Yep, once more the costumed and street-dressed throngs descended upon the Cinerama, engaged in a waiting and bonding ritual prior to the local premiere of a franchise fantasy sequel. This time, the film in question was the third-but-really-sixth Star Wars megamonster.

The low-budget, creaky-optical-effects charm of the original SW is, of course, long gone in this big digital-FX spectacle. The “New Hope” message of the first three films is also subsumed by the galactic-geopolitical epic plotline of the prequels.

I’ve previously written that the previous prequel, Attack of the Clones, was all about how a republic can devolve into an empire; it was an obvious parallel to the US political situation, even though Clones had been written before the 2000 election fraud and had been principally filmed before 9/11. Sith, some critics say, makes the analogy even more overt.

All that apparently didn’t matter (or, in SW geekspeak, “mattered not”) to the crowd that had gathered three-quarters around the block by 6 p.m. Wednesday, for the 12 a.m. Thursday premiere (and the 3:45 a.m. second show!). Some had camped out for days. (The self-proclaimed “Star Wars Guy,” who’d tried to camp out in front of the theater months before the premiere, had ran afoul of city authorities, and instead camped out in front of the IMAX theater at the Pacific Science Center.)

Anyhoo, the SW line was full of dudes, dudettes, and li’l tykes. All seemed boistrous and cheerful despite the miserable weather (torrential downpour, high winds, lightning). Some of them had brought card tables and card games. Some had portable DVD players spinning out the previous SW films. Some purchased light saber toys (with authentic SW sound effects) from roving vendors. Some teamed up to place Domino’s Pizza orders from cell phones, or to acquire snacks and beverages from Ralph’s deli-mart, kitty corner from the theater.

They were united in the spirit of fandom. They braved the elements, and the snickering local news media, to be part of something bigger than any mere movie. They were there to be among one another, to have fun, to dress up, to dare to look silly in public, to embrace their inner Jedi-osity.

That kind of spirit is potentially more powerful than any fictional “Force.” In a world gone all too serious, we need that spirit more than ever.