connielane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
connielane) wrote2007-05-29 06:58 pm
connielane) wrote2007-05-29 06:58 pm
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Movie of the Day - The Empire Strikes Back
More emotion, more drama, and more romance. No wonder it's the fan favorite.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Probably the greatest second act of a trilogy there has ever been. We already know the characters and the situations, but now we get to dig a little deeper into those characters as an even deeper hole of conflict is burrowed for them. The world of these films is turned upside down, so much so that you wonder how things will ever get better. It's Drama 101 and it's incredibly basic, but ohhhhh did Lucas (and Kirshner) know how to do it right.
I love the way this film opens on completely unfamiliar territory. The icy planet of Hoth is like nothing we've seen in this universe, and you can get the shivers even in the middle of summer just watching those first several minutes. My heart swells with affection for the characters as I hear Luke say "Han, old buddy" and Han throw off everyone's warnings to go out into the blizzard for at least overnight because "my friend's out there in it." And yes, watching Han and Leia bicker about who's got feelings for who is terribly satisfying. :D
And somewhere in the galaxy, for some reason we don't yet know, Darth Vader is obsessively searching for Luke. But it's not time for them to meet yet. Second acts are often characterized by a splitting up of familar groups of characters to tell a few different stories, and here we find Luke separated from Han, Leia, and Chewbacca to do his own thing for a while. So we get a nice little back-and-forth between the familar scenery of Han, Leia, and Chewy on board the Millenium Falcon, trying to outrun Imperial ships and the more intimate feel of the sequences on swampy Dagobah with Luke, R2, and Yoda.
Rewatching this so soon after the prequels, I was really struck by the fact of Yoda's exile on Dagobah. In the prequels, he's quite mellow and contemplative. But when we see him for the first time in ESB, he's more than a bit ... odd. Goofy, even. As if so many years in exile has driven him a bit mad. But he still has the skillz, yo. Boy does he. (Side note: I was a bit disturbed by my own thoughts of "Look at Yoda's cute little butt!" as he was hunched over in his hut looking for something. GAH!) I love how Kirshner was able to do the training scenes and keep them interesting without making them a MONTAGE. Some of my favorite scenes in this film are in the Dagobah segment, especially Luke's vision in the cave and (OMG!) Yoda moving Luke's ship.
Plot twist? Check. Wonderfully intense scene between Luke and Vader, culminating in one of the biggest bombshells ever dropped on a movie audience. It's weird to hear Lucas talking about not getting a lot of reaction to it at the time. I've heard several people (including James Earl Jones) say they originally thought Vader was lying, and Lucas claims he *intended* it to be somewhat ambiguous because he wanted people to debate whether Vader was telling the truth or not. And now, thanks to someone on JournalFen whose name I can't recall, I cannot watch the scene where Vader cuts Luke's hand off without thinking "My sex life!" Thanks, fandom!
Of course, while everyone settles into the obligatory end-of-act-two slough of despond, no one is as low in the pit of suckiness as old "Carbon Frozen" Solo. Though I'm not sure what's colder - CF Solo or his retort to Leia's "I love you." That DOG! *loves him*
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Probably the greatest second act of a trilogy there has ever been. We already know the characters and the situations, but now we get to dig a little deeper into those characters as an even deeper hole of conflict is burrowed for them. The world of these films is turned upside down, so much so that you wonder how things will ever get better. It's Drama 101 and it's incredibly basic, but ohhhhh did Lucas (and Kirshner) know how to do it right.
I love the way this film opens on completely unfamiliar territory. The icy planet of Hoth is like nothing we've seen in this universe, and you can get the shivers even in the middle of summer just watching those first several minutes. My heart swells with affection for the characters as I hear Luke say "Han, old buddy" and Han throw off everyone's warnings to go out into the blizzard for at least overnight because "my friend's out there in it." And yes, watching Han and Leia bicker about who's got feelings for who is terribly satisfying. :D
And somewhere in the galaxy, for some reason we don't yet know, Darth Vader is obsessively searching for Luke. But it's not time for them to meet yet. Second acts are often characterized by a splitting up of familar groups of characters to tell a few different stories, and here we find Luke separated from Han, Leia, and Chewbacca to do his own thing for a while. So we get a nice little back-and-forth between the familar scenery of Han, Leia, and Chewy on board the Millenium Falcon, trying to outrun Imperial ships and the more intimate feel of the sequences on swampy Dagobah with Luke, R2, and Yoda.
Rewatching this so soon after the prequels, I was really struck by the fact of Yoda's exile on Dagobah. In the prequels, he's quite mellow and contemplative. But when we see him for the first time in ESB, he's more than a bit ... odd. Goofy, even. As if so many years in exile has driven him a bit mad. But he still has the skillz, yo. Boy does he. (Side note: I was a bit disturbed by my own thoughts of "Look at Yoda's cute little butt!" as he was hunched over in his hut looking for something. GAH!) I love how Kirshner was able to do the training scenes and keep them interesting without making them a MONTAGE. Some of my favorite scenes in this film are in the Dagobah segment, especially Luke's vision in the cave and (OMG!) Yoda moving Luke's ship.
Plot twist? Check. Wonderfully intense scene between Luke and Vader, culminating in one of the biggest bombshells ever dropped on a movie audience. It's weird to hear Lucas talking about not getting a lot of reaction to it at the time. I've heard several people (including James Earl Jones) say they originally thought Vader was lying, and Lucas claims he *intended* it to be somewhat ambiguous because he wanted people to debate whether Vader was telling the truth or not. And now, thanks to someone on JournalFen whose name I can't recall, I cannot watch the scene where Vader cuts Luke's hand off without thinking "My sex life!" Thanks, fandom!
Of course, while everyone settles into the obligatory end-of-act-two slough of despond, no one is as low in the pit of suckiness as old "Carbon Frozen" Solo. Though I'm not sure what's colder - CF Solo or his retort to Leia's "I love you." That DOG! *loves him*
Don't forget Kasden...
(Anonymous) 2007-05-30 06:54 am (UTC)(link)As for Yoda being "odd" for most of this film, that was intentional on his part. He was testing Luke, seeing how he'd react to such behavior. Only when the two are sitting in his house and he speaks to Obi-Wan does he truly reveal himself, both in name and personality. I loved Yoda...I think Jim Henson and Frank Oz display real genius at making puppets come to life; two truly gifted men.
This is my favorite film from childhood. It was the first film I saw multiple times. I had been living in Brussels, Belgium with my family for the first half of 1980. As a result, I didn't see it until June of that year. We arrived home in the US late at night and my wonderful father took me to the first show the next day. He hates to wait in line but he waited with me for an hour instead of coming back another day. He earned mega SUPERDAD! points that afternoon.
But while dad was my hero, George Lucas was the source of terrible frustration. THREE YEARS?! Three years we had to wait for resolution! Three years to a kid is an eternity. But I found it in my heart to forgive him as the following year he introduced us to Indiana Jones in my second favorite movie from childhood.
Susan