From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Apr 22 16:03:26 1996 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed.tip.net.!newsfeed.tip.net!www.cybercity.dk!news.sol.net!news.inc.net!imci5!imci4!newsfeed.internetmci.com!uwm.edu!fnnews.fnal.gov!gw1.att.com!nntphub.cb.att.com!not-for-mail From: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 19 Apr 1996 20:09:38 GMT Organization: Tandem Computers, Inc. Lines: 126 Sender: ecl@mtcts1.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: ecl@mtcts1.att.com Message-ID: <4l8ru2$lk0@nntpb.cb.att.com> Reply-To: rhodes_steve@tandem.com (Steve Rhodes) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtcts2.mt.att.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #05055 Keywords: author=Rhodes Originator: ecl@mtcts2 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:4298 rec.arts.sf.reviews:928 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **** THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is the first sequel to STAR WARS, but using a bit of revisionist history, George Lucas renumbered it to be the fifth in the series and STAR WARS to be the fourth. A more intriguing marketing gimmick I have never seen. For my money, nothing like STAR WARS could be as good, but THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is certainly excellent with some characters stronger and one weaker than the first, but the script is as impressive and innovative as ever. Over 15 years after THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was released, I got to see it anew with my seven year old son Jeffrey. Basically the plot of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is that the rebels are continuing to fight the Empire. Darth Vader (David Prowse acting with voice by James Earl Jones) leads a mission to destroy the rebels' base on Hoth where our old rebel friends Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca "Chewy" (Peter Mayhew), C3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2D2 (Kenny Baker) are. In a vision Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) tells Luke to go to Dagobah to train under the Jedi master Yoda (Frank Oz). The movie is an adventure and a comedy like STAR WARS, but THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK's main theme is the duality of The Force and the struggle between good and evil as manifested in Luke and Darth Vader. Vader reveals a big secret in the show, which was a shock back then. Although everyone probably knows it by now, I will not repeat it lest one of the few people to have never seen the movie may be reading this review. One of the parts of this episode that I was particularly fond of the way is that the romantic aspect is more fully developed. There is a genuine chemistry between Han and Leia that starts off as verbal sparring, such as when Han sarcastically says, "Fraid I'd leave without giving you a good-bye kiss?" Leia turns up her nose and says, "I just as soon kiss a Wooky!" Eventually the ripostes stop, and their relationship evolves into genuine and explicitly proclaimed love. My god, they even have three brief mouth-to-mouth kisses! Ford was immature, but hilarious in the original. In this episode he isn't quite as funny, but his character is much more central to the plot. To me this was Ford's movie even if it appeared to be Luke's story. Overall, I liked Ford just as much as before, but Fisher better. She warmed up to the part more and was given a more substantial role. Whereas George Lucas was STAR WARS, having directed and wrote it, in this episode he was only listed as the executive producer and was credited with the story idea, but not the script itself. The director this time was Irvin Kershner and the script was by Leigh Brackett and the great screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (WYATT EARP, THE BODYGUARD, GRAND CANYON, THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, THE BIG CHILL, BODY HEAT, and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK). The script again is imaginative and full of laughs. Poor Chewy remains the brunt of the many of the jokes. When Chewy starts guffawing, Han tells him, "Laugh it up fuzzball!" Yoda provided the figure that was the fountainhead of wisdom much as Obi-Wan did in the original. Yoda plays his role like some good old boy Ph. D. from the south. He looks and sounds like a yokel who knows nothing, but actually possesses almost infinite knowledge. He tells Luke, who doesn't know he is Yoda, "Looking for someone? Found someone I'd say." When Luke is having trouble moving rocks by using The Force, Yoda tells him, he can do it. Luke responds, "Okay, I'll try." Yoda gets angry with his pupil and admonishes him, "No, try not. Do or do not. There is no try." C3PO still gets some of the best lines. When the going gets tough, C3 would just as soon give up. When in a jam, he suggests to his companions, "Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in such situations." He tells R2D2 what computer veterans know, "R2D2 you know better than to trust a strange computer." The visual special effects (Richard Edlund and Brian Johnson) are even more imaginative than last time. As just an example, consider the Imperial Walkers. They are essentially 10 story tall, mechanical, four legged dinosaurs with human operators and laser cannons in the head portion. The design makes absolutely no sense, but creates a great visual. The way they lumber along is the piece de resistance. Watching them was actually my favorite part of the film. My son, I should point out, does a great Imperial Walker imitation. The