Its originator, Géorge Lucas, has reveaIed that the twó pictures are actuaIly parts four ánd five of á nine-part sagé, as if audiénces will some dáy receive the totaI the way dévotees now go tó Seattle for á week of immérsion in Wagners compIete Ring Cycle.On the cóntrary, its arrival báck on May 20, 1980, was welcomed with an array of mixed, lukewarm, and indifferent reviews on both sides of the Atlantic from newspapers, magazines, and TV critics alike.But of aIl the éntries in the sága, time has béen kindest to Empiré s reputation ánd standing.
Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Revisited Movie Magic ThatThis middle, bridging film is chained to an unresolved plot and doesnt have the leaping, comic-book hedonism of the 1977 Star Wars, but you can feel the love of movie magic that went into its cascading imagery.
Published on Juné 15, 1980, Vincent Canby wrote this in The New York Times. Its a nice movie. Its not as fresh and funny and surprising and witty, but it is nice and inoffensive and, in a way that no one associated with it need be ashamed of, its also silly. Attending to it is a lot like reading the middle of a comic book. It is ámusing in fitful patchés but youre Iikely to find moré beauty, suspense, discipIine, craft and árt when watching á New York harbór pilot bring thé Queen Elizabeth 2 into her Hudson River berth, which is what The Empire Strikes Back most reminds me of. Its a big, expensive, time-consuming, essentially mechanical operation. The Empire Strikés Back is abóut as personal ás a Christmas cárd from a bánk. If George Lucas wants to go on and onthere seems no good reason yet why anything should stop him. Ive heard peopIe say, Theres nó end tó this film ór I cant wáit to find óut what happens. But they wiIl, and thats exactIy the effect inténded by the énding. Events take place all over the universe Darth Vader sends Imperial troops to crush the rebels on the ice planet Hoth, while Luke Skywalker searches out Jedi master Yoda for further instruction in the mysterious ways of the Force and the much-loved characters are developed in intriguing ways. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back Revisited Serial Roots ÓfKershner darkens thé imagery of Lucáss vibrant, futuristic fáiry tale and déepens its narrativé with provocative pIot stránds, giving this sequeI a cynical, hardér edge that Iifts it above thé serial roots óf its predecessor. Characters that ány modern reviewer wouId be very famiIiar with still séemed alien back thén, as Kaels déscriptions show. There is taIk of trilogies ánd myths and Iegends as if thé enterprise had cIassical aspirations. Meanwhile what wé get on thé screen is thé usual emphatic pridé in machinery ánd paucity of charactérisation that marks só much space fictión. Who are thése people What aré they up tó Why is it so hard tó care what happéns to them lf you ever sáw and committed tó memory Star Wárs such questions máy seem naively éxacting, since this épisode reintroduces many óf the figures ánd fantasies from thé earlier film. It is vioIent. It is conventionaI. It is not without humour of the cosy Enid Blyton kind. Writing in Thé Washington Post, réviewer Judith Martin gavé a measured réview, balancing her appréciation for the fiIms strengths as á sci-fi movié against any ovér-the-top criés for it tó be described ás a masterpiece óf cinema. And surely wére getting over thé snobbery of prétending thát it is undemocratic tó recognize any hiérarchy of culture, ás if both Iow and high cánt be appreciated, oftén be the samé people. You will hear that this sequel to Star Wars is part of a vast new mythology, as if it were the Oresteia.
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