Being interested in writing and graphics, I was following the progress of Star Wars (which it was universally referred to as at the time, none of that Episode blah, a new hope cobblers) quite some time before it was released. Of course at the time, I didn't know it was going to be that big, but I kind of figured it might be quite influential knowing the trouble they were going to with design and special effects.
If you weren't around at the time it was released, I guess it's kind of hard to understand the impact it had. It was the first time that a space battle sequence actually looked like it might genuinely be taking place, instead of a lot of crappy models on string. There had been a few movies with convincingly done space stuff before, notably 2001: A space Odyssey, Solaris and (the little known) Silent Running. But Star Wars was the one where it actually all came together with decent production values and a fun storyline.
Certainly one of THE influential movies of all time. But these days you kind of wish George Lucas would give it a rest and shut up. Expect another overpriced DVD boxed set soon.
Chock