"STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (1980) Review

"STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (1980) Review

From a certain point of view, I find it hard to believe that the 1980 film, "STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" has become the most critically acclaimed STAR WARS movie by the franchise's fans. And I find it hard to believe, due to the film's original box office performance. 

I was also surprised that "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" was released in the first place. Despite the ambiguous nature of villain Darth Vader's fate in the 1977 film, "STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE", I had assumed that film's happy ending meant the story of Luke Skywalker and his friends was over. But my assumption proved to be wrong three years later. Many other filmgoers and critics also expressed surprise at the release of a second STAR WARS movie. More importantly, a surprising revelation and an ending with a cliffhanger resulted in a smaller box office for "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" than either "A NEW HOPE" or the 1983 film, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI". Yet, thirty-three years later, the movie is now viewed as the most critically acclaimed - not just among the first three movies, but also among those released between 1999 and 2005.

"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" begins three years following the events of " A NEW HOPE". Despite the Rebel Alliance's major victory above the planet of Yavin and the destruction of the Galactic Empire's Death Star, the rebellion continues to rage on. Luke Skywalker, now a wing commander at the Rebels' base on Hoth, patrols beyond the base's perimenter with close friend and former smuggler Han Solo. After the latter returns to base, Luke is attacked by a wampa and dragged into the latter's cave. Meanwhile, Han receives word from Princess Leia, one of the Rebel leaders and a friend of both men, that Luke has not returned. He leaves the base to find Luke, while the latter manages to escape from the wampa's lair. Luke stumbles into a snowstorm and before losing consciousness, receives a message from the Force spirit of his late mentor, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, to seek out another Jedi named Yoda on Dagobah for further training. Han eventually finds Luke before a Rebel patrol finds them both. 

While Luke recovers from his ordeal, Leia and General Rieekan learn from Han and his Wookie companion Chewbacca have discovered an Imperial probe. They surmise that Imperial forces know the location of their base and might be on their way. The Rebel Alliance forces prepare to evacuate Hoth. But an Imperial presence on the planet served as a bigger problem for the heroes. Unbeknownst to them, Darth Vader seeks out Luke, following his discovery of the young man's connection to the Force three years ago. Although the three friends will separate for a period of time and experience adventures of their own, Lord Vader's hunt for Luke will result in great danger and a surprising revelation in the end.

I once came across a post on the TheForce.net - Jedi Council Forums message board that complained of the lack of a main narrative for "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK". A part of me could understand why this person reached such an opinion. Despite the circumstances on Hoth and the finale on the Bespin mining colony, our heroes barely spent any time together. Following the Rebel Alliance's defeat on Hoth, Luke and R2-D2 traveled to Dagobah, where the former continued his Jedi training under Master Yoda. Meanwhile, Han and Chewbacca helped Leia and C3-P0 evade Darth Vader and Imperial forces on Hoth and in space before seeking refuge on Bespin. I believe this person failed to realize that other than Luke's Jedi training with Yoda, most of the movie's narrative centered on Vader's attempts to capture Luke - the Imperial invasion of Hoth, his pursuit of the Millennium Falcon with Leia and Han aboard, and their subsequent capture on Bespin. Even Luke's Jedi training was interrupted by visions of his friends in danger and journeyed into the trap set by Vader. And this is why I found it hard to accept this complaint about "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK".

Most fans tend to regard the movie as perfect or near perfect. Despite my feelings for "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK", I cannot agree with this view. I believe that the movie has its flaws. One could find cheesy dialogue in the movie, especially from Darth Vader. He possessed an annoying penchant for constantly using the phrase "It is your destiny" in the movie's last half hour. Some of Leia and Han's "romantic dialogue" in the movie's first half struck me as a bit childish and pedantic. Speaking of those two - how did they end up attracted to each other in the first place? "A NEW HOPE"ended with Han making a brief pass at Leia during the medal ceremony. But she seemed to regard him as a mere annoyance and nothing else. Three years later, both are exchanging longing glances and engaging in verbal foreplay at least ten to fifteen minutes into the story. I would have allowed this to slide if a novel or comic story had explained this sudden shift toward romance between them. But no such publication exists, as far as I know. This little romance seemed to have developed out of the blue.

