Here's What It's Like to See 'Star Wars' With Your Mom in 1977

What’s the best movie your mom ever took you to see? We’re guessing that Bill Forsche, a movie makeup and effects artist, would say Star Wars. In celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend, listen to an audio recording (above) that Forsche made when he and his mother saw A New Hope in the theater in 1977. The audio captures the excitement of that movie’s first audience: There are loud cheers when Han Solo swoops in to defend Luke Skywalker’s X-wing from Darth Vader (2:50), and enthusiastic whistles and applause over the end credits (3:51). For Forsche, who was 13 years old and seeing Star Wars for the second time, the recording is also a precious memory of his mom.

“Hearing her laugh and cheer with me and the rest of the audience is absolutely priceless to me,” Forsche writes in his YouTube video description. (His mother’s laughter can be heard at the :42 and 2:54 marks.)

Clearly the experience of seeing Star Wars was a formative one for Forsche, who went on to work for director George Lucas’ effects company Industrial Light & Magic on movies like Ghostbusters II. (Here he is sculpting the Statue of Liberty’s face.) Just goes to show what a little quality time with your mom can do. Happy Mother’s Day! (h/t io9)