Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) | Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) | Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford | original Star Wars (episode V) on DVD

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Star Wars V: The E...

	Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford average customer review:based on 423 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Icy.....

Let's see, you begin the story on the Ice World of Hoth. You end with Han Solo being carbon frozen in carbonite. And you have Darth Vader revealing to Luke Skywalker that the same icy blood runs through each of their veins. The ice cold demeanor of the emperor and the chilling encounter with Yoda on the swampy world of Dagobah.

This is the darkest of the "original" trilogy by far. You are forced to travel into the depths of truest darkness. You truly find out why Darth Vader is what he is... You get to know the true evil behind his diabolical ways...the emperor. Taking out Episodes 1 to 3 (which didn't come into play until decades later) this is the first time you ever see the evil Darth Vader as possessing a weakness. Moreover, it's the first time we truly encounter an evil seemingly GREATER than Lord Vader.

I must admit I was darn near traumatized when I watched this movie as a child and they ended with Han Solo being frozen in Carbonite... but knowing what I know now, I can only celebrate this movie for what it is... an integral part of a wonderful epic!

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original Star Wars (episode V) on DVD

I'm very excited to own the original Star Wars series on DVD. I'm a huge fan of the series, but I'm also a purist who prefers the un-tweaked versions of episodes IV, V, and VI. So I am tickled that Lucas finally released them on DVD, and I'm excited to own them at last.

The best of the bunch

By far the best of the now-sad Star Wars saga. It had just the right balance of seriousness and whimsy. This is one of my top 10, all-time, for sure.

Fun in spite of immense flaws

Confession: I may the one person in the civilized world who had never seen TESB. While I am aware of the characters and the catch phrases ( "I am your father" and "Do or not do. There is no try") I have not actually seen how this episode plays out on the large screen or the small.

The plotline of TESB in a nutshell: the rebellion continues against the seemingly insurmountable forces of the Empire. Bad guy Darth Vader, doing the Emperor's bidding, seeks out and uproots the rebels. Good guy rebels Princess Leia and Hans Solo run from Vader but are caught used as bait to trap Luke who is working on his nascent Jedi skills with swamp-dwelling Yoda. Vader asks Luke to be his partner in a plot to usurp the Emperor, and informs Luke about a critical bit of family history. Luke refuses, and with Leia and Han escapes to fight another day.

Now, I'm neither a huge fan nor a detractor of the Star Wars series, just someone who enjoys a well-made film. And in the sci-fi genre, there's nothing more exciting than watching writers and directors let their imaginations soar as they produce a universe different from our own. But in spite of great expectations, I came away from TESB, as have many other fans, with a sense of what might have been.

TESB is often beautiful to look at and technologically innovative. Its characters are colorful and exciting, including black-clad evil knights, space pirates, robots, princesses and a variety of mostly humanoid aliens. The film's cosmic locales offer opportunities to stretch our minds in new and unexpected ways. There is a city floating among the clouds of a gaseous planet, a swamp planet with requisite creepy crawlies, a forbidding ice planet and an asteroid belt filled with careening boulders. The effects are usually well done, with flashing lasers and enormous interstellar ships executed to perfection. John Williams' musical score is suitable to the theme of the film and mostly unobtrusive.

But from the perspective of relationships -- between characters, with their surroundings and within themselves -- TESB falls flat. The film's characters are one-dimensional, if that, and portray only the most unsubtle of emotions. What emotion there is borders on troglodytic, as when Han growls menacingly that Leia "needs to be kissed." Why not just ravish her while you're at it, Trogdor? When Vader fails to persuade Luke to join him, messing up his master plan to rule the universe, he just trudges off with neither huff nor snort. The lethally and mercurial Vader triggers not the least bit of worry as he walks through a crowded battle station. No one sweats or grimaces or flinches in the presence of the supreme villain in the universe. The only real emoting came when Leia sees Han frozen into a block of carbonite.

The relationship problem extends to the premise of the film. The rebellion is caused by high taxation -- shades of colonial America! But this theme remains unexplored after the initial crawl. The Millennium Falcon, that supposed bucket of bolts, always appears neat and clean, with not a jot of junk or loose wire in sight. Good guys pilot their ship through a swarm of frightening asteroids with no apparent effort. TESB is almost like watching a film with the sound turned down. Eye candy is not enough for viewers like me.

I could go on about the lame comic relief (mostly supplied by effete C3PO and cute R2D2), confusing battle scenes, the lily-white cast, cliched set pieces (wise teacher instruct reluctant young pupil, antagonistic man and woman really love each other) and Lucas's shameless cribbing (Panzer caps or KKK-like helmets on the henchmen). And let us not forget that Frank Oz's voicing of Yoda owes more to Gonzo the Muppet than to Seven Samurai.

But it's almost too easy to beat up on George Lucas. For better or for worse, TESB and its 5 siblings have become inextricably grafted onto the American and global psyches. Lucas's fans love him and memorize his film's every frame, as do his detractors, if only to imagine how he could have improved his work. Love him or hate him, it's essential that you watch this film, and all the others. In spite the abundance of cliches, vapid writing, pseudo-theologizing and bad acting, there is much that is wonderful and new about the series. It might be time for George to let others tinker with his films, as there is a masterpiece in each one.

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