There were other problems. The movie never explained the reason behind Leia's presence at the Rebels' Hoth base. She was, after all, a political leader; not a military one. The base already possessed a more than competent military leader in the form of General Rieekan. Watching Leia give orders to the pilots during the base's evacuation made me realize that she really had no business interfering in the Rebels' military command structure. It would have been a lot easier if she had been a military officer or a spy for the Alliance. "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" also failed to explain why Han was being hunted by Jabba the Hutt after three years. I thought the payment he had received for delivering Leia and the Death Star plans to Yavin was enough to settle his debt to the Tattooine gangster. Apparently not. And the movie failed to explain why. Perhaps there is a STAR WARS novel or comic book story that offered an explanation. I hope so. For years, I never understood the symbolism behind Luke's experiences inside the Dagobah cave during his Jedi training. And I am not sure if I still do. Finally, how long did Luke's training on Dagobah last? And how long did it take the Millennium Falcon to reach Bespin with a broken hyperdrive? LucasFilm eventually revealed that both incidents took at least three months. If so, why did the movie failed to convey this particular time span?

Thankfully, "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" more than rose above its flaws. For me, it is still one of the best science-fiction adventure films I have ever seen. I am amazed that such a complex tale arose from two simple premises - Darth Vader's hunt for Luke Skywalker and the continuation of the latter's Jedi training. From these simple premises, audiences were exposed to a richly detailed and action-filled narrative, thanks to George Lucas' story, Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay (which was also credited to Leigh Brackett) and Irvin Kershner's direction. The movie featured many exciting sequences and dramatic moments that simply enthralled me. Among my favorite action sequences were the Millennium Falcon's escape from Hoth, Yoda's introduction, Han's seduction of Leia inside the giant asteroid worm, the Falcon's escape from the worm. For me, the movie's best sequence proved to be the last - namely those scenes on the mining colony of Bespin. I would compare this last act in "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" to the Death Star sequence in "A NEW HOPE" or the Mos Espa podrace sequence in "STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE". The Bespin sequence featured a few truly iconic moments. Well . . . if I must be honest, I would say that it featured two iconic moments - Han's response to Leia's declaration of love and Darth Vader's revelation of his true identity.

Naturally, one cannot discuss a STAR WARS movie without mentioning its technical aspects. In my review of "A NEW HOPE", I had failed to mention Ben Burtt's outstanding sound effects. I will add that his work in "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" proved to be equally outstanding. I could also say the same for the movie's sound mixing, which earned Academy Awards for Bill Varney, Steve Maslow, Greg Landaker, and Peter Sutton. Composer John Williams' additions to his famous STAR WARS score were not only outstanding, but earned him an Academy Award nomination. Those additions included a love theme for the Leia/Han romance and the memorable "Imperial March", which is also known as "Darth Vader's Theme" As far as I am concerned, the tune might as well be known as the Sith Order's theme song. The team of Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, and Bruce Nicholson did an outstanding job with the movie's visual effects - especially for the Battle of Hoth sequence. I can also say the same for Peter Suschitzky's photography. However, my favorite cinematic moment turned out to be Luke's initial encounter with Darth Vader on Bespin. Even to this day, I experience a chill whenever I see that moment when they meet face-to-face for the first time. Although John Mollo's costumes caught Hollywood's attention after "A NEW HOPE" was first released (he won an Oscar for his effort), his costumes for "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" seemed like a continuation of the same. In fact, I found the costumes somewhat on the conservative side, even if they blended well with the story.