kids learn creativity when they watch any of the STAR WARS episodes. Consider in this one the dilemma of how to stop these huge Imperial Walkers. The answer? Why spin a web like a spider from the fighters and lasso their legs cowboy style of course! Actually, there are a lot of parallels with cowboy shows and the STAR WARS movies. I have a single, but significant criticism of this episode. Although I know they had to do it, I did not like the casting of Mark Hamill to play Luke Skywalker again. The other actors had matured and improved, whereas Hamill seems to have gone downhill. Missing was his enthusiastic and fresh outlook. In its place was someone who looked constantly haggard as if he were out drinking late every night before the morning shooting. He was boyishly handsome in STAR WARS, but in this episode, he had curiously seemed to have lost all of his good looks, and his energy level was too low. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK runs 2:04, and I think Paul Hirsch's editing needed the tighter focus that STAR WARS had. The film is rated PG. Again, the film is beautifully devoid of foul language. Would that modern screenwriters would realize that bad language should generally be saved for R rated films and above. The story has cartoon level violence although there is one realistic, but not graphic picture of a hand being cut off. There is no sex, nudity, smoking or drug use. I think it would be fine for most kids over 4. My son Jeffrey (age 7) loved it as did his Dad. Even with my above noted one major reservation, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK still gets my top recommendation and rating of ****. ______________________________________________________________________ **** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable. REVIEW WRITTEN ON: April 16, 1996 Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's. From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:23:59 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Jul 15 23:07:04 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lejonet.se!newsfeed1.telia.com!masternews.telia.net!newssrv.ita.tip.net!ubnnews.unisource.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-kar1.dfn.de!newsfeed.nacamar.de!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!uchinews!cbgw2.lucent.com!nntphub.cb.lucent.com!not-for-mail From: ChadPolenz@aol.com (Chad Polenz) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) Supersedes: <5o44jv$1tt@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films,rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 23 Jun 1997 15:04:45 GMT Organization: America Online Lines: 64 Sender: evelynleeper@geocities.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Approved: evelynleeper@geocities.com Message-ID: <5om3ad$175@nntpb.cb.lucent.com> ~Reply-To: ChadPolenz@aol.com (Chad Polenz) NNTP-Posting-Host: mtvoyager.mt.lucent.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #07830 Keywords: author=Polenz Originator: ecl@mtvoyager Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:7318 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1368 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK A film review by Chad Polenz Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz **** (out of 4 = excellent) 1980, PG, 128 minutes [2 hours, 8 minutes] [fantasy] Starring: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), written by George Lucas, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, produced by Gary Kurtz, directed by Irvin Kershner. please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz It must have been difficult to make "The Empire Strikes Back." Not only was there the pressure of trying to live up to "Star Wars," but the film has a sad tone to it. On the other hand, it also has some of the greatest production designs and script fluidity I have ever seen. There are much more actual events and actions pushing this story along than its predecessor. There is an overall sense of pessimism in this movie which is foreshadowed right away as the rebels lose a battle to the Imperial Army. But the battle scenes are what make these movies so exciting, and this is one of the best. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) leads the rebels against the Imperials, who have huge walking transports who move rather slowly. The contrast between the small, fast rebel ships and the huge, slow Imperial walkers adds a great element of suspense and adventure. The fact the rebels can't seem to win makes it even more exciting. Luke eventually makes his way to the swamp planet of Degobah and meets a strange little character who eventually reveals himself to be Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), the Jedi master who instructor Ben Kenobi. We realize just how immature Luke is, as he constantly seems to be disagreeing and doubting Yoda. Maybe the swamp setting is a little exaggerated by the lavish detail, but it defines the mood of The Force so well. Meanwhile, Han Solo (Ford), Princess Leia (Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) are having problems of their own as they must single-handedly escape from Imperial star cruisers. The special effects during scenes like these are very impressive, as there are no flaws at all. But the space scenes are not necessarily the best, the truly great effects and designs come later as they journey to Cloud City and meet Han's old friend Lando Calrissian (Williams). The film jumps back and forth between Luke's training and Cloud City, and the scripting balance works well. At one point Luke uses The Force to see