From left, Lauren Mier, John Valle, John Thibodeau, Shelley Thibodeau, Heath Cowart and Emily Cowart, sit in the front row of the Patch Playhouse Theatre on Wednesday night for the world premier of “Stars Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.” (Charlie Coon / Stars and Stripes)
STUTTGART, Germany — “It sounded like a good idea,” Sarah Dean said.
“It’s cool,” said her brother, Joshua Dean.
The two teenagers were part of nearly 200 moviegoers who came to the Patch Playhouse Theater in Stuttgart on Wednesday night for the worldwide premier of “Stars Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.” The midnight showing was one of hundreds around the world that officially began at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
With Episode III being the last of the six-movie series that has played out over the years — Episodes IV, V and VI, followed by Episodes I, II and III — Star Wars fans knew what to expect.
“A very big war,” Joshua Dean said. “That’s pretty much what it is.”
For some of the fans, it was like déjà vu.
“I saw the first and second over here in Germany when I was a kid,” said Troy Sullivan, who works at the Defense Information Systems Agency. “My dad was in the Army.
“Ever since I was 5 years old, I’ve been going to see these movies. It’s good to see that the series is complete now.”
For young fans, the new episodes are light years better than the originals, which started with the 1977 blockbuster “Star Wars.” Remember Harrison Ford sipping drinks at the space cantina?
“The aliens are better now,” Joshua Dean said. “Before, they’d just take a guy and put him in a rubber suit. The new guys look a lot better.”
Bob Sullivan, a bagger at the Patch commissary, said he hoped that “Sith” tied everything together from previous episodes. Maybe “Star Wars” actually looked like the future, he suggested.
“What’s going to happen in the future?” Bob Sullivan said. “Space is open, and anything out there could be the future. Who knows?”
The movie was not a sellout, possibly because it was shown at midnight on a school night, according to Thomas Gagnon, the AAFES restaurant business manager in Stuttgart. The “Lord of the Rings” trilogy as well as “Shrek II” filled the 365-seat theater to capacity.
The crowd was expected to be well-mannered, he said. The biggest problems historically at the Stuttgart theater? Spit-wads stuck to the ceiling, and kids sneaking in the back.
Security was heavy. There was a security officer outside the theater, watching for bootleggers sneaking a video camera into the theater. Rumor had it that another was using night-vision goggles to spy on kids suspected of drinking beer.
People started lining up outside the theater six hours before the movie started. And for the last movie in the Stars Wars saga, why not?
Not so fast, according to one soldier.
Spc. Brian White of 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, called “Sith” the “last of the known chain.”
“There’s going to be more coming out,” White said, “if he [producer George Lucas] gives the public what they want.”
Does that mean Stars Wars VII, VIII and IX?
“Maybe more,” White said.
From left, Lauren Mier, John Valle, John Thibodeau, Shelley Thibodeau, Heath Cowart and Emily Cowart, sit in the front row of the Patch Playhouse Theatre on Wednesday night for the world premier of “Stars Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith.” (Charlie Coon / Stars and Stripes)
Troy Sullivan butters up his popcorn Wednesday night on his way into the Patch Playhouse Theater for the world premier showing of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith." Sullivan said he owns copies of the other five "Star Wars" movies. (Charlie Coon / Stars and Stripes)