It is interesting that the performances of both Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher garnered most of the attention when"THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" first came out. The Leia/Han romance was very popular with fans. Mind you, both gave very good performances. But I believe that Mark Hamill acted circles around them. And not surprising, he won a Saturn Award for his performance as Luke Skywalker in this film. Billy Dee Williams also gave a first-rate performance as the roguish smuggler-turned-colony administrator, whose charming persona hid a desperation to do anything to save the inhabitants of Bespin from Imperial annihilation. James Earl Jones and David Prowse continued their outstanding portrayal of Darth Vader aka Anakin Skywalker, with one serving as the voice and the other, the physical embodiment of the Sith Lord. Julian Glover, who later appeared in "INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE" made a brief appearance as the commander of the Imperial walkers, General Veers. Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew continued their excellent work as C3-P0, R2-D2 and Chewbacca. But I was particularly impressed by Frank Oz's voice work as the veteran Jedi Master Yoda, and Kenneth Colley as the Imperial Admiral Piett, whose caution and competency led him to rise in the ranks and avoid Vader's wrath for any incompetence.

Is "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" my favorite STAR WARS movie of all time? Almost. Not quite. For me, it is tied in first place with one other movie from the franchise. But after thirty-three years and in spite of its flaws, I still love it, despite its flaws. And I have give credit to not only the talented cast and crew, but also director Irwin Kershner, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and especially the man behind all of this talent, George Lucas.

"STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (1980) Photo Gallery

Below are images from the 1980 movie, "STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK". Produced by George Lucas and directed by Irwin Kershner, the movie starred Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams: 


"STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" (1980) Photo Gallery

"THUNDERBALL" (1965) Review

"THUNDERBALL" (1965) Review

I had just viewed the 1965 Bond movie, “THUNDERBALL” for the first time in several years. And I can see why this movie is considered to be one of my all time favorite Bond flicks. But I do not think I can state why in one or two sentences. 

“THUNDERBALL” turned out to be director Terrence Young’s third and last Bond film. Most Bond fans consider it to be his least superior film, but I consider it to be his second best, following 1963’s “FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE”. The story, based upon an unfinished script called “Warhead”, co-written by Ian Fleming, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham. The unfinished script eventually became Fleming’s 1961 novel, “Thunderball”. This resulted in a major lawsuit between McClory and Fleming and eventually, EON Productions became dragged into it. The story is about SPECTRE’s theft of NATO nuclear warheads and how they used it to blackmail the U.S. and British government for the sum of 100,000,000 pounds. Naturally, MI-6 sends all of their “00” agents to recover the warheads before SPECTRE can carry out its threat to detonate the weapons on U.S. and British soil. Many moviegoers found the movie’s plot a little hard to buy and viewed it as part of the realm of fantasy. But considering the current obsession of terrorism and the high illegal weapons market, “THUNDERBALL” is probably one of the more relevant plots of any Bond film. 

Aside from the underwater sequences, “THUNDERBALL” turned out to be an elegant and exciting thriller with excellent drama, a solid plot that managed to avoid any major plotholes, a classy score by John Barry and a first-class cast. Sean Connery portrayed James Bond for the fourth time in this film. Thankfully, he seemed to be at his top game in this one. It is a vast improvement over his performance in 1964’s “GOLDFINGER”, in which he seemed to come off as an immature prat. And he is ably assisted by a first-class cast – Claudine Auger as Domino Duval, Adolfo Celi as villain Emile Largo (SPECTRE’s Number 2), Rik Van Nutter as CIA Agent Felix Leiter and especially Luciana Paluzzi as villainess Fiona Volpe. 

Below is a list of positive and negative aspects of the film. I have decided to start with the negative, since there was little that I did not care about the movie:

Negative:

*Rik Van Nutter as Felix Leiter – Do not get me wrong. Van Nutter’s performance as Leiter was competent and very personable. My problem was that his role was written as a “less-than-bright” sidekick of Bond’s, instead of an ally. Bond has been assisted by Leiter in other movies, but they have never come off as some dumb sidekick . . . except for Cec Linder in “GOLDFINGER”.

