Comments on: ‘The Empire Strikes a Chord’

By: Jim Abell

Jim Abell — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:15:28 +0000

A little late to this party… I remember clearly the first time I saw the film and the lights came up, my dad looked at me and goes “That’s it?…”. I’m like “Yeah?…” and he’s “Well, when the hell is the next one?…” and I’m like “Three years, I guess.” and he’s like “We gotta wait THREE YEARS to find out what happens!” Was just so funny that he was more impatient than me at 13…

By: CantinaDan

CantinaDan — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:53:59 +0000

Sorry to read about the ESB trauma, Jason! Chewbacca’s moan when Han gets frozen still sends chills up my spine! My Bespin action figure shelves are some of my favorites. Now if I could only find the Alien Bespin Security jerk off.

By: Lightso

Lightso — Wed, 26 May 2010 02:40:28 +0000

Well, Lucas did want Spielburg to do Jedi. That would have been interesting. Maybe he would given Lucas his Wookies instead of Ewoks like he originally wanted.
One thing that is lost in this day and age of internet is the long, lonnnnnnggg, anticipation for sequels. Very few movies NEED sequels either. Star Wars (and others like Lord of the Rings) couldn’t be told without them, and so all us kids were guessing as to what might happen in the story. Empire felt like an episode in a story, was unconventional, original, and arguably the most anticipated sequel ever. And unlike most sequels of course, it lived up to its hype. Wrath of Khan I don’t consider a sequel as much as a reboot, and so I whole-heartedly agree it is the best sequel ever.
…And finally…..where’s the damn Blu-ray already?

By: Shellhead

Shellhead — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:59:32 +0000

All I clearly remember is how cool the AT-AT’s were (and still are), and being pretty creeped out by Luke in the bacta tank. For some reason having him trashing around in there freaked me as an 8 year old. Yoda was more of a letdown. I shared Luke’s disappointment when Yoda didn’t turn out to be a great warrior (way too young to appreciate that wars do not make one great). Boba Fett was the cool, but IG-88 looked a lot cooler to me, even though he didn’t even move. The space worm rocked, the Emperor was scary (Darth Vader is bowing to him? Wow!), and Yoda redeemed himself by making the X-wing float(I spend the rest of the summer muttering “Do or do not, there is no try). Vaguely remember being bummed by Han in the Carbonite (He’s no good to me dead), but even I registered that “I know” was probably the coolest comeback to “I love you” EVER. Sad Boba Fett got away, blown away by “I AM your father” and clearly disappointed at the cliff hanger. I even asked my Dad if there’d been some sort of mistake. I don’t think I’d ever seen a cliffhanger at the movies before.
I think I saw it 4 or 5 times. Still consider it the best of the six, and I wish Lucas would have let a different direction take a crack at the creative reins of one of the sequels like he had with Empire. I could have used a bit more Hoth and a bit less Cloud City, though.
AT-AT’s, Wampas, and Snowtroopers kick all kind of ass.

By: Lt. Clutch

Lt. Clutch — Sun, 23 May 2010 14:12:43 +0000

I was more amused than anything when it turned out that Yoda sounded like Grover from Sesame Street. But it kind of worked out somehow and Frank Oz made Yoda turn out to be a fitting mentor for Luke.

By: demoncat

demoncat — Sun, 23 May 2010 00:23:44 +0000

back then fans did not have early spoilers. so to say you got shocked to see Han frozen is not a surprise for that and Darth vader being related to Luke were too of the biggest shocks of empire even to me. and glad i am not the only one who thought Yoda at first was a little creepy.even as a puppet

By: Lt. Clutch

Lt. Clutch — Sat, 22 May 2010 08:18:34 +0000

“The Cloud Car pilots are being totally uncool to him.” LOL. I loved that line! I was in Spain around 1980 and eight years old when Empire debuted. (My parents never made it there and I missed it!)I got a promo sticker poster from Yoplait to kill the time until the movie hit. It featured beautifully improvised artwork like an Imperial Commander who looked just like William Shatner and he’s holding a laser gun to a helpless Leia! This is the film that led thousands of kids to freeze their Kenner Han figure and store him in the fridge at Grandma’s house until ROTJ finally arrived in 1983. Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew were in L.A this week to attend a special 30th Anniversary benefit screening for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital followed by Ford’s exclusive Q&A on playing Han. I would have loved to have been there, as it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events that closes the book on your childhood. Long live Han, ESB, and impressionable childhoods!