world at that moment, I'd be very surprised. But then, panic! I didn't know the films then as I do now, and so when the magical words, 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….' disappeared from the screen to be replaced by the massive legend, 'STAR WARS', 'Oh no, I thought! They're showing the wrong film! This is supposed to be Return of the Jedi, not Star Wars!'... But then the reassuring words, 'Episode VI – RETURN OF THE JEDI' scrolled into view and order was restored to my universe. The film of course was amazing! I do remember being a touch disappointed that another Death Star was wheeled out right at the start of the film, as they'd already done that in Star Wars, but that was a minor gripe as by the end of the film I was already itching to see it again! My friend and I couldn't find enough good things to say about it as we filed back out into the lobby, where those red ropes had been removed, bringing our attention immediately back to the goodies laid out on the tables before us like sweets. I politely queued at one table, waiting my turn until I got to the front, only to once again be slightly disappointed that there wasn't a single Star Wars figure to be seen. What there was however was a variety of other merchandise of different shapes and sizes. Due to my financial embarrassment, I hunted for some small items I thought I might be able to afford, and pointed to some pencil toppers. 'How much are these, please?' I politely enquired of the uniformed Odeon staff member standing behind the table. 'They're free,' came the astonishing reply! That said, I didn't want to be greedy, so I took only a few of the pencil toppers, and hoped I wouldn't be told I was taking too many! My friend by contrast didn't need telling twice and had no compunction about taking far more than me, and nobody seemed inclined to stop him! Perhaps this should have encouraged me to go back for more, as he made out like a bandit, but I didn't think I should go back to the table again for second helpings, and so my freebie haul for the night ended up being rather small! I do however still have those pencil toppers: [ATTACH type="full" alt="11 - Freebies copy.jpg"]19032._xfImport[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="12 - Freebies copy.jpg"]19033._xfImport[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full" alt="13 - Freebies copy.jpg"]19034._xfImport[/ATTACH] And there you have it. That's the story of how I went to see Return of the Jedi in 1983. When I got back to school the next day another Star Wars mad friend of mine demanded that I recall every single detail I could about the film. I was sorry I couldn't have taken him, but I only had two tickets (and I wish I still did; the friend I did take asked to keep his, and I said yes, which is why I can only show you one of them here). And so I did as he asked and recounted the entire film to the best of my memory, as he drank in every last thrilling detail. Of course less than two weeks later I went round his house to find him watching the damn thing on pirate video, which took a little of the sting out of not being able to bring him with me to The Odeon! I've always liked Return of the Jedi. It might not be the equal of Star Wars or Empire, but for me it's still a terrific entry in the series, and although I might not love them, I don't even hate the ewoks :-) And so, even though as an increasingly cynical, slightly jaded, but fundamentally decent middle-aged man all these years later, nothing can quite tarnish the special memory of winning that competition and seeing the film for the very first time. And for those hardy souls that have stuck with this tale to the very end, thanks for letting me share those memories with you. [/QUOTE]
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