Video: This Fan Camped for Three Days for The Phantom Menace Premiere at the Continental

Fans have been lining up at theaters across the country since Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered. But Zach Putnam was not among them. He's been waiting for this movie, but is willing to wait still longer for the reviews. Because in the interim, he had time to create this...

By Patricia Calhoun

December 20, 2015

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Fans lined up at theaters across the country Thursday for the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens — but Zach Putnam was not among them. He was waiting for the reviews, because he remembered all too well the disappointment of Star Wars Episode 1, which he'd been so eager to see in May 1999. "Boba Fett and I had our hearts broken by the Phantom Menace after three days of camping out at the Continental theater in Denver," writes Putnam, "and I've got the photos to prove it." And here they are:
Unlike so many of the massive theaters where early Star Wars movies premiered (we lined up outside the Cooper for the original movie — now known as A New Hope — in the spring of 1977, just months before we published Westword's first edition), the Continental still exists (albeit in a different format). Yes, The Force Awakens is showing there.

And Putnam, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, reports that once he saw the good reviews come rolling in for The Force Awakens, "I bought tickets and saw it on Friday night" — and he loved it.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.

Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

Contact: Patricia Calhoun

Follow:

Facebook: patricia.calhoun.927