(Host) Vermonters are joining filmgoers across the country this year as they flock to movies about superheroes and fantasy worlds. Fans packed theaters for the Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman. Now they’re coming out “in force” for one of this year’s most anticipated movies, as VPR’s Neal Charnoff reports.
(Music, Star Wars theme.)
(Charnoff) Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones opened in theaters nationwide on Thursday. Many theaters had special midnight showings to accommodate the faithful. At yesterday’s noon showing in Essex, many Vermonters who had seen the midnight show were lining up to see the film a second time.
Although the received mixed reviews from critics, these fans had only praise for a film series that has become a cultural phenomenon:
(Montage of voices) “I loved it. I think this is the best one out of the four…. It’s about as close to God as you can get…. Over in the UK, it’s an actual religion. It’s a registered religion in the UK.”
(Phil Holloway, movie-goer) “Well, I saw the first one when I was seven, and I think to my generation it’s probably somewhat linked to, you know, good versus evil. And it’s a fairy tale, and you know everybody seems to like a fairy tale.”
(Alex Grosby, movie-goer) “Star Wars is basically every genre of movie ever created, combined. I mean it has romance, coming of age, two coming of age stories with the new prequels, and then the ultimate good against evil story. It also has betrayal… and then set in a fantasy world where anything can happen, with cool weapons and spaceships and things. It just brings it all together into the Star Wars phenomenon.”
(Charnoff) The summer movie season promises a variety of superheroes and fantasy worlds to choose from. To these fans, however, nothing beats a trip to a galaxy far, far away.
For Vermont Public Radio, I’m Neal Charnoff.
(Music, Star Wars theme)