Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

 Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

After writing however many paragraphs about pirating the OT last week, I decided to watch the Specialest Edition on Disney+ for ESB. I figured it was good to try one of them that way (even if it doesn't align with the Thrawn release time period) and ESB has the least objectionable changes. Plus, it's easier to watch on my lunch at work. I'll do Harmy for Jedi.

I'm still that weirdo that thinks Empire is the worst of the original three. As soon as Luke says he's going to Dagobah I groaned a little. It feels like it has all the parts of a good movie, the arrangement is just kind of bizarre. The big battle scene is about twenty minutes in, and then the Han and Leia plot (the more interesting of the two) fires along (in between Dagobores) until it resolves with Han being frozen and we're stuck with Luke for more of the last act.

A couple noticings after watching ANH last week:

1. Wow, you can tell the budget went up! I think Hoth probably has about as many effects heavy shots as all of ANH, and even little stuff like the costumes are much nicer.

2. The sound mixing (strong in ANH) is absolutely masterful. Every little click and beep fits perfectly (and you can hear the music, the sound, and the dialogue!)

3. I miss movies being able to do special effects in the day time. Disney's modern "it's easier to CG in the dark" philosophy makes everything so blah.

Next week, Jedi! and then finally onto Thrawn! (Also, I'll probably add to this some. I left my notes on my desk at work.)

Edit: Got my notes and updating some other things. 

1. The crawl says the rebel group on Hoth is led by Luke. Not General Rieekan or Leia or anybody...

2.  The way they do the shadow over the ISD the first time The Executor shows up is great. The audience knows how big ISDs are, and this really drives home how huge The Executor is. Not just "a little bigger" or whatever.

3. Disney doesn't want me to take screenshots. This has nothing to do with the movie, just want to drop an obligatory, "Fuck The Mouse."

4. For all I whine about Dagobah, that initial first person crash into the swamp is great. Legitimately a little scary, does a great job of putting you in the movie.

5. Luke gets his lightsaber wet crawling out of the swamp, which made me think of Obi-Wan getting his wet in TPM. Eventually this gets an explanation as a fancy crystal arrangement to stop it from shorting out (or maybe just waterproof casing). Either way, I like (hypothetical) internal logic of Obi-Wan gets tired of Qui-Gon making fun of him-> learns how to make his saber waterproof-> teaches Anakin-> Luke gets Anakin's lightsaber-> Luke teaches all the New Jedi at Yavin how to do it and it becomes a standard design.

6. Luke has a ton of stuff in the X-Wing. Whole cargo containers, any one of which could hold more than most real life fighters carry. I guess you maybe need a little extra in space, but it seems like too much.

7. I miss the yellow engine glow on The Executor. It was pretty common in the 90s, but it seems like modern Star Wars is pretty locked into the pink or blue only.

8. Luke tells R2 to "watch over the camp" (what's he going to do?). He's at Yoda's hut in the next scene anyway.

9. I hate the slo-mo in the cave fight. It's a moment that waffles right on the edge of being melodramatic, and I think the slo-mo pushes it firmly too far.

10. "No ship that small has a cloaking device." In all the rest of the EU, we almost exclusively see cloaking devices on small ships. Even in TPM the Scimitar is much smaller than the Falcon. Again, not a dig at ESB, just a funny inconsistency.

11. I think I've zeroed in a little more on why I hate Dagobah so much. Yoda is actually terrible as a mentor for Luke. He gets his whole backwards talking Zen thing, but he's not actually really helpful (or even right) a lot of the time. He's 100% sure Luke is going to lose everything if he goes to confront Vader. He doesn't. He tells Obi-Wan that letting go will be a disaster, but instantly diffuses the tension with, "there is a another."

He and Luke never seem to develop much of a relationship, it feels more like he's one of those fortune teller machines, except he can also lift stuff with the Force good (which isn't that great of a demonstration of his power. Luke, a novice Jedi, is almost able to do it).

12. Separating R2-D2 and C-3PO really hurts both their characters. Without R2 to play off of, 3PO is just clueless and whiney (he's a protocol droid with no comprehension of how people actually interact with each other) and R2 is just stuck doing slapstick with Yoda. It's a bad look for both of them.

13. Why does no one ever recognize Leia? She was a politician/princess, and now one of the most wanted rebels in the galaxy. I guess Lando could be faking it, but it always feels weird when they show up somewhere in this chunk of the timeline and no one recognizes her. The EU does away with this pretty quickly, which I think is a good move.

14. The 3 second shot of the scrapped IG-88 leading to the multiple bodies later is great "EU-ing".

15. Totally subjective, but I don't think Cloud City ever manages to be the set piece they want it to be. I think there's too many clouds and not enough city. It makes it look small, and kind of "anchored" or like there's really a rod holding it up under the clouds in some shots.

16. I hate how Han is the one doing almost everything in this movie, but winds up getting the worst ending. Saves Luke on Hoth, gets Leia off planet, dodges the Empire... and then he's stuck in carbonite while Leia gets out okay and Luke (briefly battered emotionally and physically) almost entirely recovers by the last scene. It's Han's movie, and he gets absolutely screwed. I know there was some uncertainty about him coming back for Jedi, which meant they had to have an "out" for him, but he just gets so much more narrative energy than Luke until the last 10 minutes or so.

17. And, the final nail in the movie's coffin. I hate the lightsaber fight. I think the other issues are surmountable (the middle act of a lot of movies drag, and if Luke had a little better ending he wouldn't feel overshadowed by Han), but I honestly think Luke vs Vader on Cloud City is the worst fight in the pre-Disney canon, and in the bottom five even with it.

Luke's performance is weirdly flashy. Jump here, flip there, wack open a coolant tube. He feels like a little kid playing a video game trying to only use the flashiest special moves. I guess it's cool to show off his new Force abilities, but he never feels really in the fight. There's a lot of talk about how slow the ANH fight is, but the actual combat (as opposed to acrobatics) of this one is nearly as slow, and more awkward. Mark Hamill is uncharacteristically awful in the Force Throw scene, flailing his saber in the completely wrong direction at times. I guess Luke's just overwhelmed? He doesn't really sell it (possibly the special effects fault. "Let me slowly throw one thing at a time at you" isn't that impressive). Vader just sort of standing their awkwardly doesn't help. It comes off more like lazy direction than showing off how effortless it is for him, which I assume is the intent. I think Vader is supposed to be testing/toying with Luke throughout the fight, but Luke's goofiness ruins that energy. I think I wanted to see Vader guiding/controlling the fight more. Luke is never really a threat to him, but it just kind of churns along until there's enough screentime for Vader to win. Having him more active instead of Luke bouncing around would've hit harder.

So yeah, after rewatching Empire I'm sticking with my rating as the worst OT Star Wars movie. Pacing is off, Dagobah/Yoda is brutally dull and pointless, and the "big fight" feels misplaced and misses on the execution. "I am your father" is great, but it's in the middle of a badly done fight scene, and that hurts a lot.