*Theme Song – I will not deny that the movie’s theme song, performed by Tom Jones is slightly catchy. But I also found the lyrics to be slightly sexist and off-putting.

*Underwater Sequences – Yes, the underwater sequences had threatened to drag the movie a bit. Actually, I can point out two sequences that came close to boring me – the sequence that featured Largo’s acquisition of the warheads and the final battle between Largo’s men and U.S. Navy frogmen.

Blackmail of Patricia Fearing - James Bond's attempt to seduce Shrublands Clinic nurse, Patricia Fearing, came off as disturbing and tacky. It was bad enough to watch him make attempts to kiss the very professional Ms. Fearing without her consent. But when he resorted to blackmail - willingness to conceal his near death experience with the physiotherapy machine aka "the rack" in exchange for sex - the whole situation became rather sordid. 

Positive:

*Luciana Paluzzi – Let us be honest, folks. The red-haired Paluzzi came dangerously close to stealing the picture from Connery. Like Honor Blackman before her, she radiated sexiness and a strong on-screen presence. She seemed to be even more of a threat than Emile Largo and his men.

*Adolpo Celi – What I like about Celi’s performance is that he does not come off as an over-the-top villain. He was elegant, intelligent, ruthless and egotistical. Perfect villain.

*Nassau Setting – The setting in Nassau gave the movie an exotic, yet elegant feel that really added substance to the movie.

*Villain's Goal - Many critics have claimed that the villain's goal in the movie - nuclear blackmail for money - seemed unrealistic, due to a belief there was little chance that an organization like SPECTRE could get its hands on a nuclear bomb from a NATO strategic bomber. And yet, I have never considered such a scenario unrealistic. Especially in today's world. In a way, this scenario seems much more possible than some of scenarios featured in other Bond movies from the same period.

*Dialogue – The dialogue in this movie was unusually sharp and witty. But what really appealed to me was that Connery’s puns did not come out of his mouth every other minute, as it did in his previous two movies. In fact, the movie featured what I consider to be one of Connery’s best lines during his tenure with the franchise.</i> 

Speaking of dialogue, below is what I consider to be some of my favorite lines:

* Moneypenny: In the conference room. Something pretty big. Every double-o man in Europe has been rushed in. And the home secretary too!
Bond: His wife probably lost her dog.

*Bond: My dear, uncooperative Domino. 
Domino: How do you know that? How do you know my friends call me Domino? 
Bond: It's on the bracelet on your ankle. 
Domino: So... what sharp little eyes you've got. 
Bond: Wait 'til you get to my teeth.

*Do you mind if my friend sits this one out? She's just dead.

*M: I've assigned you to Station "C" Canada. 
Bond: Sir, I'd respectfully request that you change my assignment to Nassau. 
M:Is there any other reason, besides your enthusiasm for water sports?

*Pat Fearing: James, where are you going? 
Bond: Oh, nowhere. I just thought I'd take a little, uh... exercise. 
Pat Fearing: You must be joking.

*But of course, I forgot your ego, Mr. Bond. James Bond, the one where he has to make love to a woman, and she starts to hear heavenly choirs singing. She repents, and turns to the side of right and virtue...[she steps on Bond's foot]... but not this one. 

I would like to conclude with this little note. In 1983, Kevin McClory – one of the original authors of “Warhead” - produced his own movie version of the story, which starred Connery as Bond. The movie, "NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN" was not exactly terrible, but it almost seemed like an overblown version of the 1965 movie.

"THUNDERBALL" (1965) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "THUNDERBALL", the 1965 adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1961 novel and Jack Whittingham's 1959 screenplay,"Longitude 78 West". Directed by Terence Young, the movie starred Sean Connery as James Bond: 


"THUNDERBALL" (1965) Photo Gallery