Random Saturday Giveaway: Win a Copy of Lego Star Wars II

[Jason Dunn]

http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/lego-starwars.jpg

Coming home from CES, I happened to return with a few things that I think others would enjoy more than myself, so it's time for another giveaway! One of these things is the game Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (http://lucasarts.com/games/legostarwarsii/) (courtesy of Microsoft). This game has some very impressive Lego graphics (http://cache.kotaku.com/images/2006/03/LEGOSW2_obi_tantive.jpg), and is very fun to play. I still haven't played Neverwinter Nights 2 (http://www.atari.com/nwn2/) more than three times yet since I got it at Christmas, so I just know I'm not going to get to this game. Want to win it? Post a message in this thread telling me your earliest Star Wars memory. Did you see any of the original movies as a kid? Or were you a "late bloomer" and saw the movies later in life? One post per person, and I'm going to shut down down the contest randomly at some point today. Or maybe tomorrow. We'll see. ;-)

UPDATE: And the winner is...Dyvim. Congratulations!

[thinkhard]

I was captivated by R2 D2. It seemed very futuristic and cute.

[jmulder]

I remember when SW first came out, I had a friend who was really into it, but hadn't seen the movie. Finally, we talked my parents into taking us to the drive-in theater. We were both hooked from 'A long time ago'

I must have seen the original 50 times since then, and since this thread has come up, I might even watch it again today.

[JPD]

I think I was 20 when it came out. I had a friend who was a huge Sci-Fi reader. We were at a Jesuit university... the curriculum required courses in theology. We probably had some silly conversations on the theology of Star Wars...

[Dyvim]

I was 7 when the original Star Wars came out. My brother and I made my parents take us to see it 4 times (drove them nuts). I think aside from other Star Wars and maybe the Indiana Jones movies, it was the only movie I saw more than once in the theater.

[abloom]

I was 8 and was spellbound from the opening scene. One of the only movies I ever saw in the theaters growing up.

[bluemax]

We'd seen the previews on television and were more than interested in going to see the first Star Wars. We got popped corn and soda and settled into our seats the theatre lights dimmed. We basically ignored the previews. Once the music started the mood changed dramatically. No one spoke, All eyes were glued to "A long time ago - in a galaxy..." There was no just description of what we saw. We'd seen science fiction movies before but this was very different. It was so much better, so believable, so realistic but more important was the story and the way it was told. Everyone used to talk about the special effects. They were so dramatically believable no one noticed them during the movie. Everyone believed light sabers were real for 2 hours.

My most memorable highlights --
R2 and C3PO walking in the desert after their escape from Luke's farm
Luke and Leia swinging across the central core of the ship
Obi-Wan Kenobi's sacrifice to save Luke and Leia

The final "bang" was the closing award ceremony. The theatre audience cheered as each character was presented to the Princess.

Bill B

[DustyLBottoms]

I was born in 1983, too late to see the original films in the theater. We had a bootlegged copy of A New Hope that began with Ben Kenobi saving Luke from the Sandpeople. I never knew I was missing a good half hour of the begginig until the special editions hit the theaters.

Also, having been hooked on starwars I used to build any ship I could out of legos, my personal best was a 1.5ft. long Y-Wing fighter (this was before the official kits!)

[alese]

My first memory of Star Wars is not a movie. I actually got a paperback edition of Star Wars book, I think it was 1980.
I read the book in one day and I was hooked.
Few months later I saw my first Star Wars movie - Empire Strikes Back and it was even better then I imagined, not to mention that I had a crush on Princess Leia :D

[David Horn]

My earliest memory of Star Wars is watching Chewie when I was about 3. ;-)

[mcsouth]

Ugh, I'm going to date myself here - I remember all of the fuss and excitement when the original (and still the best) Star Wars came out back in 1977. It took forever to get to the small town theatre where I lived, but was it ever worth the wait. It was by far the most immersive movie event that I had ever been involved with to that point. I wasn't the person that went 200+ times, but I probably went at least 5 times initially - it was just so spectacular.

Now I have had the pleasure of introducing my kids to the Star Wars universe as well, so they would be really excited with this game (they've already beat the original Lego Star Wars numerous times!).

[gdl39]

I was in college when Star Wars (no sub-title) first came out. I remember driving by the movie theater by the local mall (there were no megaplexes back then) and being amazed by the constant lines (there were lines around the building for months). I finally saw it on a first date (her second time seeing it). She enjoyed interpreting what R2D2 was saying. It was one of the best nights of my young life. (The next best was seeing Empire Strikes Back, my absolute favorite SW movie.) It was a blast watching SW years ago on laserdisc with my kids for their first time and seeing their reactions.

[ziggity]

On opening day for Return of the Jedi, my dad said he would take me if I let him pull my tooth. The string slipped and he pulled the wrong one, but he took me anyway.

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, CONTEST CLOSED!

This was a GREAT thread, I really enjoyed reading through everyone's comments, it's amazing to see what kind of impact Star Wars has had on people.

I'll update the front page with the winners once I draw the names...hold tight!

[Chris Gohlke]

Surprised no one posted the Start Wars Christmas Special as their best memory! :wink:

[Jason Dunn]

Surprised no one posted the Start Wars Christmas Special as their best memory! :wink:

Christmas special? What?? Never heard of such a thing...I do have vague memories of a direct-to-VHS Ewok movie with two blond kids...

[Chris Gohlke]

You are thinking of the Battle for Endor and Caravan for Courage, two made for TV movies.

I'm talking about this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Christmas_Special

It is the absolute worst piece of television ever made.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm talking about this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Christmas_Special

Oh. My. Goodness.

This is going to make you laugh, but for years now I've had this vague memory of another Star Wars movie I saw that had Han and Chewbacca returning to Kashyyyk. I was so sure it was real, but over the years no one I spoke to about it had ever heard of it, so I thought I must have just had a vivid dream or something. To learn that this really aired is a very strange feeling! 8O I was born in 1975, so this aired three years after I was born - but if it never aired in re-runs...maybe I saw it when I was three? I generally don't remember much of anything from early on in life, but I kid you not for two decades now I've had memories of this "other" Star Wars episode...it's like validation that I wasn't just making it up. ;-)

Now I have to track down a copy of this! I searched on eBay but couldn't find a copy (despite what the Wikipedia entry says). Do you have a copy Chris?

[Chris Gohlke]

Yeah, I bought a bootleg off of ebay, check you DMT e-mail.