CT Happy 35th Anniversary Empire!

Just a couple of stories. A few months back, my younger brother came to visit me and my roommate/best friend since elementary school at college, and we all ended up watching Empire before going to sleep. When Zev says, "Echo Base, this is Rogue Two. I found them. Repeat: I found them," he had me rewind the scene so he could watch it again. Apparently he used to watch the opening 40 minutes of ESB with his dad over and over again as a kid, and for whatever reason (I'm guessing the surging feeling of elation) that was always his favorite part.

Mine, is towards the end of the film, when everyone is trying to escape Cloud City, R2 finally gets the door open, and 3PO screams out, "I never doubted you for a second. Wonderful!" The music swells, R2 drops the smokescreen and we see laser blasts fly through it as he wheels to the safety of the Falcon, and it's at that point that we realize our heroes are actually going to get away, they're going to be alright.

 

Watched that clip on youtube recently and it truly works. Though there are a couple issues left to resolve. Luke and the hyperdrive. But that is the first scene where something good happens to the heroes. And damn. It was epic.

 

35 years wow - where have they gone!

I was 7 at the time. I actually hadn't actually seen the first film, all I remember is that I knew the original films story through the story book of Star Wars (which I had) and through friends at school. I pestered my dad to take me to see Empire, and he was saying that I hadn't seen the first one, so I had to convince him I knew the story before he'd take me!

I had never been in a cinema prior to going to see Empire, so I'm sure that helped to engrain the experience on my mind and give the film a mythical quality. The old Odeon cinema near where I live is a huge old dark theatre venue with a vaulted ceiling with stalls and an upper circle, its actually now been converted back to a theatre and the building is beautiful, again it all added to the experience as it has a gothic quality about it.

Over in the favourite Star Wars memory thread I said going to see the films with my dad is my favourite memory, (thats something I've been able to share with my own son when I took him to see the PT too). It was an film I was so looking forward to seeing. It was my first time being in a cinema, it was something shared with my dad and at 7 years old it felt like an adventure that just me and him were going on, even though the cinema was only a short 15 min bus ride from our house.

I can remember feeling nervous when the lights went down, it was pitch black. But it wasn't Empire that came on, but a short film about an evil knight with a ghostly horse fighting (in slow motion) in a dark wood. That was my only memory of that short film**. When I look back now that short seemed to set the scene for the Empire.

When I think of my seeing Empire in a cinema for the first time, I think of the film being dark in looks and plot and feeling scared and nervous, in particular with the look of Dagobah, Vader, the carbon freezing chamber, Han in carbonite, Vader appearing in Cloud City and the final lightsaber dual. I think of the loud (amazing) score and how good the effects were with the AT-AT's and the space scenes. I think of Han's outfit and how cool he looked. I'm sure I knew nothing of the story so everything was a surprise.

Its funny how back then memories of seeing a film in the cinema make it a slightly different thing than it actually was, its like chinese whispers of your mind, because you only have your own recollections to rely on and certain details become prominent and you forget lots of other details. Bear in mind we had no chance to see the film soon after, as there was no such thing as a home release, so the films take on an almost mythical quality in your mind. It wasn't until about 5 years later that I saw the film again on home video when the rental market went wild and everyone eventually had a home video player. The things I had forgotten were many and it was almost like seeing the film again when I watched it on video.

Overall it was very special seeing it 35 years ago,and its probably an experience and feeling that I will never recapture again. Its still my favourite film.

I have this poster at home, every time I see it it takes me back to the memory of walking in to my local cinema to see the film for the first time and this poster was looming large over the foyer. As a kid it made me think all of the heroes were scared of Vader.

** The short film I mentioned playing before Empire was recently restored and made available on youtube. Its called Black Angel.

 

May 1980.

There were only a couple of weeks of school left so as a kid that in of itself put me in a good mood. What made everything even better was the day my mom told me and my older sisters that we would be seeing ESB in a few days. And not only that, turns out it would be a midnight showing too. Actually it may have been a special screening at Midnight for one reason or another. This was during a time when such events were rare. Anyway....this all came about because a family friend had this job working at the movie theater where the midnight showing was taking place and he was allotted maybe 10 or so tickets to distribute among relatives and friends. Fortunately he invited my mom, my two sisters and myself.

I don't think my siblings and I had ever gone out to something as late as midnight other than Midnight Mass for Christmas. The day of the showing we were told by my mom to go to bed early, sometime around 5 to 6 pm. She wanted us well-rested when it was time to wake and head to the movies. She also told us we would be going to school the next day so we needed the rest. As my sisters and I climbed into our bunk beds I do recall that on the TV in our room an episode of the Classic Trek was airing on syndication. We turned off the TV and went to sleep, probably dreaming of new adventures of Luke and Company.

Hours later once we had gotten up, changed clothes and headed out to the theater (an old theater in Washington DC that no longer exists), I was amazed at the long lines of people standing in line under the night sky. It was surreal. I thought I would never get in, I was so anxious and excited. But of course we all did make it through and got good seats too although my sisters and I had to sit separate from my mom because we couldn't find four empty seats in the same aisle. We had good seats nonetheless.