into the future and realizes something terrible is going to happen to his friends. And Luke is right when Darth Vader (voiced by Jones) himself appears in Cloud City. Vader and The Emperor had earlier discussed Luke's fate, and he realizes this is his chance to convert Luke to the Dark Side. The final act is rather complicated and ends on a rather sad note. Luke eventually faces Darth Vader in a beautifully photographed scene of sets and special effects. Vader reveals something to Luke that is shocking but does seem to make sense. No one really "wins" at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back." Still, the story is interesting to watch as it's impossible to tell what is going happen from one scene to another. The film tells an epic story through a rather simple manner. please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Oct 30 14:03:47 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!www.nntp.primenet.com!globalcenter0!news.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: ChadPolenz@aol.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Subject: Retrospective: Empire Strikes Back, The (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 19 Oct 1997 19:01:51 GMT Organization: None Lines: 72 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <62dlev$ifr$1@nntp5.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer37.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp5.u.washington.edu 877287711 18939 (None) 140.142.64.6 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #09422 Keywords: author=polenz X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer37.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:8745 rec.arts.sf.reviews:1562 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:176683 The Empire Strikes Back Chad'z rating: **** (out of 4 = excellent) 1980, PG, 128 minutes [2 hours, 8 minutes] [fantasy] Starring: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), written by George Lucas, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, produced by Gary Kurtz, directed by Irvin Kershner. It must have been difficult to make "The Empire Strikes Back." Not only was there the pressure of trying to live up to "Star Wars," but the film has a sad tone to it. On the other hand, it also has some of the greatest production designs and script fluidity I have ever seen. There are much more actual events and actions pushing this story along than its predecessor. There is an overall sense of pessimism in this movie which is foreshadowed right away as the rebels lose a battle to the Imperial Army. But the battle scenes are what make these movies so exciting, and this is one of the best. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) leads the rebels against the Imperials, who have huge walking transports who move rather slowly. The contrast between the small, fast rebel ships and the huge, slow Imperial walkers adds a great element of suspense and adventure. The fact the rebels can't seem to win makes it even more exciting. Luke eventually makes his way to the swamp planet of Degobah and meets a strange little character who eventually reveals himself to be Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), the Jedi master who instructor Ben Kenobi. We realize just how immature Luke is, as he constantly seems to be disagreeing and doubting Yoda. Maybe the swamp setting is a little exaggerated by the lavish detail, but it defines the mood of The Force so well. Meanwhile, Han Solo (Ford), Princess Leia (Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C3-PO (Anthony Daniels) are having problems of their own as they must single-handedly escape from Imperial star cruisers. The special effects during scenes like these are very impressive, as there are no flaws at all. But the space scenes are not necessarily the best, the truly great effects and designs come later as they journey to Cloud City and meet Han's old friend Lando Calrissian (Williams). The film jumps back and forth between Luke's training and Cloud City, and the scripting balance works well. At one point Luke uses The Force to see into the future and realizes something terrible is going to happen to his friends. And Luke is right when Darth Vader (voiced by Jones) himself appears in Cloud City. Vader and The Emperor had earlier discussed Luke's fate, and he realizes this is his chance to convert Luke to the Dark Side. The final act is rather complicated and ends on a rather sad note. Luke eventually faces Darth Vader in a beautifully photographed scene of sets and special effects. Vader reveals something to Luke that is shocking but does seem to make sense. No one really "wins" at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back." Still, the story is interesting to watch as it's impossible to tell what is going happen from one scene to another. The film tells an epic story through a rather simple manner. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ Please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz - over 160 new and old films reviewed in depth, not just blind ratings and quick capsules. Also, check out The FIRST Shay Astar Web Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz/ShayAstar.html e-mail: ChadPolenz@aol.com (C) 1997 Chad Polenz From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Nov 2 16:31:10 1998 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!news.solace.mh.se!news.ecn.ou.edu!skywalker.ecn.ou.edu!news1.optus.net.au!optus!newsfeed.zip.com.au!news-hh.maz.net!nntp-out.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!newsfeed.direct.ca!