It's finally

here. The wait has seemed excruciatingly long and the hype has been piled

higher than a ton-ton's nostril. Today, "Star Wars: Episode I The

Phantom Menace" opens.

In fact, the

first shows began at 12:01 this morning.

It is the beginning

of the story that we all know the ending to. It is the story of young

Annakin Skywalker, dreaming of becoming a Jedi and fighting for the Force.

In episode

I, young Annakin meets his future wife, Queen Amidala, as well as his

Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi. Since we know that Annakin grows up to become

Darth Vader and that he is Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker's father,

that means that the queen is Luke and Leia's mother.

It is important

to keep the whole story of Star Wars in your mind while viewing the film.

There is a lot of exposition and some things may not seem important but

in the end, this film will be what ties together all six episodes of the

series everything from the relationships between the characters to the

historical context of the fighting in the galaxy and the creation of the

Death Star.

If you have

not already purchased your tickets, you probably will not get a chance

to see his film until late this weekend or early next week. There will

most likely be scalpers in the parking lots of your local cinemas and

movie theaters may sell tickets for some seats that do not get filled.

The AMC Southlake

24 is showing the film on five screens, while Tinseltown in Fayetteville

is showing it on two screens and the Regal Cinema in Riverdale is showing

it on one screen. George Lucas made it a requirement that all screens

showing the film had to meet specific picture and sound standards.

This will definitely

be the biggest film of the summer if not the decade or the century. The

film made close to $100 million in advance ticket sales; most films don't

break $100 million ever.

The one thing

that is certain is that this summer will have event cinema, and Star Wars

is like Christmas to the movie-going public.

Enjoy this

movie, take your kids and relax. This movie will probably still be out

at Halloween.

Back

to the Top of the Page Back

to the Weekend Home Page