The first movie I saw in the theater was Star Wars (1977); I was 4 years old. The second was Superman (1978). Both accompanied by my father. So the anticipation of #SWTFA writ large. Han, Luke, and Leia, their next lives had plenty to live up to with the history I made up in my mind. These films left a deep ridge wrinkled in my 4 yr old brain, where the most lasting marks are made. Indelible impressionable, memories. The lasers, the light sabers, the X-Wings, the Force, and the unfolding realization, by the end of the movie, that your father, your mentors will not live forever.
For this reason, I chose to wait well-after the opening. After the crowds of new fans, after the cosplay, and chance of a cheering audience. An internal poll of small theater or big theater, IMAX or 3D landed on the 2D flat, modest house at the Bijou Theater here in Traverse City. A theater roughly the size of the one I would have seen the original growing up. I chose two seats, one in the sweet-spot for sound and picture, and one next to me for the ghost of my father.