George Lucas released his ambitious project Star Wars in 1977 with little idea of how well it would be received. The movie was screened in a small amount of just 43 theatres but still managed to accumulate $1.5 million on its opening weekend.

He named the film Star Wars and later changed it to A New Hope. The cast consisted of very interesting characters and drew in the audience to an interesting storyline.

After the movie proved to be a success, Lucas released two more movies by the names of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars would go on to be viewed over and over for years to many different generations, but few could say they were the first generation to see it. Some of those lucky few attend AHS and have stories to tell.

“I saw Star Wars for the first time when I was in high school and when the films were re-released for their 20th anniversary,” Social Studies teacher Lindsay Zurawski said. “I really enjoyed seeing the films with my friends and I became a huge fan after that.”

Zurawski isn’t the only one to have memories associated with these films. English teacher Bill Maglisceau also was one of the first to see the originals in theatres.

“For The Empire Strikes Back, I got in line after swim practice for the premiere,” Maglisceau said. “I was first in line and sat in the front row.”

Robert Thompson, a learning disabilities teacher at AHS, had a more unique experience than most.

“I was lucky enough to have a connection to see a private screening the day before the release of Return of the Jedi,” Thompson said. “I excused my kids from elementary school and took them with me.” Thompson looks to take his granddaughter to see the new film.

After Lucas released the original trilogy, he decided to release the prequel trilogy.

The three movies released were The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and The Revenge of the Sith. The prequels received heavy criticism. The use of computer-generated imagery in the movies, or CGI, was looked down upon by viewers of the original trilogy.

“I think they did some things right and some things not so right. I thought the visuals were stunning and the lightsaber duels were much more impressive than in the original films,” Zurawski said. “Things I’d remove from the prequels? Midi-chlorians and Jar Jar Binks.”

Regardless of the criticism, the prequels still managed to accumulate $1.1 billion in gross sales.

In October 2014, it was announced that a seventh Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, would be released on Dec. 18.

The hype has not stopped since then. Zurawski and many others bought their tickets for opening weekend months prior to its release.

“I’m really excited to see the characters in a new storyline,” Zurawski said. “That being said, I’m a little upset that Disney and J.J. Abrams threw out the entire expanded universe to make this film.”

Not only does Star Wars entertain people, it brings them together. This new movie gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy it together as one big community, just as it did with the six others.

Hopefully, students can create experiences as great as the ones that teachers have made with the sequel trilogy. More importantly, may the force be with you.