Phil Carter
Second Unit
Three experiences stand out in my mind. I'd like to list the original Star Wars films, but the fact is I was too young to remember the experience properly, although I did go to see all of 'em.
1. Seeing "Schindler's List" in a PACKED theater full of Georgia rednecks who were loud and boisterous and rude before the film started. Once it started, I was grimly amused to see that the noise was gradually dying out. When the houselights came up after the film was over, there was absolute dead silence from everyone leaving the theater. It was eerie. Not a word spoken by anyone, even in the lobby and outside the theater.
2. Having acquired my tickets to the midnight showing of "Phantom Menace", I got to the theater at noon to line up. There were already five or six other people there and we introduced ourselves. We settled down to wait till the theater opened, when to our surprise the manager opened up and said "Hey, guys, c'mon in, we've got a special place set up for you." They had, too -- a huge area roped off just for the Star Wars fans. As the day went by and the line grew and grew and grew, we sat and played SW Trivial Pursuit, acted out skits from the film, had pizza delivered to the line, got interviewed by the local radio stations, and would cheer periodically when the theater employees would walk by, asking us if we were ready yet.
When they let us in an hour before the film, you never heard such noise. The theater was packed to the brim with fanatics, most of them being loud and exuberant. I was a bit concerned about seeing a movie in this environment, but I needn't have worried. The second those magical words flashed up on the screen -- "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." -- the entire theater went quiet as a tomb. Wonderfully well-behaved, all of us, except for the scattered cheers and "wow!"s that could be heard here and there. And of course heavy applause at the end.
3. Seeing "Fellowship of the Ring" for the first time. Like with "Phantom Menace", I'd gotten advance tickets for a midnight showing. Got there right after work, at 6 or so, to sit down. These theater employees were a lot less hospitable than the people at the place where I saw "Phantom Menace". They just jerked a thumb and said "Over there". I was the first in line, but several more people followed not long after that. We passed the time discussing book vs. movie stuff, the bits we'd seen on fansites like TORN and so on. As with the "Phantom Menace" crowd, everybody was plenty noisy before the film started, but dead quiet once things got rolling.
What I remember most of all from that viewing, though, was the overwhelming happiness I got from seeing my all-time favorite tale finally come to life on the big screen. When we looked into the Shire proper for the first time, I just felt a lump rise in my throat. I had chills down my spine during the confrontation with the Balrog. The beauty of Rivendell, the awesome grandeur of the Dwarrowdelf, Boromir's valiant death -- I had never seen a film this epic in scope before, and my heart just sang within me.
The experience was repeated a year later with "The Two Towers", of course, but the first time was something special.
Of course, when I go to see Trilogy Tuesday on December 16th, I expect THAT to easily top all of my theatergoing experiences so far. I expect it to be one of the highlights of my life.
cheers,
Phil
1. Seeing "Schindler's List" in a PACKED theater full of Georgia rednecks who were loud and boisterous and rude before the film started. Once it started, I was grimly amused to see that the noise was gradually dying out. When the houselights came up after the film was over, there was absolute dead silence from everyone leaving the theater. It was eerie. Not a word spoken by anyone, even in the lobby and outside the theater.
2. Having acquired my tickets to the midnight showing of "Phantom Menace", I got to the theater at noon to line up. There were already five or six other people there and we introduced ourselves. We settled down to wait till the theater opened, when to our surprise the manager opened up and said "Hey, guys, c'mon in, we've got a special place set up for you." They had, too -- a huge area roped off just for the Star Wars fans. As the day went by and the line grew and grew and grew, we sat and played SW Trivial Pursuit, acted out skits from the film, had pizza delivered to the line, got interviewed by the local radio stations, and would cheer periodically when the theater employees would walk by, asking us if we were ready yet.
When they let us in an hour before the film, you never heard such noise. The theater was packed to the brim with fanatics, most of them being loud and exuberant. I was a bit concerned about seeing a movie in this environment, but I needn't have worried. The second those magical words flashed up on the screen -- "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." -- the entire theater went quiet as a tomb. Wonderfully well-behaved, all of us, except for the scattered cheers and "wow!"s that could be heard here and there. And of course heavy applause at the end.
3. Seeing "Fellowship of the Ring" for the first time. Like with "Phantom Menace", I'd gotten advance tickets for a midnight showing. Got there right after work, at 6 or so, to sit down. These theater employees were a lot less hospitable than the people at the place where I saw "Phantom Menace". They just jerked a thumb and said "Over there". I was the first in line, but several more people followed not long after that. We passed the time discussing book vs. movie stuff, the bits we'd seen on fansites like TORN and so on. As with the "Phantom Menace" crowd, everybody was plenty noisy before the film started, but dead quiet once things got rolling.
What I remember most of all from that viewing, though, was the overwhelming happiness I got from seeing my all-time favorite tale finally come to life on the big screen. When we looked into the Shire proper for the first time, I just felt a lump rise in my throat. I had chills down my spine during the confrontation with the Balrog. The beauty of Rivendell, the awesome grandeur of the Dwarrowdelf, Boromir's valiant death -- I had never seen a film this epic in scope before, and my heart just sang within me.
The experience was repeated a year later with "The Two Towers", of course, but the first time was something special.
Of course, when I go to see Trilogy Tuesday on December 16th, I expect THAT to easily top all of my theatergoing experiences so far. I expect it to be one of the highlights of my life.
cheers,
Phil
