Techtite DVD Reviews

The Film: Most of the best sequels are great for one reason: the original film's story left unanswered questions, and the sequel answers them. When this is not the case, most directors and writers simply cruise-control their way through a sequel story that is merely more of the same. Very rarely does a sequel daringly change the entire format of the original storyline --very brilliantly-- only to add at least half a dozen questions that weren't there before, enhancing the original one-film story to a worthy "trilogy" status. The Empire Strikes Back is all that and more. Aside from Godfather 2, it's the best sequel ever made.

Not that the first film wasn't without some loose fringe to work with. The story as it once was ended with the Rebellion winning a major battle against the evil Galactic Empire; the total destruction of their core battle station, The Death Star. Yet there was allusion to an "emperor," as well as the escape of Darth Vader, which meant the Empire was far from disbanded. In fact; with the location of the Rebel Base now clear, the rebellion was more vulnerable to the Empire than ever before. As such; this was the perfect moment for the Empire to, indeed, "Strike Back." Such is the core storyline of this sequel.

It's where this basic storyline is taken that makes this sequel so grand. Luke discovers more about what happened to his father, and the pivotal moment where he hears, "I am your father!" is now a classic moment in sci-fi, if not films as a whole. He also enters his first sword fight, quite boldly, only to literally lose his hand, and quite frankly, nearly die. Han Solo and Leia fall in love, only to have a bounty hunter capture him. What's more; to make sure one and all fans of the classic space pirate know that he is "captured" --with no means of escape-- Han is frozen, then encased in a prison of solid molten metal. How would he possibly escape this fate, in just the final half hour of the movie? That's just it: he doesn't. This is all how this movie ended, in a very daring, wide-open finale. First-time viewers should feel happy that the third film is so readily available. In 1980, it was more like: "Your favorite space rogue is a piece of rock, and your favorite Jedi is without a hand. The end. See you in three years for the sequel."

Yes, the nitpicker brigade could cause a major tizzy, and nit everything worth picking about in this movie. I myself can remember when sci-fi writer David Gerrold wrote a scathing editorial in Starlog at the time, talking about all the many irrelevancies. He talked about how a giant creature could not possibly survive in the middle of an asteroid field, in the vacuum of outer space. He talked of how Leia and Han go out of their ship, on an asteroid, wearing only a pair of gas masks, and not space suits. He also mentioned how the Falcon could not viably have gotten from one solar system (Hoth) to another (Bespin/Cloud City), with their "hyperdrive disabled." He basically ranted for many pages, and at the time, this then 12 year old thought; what a total jerk. Yet as a 30-something I must admit, he has a point. The first film's sole physics faux pas was the common one, of "no sound in space." Han Solo exiting his ship in a gas mask is a far bigger leap of faith.

However, I've never been much for reality in sci-fi. I only look for a good time, and a good story. This sequel has both. I love how the film's biggest battle is in the first half hour, yet the story only gets more intense from there. Luke goes to Dagobah to meet the one and only Yoda, to become an official Jedi, via the sole surviving Jedi Master. Meanwhile, Leia and Han attempt escape from a whole fleet of Vader's star destroyers, leading to a totally cool chase through an asteroid field, between Solo's Falcon, and a whole lot of Tie Fighter ships. This is great stuff, and it only gets better, with the final moments being in one of the best concepts of a "City in the Clouds" ever shown, in any film.

In the end, it's the fact that this film gets the highest grade possible from this critic --a critic who is a diehard loather of all open-ended movies-- that drives home how great this movie truly is. It was open ended, yes, and yet what a wonderful menagerie of possibilities it opened up, for both the third film, and the Star Wars "universe" as a whole. I still reserve the right to call open ended films --as a rule-- total crap. The fact that I would call Empire Strikes Back a classic, regardless of its open ending, should be all the proof you need that this is as good as sequels ever got.

The DVD: This is currently sold only in Trilogy form, in a four-disc DVD set. While it seemed only proper to review the films themselves individually, it seems equally proper to review the extras in the review of the trilogy DVD set, since upon the movies ever dividing into individual DVDs, the extras may change. Click here for the full review.

	Final Rating : Deep Impact. A revolution (if not evolution) in science fiction history...again!
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Techtite's DVD Reviews!

Star Wars Episode V:

The Empire Strikes Back

A Techtite Review