Raiders of the Lost Ark

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1981, 40th Anniversary, Baton Rouge, Bon Marche Mall, Cairo, California, Cinema 8, Disney World, Disneyland, DisneySea, East Baton Rouge Parish, Film, Film Trailer, Florida, Force Ten From navarone, Friday, George Lucas, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, John Williams, June 5, Louisiana, MGM Studios, Movie, Movie Magic, Movie Theater, Orlando, Peruvian, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sneak Preview, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, The Empire Strikes Back, Tokyo, TV Commercial

I arrived home to the apartment where I lived with my mother and sister in the late afternoon on Friday, June 5, 1981.  School in East Baton Rouge Parish in southeast Louisiana had already been out for the summer for a week or two.  I was an elementary school student.

I was helping my sister unpack groceries when a commercial came on TV for Raiders of the Lost Ark (now known as “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”).  There was to be a sneak preview (remember those?) that evening at Cinema 8 movie theater at Bon Marche Mall in Baton Rouge.  Cinema 8 had been chosen as one of many theaters in many cities around the country to premiere the film a week before general release.

I was occupied at the time and didn’t pay a lot of attention to the commercial.  As with many TV commercials for films in the eighties, it happened quick with a lot of fast, random flashes of action and not enough to show you what the film was really about—a smart marketing tactic compared to today where you already know the essence of the film (and sometimes the spoilers and big reveals) in the very first trailer.  All I remember seeing was Harrison Ford playing a cowboy riding a horse and holding on to the front of a big truck in a desert, and that it was a collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Harrison Ford is doing a cowboy film? I thought.  I don’t know that I want to see this.  In 1981, in my mind, Harrison Ford was Han Solo.  He was a sci-fi/fantasy actor.  O.k., I did like him in Force Ten From Navarone (1978) after Star Wars, but I could not imagine my screen hero playing a cowboy.  He is not a cowboy in Raiders, but when I saw him wearing a wide brim hat in the TV commercial (I didn’t know the difference between a fedora and a cowboy hat back then) I just assumed that it was a cowboy flick.

The phone rang.  It was my mom calling from work saying that a friend of hers had scored tickets to the sold-out sneak preview at Cinema 8 and that we were all going that evening.  Lovely.  I thought that I was just going to see another cowboy film from a genre that I had no interest in.  Little did I realize that Raiders of the Lost Ark would turn out to be the most thrilling time I had in a movie theater since The Empire Strikes Back the year before.

From the opening scene in the Peruvian temple to the closing credits, the audience at Cinema 8 that night was on the edge of their seats enjoying a non-stop rollercoaster adventure the likes of which has rarely been equaled or surpassed in film.  I had never experienced such a boisterous and energetic audience reaction in a movie theater before and have not since.  The scene where Indy shoots the swordsman on the street in Cairo brought the house down.  Talk about audience participation!

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A Galaxy Forty Years Ago

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1980, 1991, 1996, 20th Century Fox, 40th Anniversary, A galaxy far away, Baton Rouge, Boba Fett, Bon Marche Mall, Bon Marche Twin Cinema, Boris Vallejo, bounty hunter, C-3PO, carbonite, Cloud City, Coca Cola, Dagobah, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, era, Film, George Lucas, Han Solo, Hoth, Jabba the Hutt, John Williams, Lando Calrissian, Louisiana, Lucasfilm, Luke Skywalker, Millennium Falcon, Movie, Princess Leia Organa, Saga, Space Fantasy, Star Wars, Star Wars: Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back, The London Symphony Orchestra, thrilling, Yoda

Spoiler Alert!

Even though I want as many people as possible to read this post, I must give fair warning. This post contains information that gives away important plot points from the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back, commonly referred to these days as just Star Wars: Episode V. If you have never seen the film and intend to do so, then you may want to proceed with caution or skip this post altogether. On the other hand if you have seen it, then I hope that you will enjoy this little stroll down memory lane.

It was almost forty years ago to the day that I saw the greatest and most influential science fantasy film of my life…The Empire Strikes Back. As mentioned above, the more familiar title is now Star Wars: Episode V. I prefer the original title. I remember when first released, people laughed at the title. It didn’t sound dignified enough for the Star Wars series. Over time it grew on us. We got used to it. Decades later it seems to be the more appropriate title for the film. It is the original title after all.

There seems to be discrepancies in the exact date of the film’s release. I remember it being in late May of 1980. Supposedly, it had a limited release. I saw it about a week or so after it’s premiere at Bon Marche Twin Cinema behind the Bon Marche Mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I was living at the time. The movie got a much wider nationwide release a month later in June. Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, and as far as I remember only one theater in town was showing the film initially. I could be wrong about when it was released in Baton Rouge. I would be happy to hear from you in the comments below if you know something to the contrary. Also, chime in and let me know when the film premiered in your town.

Spring was blooming in May of 1980, and my family had relocated to Baton Rouge a couple of months before from our hometown an hour east. It was a clear, sunny and mild Saturday afternoon. I had just been released from…sorry…gotten out of…school for the year. My older brother and sister (I was the youngest) had seen the movie during its opening week. I had not seen it yet, even though I was the biggest S.W. fan in my family.

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Do You Know Why Today is a Special Day for Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Fans?

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1977, 40th Anniversary, 40th Birthday, George Lucas, May 25, Star Wars

A long time ago….a certain science fiction/fantasy film set my imagination on fire, dared me to dream big and changed the way the world has made and watched movies ever since.

“Star Wars” celebrates its 40^th anniversary today.   I still remember waiting in line to see it with my big brother and his friend at the University Twin Cinema across from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana in 1977.  I had no idea how the film would influence and shape my life when I settled into my seat for the evening feature.   My life would never be the same.

Thank you, Mr. Lucas, for setting us on that journey forty years ago into a galaxy far, far away.