Have You Seen The Last Jedi More Than Once?

Here's a history of my Star Wars theater experiences:

I don't recall seeing Star Wars or The Empire Strikes Back in the theaters. I'm pretty sure I didn't see either until they were on HBO or whatever was going on back then. My parents took me to see Return of the Jedi on opening night in suburban New York for my 10th birthday, and it remains the greatest moviegoing experiencing of my life. The entire audience was screaming "GO, GO, GO! DO IT!" when Vader was looking back and forth between Luke writhing in agony and the Emperor shooting lightning with evil glee. When Vader lifted the Emperor, everyone was jumping up and cheering, and I thought the roof of the theater was going to blow off. I know I'll never experience that again. I saw ROTJ three times (once with Spanish subtitles!) Since then, I've seen every Star Wars movie on the first showing on opening night.

I watched The Phantom Menace premiere in 1999 with a group of about 20 classmates while I was attending officer training in El Paso, TX back in my army days. It was thrilling to see Star Wars on the big screen again, but it was immediately obvious that the film was just a shadow of the OT. It was still fun to hear the audience cheer every time a familiar character appeared for the first time, and I think I stopped breathing when Maul ignited his double-bladed saber. I saw that thing five times in theaters. FIVE TIMES! The last time I went, was one of only two times in my life that I went to a movie by myself. (The other time was when I was avoiding an awkward third wheel situation while in Vegas, and there was nothing to do but go see Judge Dredd - the Stallone version - at the casino theater. So what? Screw you for judging me! I am who I am!) My opinion of the movie changed for the worse over the 5 viewings, but I got a deeper appreciation for how hard (impossible?) it was to recapture the magic of the OT.

I saw Attack of the Clones at the now closed Ziegfeld Theater in New York in 2002. I went with my girlfriend at the time, and a couple of her friends. They weren't big Star Wars fans, but I think my enthusiasm got them interested. At the time of my first viewing, I thought AOTC had gotten Star Wars back on track after TPM, but after a second and third viewing, my brief enthusiasm waned. I still like it better than TPM, but it really is a terribly done film. What I most remember was the third viewing, which was at an IMAX theater. I don't recall the exact details, but the run time was apparently cut to under two hours, in order to meet some limitations of the IMAX format. This was notable because most of the horrific romantic scenes with Anakin and Padme were deleted. I can't tell you how much better the movie was. Not only were the most cringeworthy bits of dialogue removed, but the movie just flowed better, and there was more focus on Obi-Wan's investigation and the battle action than anything else. The movie still sucked, but that change was a massive improvement.

By the time Revenge of the Sith rolled around, I had met my future wife, and had fully indoctrinated her on all things Star Wars. We eagerly attended ROTS on opening night in 2005 at the Ziegfeld (again). This time, there were people in costume and a lot of people in the audience were waving lightsabers in the dark theater. I enjoyed ROTS a lot more than the other prequels, but it had too much ground to cover and too much to repair from the damage done by the first 2 chapters. I definitely enjoyed it, but my wife really loved it. It was the first Star Wars film she had seen in the theater. When it was over, she wanted to watch it right away again. We ended up seeing it 3 times in total. I think I really appreciate the misery and desperation that was conveyed from the moment Order 66 was issued until the end. My wife cries when the sad Williams score kicks in for Order 66, and she cries at Padme's funeral. For me, it's the best of the prequels, but even struggling to to avoid being a disjointed mess because of the efforts needed to clean up the trilogy, I still really like the last third of the film. (Since watching The Clone Wars cartoon, I also appreciate how much better it fleshes out Anakin's fall than was portrayed in the films.)

My wife and I watched The Force Awakens on opening night, this time in Jersey. I definitely enjoyed it, but I think I wanted it to be better than it was, and I was very tense instead of just relaxing. For TFA, I needed a second viewing just to take in the full story. I actually liked it more the second time, after the stress of the anticipation leading up opening night was gone. It certainly had its flaws (some huge), but I nevertheless had gotten a little better at just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

We saw Rogue One on opening night, and I loved it. As I mentioned recently somewhere in Disqus, when Red Leader and Gold Leader reported in, I got the chills. Of all the easter eggs and homages in the newer films, this was by far the best. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and loved it again when I saw it a few weeks later for a second time. I think because it was an OT-era film, and was not subjected to the crushing weight of the Skywalker story, it was a lot easier to just sit back and relax.

I saw the opening showing of TLJ with my wife at 7:00 on December 14th. I enjoyed it, but found that I was very tied down by trying to catch every detail, every flaw, every bit of dialogue (a lot of which I missed anyway), but I couldn't help but enjoy it. I got a little emotional when Luke had the vision of the twin suns. I thought it was better than TFA. When I saw it for a second time just before New Years Eve, I enjoyed it more. Yes, it has some flaws, and I can completely understand why it divides audiences, but I liked it, and found that I am very intrigued the new direction.

To sum up:

ROTJ - 3 times - All good, but nothing will ever top the opening night Vader scene.
[ANH/ESB - 1 time - Saw a double feature at a theater with my dad some years after ROTJ had already come out.]*
[ESB SE - 1 time - While stationed in Germany, managed to catch this in a theater on a double-date, the only time I saw any SE in the theater]**
TPM - 5 times - Got worse with repeated viewings, but flattened out by the last time or two.
AOTC - 3 times - First time was fun, second time it got worse, third time on IMAX was much better!
ROTS - 3 times - First SW movie with my wife, liked it a lot, got depressed by the 3rd time.
[TCW - 1 time - Saw with my wife. Meh.]***
[TPM 3D - 1 time - Didn't change my view of the film, but the 3D tech was decent.]
TFA - 2 times - Liked it the first time with some reservations, liked it better the second time, but still had the same reservations.
RO - 2 times - Loved it the first time, more the second time.
TLJ - 2 times - Liked it the first time, better the second time.

[Edit]
*Technically, I guess I know I have seen the original(ish) ANH and ESB in theaters when I saw the double feature some time in the late 80's.
**Yay! A Star Wars date!
***My wife and I watched a few episodes of the show when it came out, and quickly gave up at the time.
****What a crime that AOTC and ROTS 3D were cancelled by Disney! (Or...is it?)

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