INDIANAPOLIS — There were more fans than you can shake a plastic light saber at. Nearly 25,000 devotees of a 25-year-old celestial saga — some dressed as Jedi knights, Ewoks and Wookies — gathered for “Star Wars Celebration II” in eager anticipation of Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones, which opens Thursday.

        But some are worried they will leave theaters unsatisfied.

        Dressed in the flowing brown hooded-cape of a Jedi, Jesse Short stood looking over a packed convention center and said he was disappointed with Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, and hopes director George Lucas returns to the magic of the original trilogy.

        “There's a little bit of me that's worried about the film,” said Short, 25, of Allentown, Pa. “If I go in there and am disappointed again, I'll say, "George, you've got one more shot.' ”

        Episode II is the story of Count Dooku, a rebel Jedi who creates an army of clones to pit them against the Republic. The film tells the events that lead young Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force where he later becomes Darth Vader.

        Judging from those in attendance — businessmen, parents, teachers and teen-agers with purple hair — the Star Wars films have something for everyone.

        “I'll tell you what, this is going to be probably the definitive time for Star Wars fans. With what I've seen, and what fans are going to see, they're going be blown away,” said Ron Mitchell, president of the Indy Knights, an Indianapolis fan club whose motto is “Hoosier Daddy, Luke?”

        Fans began lining up to get into the convention center at 4 a.m. Friday, six hours before the doors opened.

        Scott Will, 32, said he loved the movies as a child and wonders if fans have forgotten the excitement the first films introduced.

        “I think that a lot of people need to remember seeing Star Wars for the first time when they were 6,” said Mr. Will, of St. Petersburg, Fla. “They're looking at it from a different perspective, and they forget what they just accepted as fact when they were kids.”

        Some fans have never forgotten.

        Bill Varner and his fiancee, Cheryle Kilroy, are eagerly anticipating the next film — and their upcoming wedding, which will have a Star Wars theme.

        “It's George's vision that got us into it in '77,” Mr. Varner said. “It's pretty much a way of life for me.”

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