| Devin Warner |
The Empire Strikes Back plays at the Trylon Cinema from Friday, June 20th, through Tuesday, June 24th. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is unquestionably my favorite film of all time, although I have never seen it in a movie theatre, only on VHS, DVD, Blu Ray, and 4K but by god with this Trylon series that will finally change.
My love of Star Wars started when I was a young boy. Return of the Jedi had terrific action sequences with my favorite character Boba Fett, and the final fight between Vader and Luke looked cooler. As I got older though I developed a stronger affinity for Empire Strikes Back. The moody teenager in me liked seeing a movie where the bad guys win, but as an adult, I began appreciating the film series as it is. Empire allowed all of its characters to grow and become three-dimensional as opposed to A New Hope. Han grows a more sensitive demeanor, Leia becomes incredibly sure of herself and evolves into the leader of the rebellion she was destined to be, and Luke comes to grips with his own dark impulses. Empire is also the film that has permeated culture in a way few films have. I guess—spoiler alert—the reveal that Darth Vader is Luke’s father has affected all of the film industry and is referenced in so much media to this day.
Empire is particularly notable because it introduced us to some of the coolest characters in the galaxy—the bounty hunters. Growing up, I had the classic Shadows of the Empire game for the Nintendo 64. All of a sudden, my interest moved from Ewoks to the unstoppable bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader because the Empire just wasn’t up to the task of finding the Millennium Falcon. My already favorite character, Boba Fett, would be joined by even more favorite characters with Bossk and the unstoppable IG-88. IG’s level in Shadows of the Empire in a dump is utterly terrifying.
So, as you may have gathered, Star Wars has been an important part of my life. When I met my roommate in college, we both bonded instantly over our love of film. When I told him my favorite film series was Star Wars he casually said yeah but who can choose which is their favorite. I quickly looked at him and said, it’s easy, it’s Empire. He has since come to the conclusion that I was right. Every time I see it, there’s just more and more to be impressed by, and delving into the behind the scenes recordings during its creation is fascinating. This film, as later proved by the prequels, shows that it’s important to have someone like Empire director Irving Kirshner there to tell George Lucas “no.”
Many of the early books I remember reading were character guides to the film series that explored the extensive lore of Star Wars. In Ohio, where I am from, I was able to attend the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibition at our local science museum, which allowed us to see how the films were made. The favorite bit of information I learned at the exhibit is that the footage of Luke wandering the frozen tundras of Hoth was shot as Mark Hamill wandered around the back of the hotel the crew were staying at. It was extremely cold and they filmed him through the open window, so all the crew got to stay warm.1
Star Wars came out in 1977 and the long-awaited sequel The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980. People lined up for blocks to finally see this film and continue the story of our gallivanting heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and the rest. I wouldn’t know this first hand though, because I missed the chance to see this in theaters by a solid 11 years. I have waited 34 years of my life to be able to experience this.
George Lucas released the prequel trilogy beginning in 1999 with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It was a spectacle filled with special effects and CGI characters that would push the boundary of what films were capable of at the time. In order to gauge how this new technology would work Lucas released the Star Wars Trilogy: Special Editions for the twentieth anniversary of the franchise. This release would include extra scenes that were not in the theatrically released editions and added CGI characters to pre-existing scenes. These scenes horrified many fans of the originals, but I can barely remember a time without them.
I never saw these theatrical screenings despite having seen the original trilogy easily 100 times by the age of six. Every weekend at my father’s house, I would wake up bright and early and watch at least one of them before my dad came down the stairs to make breakfast. You’d think that having watched the VHS tapes so many times, and collecting every figure released from the Hasbro/Kenner Power of the Force line I would have been there on opening day.
The reason I never saw these movies in the theatre was that I was just too terrified by the super loud audio in the movie theatres when I was young. My true nemesis was Clip, the AMC mascot, who was the physical embodiment of my fear of loud noises. For those who don’t remember, Clip was a silent anthropomorphic character made from 35mm film strips. The bumper I remember most is of Clip flying around on his 35mm film reel disc like he was the Silver Surfer, and eventually falling. At this point, the music would rise to a booming level and I would start to panic. In order to avoid Clip, my Mom would wait with me outside the theatre and check to see when he was done, whereas my Grandmother would let me wait in the hallway and poke her head out to inform me when the bad film man had finally left and it was safe to return to my seat. When The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Editions came to theaters, there was something about them that pushed this fear a bit further than normal. Most of my theatrical experiences at this point were films like Toy Story, Lion King, or Flubber—movies that were designed for kids, unlike Darth Vader, the man that I both thought was the epitome of cool yet also terrifying. My father even had a ticket for me to see A New Hope on opening day, but as a child who read some film reviews because my friend’s father, Frank Gabrenya, was the film critic for the local paper, I saw that there were warnings about the film being louder than most, setting my anxiety into overdrive. When it came time to go, I ultimately chickened out and remained home with my Mom while my Father went on alone. So now I can only dream about what I’m sure would have been a life-changing experience.
It was probably for the best that I missed out on seeing the movie because even if I had survived yet another run-in with Clip, Lord knows the ever-increasing drone of the THX intro would have done me in for sure. Luckily, I outgrew this fear by 1999 when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace hit theaters so I could be mesmerized by Darth Maul and pod racing. I was able to experience all three of the prequels and now with this upcoming series, I will finally have the chance to see the entire Saga.
I’m excited to see this in theaters as the theatrical experience is something you just can’t get anywhere else, especially when it’s a film with such a devoted fandom. I got the chance to see the twentieth anniversary screening of Revenge of the Sith a few weeks back and man, it was like being in 8th grade all over again. Now that the Trylon is showing these wonderful films, I can see them as Lucas intended, on the big screen, with all of his extra little edits here and there. I may not be six anymore but I think these shows will allow me to capture that spirit once again. I look forward to seeing you all from the far left seat in the second row (secretly, the best spot in the Trylon).
P.S. I actively chose not to go to the Parkway’s showing of Empire specifically so I could continue with this proposed bit for the Perisphere. So you’re welcome.
Notes
1 Boston Museum of Science, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, Columbus, OH, COSI, 2006.
Edited by Olga Tchepikova-Treon
Well said. Thanks for sharing.