Vader has Luke cornered, then Luke screams “You killed my father”
Vader replies,
No, I am your father
How did you react? I saw it in elementary school and was more shocked Luke got his hand cut off. I mean, he was the hero and he totally got his ass kicked. How often does that happen? I didn’t really think much of the relevation at the time, thinking Vader was lying.
You?
I already knew, having seen it in my 20s for the first time. But still a good scene!
(Did we really need to spoiler that? I doubt there is one person on the Dope who doesn’t know!)
I got spoiled before I saw the movie, dammit. That’s why I was in the geek squad line for the first showing of RotJ. Too bad there was nothing in that worth spoiling.
I was 13 when Empire came out and I was convinced that Vader was lying to manipulate Luke. I was like “How are they going to explain that little plot twist if it’s true?” So, I refused to believe it until I saw Return of the Jedi on opening day 3 years later.
Me, too. Frickin’ Time magazine published a review that spilled the beans about Darth Vader & Luke. I never forgave Time for that.
A spine-chilling wave of purified bad-assness.
I still say it was one of those Jedi mindtricks and that Lucas died in a horrible car crash shortly after ESB opened, and thus the series has never progressed beyond that point.
I was wondering why the hell he wasn’t bleeding.
Light sabers cauterize.
I wish I remembered. The first time I saw the movie was probably in the early 90s, and I’d probably heard about the scene before I saw it. I second the ‘badass’ comment, though.
So…you’ve decided to accept the truth.
Well, it was no suprise to me. My mom wen to see Return of the Jedi when she was pregnant with me, so I have Star Wars built-in, and knew Vader was Luke’s dad before I was born. 
I saw it the day it came out in theaters and… well, I don’t remember my reaction! So apparently I wasn’t all that shocked. I had done a lot of reading about the movie pre-release, so maybe I had read a spoiler, too. Shit, that was a long time ago!
I didn’t believe it either…I thought he was just trying to screw with Luke’s head.
My reaction was kinda like this. (Link goes to Youtube.)
Count me into the “thought he was lying” camp. The movie opened when there were still only three single screen theaters in my town. So I had managed to somehow remain spoiler free for about a month before seeing it. When the big revelation hit, I remember thinking “well he’s obviously lying.”
It wasn't until all of my friends and the fan press of the day started talking about it as if it were so, that I realized that I was supposed to believe it.
Of course, since the prequels, my version of the scene has gone:
Darth Vader: Luke, I… amd your mother.
Luke: Err… don’t you mean my father?
DV: Hell no! Your father was an annoying, whiny, little bitch, do you honestly think that little twerp could turn into a dark lord of the sith? I faked my death and tossed his ass back into the volcano. Join me, and we can slaughter ewoks together
Well, after seeing Return of the Jedi and finding out that Leia was Luke’s sister, I had figured that Vader being the father wasn’t the worst convenient plot twist of the series. I think if the series had continued beyond Episode VI, we’d eventually find out that everyone was related to Luke somehow. Heck, you could even make the argument now that C-3PO is Luke’s “brother.”
Ha haha!!! Genius!
+1. Well, near as I can remember.
Far more recently, however, my then-4 1/2-year old son and I watched the Ep IV-IV trilogy at one sitting (he was ready; it was time). When that scene came up, he FREAKED - in a great way. It just blew his little Star Wars-ready mind! He had to track down Mommy and tell her; he called his grandparents - he was worthless for about 2 hours and then we had to watch it again. And then we watched RotJ and he was still so young that the Ewoks were cute to him…
One of the pivotal father-son bonding moments he and I have experienced. Totally cool.
That’s really neat. Now, if you don’t tell him about the prequels, you may be ready for a spot in the Dad hall of fame. 