The Empire Strikes Back (1980) thread in '80s and '90s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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The Empire Strikes Back (1980) thread

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delgadosaur	The Empire Strikes Back (1980) thread	Lead	[-]
Jun 1 11 11:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I know there's other threads that talk about specific stuff, but not one that all-encompasses the sequel that I feverishly anticipated when I was a kid, and I was not disappointed. From the huge snow battle with the AT-ATs to the moody, mysterious planet of Dagobah, to finally the climactic third act on Bespin, this film enthralled me. But this was also Darth Vader at his most ruthless and cunning, with minions force-choked or promoted left and right. Vader was filled with malice during the story, torturing Han and Chewie as well as defeating Luke with one hand. Star Wars (1977) defined this series for me, but those who tell me they like Empire better won't get much of an argument from me. The Art of Empire Strikes Back, the Empire Strikes Back Sketchbook and the Empire Strikes Back portfolio blew my mind! I love this film and would love to read other thoughts and memories here.
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Thanagarian		#1	[-]
Jun 1 11 1:18 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As a Star Wars fanatic I was busting to see the next adventures. The film opened here in the U.K when I was on holiday and I was second in the line for the only evening showing. I was just blown away by the film. The Hoth battle and the asteroid field were just awesome. There was an intermission in the film as Luke begins his training with Yoda. I was the last person out of the cinema as I was the only one who watched the credits to the end. Before I went to see the film I had bought the soundtrack album and it had a picture sleeve and I remember trying so hard not to look at he pictures and spoil it for myself. The scene where Darth Vader tells Luke that he is his father was just amazing. I never believed him though, I just thought he was lying to bring Luke to the dark side. I picked up the Official collectors edition magazine at the time. I also picked up the Story Of The Empire Strikes Back soundtrack .I also have the Art of Empire and the portfolio. Although a fantasic film, the original Star Wars is still my favorite.
kinggirlfriend		#2	[-]
Jun 1 11 1:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I wish there were more movies of this quality. STAR WARS set the tone and EMPIRE ran with it and made something really special.
bela lugosi		#3	[-]
Jun 1 11 1:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Good call, this one seemed to have it all. The best of the series, IMHO, but the 77 film does still rank up there, probably neck and neck. This film still entertains--and is emotionally gripping--with each viewing and for me that is generally the test. The original trilogy is the best, by far, and it's not even close (about the only thing I liked about the more recent series is the appearance of Christopher Lee--most of the rest is boring and pretty bad, IMHO). EMPIRE also introduced the powerful "Imperial Theme" by the talented John Williams. The musical themes were simply awesome! About the only thing this film lacks, perhaps, is the thespian gravitas lent the first one by Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness (where he gets to appear more than just a blue screen few moments here and there, though he is in this one a bit at times). Otherwise, it's pretty much perfect as a sci-fi fantasy film with lots of homage to the cliffhanger serials. Great stuff!
Uncle Bingo		#4	[-]
Jun 1 11 2:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Empire was easily my favorite. Star Wars was cool and all (OK it was awesome), but like we are seeing with the current superhero films, the origin story is there to set the tone and tell the background of the story and the sequel very often can dispense with the exposition and get right into the meat and the action! To me, Empire had it all. Then came the muppet show Ewoks of Return of the Jedi and it dropped the ball a bit. I'll go on record as saying Empire is easily the BEST of the Star Wars films. Only thing that even comes close is the epic battle at the end of Phantom Menace - which is pretty much the only redeeming part of that film. It's a pity Darth Maul was thrown away. How cool would it have been to see Count Dooku and Maul conspiring together? Maul could have been a very formidable long term villain that could actually hang with Vader. Same goes with Boba Fett who was also under-utilized.
Monsterpal		#5	[-]
Jun 1 11 2:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Empire is by far my favorite of the series.
delgadosaur		#6	[-]
Jun 1 11 4:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The first time I saw this baby, I got the chills when Vader hissed, "Obi Wan has trained you well, but you are not a Jedi yet."
