How the release of The Force Awakens will be a galaxy away from the opening of the original Star Wars

Then and now: teaser ads for Star Wars in 1977 and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens 

It's almost here. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens will be released next month. And it's being awaited with such rapt anticipation that there's a danger we'll have nothing left in reserve to welcome the Second Coming.

How different is all this from the release of the first Star Wars in 1977? Episode Nothing considers

Star Wars: The Deleted Scenes #4: Threepio takes the wheel

Threepio takes the wheel of the landspeeder in
one of Star Wars' deleted scenes

In our continuing look at the deleted scenes of Star Wars, we discover that See Threepio can do something useful other than talk – and we watch George Lucas grapple with the question of which bits of the story to leave out.

Star Wars: The Deleted Scenes #3: Biggs Darklighter and the Rebellion

Biggs Darklighter confides in Luke in one of Star Wars' deleted scenes

Our look at Star Wars' deleted scenes focuses on Biggs Darklighter – at least the second coolest man in the galaxy.  

Biggs Darklighter - the original Rebel

"The Rebellion's spreading, Luke": Garrick Hagon as Biggs confides in Luke Skywalker

I can distinctly remember a thought that crossed my mind about half an hour into my first viewing of Star Wars, one fateful Saturday afternoon in February 1978.

It was at just about the point when Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the droids were arriving at Mos Eisley, heading for their first meeting with Han Solo.

Looking back at Star Wars Weekly – issue 2

The cover of Star Wars Weekly issue two

February 15, 1978. In most of Britain, Star Wars had been on release for less than a week.   

That Wednesday saw the arrival of issue two of Star Wars Weekly – Marvel's UK version of the comic that the US had seen the previous year.

The Star Wars Bookshelf # 1: Star Wars – From The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the novelization by George Lucas/Alan Dean Foster

The US paperback of the Star Wars novelization, which introduces
"The year's  best movie"

For half a million people in the US, the plot of Star Wars contained few surprises when the film came out in 1977 – ­ because they already knew it as a novel.