So I found something really interesting on YouTube. Some guy on YouTube uploaded what is apparently the original cinema reaction to the "I am your father" scene from "The Empire Strikes Back" all the way back in 1980.

He claims to have found it on an old VHS tape. He thinks somebody somehow managed to sneak in a camcorder and record it.

By 1980 I was in Seattle and saw "The Empire Strikes Back" at the Cinerama and I remember the audience reaction was very vocal and very mixed.

Star Wars audiences of 1980 was a mix you don't see much anymore. That 1980 Seattle audience was half people like me, we come from the generation that grew up watching "Captain Midnight" (aka Jett Jackson), "Tom Corbett - Space Cadet" and "Rocky Jones - Space Ranger".

All of these TV shows started as radio dramas from the 1940's with the result that many storylines follow typical plots found in soap operas: "Luke . . . I am your father!" ie; "Darla . . . I am your adopted sister!".

The Golden Age of sci-fi in my opinion was the 40's and the 50's. Many fans of Star Wars grew up with "Flash Gordon" on the movie screen so finding out that Darth Vader was Luke's father actually made since. It actually explains why Luke, Leia and Han were still alive - dad didn't have the heart to ax his son and Luke's friends.

What makes "The Empire Strikes Back" so good is that George Lucas didn't write it and he didn't direct it. When it comes to movies George Lucas is, at best. a "C" student. George is part of my generation and "Star Wars" was his tribute to the1935 series, "The Phantom Empire" starring Gene Autry and the Sky Riders from Radio Ranch.

All this old stuff was FUN! By the 1970's nobody was doing fun anymore. A new generation of kids were growing up with serious shows and serious comic books. George wanted to bring back the fun of sci-fi and made his move in the late 70's and early 80's.

Thus - George Lucas became the luckiest man in Hollywood. But in entertainment, luck rarely repeats itself.

Eh... I'm skeptical. The quality of the video seems way too clear to be from 1980. 

The Cinerama in Seattle is an excellent venue but even in the light reflecting from the screen I'm guessing camcorder video playback would look awful.