Best of the original trilogy

Rating: Null/10 (19 October 2004)

I write this partly as a review of the movie itself and partly as a review of the DVD version. "The Empire Strikes Back" is simply the most "adult," emotionally resonant and dark-tinged of the original trilogy--and for that matter, of the five "Star Wars" movies now extant. (We'll have to see what George Lucas comes up with for "Revenge of the Sith.") There are no easy victories here; in fact, the movie ends with pretty much all of the main characters (even, to an extent, Darth Vader) in defeat. And for the benefit of those who have never seen it, I won't reveal the jaw-dropping plot twist near the end--suffice to say that I vividly remember hearing an opening-day audience (in 1980) of 1,000 moviegoers gasp as this plot turn was revealed. At the same time, the movie's sense of wonder and fantasy keeps "Empire" from turning grim.
It's probably no accident that of the original trilogy, "Empire" has been subjected to the fewest changes (both for the "Special Edition" theatrical release in '97 and the DVD). Lucas must have recognized that this was artistically the most accomplished of the three and therefore "needed" little tinkering. We get a few more shots of the snow beast in its ice cave, a slightly expanded version of the dialogue between Vader and the Emperor (now with Ian McDiarmid's face and voice) and a different voice for bounty hunter Boba Fett's two or three lines of dialogue. That's about it, aside from some minor (and helpful) sprucing up of the special effects and a more prominent place for John Williams' music in the sound mix (also an improvement--the music often came across too faintly in the original release). Oh yes, and a "Special Edition" change that everyone seemed to detest--Luke's scream as he takes a swan dive in Cloud City--has been deleted. Thankfully.