A relatively long time ago in cinemas near and far away, the first Star Wars film captivated a generation of children and adults. As the British Film Institute in London this week screens the original 1977 theatrical version of the space opera, which has rarely been shown since the 1990s, readers have shared their recollections of its groundbreaking special effects, iconic heroes and villains, and queueing around the block for tickets.
Most of those who responded to a Guardian callout recalled being mesmerised by the film’s opening crawl, then “blown away” by the first scene in which Princess Leia’s starship is captured by an immense Imperial Star Destroyer. “It loomed right over our heads in the theatre, immediately putting us in the action, alerting us to the huge stakes in this world,” said Marilyn Stacey, a 68-year-old paralegal and actor from Portland, Oregon, who saw the film with her boyfriend in Westwood, Los Angeles, soon after it opened in the US in May 1977.
