Throughout my life, I knew the movies existed, and knew they were supposed to be excellent, but never had the chance to sit down and watch them until I was 18. I was about to graduate high school and I decided now is as good a time as any to see these movies.

So I went to Blockbuster and rented the pre-re-release versions of them. These were the OLD VHS tapes. I guess they had been around since the mid 1980’s. To my surprise, they worked fine.

I watched the first one with my girlfriend, now wife, and we liked it, but we agreed that it wasn’t the end-all be- all movie that it had been cracked up to be.

A few days later, I rented Part II and watched it one night. I fell asleep half way through for maybe 5-10 minutes, and then woke up wanting to turn it off because I was tired - not because I was bored. I never did and watched the rest with my jaw agape.

I was really enjoying the movies by now. Watching Part II enhanced my understanding of Part I and actually made me appreciate it more. While watching Part II, I realized that this was something really special.

So needless to say - I was really eager to rent Part III. Sure it wasn’t as good as the first - but there is something to be said of watching these movies back to back to back like I did. By the end of Part III I was an emotional wreck. I had lived and died with this family over the course of 3-4 nights and I really felt it when the end of Part III came about. Man I was on pins and needles. I had no clue what was going to happen.

After the movie was over I think I cried or the rest of the night. It wasn’t really a movie where you could identify with the characters to the point where you felt their pain, but it was just a moving and epic experience. My wife still makes fun of me, saying I was weeping like a baby, but it was something to experience.

They immediately became my favorite movies. And surprisingly, the movies were re-released a few months later and I was able to see the original on the big screen. Amazing.

I got the VHS set for my b-day and when the DVD’s came out, bought them the day they were released.

Watching these movies for the first time will be something I will never forget. It’s right up there with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl and graduating high school and college.

I’m not kidding.

Anyone else have a story about watching these movies for the first time?