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Dragan Antulov" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies Date: 29 Oct 1998 06:04:41 GMT Organization: Croatian Post & Telecommunications Lines: 148 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7190hp$mj6$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer18.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 909641081 23142 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #15039 Keywords: author=antulov X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer18.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:14230 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2151 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 1998 When people discuss the slow yet unstoppable decline of quality film-making within commercial Hollywood cinema, they like to point out sequels as one of the symptoms. Sequels might also be taken as a symbol of those trends, because they illustrate the lack of creativity within big budget cinematography; instead of innovation, resources are poured into well-established and repetitive formulas. Naturally, the movie often blamed for inspiring such bad trends, STAR WARS, had the sequel of its own. But, luckily, it was one of those precious few exception to the rule - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was the sequel that rose above the high standards set by its glorious predecessor. Unfortunately, the quality and real importance of this movie is often ignored due to the simple fact that it is often referred as "the second in STAR WARS trilogy". Unlike the original, who could be seen by as standalone adventure, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK required built-in audience, and those audience, as well as the critics had some difficulties in appraising the movie as a single artistic achievement. Those who did mostly consider the second movie to be the best in trilogy. The author of this review shares that sentiment, same as the heroes of Kevin Smith's CLERKS. I might also add that I consider one of the best in many splendid science fiction movies made in that golden age between 1977 and 1982. The same era was perhaps splendid for the fans of science fiction cinema, but the content of those films, like MAD MAX, ALIEN or BLADE RUNNER, was mostly pessimistic. The feeling of gloom influenced even such light-hearted and fairy-tale saga like the STAR WARS. Dark atmosphere is evident from the beginning; the previous chapter ended with Rebels celebrating the destruction of Death Star, powerful weapon of evil Empire. Yet, despite their triumph, they are far from decisive victory in the war. The Empire still has the upper hand, and that is clearly demonstrated when Imperial forces destroy the main Rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. In order to save itself from total annihilation, main Rebel force is dispersed all over Galaxy. Heroes from the previous film are separated into two groups; first group is Rebel commander Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who, together with his faithful robot R2D2 (Kenny Baker) flies to swap planet Dagobah. His goal is to fulfil his personal vision and find Yoda (voice by Frank Oz), 900 years old Jedi master, that would complete his training in the ways of mystic Force. Another group of our heroes - rogue pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), his co-pilot Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and robot C3PO (Anthony Daniels) - are on the spaceship Millennium Falcon, being mercilessly pursued by Imperial fleet, whose leader, evil lord and former Jedi knight Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones), wants to capture Luke Skywalker. The sequel to the megapopular STAR WARS defied many unofficial Hollywood rules about sequels. Instead of simply enhancing well-established, attractive and obviously successful elements of the previous film, this sequel used it a foundation for its own, original narrative structure. Instead of relying on bigger special effects, bigger explosions or more spectacular sights and sounds, like many sequel makers do these days, creators of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK actually worked very hard to remedy those few flaws the original had. Most notable of all was in cardboard characterisation. That task was given to the talented creative team of Leigh Brackett, respected Fantasy/SF author, and Lawrence Kasdan, whose directorial star would shine in the next decade. They managed to develop their characters, breath some life and new dimension in their appearance, and also forced them to make some difficult moral dilemmas. The clear boundary between Good and Evil was slightly blurred in this movie, when even the some members of Imperial military were given opportunity to express their human emotions. But, most of all, difference between STAR WARS and THE EMPIRE is in plot and sinister overtones; the heroes of the movie aren't superhumans immune from misery anymore. They get maimed, hurt, tortured, both physically and emotionally, and this time the viewers, even those who consider the whole trilogy to be escapist fantasy, are really compelled to care what would happen to them in the end. The aliens, who used to be one of the more entertaining attractions of the previous movie, are mostly left out of the picture; there aren't nice fuzzy creatures here - apart from Yoda, all the aliens are hostile or, either, prosaic domesticated animals that "smell bad". That was another element of gritty realism, that distinguishes this film from the rest of trilogy. The movie is also full