In cities across the USA young people camped in front of cinemas waiting in line for up to a month to see the opening of Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace. In Britain too, the hype is beginning to build.
The first Star Wars movie came out in 1977, 22 years ago, before many of the queue-campers were born. The trilogy of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi belonged to their parents' generation, but it became part of their childhood.
Before the invention of the VCR, movies were gone once they played in the local cinema, and seen again only if they were broadcast on TV or shown in college film courses. With video technology, which came into its own just after the time that the Star Wars films were made, a movie could be like a book, kept on the shelf, available to be perused again and again. The fans who care enough to dress up, grew up with Star Wars. Now a new trilogy is beginning, a prequel to the saga of Luke Skywalker, showing how Darth Vader turned to the Dark Side, a Star Wars for their generation.
