No. 16: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Reviewed by Sam Hatch
AS THIS IS PART OF A RETRO NOSTALGIA BINGE AS OPPOSED TO A TRADITIONAL REVIEW, THERE MAY BE SPOILERS PRESENT IN THE TEXT.
I was pretty young when this film was originally released, but I still remember standing in the claustrophobia-inducing mega-queues while waiting for entrance into the cinema to see it. I remember sitting up close and actually feeling butterflies in my stomach during the Snowspeeder POV segment during the search for Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. I remember being just as blown away as the adults when Darth Vader dropped his familial F-bomb in the last act. Most of all, I remember being extremely freaked out by Solo's screams as he underwent torture at the hands of the Empire and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Empire remains the coolest film of the series, thanks in part to director Irvin Kershner's uncompromising dedication to the drama at hand. Luke tries to find himself (but finds a wise-ass wiseman in the form of an overgrown swamp-frog) while Han and Princess Leia explore their romantic feelings for one another. And Darth Vader satisfies himself by kicking the Rebellion's ass over and over again. As a full-length feature version of a second-act story, Empire is a dark creature, all pain, despair and beauty. Plus, the spacefight scenes were an amazing leap above and beyond what was glimpsed in the first film.
Even today, you can't mess with Empire. Just watch the early attack on Hoth with the Imperial AT-ATs going up against a squadron of Rebel Snowspeeders. There's a bit towards the end of the segment where an AT-AT sticks it's mechanical legs out, cocks its head sideways and wails a passing Speeder with laser fire, sending it spiraling to its death in the snowy wastes below. That scene still gives me goosebumps.