The Force...in 3D


I love Star Wars. No other film franchise captures what Star Wars does. It mixes action, adventure, mystery, romance, drama, and even politics into a blender, throws in the best musical scores of all time, and has lightsabers. What more could you want?


Way back in 2005, right before Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out, Lucasfilm was already talking about converting the Star Wars movies into 3D. Finally, seven years later, we have the first release in 3D, with the chronological Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Ep1) coming first.

I still remember seeing Ep1 for the first time back in 1999. I was only 14 then, and kept begging my mom to take me to see it. We finally saw it almost a full two months after it originally was released. Now, I had gotten into the Star Wars series back in 1997, with the release of the Special Editions. However, I didn't get to see those films in theaters, settling with just seeing them on VHS tapes. For that reason, Ep1 will forever be the first Star Wars movie I ever saw on the big screen.

Basically, it changed my life. I was a big Star Wars fan before the film, but afterwards I turned into a fanatic. I played the living hell out of Star Wars: Episode I Racer for the N64. I constantly used the Naboo Starfighter that was hidden in Rogue Squadron (N64) until well after its release. I eagerly anticipated the next two films, all culminating in me seeing Ep3 eight times.

I'm not one of those guys that has to see every movie on the big screen. In fact, there are plenty of films that I would rather watch in the comfort of my home. However, as cool as the Star Wars Blu-ray boxset was last Fall, there's nothing like seeing the galaxy far, far, away in theaters.

Last Friday at the Pittsburgh Mills Cinemark, I was 14 again. The drumroll from the 21st Century Fox fanfare rang in my head. The Lucasfilm logo panned across the screen. Finally, the Star Wars text popped out at me in 3D, followed by the opening crawl that I had long since memorized (but still read like it was the first time).

Thirteen years later. It's hard to believe. While the high points of Ep1 will always be the podrace and the final lightsaber clash (still the best one, on a technical level), the subtleties are what I appreciate about the film nowadays. I always liked how Anakin and Obi-Wan's first meeting was as casual as meeting a friend of a friend at a baseball game.

The fact that the whole thing basically got started with the Trade Federation's tax on trade routes was, in my opinion, a master stroke by George Lucas. Think that's silly? World War II was partially started by an argument over how many telegraph poles Germany owed its war debt creditors.

 I own three different copies of this film already (VHS, DVD, Blu). Sure, the 3D effect wasn't the best thing in the world, but just seeing Star Wars at the theater, with John Williams' epic music booming from the speakers, was worth every penny I paid. Plus, I got the very cool red Darth Maul 3D glasses! You damn right I kept them.

I plan on seeing Ep1 at least once more before it leaves theaters. With one of these films set to come out in 3D in each of the next six years, I'll be reliving my childhood one opening crawl at a time...