of surprise twists, and the final one is probably the best known in the entire history of cinema. Even the acting, often regarded as the weakest segment in whole STAR WARS saga, is here at its prime. Mark Hamill is very convincing as the suffering hero, probably because bad things that happen to his characters corresponded with some bad things that happened to him in real life. Carrie Fisher was also brilliant, especially in her scenes that witness the unresolved sexual tension between Princess Leia and Han Solo. Even Billy Dee Williams is good in his limited role of Lando Karlisian, one of the rare new characters of the saga. However, the most impressive character addition is Yoda, small and frail, yet spiritually strong figure. The magic of the Muppet creators, suggestive voice of Frank Oz, combined with Yoda's sharp lines (one of them would become the nemesis for Beverly Hills plastic surgeons) left the strong imprint on many generations of STAR WARS fans. Apart from the a screenplay and well-defined characters, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK also benefited from the superb direction by Irvin Kershner, whose career reached its peak here. The look of the film corresponds with the changes of the atmosphere; the blue colour dominates Peter Suschitzky's photography throughout the whole picture. Special effects are improved over STAR WARS, and still impressive after eighteen years (one of the proofs is 1997 special edition, that, unlike other two parts of STAR WARS trilogy, leaves most of them untouched and brings only small improvements). Even the musical score by John Williams, with his immortal "Imperial March" theme, sounds like the best in the trilogy, with its dark overtones brilliantly corresponding with the general feel of the film. Grim atmosphere of the movie, however, can't prevent the many generations of viewers to experience the very same "sense of wonder" that overwhelmed them in the previous picture. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is the original, very special segment of STAR WARS saga, but also the element of STAR WARS saga nevertheless. But even those who somehow managed to escape the magic charms of George Lucas' universe and failed to become hard core fans, could enjoy in the magnificent quality of this masterpiece. RATING: 10/10 (+++++) Review written on October 28th 1998 Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax Fido: 2:381/100 E-Mail: dragan.antulov@st.tel.hr dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri May 28 12:44:16 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!newsfeed.cwix.com!128.32.206.55!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams From: "Berge Garabedian" Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Subject: Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc Date: 21 May 1999 18:35:00 GMT Organization: University of Washington Lines: 92 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7i490k$q88$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> Reply-To: "Berge Garabedian" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer05.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 927311700 26888 (None) 140.142.17.38 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #18464 Keywords: author=garabedian X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer05.u.washington.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:17675 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2323 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:296249 THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK RATING: 8.5 / 10 --> Excellent movie For more Star Wars reviews and screensavers, visit http://www.joblo.com/ PLOT: Darth Vader is pissed at, and in search of, Luke Skywalker, in the hopes of swaying him over to the dark side. He does so by chasing his friends, Solo, Leia and Chewie, into his lair, while Luke is off studying the ways of the Jedi from Yoda, the Jedi Master. The Force continues... CRITIQUE: Great follow-up to the original tale of a galaxy far, far away, this film has plenty of action, one-liners, special-effects, good vs evil rivalries and a pleasantly dark ending. This is the episode that also features one of the biggest revelations from the trilogy (mum's the word), and a very good snow battle scene in the very beginning of the movie. Watching the digitally re-mastered version of this flick, I did notice several fake-looking special effects, especially in the explosions, and an obvious blue screen scenario, but overall, fantastic! The budding romance between Leia and Solo also worked in this film, while the whole Yoda training sessions with Luke left me a tad dry, feeling long-winded at times. The latter complaint may come from having seen this film too many times, so don't pay it much attention. All in all, a fun times in the world of the stars and droids, packed with humor, action and romance, a superb score, excellent battle sequences, and Darth getting as nasty as he wants to be. Now if I could only use the Force to levitate my TV remote control and nachos right next to me by my pillow...the Empire would be in serious trouble. Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: (Most facts gathered from the IMDb) Unbeknownst to many people, George Lucas only directed the first of the Star Wars trilogy. This one was directed by Irvin Kershner, the man who went on to direct such "classics" as NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN and ROBOCOP 2. Screenwriter Leigh Brackett, a noted science fiction/fantasy author who was prolific in science-fiction and other pulps in the 1940's, died of cancer after writing the first version of the script of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Because it was an unfinished script George Lucas revised her draft and engaged Lawrence Kasdan to finish the screenplay. It was Lawrence's first film writing credit, as he went on to write and direct the 1981 hit BODY HEAT with Kathleen Turner. He returned to the Force in 1983's RETURN OF THE JEDI, which he helped co-write with Lucas. In his early twenties, George Lucas was in a severe road accident and spent many months in the hospital. It was during his time in the hospital that he created the concept of the Force. On the planet Hoth, General Rieekan says "Send Rogues 10 and 11 to sector 38," a veiled reference to THX 1138, one of Lucas' earlier films. The character of Boba Fett is never referred to by name, except in the credits. In the asteroid scene, one of the asteroids is actually a shoe. The rumor is that Lucas asked the SFX people to redo the scene so many times that they got annoyed and one of them threw in their shoe. Security surrounding this movie was so intense that George Lucas had regular reports about "leaks" from actors. Lucas was so determined that the ending be kept secret that he had actor David Prowse (Darth Vader) say "Obi Wan Kenobi is your father" ("Obi-Wan killed your father" by some reports), and dubbed it later to be "I am your father". An extra fell sick, and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) was called in as a replacement. He can be seen as the Imperial Guard who pulls Princess Leia into the elevator after she screams "Luke! It's a trap!". He can also be seen as the Imperial Guard who is captured by Lando Calrissian's men. Denis Lawson plays Wedge Antilles. Wedge was not originally scripted to appear in this film, but intense fan interest prompted Lucas to include him. This is Carrie Fisher's favorite movie of the trilogy. The scene where Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was to be carbon frozen was a long and complex scene which required many takes. Eventually, Leia says "I love you" to Han Solo. Ford had heard this line so many times that he changed the scripted "I love you too" to "I know". Lucas didn't want to film the scene again, and thought it read much better that way, so it remained. Review Date: May 15, 1999 Director: Irvin Kershner Writers: Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan (Story by George Lucas) Producer: Gary Kurtz Actors: Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Harrison Ford as Han Solo Genre: Science-Fiction Year of Release: 1980 --------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com --------------------------------------- (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian From rec.arts.sf.reviews Sun Jun 20 12:15:10 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news.algonet.se!algonet!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newspeer1.nac.net!WCG!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: dewyngale@aol.com (DeWyNGaLe) ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc ~Subject: Retrospective: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc ~Date: 8 Jun 1999 05:40:10 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com ~Lines: 67 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <7jiabq$v8s$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: homer25.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 928820410 32028 (None) 140.142.17.40 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #18745 Keywords: author=gale X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer25.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:17957 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2364 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:314570 STAR WARS EPISODE V: EMPIRE STRIKES BACK by John Sylva (DewyNGale@aol.com) Rating: A http://members.aol.com/DeWyNGaLe Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels), R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) all return for the sequel to the best movie of all time (as of yet anyway). Everyone says sequels are bad, huh? Not when it's a Star Wars movie! Empire Strikes Back is one of the best sequels of all time, almost meeting the standards the first film set. In Empire Strikes Back, we are informed that Darth Vader (Voiced by James Earl Jones, David Prowse in costume) is obsessed with finding Luke Skywalker. Currently, Luke is with Leia, Solo, Chewbacca, C-3P0, and R2-D2 at the ice planet of Hoth, in which they are fighting a battle against the empire which wants to capture the young Skywalker. Vader believes that Luke can be a great help to the dark side, because he is very powerful, and the "force" is with him. Luke is summoned during the snow battle by Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) that he is to find a Jedi warrior named "Yoda" in the "Dagobah System." Of course, this means nothing to Luke, so he must bring R2-D2 along with him on his journey to Dagobah. Once arriving there, he learns that Jedi training is very difficult. Yoda, voiced by Frank Oz, is a very wise, old creature that will guide Luke through his path to become a great Jedi warrior. Yoda and Ben Kenobi both believe that Luke must be trained to become a Jedi and to fight for the good side, before Darth Vader and the evil Emperor try to summon him to the dark side. Meanwhile, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3P0, and Chewbacca must stop at a city in the clouds, called Cloud City, where an old friend of Han's lives. