After I had seen the first film in theaters, fully remastered and everything, I had to see the next one. Of course, I didn't fully understand that I didn't need to wait to see Empire Strikes Back, and I was pleasantly surprised when my mom brought home an old, dusty VHS from the video store.
I was introduced to the next film on a small (large at the time I'm sure) analog TV. And you know what? The film kicked so much ass!
So right off the bat, I'm going to just say that this film is the best film out of the entire series, in my opinion. It has everything you'd want in a movie, even though it is a transition to the final act. But the second part of a trilogy is usually the most compelling since everything goes wrong and the hero gets his ass kicked.
On that note, I'll start out with the story, since I think this is the part that really makes the film. The introductions of all the major characters are mostly out of the way this time, so now there's more room for character development. Luke is struggling to find guidance and find himself in this large universe. Obi Wan is no longer there to help Luke in person, and he must find guidance elsewhere. Of course, while Luke is off receiving his training and such, the Empire for the majority of the film is relentlessly pursuing his friends. This is all in an effort to find Luke, thanks to Darth Vader. Vader, of course, is killing henchmen left and right. Leia and Han are developing a romance, which is basically an explosion of them being douche-bags to each other and making out.
All of this dark mysterious stuff is going on amidst small bits of humor all around. You've got the C-3PO and R2-D2 bickering, the Han and Leia relationship, and of course you have Yoda. This is one HELL of a character. It's something synonymous with Star Wars. Luke crashes on this muddy Degobah planet and he runs into what appears to be a crazed midget with huge ears. When Yoda first appears, he acts like a child, pulling apart and picking through Luke's stuff (if that's not a Jedi test of patience, I don't know what is.) and making things even more frustrating for him. THEN, just when Luke has had enough and flips out, the little green fucker says, "I cannot teach him..." etc etc.. What the fuck? Oh shit! That's Yoda?!? Yup, without a doubt, one of the best Star Wars characters ever made. Frank Oz did a wonderful job with the voice and the physical acting, which wasn't easy I'd imagine.
Now, without giving away too much of the details, let's just say that Luke is compelled to help his friends when he can sense their suffering. He rushes away from his training to face Darth Vader in cloud city. An epic duel I must say:
You can see here that things are not going well for poor Luke. I mean come on, a few minutes into the duel and Luke is already on his ass multiple times! Now, there is a stunning revelation at the end of this video and I apologize for spoiling it for the 2 people in the world who don't know: Vader is Luke's daddy.
Anyways, yes, everything goes horribly wrong for Luke and his friends, but it's set up nicely for the sequel.
On to the other things like special effects, photography, music, and all that jazz. The special effects of this film are astounding as ever, and like my previous review, they hold up against even some of the things that are done today. You can see that Lucas's team has improved its methods with animated models. You've got the speeders battling the AT-ATs on Hoth on a snowy background, which isn't easy to composite today, much less in 1980, mind you. You've got the space sequences which primarily consist of the Millennium Falcon running from the Empire, but sequences of which involve the ships swerving and flying through and asteroid field and such. Great stuff. The effects on the lightsaber duel were great, along with the editing, sound, and composition. You see Vader as this dark silhouette for most of the fight, which was creepy as shit when I was a kid. This film contains a lot of eye candy and great sound for the audience. I will say that I don't really think the film needed the special edition stuff...I mean I saw the original on VHS, on a TV and was still blown away. I don't think these things take away from the film, per se, but it can stand on it's own without them.
Music is awesome for the same reason as before: John Williams. This introduced the Imperial March theme and has since been an iconic sound everywhere. The rest of the music fit the scenes, so I have no major criticisms there at all. Just watch it and enjoy it, really.
So I don't have much more to say about this one. It's a fantastic film in the saga, and I wholeheartedly think it deserves a perfect A+. This is not just in comparison to the other films, but also as a movie itself.
Now, if you haven't seen Empire Strikes Back, then get on that immediately! Or Luke will be very upset:
~ JC
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