The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: Irvin Kerschner

Starring: Oh, you know all of the cast

From: 20th Century Fox

Yes, I saw a major film from my childhood last night... and in it's original theatrical widescreen form as people saw in theatres in 1980. I won't give too many details about how I less than 100% legally saw such a version. Instead, read my Letterboxd review below and note that I'll return late tomorrow night-as in close to midnight-with another review.

I'll be honest here and say that I wasn't planning on watching this last night... but when I heard the news about Harrison Ford I figured I should. While he'll be OK at first I was quite concerned about it; while you can certainly say things about his recent career choices or the performances he's delivered during that time, back in the day he was incredible and I certainly watched his films as a kid, especially what is known now as Episodes IV through VI.

Early last year I found (nevermind how) a high quality widescreen print of the original version of Star Wars. Well, the same goes with this film. Let me copy and paste what I wrote in my review for the first Star Wars:

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've seen this movie; the original trilogy has been a longtime favorite for me and I've seen them often since about the age of 8 or 9 (I am now almost 33). I've seen it on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray, but a few nights before was the first time I've seen the original theatrical version in widescreen, and in real good quality at that.

As to how I was able to acquire that version of the film... well, it was less than 100% ethical, but there are people online who have created "despecialized" versions of the original trilogy, and until the original versions get a proper DVD/Blu-Ray release...

It was nice to see it in its OG form, without the "fixed" special effects or especially the goofy changes and additions that George Lucas insisted on but either served as distracting or downright betrayed characters or ruined scenes. Instead this was how I remembered the movie from watching it on VHS often, except it was now in widescreen."

With that out of the way, I was happy to watch this. While I love the first, this is the better movie and not just because “it's a dark story”; rather, the budget was bigger and with the advances in effects they were able to do more and they created some awesome setpieces, from the brutal cold of Hoth to the swampy Dagobah to the snazzy Cloud City. The fact that Irwin Kershner is a better director than George Lucas does help too.

But more important than the action or the settings (or even the musical score, which is legendary)... the characters. The villains are perfect and you love to hate them as they try to stop the rebellion, while the heroes go through a variety of problems, from their ship not operating correctly to desires of love causing conflict, from Luke Skywalker having to go through Jedi training that is tough physically AND mentally, to an act of betrayal... it's all so engrossing and it makes you want to see Return of the Jedi to see how the protagonists can overcome all that and squash the evil empire. What a great film this is.

Hopefully one day the original trilogy can finally come out on Blu in their original form so me and others don't have to do underhanded things to see them exactly as millions have before, the versions that caused us to fall in love with them. Before Episode VII comes out in December I will watch Jedi again and also Episodes II and III for review... the last two, I am not really looking forward to watching those massive disappointments!