What's your favorite OT Star Wars movie?

[J_Dee]

For context, I was born a month after Star Wars hit theaters and I grew up up to my neck in Star Wars.

Star Wars debuted on Wednesday, May 25, 1977, in 32 theaters, including Showcase in Louisville. Did anybody here see it then? When Showcase was demolished, I took a piece of rubble, just to have a little piece of one of the theaters that Star Wars debuted in.

Spoiler

April 12, 1977: the first issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars (cover-dated July) hits newsstands.
May 25, 1977: Star Wars debuts in 32 theaters, including Showcase in Louisville.
September 16, 1977: The Making of Star Wars airs on ABC.
October 1, 1977: Meco's Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band reaches #1 on the Billboard Top 100.
November 15, 1978: The Star Wars Holiday Special airs on CBS.
May 21, 1980: The Empire Strikes back debuts in theaters (after being shown at the Kennedy Center on May 17).
February 23, 1980: The Muppet Show airs The Stars of Star Wars.
September 22, 1980: SP SF: The Empire Strikes Back Special, CBS.
May 27, 1982: Star Wars lands on rental home video.
September 1, 1982: Star Wars becomes available for purchase on home video.
February 1, 1983: Star Wars makes its debut on HBO, The Movie Channel, Showtime, and Cinemax. HBO paid to air it earlier one minute earlier than the other stations.
May 25, 1983: Return of the Jedi, theaters.
November 21, 1983: Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi, ABC.
February 26, 1984: Star Wars makes its cable television debut, on CBS.
November 25, 1984: Ewoks: Caravan of Courage, ABC.
November, 1984: Empire, home video.
September 7, 1985: Droids and Ewoks debut on ABC.
November 24, 1985: Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, ABC.
February, 1986: Empire, pay-tv; Jedi, home video.
June 17, 1986: the last issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic (cover-dated September) hits newsstands. End of an era.

I saw Star Wars on HBO in 1983 (in '83, cable television was brand-new in the area I grew up in) and Jedi at the theater soon after (and got RotJ glasses at Burger King afterwards). I probably didn't see Empire until it hit television.

Jedi's my personal favorite of the lot. It was one of the first movies I saw in the theater and I had tons of the toys (and I still have every one, sans most of the figures' guns. Great Christmas memories). I saw the RotJ SE in theaters seven times (and seven times for Star Wars, two for Empire).

What's your favorite OT movie? Any memories to share?

 

[funKYcat75]

Empire, because it's the one I have fleeting memories of seeing. Probably the earliest movie memory I have. I vividly remember Luke in the Bacta Tank on the big screen and wondering why he looked so fat.

 

[rudd1]

-really enjoyed the wrath of kahn.

 

[funKYcat75]

-really enjoyed the wrath of kahn.

 

[GeraldV]

Seeing Star Wars in the theatre was one of my earliest memories. So it will always be A New Hope for me.

Empire is the best movie of the three, but A New Hope is my favorite.

 

[_Mav_]

I'm not sure which "episode" it is, but I really like the one where the plucky young hero blows up the giant, planet-sized weapon despite overwhelming odds.

 

[Glenn's take]

I saw the original 12 times in the theaters including all 4 times it was shown at the Alpha Cinemas on Westport Road for my 9th birthday.

 

[Catman100]

Saw Return of the Jedi on opening night in NYC. Showed up for a 1 pm matinee and had to wait in line for a 9pm show due to everything being sold out. Mimes, magicians, acrobats and everything NYC played the line for 8 hours. The packed cinema burst out in applause every time a character made their first appearance on screen.

Was the greatest movie experience of my life so I will always be partial to ROTJ.

 

[chroix]

Empire. Tried to make my own version of it as a kid. Blew up a lot of my friends toys. Best ever.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

 

[christophero]

ESB is my favorite movie ever. I dragged my parents to see it like 8 times. But they loved it too.

 

[DSmith21]

Ewoks are almost as annoying as Jar Jar Binks. ESB is the best of the three and ROJ the weakest.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

1977

Kirk finished second behind Seattle Slew at Derby.

 

[Tannerdad]

None listed.
Rogue One was the best

 

[m080470]

I saw the original 12 times in the theaters including all 4 times it was shown at the Alpha Cinemas on Westport Road for my 9th birthday.

I saw it at Showcase first but saw it a number of times at the Alpha on Westport Road too when it finally wound up there. 7-9 years old I lived across the street in Rolling Hills apartments and was about a 100 yards from the theater.

 

[Glenn's take]

I saw it at Showcase first but saw it a number of times at the Alpha on Westport Road too when it finally wound up there. 7-9 years old I lived across the street in Rolling Hills apartments and was about a 100 yards from the theater.

I was back in Murray Hill but not too much further. I think about it all the time when I see that auto parts store.

 

[Crums Bald Spot]

Empire was the best but very similar to a lot of folks in this thread, A New Hope is a sentimental favorite.

I will give Jedi a bit of credit, princess Leia rock the outfit.

 

[ukwizard]

I was born a year after A New Hope came out so the first time I saw it was on HBO. To this day every time I hear the Fox fanfare I expect the Star Wars theme to blare out immediately after. By the time I was 5, I was the proud owner of a X-Wing, Tie Fighter and the crown jewel Millennium Falcon toys.

I think the order I saw them was IV, VI, V. Empire is the best but Hope is near and dear to my heart. I don't think I saw Jedi in the theater as the only movie I remember seeing in the theater that young was ET. I don't hate the Ewoks but I remember as a kid wanting them to get back to what Luke and Vader were doing and the space battle during the Endor scenes.

 

[Glenn's take]

I was born a year after A New Hope came out so the first time I saw it was on HBO. To this day every time I hear the Fox fanfare I expect the Star Wars theme to blare out immediately after. By the time I was 5, I was the proud owner of a X-Wing, Tie Fighter and the crown jewel Millennium Falcon toys.

I think the order I saw them was IV, VI, V. Empire is the best but Hope is near and dear to my heart. I don't think I saw Jedi in the theater as the only movie I remember seeing in the theater that young was ET. I don't hate the Ewoks but I remember as a kid wanting them to get back to what Luke and Vader were doing and the space battle during the Endor scenes.

You are the exact answer of what I say about just being a few years older than me that doesn't understand. Cable TV and VCR's didn't exist when I saw it. If you didn't see it in the theater, you might never see it again if it didn't come on the movie of the week. Cable or VCR's didn't exist.

 

[Fast3ddy]

Return of the Jedi and watching Luke come full circle was just everything to me. I loved it. And Ewoks didn’t bother me one bit.

 

[BlueRaider22]

For me:
1. Return
2. New Hope
3. Empire

 

[BigTimeBecks3500]

Jedi was by far the most entertaining. It had the best set pieces of the three and featured less Luke than the other 2 - keeping the worst actor in the history of successful trilogies off the screen as much as possible was addition by subtraction.

 

[BigTyrone]

-really enjoyed the wrath of kahn.

It was a hell of a thing when Spock died.