Uncle Bingo		#7	[-]
Jun 1 11 4:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Actually I was thinking: "Damn, those 2-3 lessons Luke received in Star Wars sure went a LONG way. Last I checked you were wearing a helmet with the blast shield down and taking shots to the back of the pants!" Man, Vader was a bad-a$$ in the original series. Too bad they made him such a sad emo kid in prequel trilogy. Robot Chicken NAILED it. http://www.youtube.com/wa...syk0&feature=related Sorry about the commercial at the beginning. Last Edited By: Uncle Bingo Jun 1 11 4:49 PM. Edited 1 times.
Hjalmar Poelzig		#8	[-]
Jun 1 11 11:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Great film. They were all down hill after this one.
Uchujin65		#9	[-]
Jun 2 11 1:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Asteroid fields do not concern me Admiral, I want that ship, not excuses!" It is indeed one of the greatest movies ever made. That said I don't think Jedi is half bad either, I love the Jabba the Hutt stuff (pre-special edition) and I'd take all the Ewoks in that movie over one Jar Jar or Nute Gunray. The original trilogy is really one compelling story. Really the Star Wars films are almost like children to me in how one perceives them. The first film is your beloved and irreplaceable first born, Empire is the second child who was worked even harder and shined even brighter to impress you and vie for your attention and Return of the Jedi is kind of the youngest child who failed to life up to your expectations, felt overwhelmed living in the shadow of its more effluent elder siblings but you've learned to love nonetheless and the end of the day and finally understand. jlcarrozza.com
Hjalmar Poelzig		#10	[-]
Jun 2 11 7:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Uchujin65 wrote: "Asteroid fields do not concern me Admiral, I want that ship, not excuses!" It is indeed one of the greatest movies ever made. That said I don't think Jedi is half bad either, I love the Jabba the Hutt stuff (pre-special edition) and I'd take all the Ewoks in that movie over one Jar Jar or Nute Gunray. The original trilogy is really one compelling story. Really the Star Wars films are almost like children to me in how one perceives them. The first film is your beloved and irreplaceable first born, Empire is the second child who was worked even harder and shined even brighter to impress you and vie for your attention and Return of the Jedi is kind of the youngest child who failed to life up to your expectations, felt overwhelmed living in the shadow of its more effluent elder siblings but you've learned to love nonetheless and the end of the day and finally understand. It's kind of like the Godfather trilogy. Part 3 had to follow two of the greatest films of all time. It was a pretty good movie but no way could it match up to the other two. For what it's worth, I think that the Godfather Part 3 is a better film than Return of the Jedi.
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hermanthegerm		#11	[-]
Jun 3 11 9:27 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I actually used to think this did not live up to the first, but as time goes by I find I do like it better and better. It is also a beautifully shot film. "There is a lot of money tied up in this film and people expect to hear a boom when something blows up, so I'll give them a boom." George Lucas as quoted by Harlan Ellison's WATCHING
BijouBob8mm		#12	[-]
Jun 3 11 1:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It is also a beautifully shot film. Those shots on the landing pad at Bespin at sunset look gorgeous. Very atmospheric use of light and color. While I tend not to care for Lucas' CGI tweaking and revising the original trilogy, I do think EMPIRE benefited because it opened "Cloud City" up and gave it a greater sense of scale. Of course, RETURN OF THE JEDI had some striking visuals....
