Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) ***1/2

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2006)

This is one of the SW films I've seen before, back in 1997 when they were re-released to theatres. I didn't recall much about it when I watched it again recently but found it to be highly entertaining and certainly a "new" experience and a revelation after recently having become familiar with Episodes I, II, III and IV. It's much more enjoyable and interesting when you know what everyone's talking about! This being the second of the "original" films, coming after the mega-success of the first movie, there was obviously more money spent on the sequel and it shows. Many impressive locations and effects, and I really loved the music score this time around (especially the ominous "theme" each time we returned to Darth Vader's ship). Better performances from the main cast (especially Mark Hamill), too.
One interesting observation for me is that I'm noticing how dated many of the "puppet" effects seem today, coming after the newer prequels! This is unusual for me, as I have always gone on record as slamming CGI and always praising the "old school" of rendering offbeat characters (I still do); but after enjoying little Yoda as an animated being in REVENGE OF THE SITH and now seeing a less convincing "prop" of this character as originally realized for EMPIRE, I may just be starting to gain a slight new appreciation for some of the computer graphics. ***1/2 out of ****