The Empire Strikes Back

mindfroth 6/23/2021 3:58:03 PM 8.4

A masterpiece of cinema. The film transcends the franchise, seamlessly combining elements of myth, science fiction, fantasy, war film, romance, bildungsroman, epic and tragedy in a way that its sequels have been unable to replicate. It is a move without a moment of fluff. Cut anything and the film would suffer. Story, character, effects, cinematography, music, screenplay, acting, editing and action are all superb. One of the most artistically poignant films ever made. And because its style cannot be replicated, it will continue to appreciate with age. This was a time when George Lucas still had integrity, as evidenced in this 1980 Rolling Stone interview (he has since contradicted much of what he espouses in both word and deed): https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-empire-strikes-back-and-so-does-george-lucas-19800612 Here's a blog article shows Empire's cinematic chiasmus, or narrative symmetry: https://dejareviewer.com/2014/05/20/cinematic-chiasmus-the-empire-strikes-back-is-a-perfectly-symmetrical-film/ My favorite version is the Team Negative1 Renegade Grindhouse Edition, an unrestored 35mm scan complete with damage and dust. The Despecialized version is okay too. All official releases are desecrations. People may say that Star Wars is dead, but The Empire Strikes Back is deathless.

John Chard 5/16/2024 3:22:24 PM 8.4

It's a dark time for the rebellion; and us the audience as well. Luke, Leia and Han are fighting with the rebels in the hope of defeating the Imperial forces. But Luke gets a calling to the planet Dagobah, where under the tutelage of Jedi Master, Yoda, he hopes to become a Jedi himself, but that also brings him closer to his, and Leia's, destiny. Lets tell it as it is, The Empire Strikes Back is a better film than Star Wars, not as impacting of course, but most definitely better. Technically, in story telling and in tone, it holds up well today and certainly warrants the amount of times it crops up in best sequels debates. That it's not actually a sequel is irrelevant, it is of course the filler in a wonderful sci-fi sandwich, because as second instalments go, Empire has few peers. With Empire Strikes Back we get all the whizz bang adventure strewn heart of Star Wars, but George Lucas (stepping aside for Irvin Kershner to direct) has also fleshed the story out with a serious dark tone that oddly becomes a bedfellow to the romantic fun on offer, where new and engaging characters (and creatures) add spice to this wonderful fantastical broth. Aided by the considerable writing talent of Leigh Brackett (The Long Goodbye, Rio Bravo, The Big Sleep), Lucas took the bold and ingenious step of giving the bad guys the upper hand, in fact it could be argued that he was taking a considerable risk with his ending. Forcing his viewers to wait for the final chapter (three years later), after tantalisingly setting us up with a corker of plot twist (one which is still to this day as potent as it was back on release), Lucas pulled perhaps one of the cheekiest carrot dangles in cinema history. Though more famed for its dark undertones, Empire is for sure still a very fun movie, C3PO goes into camp overdrive and Han Solo ups his quip quota by some margin. Then of course there is Yoda, in himself a comedic joy. The action sequences beg for repeat viewings, a battle on the ice laden planet Hoth is a marvel and the choreography for Skywalker's fight with Darth Vader is out of the top draw. But ultimately it's with the dark side that the picture excels. Complex and amazingly posing moral quandary's, The Empire Strikes Back is quite an experience, one that will forever hold up to repeat viewings for this particular viewer. 10/10

GenerationofSwine 1/14/2023 2:40:07 AM 8.4

So, I was almost 1 when this movie dropped and, well, it started the opening night tradition. OK, well, how to do this? I guess we will start with the hate. I like to address the hate in movies, especially ones that are well regarded and loved. Now, I'll excuse it for the people that just don't like Star Wars. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But then there are the people that really hate Empire because of...reasons. And those reasons are Revenge of the Sith. I'm sorry, panning Empire because of loyalty to the prequels--misplaced as it is--doesn't make I-III any better. It just makes you petty. Now, why its loved and, I'll admit, I am one of those fanboys that really do love this movie. For starters, Empire went dark. It was the really the episode that the good guys lost and, that made it unique among, well, among just about every movie not made in the 1970s. I guess that is what made the 70s such a wonderful time for movies. We could use a little more of that. We could use a lot more of that. We use a lot more gritty in cinema. And, we could use a lot more "lived in" Everything looks too clean. Empire had that. And then it had that big, legendary, reveal that made all those kisses between Luke and Leia utterly wrong once the second big reveal hit in 1983...which explained that look Han gave Leia when she told him in the next installment. Moving on... We have the Battle of Hoth, which, yeah, nerd awesomeness with kind of a WWI trench warfare v tanks feel and a WWII Evacuation of Dunkirk feel with the rebels on the run and the Empire forcing its way across the galaxy with brute strength. And that prolonged time on the Falcon, well, that was just brilliant for character development and, incest blocking. So, really, honestly, there was way too much to love not to put Empire on the throne.