”Star Wars” fans await big cinematic event
One minute after midnight tonight marks the beginning of the end for one of the big screen’s most legendary empires.
After that cheer-inducing yellow script scrolls, “Star Wars” super fans will watch as characters Master Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi, Emperor Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker, otherwise known as Darth Vader, log their final cinematic appearances in “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” the sixth and reportedly last film to be released in the series.
For Jedi-wannabes, such as 23-year-old fans Rob Paine and Joe Lack, the theatrical release marks not only a cinematic event but a personal one. By the time the projector starts rolling, they will have camped out on the sidewalk in front of River Park Square for five days and four nights to witness the end of an era.
Paine and Lack are what people might call light-hearted enthusiasts – they collect the toys, print “Star Wars” fliers and light Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker votive candles, but they always retain a hint of joking irony.
In other words, they’re not Trekkies, as the sometimes-humorless fans of the “Star Trek” television series are called.
The light saber-wielding duo (Paine constructed his own Jedi weapon: “It completed my quest,” the Whitworth College student said with a smile) are among opening-night campers throughout the nation who, after the three prequel releases of the past six years, will need to find another way to express extreme appreciation for the Force.
They weren’t born yet in 1977, when the original “Star Wars” movie – now called “Episode IV – A New Hope” – was released, nor for the second in the series, now called “Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.” And they were only a year old when Episode VI hit the theaters in 1983, under the title, “Return of the Jedi.” They’ve seen them since, of course.
Lack, a Whitworth graduate who works in a restaurant, also camped to buy tickets for “Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” when it premiered in 1999.
The two share vitriolic opinions of the first two prequels released in recent years (“Episode I – The Phantom Menace” and “Episode II – Attack of the Clones”), but they couldn’t turn away from Anakin’s final hour. Not even when Lack’s car got a parking ticket as he sat on the sidewalk and watched.
Sure, the possibility of too much superfluous flash and kid stuff carrying over from Episodes I and II scared them a little. But then they read what the critics had to say.
To the delight of die-hard and fair-weather fans, most reviews of the film so far have been glowing.
“I was trying not to get excited for it, because I and II were kind of pointless,” Paine said. “First, I saw (movie director and ‘Star Wars’ fan) Kevin Smith’s review … then I saw Ebert and Roeper’s review, and I was like, ‘Yes.’ “
The New York Times critic A.O. Scott went so far as to say it’s better than the original “Star Wars.” Not that every review has been positive: Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine panned the film. But the hype surrounding Episode III outweighs any negative press, and it’s showing at the box office.
Presold tickets for the five midnight showings at NorthTown mall were sold out nearly a week in advance, and select Thursday evening showings are sold out, according to www.fandango.com. Five of six midnight shows at River Park Square had sold out as of Tuesday evening, and shows at the Spokane Valley Mall, Post Falls Theater and Coeur d’Alene’s Showboat were going fast.
If you have tickets, grab a spot next to Paine and Lack in line – but remember, as their fliers suggest, “Bringing food and ‘Star Wars’ toys is highly recommended.”