Caught a red-eye for the "Jedi"

by Darth Danno
on 2023-05-10, 07:58:40

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of "Return of The Jedi", various theater chains brought it back for 1 week only, and I was not about to miss that as I don't remember when I last saw that film in a theater (I know it was part of the nine-movie marathon leading up to the release of "The Rise of Skywalker", but I also remember sleeping through most of Episodes V & VI). The first showing was Fri, Apr 28th at 12:01 am. They were showing it on the biggest screen they had, so unfortunately ticket prices weren't $5.00 like they were for "Rogue One", instead they were $17.25 a person, so going to see this every day at those prices was a "no" for me, but I had to see it at least once.

The last day it was being shown was May the 4th, so I said: "What the heck, let's see it one more time." This time it was a 12:15 pm show, but was still on their Ultrascreen and as such, tickets were only $14.25. Both shows had people in there other than me, but they were by no means packed. It was great to see it on the big screen once again. Took me back to 1983 when I was 14 years old and went after school with my friends Dave and Mike and saw it on opening day. My mother and I saw Episodes IV & V for the first time together, but we wouldn't see this one together until a little bit later. She didn't have the need to see it right away like I did. Unfortunately, by the time "The Phantom Menace" came out 16 years later, she was too sick with COPD to be able to see it in a theater, and had to wait until I got a copy on VHS. She didn't care for it as much as the original trilogy. I'm not sure if it was because she was watching it for the first time on such a small screen, or because her illness made her not enjoy things as much as she used to. She passed away in Sept of 2001, almost 8 months before the release of "Episode II". Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, and to my mom, I miss you, love you, and think of you often. May you rest in peace.