Subject: Retrospective: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

From: "Berge Garabedian" <[email-masked]>
Date: 21 May 1999 18:35:00 GMT

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
RATING: 8.5 / 10 --> Excellent movie

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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
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(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian