I remember the first movie my dad sat me down to watch when I was a kid.

It was late and the sun had already gone down. My dad brought my brother and I into his room at home and sat us down on the tweed couch that he had in college (and that I’m pretty sure is still there today). At the time, I was still young enough that movies were on VHS. Anyone who has ever watched a VHS knows what the tape sounds like when it loads.

I’ll never forget what happened next.

A loud, triumphant fanfare blared from the television and the words “Star Wars” – stacked on top of one another – came flying into view. That was the first time I had ever seen or heard of Star Wars and since that night, I’ve been in love.

Growing up, my brother and I did a lot of reading. While he veered more towards complex works of fiction and sci fi (he read Gone With the Wind in fourth grade and The Left Hand of Darkness not much later), I read Star Wars novels. To this date, I’ve probably read over 80 Star Wars novels and own nearly as many.  Even now, I have a shelf at home stacked two high with paperback Star Wars books, many with cracked spines from being read so many times.

I got my first computer when I went to college and not long after, discovered video games. At first, I was enamored with the original Call of Duty and Morrowind (which I played for hundreds of hours), but eventually started discovering all of the fantastic Star Wars games that were available. I played the Jedi Knight series, Republic Commando, and even Battlefront.

Nothing, however, will ever compare to how fantastic Knights of the Old Republic was.

At first, I was less than impressed with the game. The first planet – Taris – is only a few hours long, but always felt dull to me. In fact, the first time I ever tried playing KotOR (on the xbox), I stopped. I just couldn’t get past how boring I felt the game was. A friend prompted me to play it again, promising that it got better, so I did – on the PC. That experience remains one of the highlights of PC gaming for me. I’ll never forget taking my character through the game and the twist near the end that had nearly as powerful an effect as the Aerith scene in Final Fantasy VII. It was that good.

Later, as the number of Star Wars games began to taper off, I turned towards other forms of Star Wars entertainment. For about six months, I ran a Star Wars RPG campaign. This was even better than the video games! It allowed me to play in the Star Wars universe, creating my own characters and developing them from scratch. Then there were battles that the group I was managing had to fight. To this day, I still hear that it was the most fun any of them ever had while playing a tabletop game.

Now, there’s something new looming on the horizon.

In a roundabout way, all of this comes back to my love of Star Wars. From the word “go” I was smitten, bound to this universe that pulled me so strongly towards it. To be honest, though, I’m probably the worst kind of Star Wars fan. I love the original movies, but only the theatrical cuts. Boba Fett is the best, even if he had a meager amount of screen time. The prequels are terrible (though I’ll give revenge of the Sith a pass…it was mostly watchable) and I refuse to watch them if at all possible. I quote the expanded universe all the time when I talk about Star Wars.

In the end, none of this matters.

What matters is that, throughout all of the good and bad, the legacy will continue. This new movie, which I’m seeing on Sunday, is something of a defining moment for the Star Wars universe. If the movie is good, it marks the beginning of a new era for the franchise that multiple generations know and love. If it doesn’t…well…Disney has enough money not to care.

Do I think it will suck? No…no I don’t.

Do you care why I don’t? Doesn’t matter…I’m going to tell you anyway.

Star Wars is a unique icon in our culture. It’s one of two major science fiction franchises that I grew up with, but unlike Star Trek, I find Star Wars generally more accessible. Historically, Star Trek has been more of an endeavor in philosophy. While I like that, I don’t think it vibes with a great many people (this is probably why the new movies are so action oriented). Star Wars, on the other hand, is just made to be loved. I can talk all day long about where Star Wars borrowed from and how much it is like this and that, but I think that would be missing the point. Regardless of what it is like and where it got it’s ideas from, what matters is how it is received. I remember my dad telling me that when the first movie came out, he knew a guy that saw it 11 times in theaters…11. From the very beginning Star Wars was something to be in awe of. Even now, the opening sequence of the original film is amazing and things only get better as you watch Episodes V and VI.

Of course, there are always people that won’t understand Star Wars. I had a friend ask me what the big deal was about the movies and why they were so popular. It was difficult to explain because I was so in love with everything Star Wars. Even as I tried to explain, it was clear that I had lost my objectivity long ago. That’s one reason why I think this movie is going to do so well.

And the others?

• Disney leaves well enough alone. Since acquiring Marvel, Disney has learned the best way to make movies that belong to a specific IP is to let the people in charge of that IP do the movie making. Instead to taking the reigns from Marvel, Disney gave them the money they would need to create every Marvel film we’ve seen. The result has been nothing short of amazing. So far, they’ve done the same with Star Wars. Everything has been left up to Lucasfilm and according to the Rotten Tomatoes score of The Force Awakens (which sits at an astounding 95% as of writing this), it seems like they’ve done a good job.
• The right director. J.J. Abrams is a take it or leave it kind of director. I like the guy and think he did a decent job on Star Trek. Of course, I don’t necessarily believe that the new movies hold true to the spirit of Star Trek, but that’s a whole other matter entirely. What’s most important about Abrams is that he is as passionate about Star Wars as the most ardent fan. That’s very important.
• The right writers. The Force Awakens was written by J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt. Kasdan was a writer on The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi. Arndt was a writer on Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I think those credits speak for themselves, but it’s worth noting that a writer from the original trilogy of movies was brought back on for the new one.
• Everything else. Disney has really pulled out all the stops for The Force Awakens. Of course, they have to. Spending BILLIONS of dollars on an IP only to produce a terrible movie is just bad business, but every beat feels right so far.

For me, it all boils down to one thing. I’m going to see Star Wars on Sunday morning . This will be the first time I’ve ever seen a Star Wars movie and it is an important moment for me. Until then, I’m staying off of the internet. I don’t want anything spoiled for me. This may seem extreme, but I feel it’s a necessary step to keep the experience as wondrous as possible. I expect the movie to be fantastic and I doubt I’ll be disappointed. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if Boba Fett showed up.