And finally the day came. It is impossible to describe the excitement I felt. Wednesday was the day my girlfriend and I (now my wife) would go out together. Sadly she was not a huge Star Wars fan so seeing the movie on opening day was not her idea of a good time. We had alot of discussion about what we would do, and ultimately I agreed not to drive the 30 miles into Denver to make her go see it. That's right, I did not see Episode I on opening day. We went out to dinner and had a pleasent evening. After she went home I reread the novelization and resolved to not seeing it until that weekend when my whole family was going to go. The next afternoon though I found myself on my way to Denver with my girlfriend to see The Phantome Menace next to the Aurora Mall. She said she knew how important it was to me and the fact that I had valued our relationship over the movie meant alot to her. So we went on Thursday.
AND IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!
Any of you prequel haters out there can stop reading now because Episode I blew everything away! I was seeeing new Star Wars! Jedi in Action! Sith with tatoos and double-bladed lightsabers! Gorgeous Queens! All CGI characters interacting with actors! Darth Vader the same height as Yoda! Yoda! Mace Windu! Darth Maul! I loved this movie! It was as if finally those of us born after the original movies were now truly a part of Star Wars Fandom. We too were part of a new movie. A record setting movie! A cultural phenomena! It was as if the torch had been passed, and we were proud to be its bearers. All the experiences after that would pale in comparison. In an effort to recreate it we began to collect. And there was plenty to collect...