"The Empire Strikes Back" is a perfect film, isn't it?

[DerekG]

Note: I'm not a member of the Kevin Smith-coined "He-Man-Lucas-Haters-Club." Lest this thread fall into said club's hands, it's worth pointing out (1) Lucas helmed two near-perfect SW films, Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope (2) Irvin Kershner turned out to be a one-hit wonder, never again producing a film on this level (3) the late Richard Marquand directed Return of the Jedi, and that movie was nothing to write home about.

With all that said, Empire is undoubtedly the crown jewel of the series, quite possibly the pinnacle of SF/fantasy cinema, and, in my estimation, among the 20 greatest American films made(seriously, I'd place it alongside Vertigo and City Lights). It's just one of those instances wherein all the stars align: Lucas's bravado, producer Gary Kurtz's ruthless efficiency, John Williams at peak inspiration, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan still fresh from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and of course Kershner, whose delicate handling of the cast allowed the archetypes of ANH to transmute into human beings (which wouldn't happen again until ROTS).

I could gush all day, so I'll just make this observation: Wasn't Empire the only one that was frightening? The wampa...the asteroid cave/stomach...Dagobah...hell, even Vader's VOICE was deeper, and his duel with Luke played like something out of a horror film. Yoda scared the beejeezus out of me when I was little. ("You will be...you WILL be.") :scared:

I could watch this movie every month for the rest of my life.

[jpgray]

1. It's better than the others. "Sith" is irrevocably marred by lousy acting and a bad script

The description of Creon's daughter dying in Euripides' "Medea" is just a messenger guy doing exposition, but it's more terrifying and dramatic than any number of CG battle droids. Spectacle's great, but it has to be used with some taste.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. To be perfect, it would need a quarter of the screen dedicated to a naked Natalie Portman,

Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Liv Tyler, or other such hot babe.

But, other than that, yes, it is a near perfect film - brilliantly executed, and one that works serious filmic magic. My only naysaying on it is that some of the Dagobah scenes drag and become a bit tedious, just as in ROTJ the Endor moon scenes go on far too long. Some of the Cloud City scenes used to bother me, but I love the way that Lucas redid them.

Empire is clearly the winner of the six Star Wars films, and a winner by a fair amount, even though Episode IV is also a brilliant movie. ROTS almost makes it to an excellent film, but not quite; and thank God for it, because Episodes I and II were pure fucking stinker garbage, and I was gonna be really, really angry if Lucas equally fucked up the movie that would hold the creation of Darth Vader (if not for the "NooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" I might rate the film excellent).

Empire definitely gave us humans with flaws, emotions, strengths, and other human attributes; and we saw the struggle of them being heroes while being also solidly human. The whole Hoth sequence, from the scrolling to the final leaving of the planet, is pure fucking magic - I watching that scene over and over and over.

[Aristus]

5. I liked how the ground battle in the snow trenches captured the Rebel Alliance

at its most real. These were REAL people who had left home and family (if the Empire hadn't destroyed those as well) in order to sacrifice for a cause they believed in. Some of the leaders in the trenches were tough mustachioed biker-type guys. I liked that they weren't all clean-cut Central Casting types. The battle scenes were too short and fast-moving to really capture the misery and hell of war, but they came close...

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. It was damn near perfect.

1. Revenge of the Sith sucked.

2. What made Star Wars good were the characters, performances, the story, editing, and the action, rip offs of Kurosawa, Riefenstahl, WWII combat footage, etc. It succeeded despite Lucas' directing.

[CGowen]

4. I remember watching "Empire of Dreams" when Irvin said that the best part of the play

is when everything goes down the drain.

It is still funny that they had the worst winter when they were filming in the snow, so that they could film out of the Hotel door.
But I remember that Lucas had to help because Kershner had problems, I'm not sure if it was with all those special effects or with something else.
Lucas said it would have been easier if he had done it by himself.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416716/

[DerekG]

6. Lucas and Kurtz demanded some of the scenes be reshot

The most interesting part of that documentary was when we were shown some axed Han/Leia interplay on Cloud City. Carrie Fisher's stilted delivery was just awful...Attack of the Clones awful. Yet in this instance, it was Lucas who was dissatisfied.

Pretty funny.