Revenge of the Sith 20 Year Anniversary Retrospective: Star Wars and our Dad - The Greatest Star Wars & Movie Fan of All Times by Dan

Episode 3 in 2005

Star Wars Episode three was a movie that really gave an impact like no other. We went in knowing Anakin would fall to the dark side of the force. People wanted to know how Anakin would become Darth Vader, and wanted to watch the entire series, from episodes one through six, and the story of Anakin Skywalker would be complete.

The one person who introduced me to Star Wars was actually my father, and he brought me and my brothers to watch Episode One: The Phantom Menace. He was upset that when we went, there was too long a line-up, as he wanted to arrive on opening night, and my older brother told him we’d go a couple weeks later.

He then told us that when he was young, he was in the line-ups waiting to watch the opening viewing of Episode Four: A New Hope, and how much he loved it, and he then went into the line-ups when Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode Six: Return of the Jedi, and he loved it so much, that it was something he cared for so much, that when the Prequels were introduced, it brought him back to those moments, something that brought him great joy.

He was our OG Krynn geek. He loved reading, he loved movies, be they Spy thriller, Superhero, Western and Star Wars. When it was Joe who took the greatest interest in the movies and lore, Joe started buying the books, and our Dad helped him expand his collection. (And I suspect he read them beforehand.) Our older brother was a movie buff, and that brought them together. I was in between, and he took extra attention to Superheroes with me.

But when he got sick, he didn’t tell us, but he made sure that we’d watch movies with him, and Episode Three was one of the final movies he watched with us. He also liked Batman Begins and Batman The Dark Knight, was that the final movie he wanted to watch, but he couldn’t because he was at the hospital, so our mother brought us to watch it, and then brought us to see him the next day to tell him all about it. This brought us all together, and why me and my brothers love the prequels so much.

We’ve been judged because we like the prequels, and Episode Six so much, but at times we explain why, that it was a movie that our deceased father watched, possibly is final one, some then shift gears, and don’t insult our love for the Prequels, as they understand why it’s so dear to us, as it was one of the last things we shared with him.

Not just because it’s one of the movies that inspired our writing, but because of the emotional connection to our father, something that he loved and wished to share with us. Hell, I’d do the same if someone said that the Sequels were their favourites, if it was the last movie they shared with a deceased parent, as I get the emotions behind such a bonding experience.

Narnia, The Bourne Trilogy, Terminator… These were some of his favourites that he’d share with us. Like the time he told Joe that he put on the Narnia movie, and tricked him in the room, and told him that he’s not allowed to leave the room until he finished the movie…Joe then geeked out about it to our Dad afterwards, and he said “I told you, you’d like it. And that’s what he shared with us. And one thing I’m sad about, is that he can’t read our stories, our blog. Maybe he’d have updated his computer, and not be with that boxed nightmare that took forever to clean up as it had a ton of viruses. That man didn’t know anything about computers, and yet he knew the difference between Zelda, Metroid and other video game series, even if he didn’t play them eventually. The opposite of our mother who knew quite a bit about computers, but could barely tell the difference between Mario and Kirby.

There’s a reason why our Dad loved Episode Six, and he expressed that he was glad that he finally knew the story of Anakin Skywalker completed, as he soon bought the full series box set on DVD, and would regularly marathon it… I suspect that the time we went over to his place a couple weeks later, he marathoned Star Wars at least three times after he bought it, then offered to watch it with us. I never did refuse to watch Episode Three with him, as I really did enjoy it. Even the storytelling was great. He may not have had much time at that point, but I really loved that time with him.

So if anyone asks why I like the Prequels, remember this: It’s one of the final movies I shared with my Dad, and even if he introduced the Originals to us, it all started with The Phantom Menace, and ended with Revenge of the Sith. Memories and discussions shared with him on the car ride home. Something I wish we could share with him on the topic of our books. And he would be blunt about what we would need to improve, and he’d scrutinise every single detail, cause he’d want to help us, and he would have spent hours and days reading, and rereading our stories.

God, I miss that man.

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Also Crown of Blood has a new edition, with maps, character bios and more!