The
Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Rating:
PG
Runtime:
124 minutes
Box
Office (in today’s dollars): 593 million (approximately)
Characters:
Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2, Obi-Wan
Kenobi, Yoda, Lando Calrissian, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Emperor Palpatine
Cool
Stuff: AT-AT Walkers, Carbonite, Lightsabers, Millennium Falcon
Cool
Music: Opening Theme, Darth Vader’s Theme
Cool
Quote: “I am your father.”
So
... what makes a great eighties movie? I had a hard time answering that
question. But I think I narrowed it down to the essential qualities: cool
characters, cool stuff, cool music, cool quote ... and something that you could
probably qualify as an “it” factor: its importance to the eighties. So here is
my first review.
I
have to admit, I cheated and watched Star
Wars before I watched The Empire Strikes Back. I wanted to get a good
idea of the trilogy because I would be reviewing both The Empire Strikes Back and Return
of the Jedi in this year’s tournament. Star
Wars is probably my favorite, so I am glad that I don’t have to choose it
against the other two in my bracket this year.
Ok,
now that all that is said ... to the review. Empire (I am going to call it that to save time) is pretty awesome.
The whole gang is back from the first movie ... mostly. The stormtroopers are
not in it as much (sorry, Garth). Grand Moff Tarkin and the Death Star didn’t
make the sequel either, but we got some cool new characters and weapons. Yoda
is my favorite and Lando Calrissian is pretty smooth. Boba Fett and Emperor
Palpatine fill in nicely for the losses from Star Wars, and the AT-AT Walkers are fantastic. Oh, and we are
introduced to carbonite!
We
are all familiar with the opening theme to the movie, and every time Darth
Vader enters a room he has his own music. Both songs are still cool today. Han
Solo and Yoda both have many, many quotable lines, but when Darth Vader cuts of
Luke’s hand and reveals his deep dark secret, his line steals the movie ... and
leads to possibly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, movie twists of all time!
So
yeah, a great way to kick off the eighties reviews and I look forward to Jedi and seeing how the two compare
through Salty’s eyes ...
Next
movie to review: The Blues Brothers
This is definitely the best of the Star Wars trilogy, which makes it still pretty crappy. George Lucas is a plagiarizing dink responsible for completely monetizing an art form. Okay, that was a little hyperbolic even by my standards, but these movies are still turds. I can't believe you're reviewing both this and Jedi, especially since you're omitting John Cusak entirely. For shame, Salty.
ReplyDeleteFun fact for the kids: Salty Chewbacca doesn't get his name from anything Star Wars related, but rather to an inability to pronounce a certain former Red Sox catcher's last name. True story.