About twenty years ago in a movie theater not far away…I, along with the rest of the world were transported to another galaxy and introduced to a phenomenon that has spawned three movies, countless video games, millions of toys and has even become a part of our mainstream language – and now, on May 19th which is not far, far away – we get to see how it all began.

Unless you really are from a galaxy far, far away, you know that I am referring to the much anticipated release of Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace. I can not tell you how excited I am about this movie. The reason for my excitement is because Star Wars has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

It was my mother that took me to the theater in 1977 to see Star Wars. From the moment the first words were spoken in the movie (C3PO to R2D2, “Did you hear that?”), the force was with me. I had to have every action figure, spaceship, and playset – I even sent in the five proofs of purchase to get Boba Fett. I’m sure that if my mother tallied up the money she spent on Star Wars “stuff”, she could have lent Han Solo the money to pay off Jabba The Hut and still had enough left to buy Cloud City. Then, just when she thought I had more Star Wars stuff than George Lucas, the Empire struck back.

My father took me to see The Empire Strikes Back (I think my mother didn’t want to go because to her, each new character wasn’t a new character at all, but a new action figure.) Of the three movies, Empire holds the fondest memory for me because my father and I were so late to the movie, we walked in when Han Solo was just frozen in Carbonite, so we had to wait until the next show to see the movie again.

The release of Return Of The Jedi was described by critics as one of the most anticipated movies of all time. Myself and everyone I know have told me stories of how they waited on lines that were around the corner in the pouring rain to see Jedi – and every one of them, including myself – felt it was worth it.

And now, twenty years later, we get to do it again. In my opinion, Phantom Menace is and always will be the most anticipated movie of all time. Take the excitement and hype surrounding the release of Jedi, multiply that by the hype surrounding the release of all three original movies with “new scenes”, and you even couldn’t come close.

The reason for the anticipation, at least in my opinion, is because the Star Wars trilogy has become timeless. I was eight years old when my father took me to see Empire. I’m now twenty-seven and I am taking my eight-year-old nephew Joey to see Phantom Menace – and we’re both equally excited.

The best thing about the release of Episodes I, II, and III are the advances we have made in technology. Imagine our excitement if we could have downloaded the trailer for Return Of The Jedi off the Internet. Speaking of the Internet, go to StarWars.com and download the trailers, you won’t be sorry.

To the children ten and younger who are going to see Phantom Menace, expect to see a movie that will become a part of you. If Episode I is half as good as Episodes IV, V, and VI, which it already is judging by the trailer, the force be with you – always. For the parents of those children, there will be a whole new crop of characters and spaceships – and you know what that means – once you buy that first action figure, forever will it dominate your destiny.

So, young (and old) Jedi’s, you will go to the theatre on May 19th and see Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace – it is your destiny.