Carl Eyesnheart		#13	[-]
Jun 3 11 11:44 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This was my favorite as a kid. Now, as a cynical adult, I find myself enjoying the first one the most. My reasons are elsewhere on these boards, but in a nutshell it all has to do with the first one being the only "complete" film. The others create too many plot holes and there are too many aspects of my not believing Lucas when he says it was all planned out in the beginning. That aside, this is still right on the heals of the first film, and no part of the first film is as great as Hoth. For my money, the first two movies are truely great films, everything else is decent to poor. EMPIRE and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK both sit so firmly in my mind from childhood. Hearing people from the 50s speak of the greatness of the Sci-Fi explosion and drive-ins makes me realize that the feel of these films helped me to get that same feeling. I was 10 when I saw this thing. Saw it probably 10 times in the theater, and only one of those times with my parents. Every other time was with my friends. Popcorn, coke, and Sprees, Jawbreakers or Good N Fruity's (when they were still good). If only I had a time machine. My fanzine all about Rock N Roll: www.sonicruin.com
HalLane		#14	[-]
Jun 4 11 12:09 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I wish I'd been younger when I'd seen EMPIRE. And that I didn't know the big "plot twist" before going in (I worked in the building that printed the comic book adaptation some weeks before). And that I wasn't so droopy eye drop dead dog tired from having working the third shift. I might have enjoyed it more. But I'm starting to warm up to it. The March of the Empire is superb.
delgadosaur		#15	[-]
Jun 4 11 3:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I sat on top of my parent's camper, in line at the Victory Drive-in in the San Fernando Valley. My family sat in line waiting the see the second showing, and I could see the screen from where I sat, and I was blown away, and I realized that Vader had said something pretty important late in the film. I forget to bring this up, but the Taun Taun was incredible to me.
Rakshasa		#16	[-]
Jun 5 11 8:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I love Empire. The opening scenes on the snow planet (Toth? What was it called?) were old school awesome. We even got a snow monster! Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
delgadosaur		#17	[-]
Jun 5 11 10:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Probe droid was really cool as well. And the sound! Ben Burt was incredible.
Uchujin65		#18	[-]
Jun 5 11 12:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ben Burtt is the best sound FX man probably in film history. It's amazing the level of creativity and dedication to his craft that he brings forth, a lot of the most amazing sounds in Star Wars are actually surprisingly mundane things. It lends the movies such a tactile and human quality. Really as much as Lucas and Spielberg have been influential on filmmaking in Hollywood, Ben Burtt has been on the sound of movies. jlcarrozza.com
BijouBob8mm		#19	[-]
Jun 6 11 10:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This was my favorite as a kid. Now, as a cynical adult, I find myself enjoying the first one the most. For some reason, I've always preferred the first one. (Maybe nostalgia, as the film came out just as I got my first driver's license and high school had let out for the summer?) Like John Carpenter, I think Lucas was at his best when money was tight and he couldn't be overly self-indulgent. As a result, I think STAR WARS has a much tighter feel to it. But, like Rak, I love the opening on the Ice Planet in EMPIRE. I think one of the big flaws in the prequel trilogy is that the characters aren't as endearing. When the original trilogy came out, every kid wanted to be Han Solo or Luke Skywalker. I don't know of anyone who wanted to be Anakin. Han and Leia were like Bogart and Bacall in space. The prequels were big and pretty, but just not as satisfying. There was a time where anyone predicting that SPIDER-MAN (or any other film) would open to better business than that same year's STAR WARS offering (episode 2), they would have been scoffed at and accused of box office blasphemy. It would have been almost unthinkable of Lucas not taking the lead...yet it happened. Maybe Lucas had been through too much to retain that "gee whiz" feel of the originals? (I know Spielberg has said that if he were making CLOSE ENCOUNTERS today, it would be a lot different because of where he is at in life at this point.) the snow planet (Toth? What was it called?) Hoth.
delgadosaur		#20	[-]
Jun 6 11 12:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Some of these films open to much bigger business than Star Wars, then a few years later fade away, to me. The way that spiritualism was mixed within the adventure genre, makes these films special. Most kids know who Yoda is, but I betcha they have forgotten all about the Dr. Octopuses of summers past. "Do or do not. There is no try." "That is why you fail." By the way, we have not discussed the music of the mighty John Williams, which blew me away so long ago, and frankly listen to or whistle every day, to this day.
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