read and enjoy ^^s/afp/20070526...m_070526123941LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Thousands of fans dressed as Jedi, Princess Leia and R2D2 celebrated Friday the 30 years of quot;Star Wars,quot; which revolutionized film as the first in a six-film hit series for creator George Lucas.
In Hollywood, where moneyed studios crank out films, many of which seem to be forgotten almost as fast as they are made, fans by the thousands remembered the 30th anniversary of quot;Star Wars,quot; that rare blockbuster that earned a cult following.
Fans dressed as Luke Skywalker, soldiers of the Empire and lovable robots began arriving for the Star Wars Conference on Wednesday and are expected to go home Sunday.
In the meantime, fans are buying up masks for as much as 1,000 dollars, light sabers, figurines of the robots R2D2 and CP3O, posters, bibs for babies and Teddy bear-style Ewok dolls, based on the fuzzy creatures that appear in the 1983 movie quot;Return of the Jedi.quot;
Some 10,000 people are expected each day at the Convention Center, many of them seeking light-saber combat training, photographs alongside their favorite characters, and autographs.
The first day of the congress was reserved for members of the Club Star Wars, thousands of whom watched the six films in a non-stop, 17-hour showing.
quot;Star Wars,quot; one of the top grossing movies of all time, had a modest beginning in just 32 theaters across North America on May 25, 1977.
But the science fiction-fantasy movie grew into a monster hit worldwide and quickly became a classic, prompting writer-director-producer Lucas to make two equally successful sequels: quot;The Empire Strikes Backquot; in 1980 and quot;Return of the Jediquot; in 1983.
After a 16-year break he made three quot;prequelsquot;: quot;The Phantom Menacequot; in 1999, quot;Attack of the Clonesquot; in 2002, and quot;Revenge of the Sithquot; in 2005, which tell the story leading up to the original movies.
The films set new standards for special effects, but are known as the first to make fortunes in movie tie-in merchandise.
quot;Star Warsquot; spawned television series, books, comics, video games and toys, which Forbes magazine estimated in 2005 generated 20 billion dollars.
The most recent in the series raked in 850 million dollars in box office receipts worldwide.
Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of this city of four million, the second-most populous in the United States, even proclaimed Friday Star Wars Day.
The US Postal Service marked Friday's anniversary by issuing limited-edition stamps depicting Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, the feisty robot R2D2 and others.
Fans can vote on the postal service website for their favorite stamp of the series. The winner will be re-issued at mid-year.
In early March the postal service announced that some 400 mailboxes would be made up to look like R2D2.
come forth my storm troopers! i love those guys...
STARWARS, is awesome. I could watch the orginal trilogy over and over again.
Geez, quot;fans are buying up masks for as much as 1,000 dollarsquot;. o_O
Finally, the storm troopers are coming, THE EMPIRE WILL WIN
Do or do not there is no try
Yeah, Star Wars
Last night History channel had things about Star Wars.
The entire time watching about the possibility of light sabers and blaster guns made my face look like this
Originally Posted by RayLast night History channel had things about Star Wars.
The entire time watching about the possibility of light sabers and blaster guns made my face look like this
Was it the one about the guy saying Star Wars inspired him to invent cell phones?
Nope but I would love to watch that one too!
It wasn't Star Wars it was Star Trek
30 years of awesomeness. Here's to another 30. |
Post at 2011-4-21 20:43
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