I used to watch the old black and white Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers TV serials from the 30s when I was a kid in the 70s. The black and white, the scrolling plot summary, the dinky bullet shaped spaceships and firework rocket engines, flying around saving space princesses were a bit naff, but we lapped it up anyway.<p>That opening scroll, but in full colour on a 'modern' cinema screen, with the latest sound systems of the day was stunning. I immediately got the reference, it was obvious to anyone of the time. But the way it was used with full colour and up to date projection technology, having the text recede into the distance yet still remain readable due to the high resolution film stock, the opening scene of the staggering huge battle cruiser seemingly taking forever to fill the screen was just awe inspiring.<p>George Lucas was speaking directly into your subconcious saying "You know those old TV shows you love? I love them too. So I made this".<p>My children love Star Wars, but not the way I do, and they can never have quite the same relationship to it. You just had to be there at that time and have those formative experiences to prepare you for it.<p>The one thing I made absolutely sure of - I made certain my girls didn't know Vader was Luke's father and let them see it on the screen. That was really important to me.