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The Empire Strikes Back 35th anniversary

H

HarryCanyon1982

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
Can you believe one of the greatest sci-fi and fantasy adventures of all time just turned 35 this year? it's simply a masterpiece of sequel filmmaking that knows how to satisfy audiences and critics alike.

My mother and father saw this on the big screen as well as my big brother who was 6 years old as he saw it 3 times even when it was re-issued in 1981 and 1982. I saw all 3 SW movies on video at age 3 and this one i loved the most for Yoda.
 
Absolute classic. Manages to not only follow Star Wars very well but manages to top it in many areas. It's a testament to the films enduring quality that it got messed with the least when they did the special editions.
 
Yes I can believe it. I was ten years old at the time and remember it like it was yesterday.

My mom tried to take us to see it, but it took four tries before we got in.

Yep, the lines were THAT long.
 
It's amazing to me how undated it still looks compared to the other OT movies. The hairstyles don't look too obviously 1970s or 80s, and the sets and costumes don't have that slightly cheap look they have in the other movies as well.

I still prefer the simpler and more cornball style of ANH overall, but ESB is still a damn great sequel.
 
Smellmet said:
Absolute classic. Manages to not only follow Star Wars very well but manages to top it in many areas. It's a testament to the films enduring quality that it got messed with the least when they did the special editions.
Click to expand...

Agree. ESBK was and is awesome. :techman:
 
ESB applied a maturity to the story.
And watching it on blu-ray, it holds up very well....looking as contemporary as the prequel trilogy in terms of cinematic quality.

I love when a movie hides its age really well. Like 2001. :)
 
I think TESB is probably one of the best sequels ever, along with The Wrath Of Kahn, The Dark Knight, Aliens, and T2.
 
The Old Mixer said:
Galileo7 said:
Agree. ESBK was and is awesome. :techman:
Click to expand...

The Empire Strikes Burger King? Hmm...I do seem to recall a set of extremely-breakable collector's glasses, now that I think of it....
Click to expand...

My mom and stepdad have a couple in their cupboards and my big brother has one of them in his.


JD said:
I think TESB is probably one of the best sequels ever, along with The Wrath Of Kahn, The Dark Knight, Aliens, and T2.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Toy Story 2, Evil Dead 2, Dawn of The Dead, Captain America Winter Soldier and more.
 
It's unfortunate that Kershner failed so badly with the semi-Bond and Robocop franchises, although I think that's partially due to studio interference, something he had to deal with on EMPIRE as well, but somehow did OK. Lucas originally wanted him to helm Episode II but that kind of fizzled out when Lucas decided he wanted to direct again.
 
martok2112 said:
ESB applied a maturity to the story.
And watching it on blu-ray, it holds up very well....looking as contemporary as the prequel trilogy in terms of cinematic quality.

I love when a movie hides its age really well. Like 2001. :)
Click to expand...

It certainly does - though I think this applies to all the original trilogy movies, and for different reasons, I think the Bespin sets are what help keep Empire looking fresh with all the use of white, it still looks great today, whilst on the other hand the AT-AT scenes are looking dated, but still just about hold up. ROTJ turned that on it's head with stunning visual effects, especially the final space battle.

JD said:
I think TESB is probably one of the best sequels ever, along with The Wrath Of Kahn, The Dark Knight, Aliens, and T2.
Click to expand...

Totally agree.
 
It's interesting that it's also one of the more troubled Star Wars productions. Leigh Brackett passed away early on (Although some elements of her script do end up in the Kasdan version), the Hoth location filming was difficult due to blizzard conditions and freezing cold, The fire on the Shining set near where Empire was filming screwed things up, the Carbonite chamber set was a pain to work with due to all the steam, noise etc, Carrie Fisher's drug and alchohol problems were starting to manifest themselves, plus several budget problems.

It's part of the reason Lucas became more controlling of the franchise afterward.
 
Well I think the main reason Lucas took more control afterwards was because he felt ESB ended up a slower and much more serious movie than he intended (he even tried to edit a faster paced version at one point, but thankfully was either persuaded or realized himself that the story just wouldn't have worked as well that way).

Obviously he would later come to embrace ESB a whole lot more, but at the time clearly seemed to prefer the much faster style of ANH and ROTJ.
 
HarryCanyon1982 said:
The Old Mixer said:
Galileo7 said:
Agree. ESBK was and is awesome. :techman:
Click to expand...

The Empire Strikes Burger King? Hmm...I do seem to recall a set of extremely-breakable collector's glasses, now that I think of it....
Click to expand...

My mom and stepdad have a couple in their cupboards and my big brother has one of them in his.


JD said:
I think TESB is probably one of the best sequels ever, along with The Wrath Of Kahn, The Dark Knight, Aliens, and T2.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Toy Story 2, Evil Dead 2, Dawn of The Dead, Captain America Winter Soldier and more.
Click to expand...
I didn't forget them, those were just the first ones to come to mind, it wasn't meant to be a complete list.
 
My parents kept me home from school so my dad could take me to see the first daytime showing on opening day. They tried to keep it a surprise with some lame story about a father-son picnic (like they'd hold that on a school day), but I knew what day it was, and my mom laying out my R2-D2 T-shirt for me dispelled any small doubt I may have had. Standing in line in the hot Florida sun for two hours is one of my favorite childhood memories...moreso than actually seeing the film, oddly enough, though air conditioning plus Hoth equaled Glorious under the circumstances.

I'd known about the big reveal for two weeks before the film opened, thanks to the early release of the novel...devoured that in a weekend.
 
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