Star Wars

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

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.

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