The all too familiar text starts
out huge and right in front, then it slides back
into the depths of space until it is no longer
visible. A few patrons in the theater clap in
excitement. There is no question; Star Wars
is back.
The first movie of the classic space opera, Star
Wars (subtitled A New Hope), was
re-released with enhanced special effects and new
scenes on January 31. On February 21, the follow
up to this box office smash, The Empire Strikes
Back, was re-released with the same treatment as
the first movie. By the time you read this, an
enhanced version of Return of the Jedi should
also be in theaters.These re-releases all carry
the Special Edition tag, indicating that these
movies have been intensified for a 1990’s
audience.Masses of people lined up to see Star
Wars Special Edition. Fans bought their
tickets in advance for this movie, especially for
the later shows during opening weekend. Anyone
arriving anytime after an hour or so before the
movie’s start time during opening weekend
(and also in some cases, the following week)
hoping to purchase tickets would find that the
theater had sold out and those who had bought
their tickets beforehand were already starting to
line up to get in to the movie.
Star Wars Special Edition grossed about
$35.9 million its opening weekend. The numbers
for Empire Strikes Back Special Edition were
less. It grossed $22.4 million during its opening
weekend.
The phenomenon of Star Wars isn’t
exclusive to movie theaters. It expands to
paraphernalia such as novels, comics and toys.
A few years ago, science fiction author Timothy
Zahn wrote a trilogy of Star Wars novels
containing a new story involving the familiar
characters from the movies. The books helped
cause a resurgence of Star Wars fandom.
Many other novels and anthologies followed the
release of Zahn’s and are currently coming
out at about the rate of about 2-3 per month.
More new Star Wars adventures have shown up in
comic books. Some chronicle the history of the
Old Republic and the Jedi.
The new stories in the books and comics do not
come from Star Wars creator George
Lucas, and it’s often debated on whether or
not they can be considered ‘real’
within the Star Wars universe.
New toy lines and clothing apparel have also
spawned from the resurfaced amazement with the Star
Wars saga.
Various video and computer games are available in
which one can blast away Imperial forces (or
Rebel forces, depending on the game). Some of the
games, like Dark Forces and its new
sequel Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight,
contain new Star Wars storylines. In the
first stage of Dark Forces (a Doom-like
game), the player controls a new character named
Kyle Katarn and steals the plans for the first
death star.
All of these things join the original collection
of Star Wars merchandise to create an
even larger amassment of Star Wars items. Listing
all of them here would be very difficult. Steve
Sansweet, an avid Star Wars collector
since the first movie’s original release has
a great number of these items.
The Star Wars phenomenon has also
carried over to the Internet and online services,
which have Star Wars fan clubs. Many
have felt compelled to publish world wide web
pages in celebration of Star Wars.
Lucasfilm even has an official web site for the
special editions (http://www.starwars.com).
Why the reason for the great fuss over the
movies? “There is no why,” instructs
Yoda.
Star Wars is back to stay. Some would
argue that it never left. “The Force is
forever.” |
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