It's taken nearly forty years, but China is finally showing the original Star Wars trilogy in their movie theaters. Well, at the Shanghai International Film Festival. They're actually going to be showing all six of the Star Wars films this week, and it marks the first time that the original trilogy has made it to their screens. There aren't plans to release them nationwide, though.
When Star Wars first debuted in the United States back in 1977, China had just emerged from the chaotic Cultural Revolution and hadn't launched economic reforms yet that would transform the Communist-led country.
Even though people over there can buy pirated copies of the entire series for around $12, the Tuesday showing of the original trilogy had almost sold out. As one movie goer stated, "It looks better on the big screen!"
Most people in China are more familiar with the prequels than the original trilogy. The Chinese website Douban gave A New Hope a rating of 8.3 out of a possible 10, and drew more than 35,000 comments. Most were positive, but a few were negative. One of those negative responses said, "Although the character design is weak, the leading actress not beautiful, the leading actor not handsome and the action parts like children fighting, placed in 1977, the visual effects are amazing."
Disney is hoping that the release of these films at their festival will help build up excitement for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
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