What I can still recall is thinking Hamill looked a little different when Luke first appeared on screen (the result of his car accident) and that I was immediately drawn into the story. I remember the audience applauding when we first got a look at Vader with his back towards us as he looked out of a viewport, his by-now trademark breathing ringing from the speakers. I recall Yoda being an immediate huge hit and the mostly adult audience enjoying the Han-Leia banter (although I was surprised that people weren't as disappointed as me that Leia ended up saying she loved Han when I figured she felt that way about Luke ). I vividly remember how the crowd erupted during the lightsaber duel when Luke flipped over Vader's head and took the battle right to him. Strangely enough howeverI can't remember anything about how the crowd reacted during the big revelation by Vader. Go figure.

The audience really enjoyed the movie although some, like my mom, ended up being confused by the cliffhanger ending. My mom ended up preferring the first Star Wars more because of that but as far as I was concerned ESB was the better movie. I was more in awe of it than A New Hope and that's saying something. It immediately became my favorite film of all time as a little boy and it has basically retained that position 35 years later.

Oh, and for a bonus my mom ended up letting my sisters and I stay home from school after all that following morning.


Happy Birthday, ESB!

 

I know it wasn't nominated but Empire should've won for Cinematography just for the Carbon Freezing sequence alone.

 

True that.

 

I am not sure when I first saw the film to be honest. I would guess about 1999 and it was the 1997 Special Edition VHS. Yup, I grew up for several years hearing the terrible Emperor scream inserted into Luke's fall in Cloud City.

I just re-watched the film yesterday (the Original Version on DVD) and while the picture quality is a little rough, I enjoyed the lack of Special Edition tinkering.

 

What? I never heard of this. This is an actual thing? An actual new addition to ESB? I purchased my SW trilogy videos in 1990 or 1991 and I purchased the DVD sets that gave me both the special editions and original releases on separate discs. Suffice to say I only watch the originals. But you're saying Lucas included an audio clip of the Emperor screaming as Luke plummeted?

 

The 97 SE edition of ESB. Luke screamed as he fell after letting go of the platform where he was with Vader. Never heard it or don't remember that scene.

 

It's an unfortunate addition imo. The look on Luke's face before he lets go isn't one of fear, but of calm and resignation. For me, the scream undermines Luke's sacrifice: he'd rather fall to his death than join up with Vader. The scream denotes fear, regret-- the exact opposite of a heroic death.

 

It could be involuntary. If I let go like that, I probably would scream too. That scream? No idea.

 

I still wonder what Vader's thinking throughout the film. What does he see in Luke? Oppertunity? Demons from his past? When he tells Luke that the dark side is the only way, is he also trying to convince himself of that?

Also, is it worse to have a dead father or an evil father?

 

Evil father imo. Dead father, you don't have to see how far they have fallen. And the Jedi in Luke's life lied to him about his father. Yeah. evil father is worse imo.

 

i was taken to see it but i have no memory of it. my first theater memory is e.t. from '82.

 

Glorious day. I have two VHS tapes of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.

 

That brings back memories. Haven't been to packed theatres in so long! A common problem in those days. Thanks for sharing!

 

The first tape along with IV and VI is in its original context and the second VHS is circa 1997. The second tape was how I watched the film.

 

I first saw it on the first weekend after it was released in 1980. As with ANH before and ROTJ afterwards, it was at the sadly long-gone Menlo Park Twin, just off of Rt. 1 near Woodbridge, NJ.

 

Favorite film of all time, Happy Birthday!

The first time I saw it was when my parents got the original unaltered VHS's from our library in 2004 I believe (the year I became a star wars fan) and we watched all of them.

 

With no home video, things had much longer theatrical runs back in the day. I don't remember SW ever being out of the theaters in the early 1980s. After it had made all of its cash first run, there'd be the second run at cheaper theaters. Also, if I'm not mistaken, the films would be re-released to coincide with the premiere of each new episode. I'm almost positive I saw ANH in the theater around the time of ESB.

 

Sadly, the days when something like this could happen are long since gone...

 

That is awesome!

 

Thank you all for sharing your memories. They're just wonderful to read. I envy those of you who got to see it in the theater!

I was around 14 when I developed a sudden interest in Star Wars, and I bought the SE VHS set from Blockbuster. I knew very little about Star Wars, aside from the inevitable spoiler about Vader being Luke's father.

I did not know Luke would lose his hand. When that happened, I panicked. I was near tears for the rest of the movie, and especially distressed by Luke's reaction following Vader's reveal. I'd never watched anything where the hero suffered a loss on quite that scale with no resolution before the movie ended. (I was pretty sheltered, heh.) I conferred with my dad after the movie to verify that Luke indeed lost his hand, and that I hadn't misunderstood.

He laughed, and then told me, "In the next one, they tell him Leia is his sister."

I was furious-- not because of the spoiler, but because I was certain my dad was wrong. There was no way Leia could be Luke's sister. They'd kissed. I'd already decided they were meant to be together. I refused to believe this until I watched RotJ myself.

I love the Skywalker twins now and wouldn't have it any other way. But my dad had the last laugh back then!