30th Anniversary of ESB

[viper2843]

Wildstar reminded me that today is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. So its time to share stories about ESB. When did you first see the film? Do you like it better than ANH? What is your favorite scene/quote? Also, lets discuss anything else that might come to your mind.

[Jedi Jin Su]

I actually star this movie more than the other ones when it first came out. Not by plan but by happen stance. I especially liked the changes they made to Princess Leia and how she was more of a leader to the rebels then in the original movie. There were not many female characters at that time that were leaders and princesses, so this appealed to me. Also I liked that we got to see a lot more of the different animals and creatures from different worlds. Everything wasn't just human.

Many people who like the original trilogy did not like this episode as much but I felt it was a great story builder and it was really hard to wait for the next movie to come out.

[Jedi Power]

I saw the film on opening day in 1980. I was really excited that they had decided to make another Star Wars movie and this was another fantastic adventure. Seeing my favorite characters back in action was just a dream come true. The things that stand out for me are:

- The introduction of the massive Super Star Destroyer. Are you kidding???? They get bigger than the Star Destroyer in the first film?

- The Hoth battle and the AT-ATs. All I can say is WOW! This was my favorite part of the movie by far.

-The introduction of Yoda. Who was this silly little gremlin? You mean HEEEE is Yoda? Uh OK.

- The fight to see who would get the girl. (Han or Luke... and remember back then we didn't know they were brother and sister.) I was pulling for Luke.

- Our first glimpse of the evil Emperor. So this is the ultimate bad guy. Vader bows to him? really? Vader bows to nobody!

- The majestic Cloud City, and the introduction of Lando Calrissian.

- The duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader! Vader couldn't really be his Father right? He was just playing mind games with Luke to turn him to evil... Right?

It was a great day and a fantastic film that has weathered the test of time well. For many Star Wars fans, this was their favorite film of the Star Wars Saga, but for me A New Hope will forever be in first place. Out of the six films, Empire runs a close second for me.

[Wildstar]

I'm pretty sure I saw this one either on its opening weekend or the one thereafter...I guess the biggest impression from my first viewing that has stayed with me was, like so many others, the shock and disbelief that came when Vader said, "I am your father!" After that, I couldn't wait until the next sequel to see how that dynamic would play out.

[Jedi Jin Su]

One cannot argue with the bombshell about the Vader/Luke thing. However, I have to go with you Jedi Power in that I thought Vader was lying to turn him to his side. I thought that Vader was using his feelings against him to show him that feelings and being human or rather his humanity was his weakness. Instead Luke turned it around and made it his strength proving that his was the better side.

I loved Yoda, it was cool when he got the ship out of the swamp "Only big in your mind..." Awesomeness.