A long time ago at a multi-plex not so far away, sophomores Brian Decker and Carolyn Quam started waiting in line for the new “Star Wars” movie, “Episode II: Attack of the Clones.”

The duo arrived at the Century 16 Theatres in Mountain View with a tent, sleeping bags and sandwiches Tuesday night at 10 p.m., a full 26 hours before the first showing of the George Lucas film at 12:01 a.m. yesterday morning.

“We were the first in line,” Quam said.

“I missed two classes and work,” Decker said.

But they weren’t alone. More than 100 Stanford students took a break from lectures and campus life to stand in line at local theaters for hours so they would be guaranteed seats to the first showing of the much-anticipated movie.

A few miles away, in front of the AMC Mercado in Santa Clara, freshmen Sean Duffy and Brenna Corbett unloaded camping gear Tuesday night in front of the theater. They were welcomed by a group of adults who had been waiting for three days and were cooking burgers in the parking lot.

“It was really cold,” Duffy said. “We ended up walking to Denny’s at 1 a.m. — we jumped over fences and running across the street.

“But I wanted the experience of waiting with the fans,” Duffy had said while waiting to see “Episode II.”

Some friends arrived in the morning. Unlike Quam and Decker, who never left their spot at the front of the line, these students had a different plan: They waited in shifts so nobody would miss too many classes.

“I got here about 2 p.m.,” said freshman Manu Lakkur on Wednesday afternoon. Lakkur then switched places with Duffy and Corbett.

Although the movie would not start for hours, he was excited — occasionally looking away from his copy of Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front,” required IHUM reading that helped him pass the time, into the growing crowd.

Like many students, Lakkur and his friends had bought tickets online a week or more before the screening. But he was willing to wait in line for 10 hours anyway, to make sure that his friends would all get good seats together.

“This is the movie that will make it or break it for the series,” Lakkur said. “I read a bunch of reviews, both good and bad. All you hope is that it’s entertaining.”

Freshman John Krzywicki, who waited with Lakkur, said he also had high hopes.

“I think we’ll all enjoy it,” Krzywicki said. “The thing is, the ‘Star Wars’ movies have never had good reviews — so we’re not disappointed yet.”

Back at Stanford, a group of students at Castano prepared to leave campus at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday for the movie.

Sophomore Bernardo Malfitano spent an hour applying red and black make-up to look like Darth Maul. He joined the handful of serious fans at each theater who dressed up like a “Star Wars” characters on opening night.

“Darth Maul has really cool make-up,” Malfitano said, as he looked at a picture of the character on a bookmark to make sure that he had all the lines in the right place. “If I dress up a Jedi or something, it’s still me. With him, I’m not wearing a mask — and it’s not my face either.”

Malfitano, who grew up in Brazil, said that he has been a “Star Wars” fan his entire life — and first saw the original three movies with Portuguese subtitles.

Senior Leah Goodman walked into his room to confirm where their tickets are located. She was dressed like Princess Leia, with her hair in two round buns.

“We knew we’d been doing this for a while,” Goodman said.

She remembered that three years ago, she waited with Stanford friends for many hours in line to see “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” when it was released in 2000.

“I had an official Princess Leia costume I wore then,” Goodman said. She has since shipped it home, and improvised with black pants and a leather jacket.

When Malfitano, Goodman and a group of friends arrived in Mountain View at around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, they were already behind about 200 fans who have lined up before them.

At the front of the line, Quam and Decker were seated together in a lawn chair. Some of their roommates and friends from Stanford have joined them.

With only five hours left until show time, their spirits were high.

“We started camping out for ‘About a Boy,’ and then people told us that ‘Star Wars’ is coming up,” Decker said with a smile.

The two spent all night in the tent, and said the cold weather did not bother them.

“But people were heckling us last night,” Decker said. “Then, after the theater closed, there was nobody here. I was like, ‘We’re going to die.’”

Sophomore Ken Segna, Decker’s roommates, had brought them food at noon, and they ate pizza for dinner.

“They delivered,” Decker said. “We told them we’re at the front of the theater, and they said, ‘Sure.’ ”

Quam and Decker pointed to Segna as the big “Star Wars” fan in their group.

“I want good seats,” Segna said.

A crowd of more than 1,000 people had gathered at the Mercado Theater by 9 p.m. Wednesday. The movie was shown as a special engagement on 19 screens at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, and then dropped down to five screens for the rest of its first-week run.

Theater Managing Director Michael Tieger said he knew opening night would be popular with the fans.

“I think it’s a ‘Star Wars’ thing,” Tieger said. “There was one theater in New York where people have been waiting for six weeks.”

Junior Justin Svec, who was waiting near the front of the line, said that all seven students in his first-year ancient Greek class came to the movie together.

“We brought a chess set, homework and a football to pass the time,” Svec said.

The class even convinced their professor Bill Tieman to join them.

“I’m here because they wanted to see the movie and I like doing things together outside of class,” Tieman said. “I’m looking forward to the light saber fight.”

Junior Jason Rheins was the first person in the group to arrive.

“I’ve been here holding the spot since 2:36 p.m.,” Rheins said. “I’m intrigued by the romance relationship.”

A theater employee announced that the movie would begin in two hours and 10 minutes and the crowd erupted in cheers.

Further down the line, junior Mark Gebhard flipped through class notes, under a streetlight. He was studying for a midterm in his chemical engineering class the next day.

“I’m not worried,” Gebhard said. “It’s open-book. But I’m finishing my problem set that is due tomorrow.”

One hour before show time at Mountain View, the line had became so long that fans wrapped around the back of the building. A group of students gathered under a streetlight behind a dumpster, doing homework.

“I just want to catch up,” said sophomore Eun Sang Hwang, with a book in his hand. “I did really bad on the last exam.”

Many fans were waving green light sabers. A group of people watched “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” on a flat big-screen projected against the outside wall of the theater.

Malfitano and his friends held hands and danced in a circle.

“We’re dancing the Congress of Vienna — it’s a choreographed waltz,” said senior Katy Barglow. “We know how to have fun. But the high point of the night will be getting through the doors”

Junior Mike Stat put on his Anakin Skywalker helmet. Then there was an announcement from the front of the line and a roar of cheers.

“We moving,” Stat shouted.

The students stopped dancing and grabbed their backpacks from the ground.

“Oh my God,” Barglow said. “Every one is going in now. I grew up watching ‘Star Wars.’ This is really exciting.”