It’s great to see this much passion in an article!
My favorite installment is the original Star Wars (we get the most Alec Guinness, the droids are at their funniest, and Han’s arc is the most satisfying), but there’s no arguing with the points that Mike makes.
And now a message from the O.G. (Original Generation): It’s NOT. At least not when it came out.
When it opened, our big-city paper had the two critics “Debate” on whether it got a good review (it’s so -complex- now!) or bad review (it’s dark, icky, depressing, our heroes lose, half the movie is set in swampy mud, and when did hopeful-farmboy Luke from the first movie turn into such a major -jerk-?)
Never mind that everyone from ’77-’79 had been treating the first ANH as “A salute to old 30’s films”, and this one didn’t feel much like one, although Lando was…sort of Clark Gable-ish, maybe.
“But remember how you felt in the theater when Vader told Luke the big secret?”–Yes, I remember EXACTLY what the whole audience was thinking: “Don’t fall for it, Luke, of -course- he’d say that, he’s evil!” Check out James Earl Jones in the “Empire of Dreams” documentary, he was the first one to get the non-decoy script and find out, and he was one of us.
And then, as Luke and Vader start telepathically linking with each other, a few of us sank disappointedly in our seats and thought, “Ohh, so…we -are- going there, aren’t we George? Ooo-kay.”
Like the whole “Standing in line is traditional!” myth, there are a lot of things the Video generation would like to believe about the OT that just ain’t so.
Comments for OPINION: Why “The Empire Strikes Back” is considered the best Star Wars movie
David
It’s great to see this much passion in an article!
My favorite installment is the original Star Wars (we get the most Alec Guinness, the droids are at their funniest, and Han’s arc is the most satisfying), but there’s no arguing with the points that Mike makes.
EricJ
And now a message from the O.G. (Original Generation): It’s NOT. At least not when it came out.
When it opened, our big-city paper had the two critics “Debate” on whether it got a good review (it’s so -complex- now!) or bad review (it’s dark, icky, depressing, our heroes lose, half the movie is set in swampy mud, and when did hopeful-farmboy Luke from the first movie turn into such a major -jerk-?)
Never mind that everyone from ’77-’79 had been treating the first ANH as “A salute to old 30’s films”, and this one didn’t feel much like one, although Lando was…sort of Clark Gable-ish, maybe.
“But remember how you felt in the theater when Vader told Luke the big secret?”–Yes, I remember EXACTLY what the whole audience was thinking: “Don’t fall for it, Luke, of -course- he’d say that, he’s evil!” Check out James Earl Jones in the “Empire of Dreams” documentary, he was the first one to get the non-decoy script and find out, and he was one of us.
And then, as Luke and Vader start telepathically linking with each other, a few of us sank disappointedly in our seats and thought, “Ohh, so…we -are- going there, aren’t we George? Ooo-kay.”
Like the whole “Standing in line is traditional!” myth, there are a lot of things the Video generation would like to believe about the OT that just ain’t so.
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