This December marks a decade since Episode VII arrived in cinemas around the world and Star Wars was quite literally EVERYWHERE.
It was fantastic to see and if there’s one thing that’s better than the big day itself, on this case December 18th, it was the hype before. It was the anticipation. When one looks back, for myself at least, I’ve concluded that as a child the best day of the year was Christmas Eve. It was the day before the big day itself that was the most special. The feeling that it was nearly here but not quite. The promise of what could be or what might be left under the tree from Father Christmas.
Anticipation is a powerful thing. I was asked a little while back what my favourite sound in the world was. Mine is a brief few seconds of silence. Allow me to explain. It’s, for the first six Star Wars films at least, the brief pause after the 20th Century Fox Fanfare has played and before the legendary John Williams Main Theme blasts in our ears. In those 2 seconds of lull, it’s the beautiful anticipation of what’s about to happen.
It’s the same with a band or a show. Those brief moments when the lights go down and the seconds before the show begins are spellbinding and makes the heartrate beat faster with excitement.
We need anticipation in our lives. We need things to look forward too. These things keep us going. So, ten years ago – in mid-November – it was simply bliss. A new Star Wars film was coming into view over on the horizon.
The final trailer had made its debut and one could pour over it at anytime and try and work out where different shots might be places in the film or what different visuals might mean. As ever with life, there’s a beauty in the not knowing sometimes. Life must have its mysteries.
The shops were stocked and rammed with Star Wars goodies. It hadn’t been like this since 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. It wasn’t just toy shops that had Star Wars, it was supermarkets, fast food chains, homeware stores and even party supply shops were in on the action. You could make Star Wars a part of your everyday life and there was no escaping it. Need a few groceries? Well, pick up a box of Kylo Ren cereal while you’re at it.
Billboards, bus stations and windows were filled with images of Star Wars once again. The hype was there to see and feel every day.
There’s something so powerful in the collective too. We were all feeling it and like an excitable child waiting for December 25th, we were all marking down the days until the film arrived in cinemas.
This was a worldwide event too. The news was covering the hype from Australia, actors were doing the rounds on all the big chat shows. Harrison Ford himself was talking about a galaxy far, far away and actually enjoying himself.
There was, however, one glaring omission. Where in the world was Mark Hamill? He was completely missing in action. He was AWOL. I remember when the final trailer dropped along with the theatrical release poster and Luke Skywalker was nowhere to be seen. My Mom, of all people, phoned me. She too had got caught up in the hype and on the radio at her work, every news bulletin finished with the same breaking news: Where in the world was Luke Skywalker?
For my Mom to be getting excited I knew there was a certain level of hype that was hitting fever pitch. Of course, Episode VII was always going to be at an advantage. It’s always exciting to find out what happens next and at this moment in time ten years ago, we had no idea what was coming.
And that was a beautiful thing.