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Han's friend, becomes a main character as he tags along for all of the crazy adventures. From here, Darth Vader starts getting involved with Luke and the others. We get into the same sort of theme as we did in A New Hope, only not quite as good. The special effects in Empire Strikes Back are up there with the stunning effects of A New Hope. We get to see some new creatures and ships this time around, which were very interesting and original. The space scenes in Empire Strikes back were done much more nicely than in the original, giving more of a variety of set pieces. Empire Strikes Back seemed much more mature than A New Hope in many ways. This is both good and bad. On the good side, the acting performances, especially from Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, are so much better and more realistic than their performances in the first film. Harrison Ford was just as brilliant as he was in the last one. Billy Dee Williams, who is appearing in his first Star Wars movie, made an impact on the film. In my opinion, he was a wonderful edition to the saga. On the bad side, Empire Strikes Back wasn't as much fun as A New Hope. It was a lot more serious, and didn't seem to have the same charm that A New Hope had to it. Another way that the Star Wars series matured in Empire Strikes Back is the use of set design. Many of the settings in A New Hope seemed a little incomplete, but in Empire Strikes Back, we are taken through wonderful, realistic worlds with great settings. Cloud City and Dagobah in particular stood out visually from other set pieces. The Star Wars Special Edition version of Empire Strikes Back includes a much better film technically, with beefed up special effects, sound, and some new images here and there. The special effects seemed a lot more realistic in this version, and so did certain creatures that roamed among the worlds in Empire Strikes Back. The Special Edition is certainly the way to go. The Bottom Line- Sequels are terrible? I don't see how you can say that with this original, terrific sequel. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Fri Dec 17 12:33:53 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!fu-berlin.de!arclight.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!news.u.washington.edu!grahams ~From: "Joe Chamberlain" ~Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc ~Subject: Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.movies,rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc ~Date: 16 Dec 1999 02:34:32 GMT Organization: The Movie Guy ~Lines: 50 Approved: graham@ee.washington.edu Message-ID: <839j3o$tak$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu> ~Reply-To: "Joe Chamberlain" NNTP-Posting-Host: homer17.u.washington.edu X-Trace: nntp3.u.washington.edu 945311672 30036 (None) 140.142.17.37 X-Complaints-To: help@cac.washington.edu NNTP-Posting-User: grahams Summary: r.a.m.r. #22208 Keywords: author=chamberlain X-Questions-to: movie-rev-mod@www.ee.washington.edu X-Submissions-to: movie-reviews@www.ee.washington.edu Originator: grahams@homer17.u.washington.edu ~Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:21417 rec.arts.sf.reviews:2517 rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc:353096 The Empire Strikes Back A review by Joe Chamberlain Starring Mark Hamill; Harrison Ford; Carrie Fisher; Billy Dee Williams & Anthony Daniels The Empire Strikes Back is the second film in the original Star Wars trilogy, and the darkest of the three. And easily the worst. Although worst is a relative term when it comes to Star Wars films, since I would still rank The Empire Strikes Back as one of the ten best films of all time. The film picks up shortly after Star Wars left off. The Death Star has been destroyed and the Empire is none too happy about it. In particular, Darth Vader wants to get his hands on Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and will go to any lengths to do so. Vader and his men track Skywalker and company to the Rebel's new base on the ice world of Hoth. The ensuing battle is still one of the best in film history. The Rebels manage to escape (if they didn't it would be a real short film). Luke, along with R2-D2 goes off to find Yoda, the Jedi master, to learn how to become a Jedi like his late father. In the mean time, Vader's forces pursue Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca and C-3PO. There is not much point saying more, since the movie has been out almost two decades everyone knows what happens from here. Let's just say it involves asteroid fields, swamps and a way cool cloud city. Even after this many years, the special effects still look good. Although now that the Special Edition has been released, you may find it difficult to find a copy of the original. This is by far the darkest movie of the three -- it's almost depressing in places. But it still finds time to inject some humor. No surprises when it comes to acting, directing or story. All are impressive. Harrison Ford continues his trend from the first movie by stealing pretty much every scene he is in with his roguish charm. And the scenes that Ford doesn't steal go to Frank Oz in his performance of Yoda, and Kenny Baker as R2-D2. As stated earlier, one of the ten best movies of all time, always worth checking out again and again. My guess is that you will probably have to settle for the newer digitally mastered Special Edition though. But on the up side, the differences are fairly insignificant, and some of the minor flaws of the original version have been corrected. 10/10 Visit The Movie Guy http://movieguy.tripod.com