STARRING: MARK HAMILL, CARRIE FISHER, HARRISON FORD
DIRECTOR: IRVIN KERSCHNER
(1980, PG)
****+
Yes, my inner geek rejoices at the mere mention of those four words. You would think I was going to have sex with some Adonis, or at the very least devour a platter of BBQ, the way my eyes light up with that ravenous, unholy glow. I admit it, I am a Star Wars fanatic, and Empire is the best of the six. It’s not just great sci-fi though; like all true classics, this film surpasses its source and achieves a universal dimension. Anybody could easily get caught up in the narrative’s breakneck action, cliffhanging suspense, estrogen-melting romance (when the characters stop to take a breath), and healthy sense of cheerful, cornball humor. I hate to say, “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry,” but, well……
I DO still laugh when Leia (Fisher) delivers her epic put-down of slowly-reforming-scumbag-smuggler Han Solo (Ford) as a nerf herder (Who the hell knows what a nerf herder is, but it sure sounds funny), and worse yet, scruffy-looking. I don’t exactly cry, but I AM moved by the richer, deeper philosophical underpinnings of this chapter in the saga, as Jedi Master Yoda expounds on the connections between all life and the importance of dedication, commitment, and service. I AM awed by the sheer sights and sounds that flood the screen; from the desolate ice planet Hoth to the magnificent floating palace of Cloud City, this is a fully-realized Universe that some modern filmmakers would do well to consider the next time they’re mulling a creatively bankrupt computer-generated stop gap.
I am also astonished, on my many repeated viewings, to note the lean, economical tautness with which the story is propelled forward. Note the absence of endless exposition (jot this down, Phantom Menace; you too, Attack Of The Clones); there is loads of character development here, but it all happens in broad strokes and breathless gasps as the heroes flee for their lives. Luke Skywalker (Hamill) is taught the nature of the life Force in a series of brief, well-constructed scenes where efficient dialogue quickly makes way for sinister caves and levitating spacecraft. Darth Vader’s evil is demonstrated through a series of capricious and lethal demotions aboard his flagship; and the odds against the rebels are visually conveyed through a series of shots juxtaposing their tiny fighters against the evil Empire’s massive space cruisers. Even the inevitable, growing attraction between Leia and Han blooms against a backdrop of mutual animosity and shared dodging of turbolaser blasts. The pace is terrifically entertaining.
Being the second of three acts, we know of course that by the end of Empire our heroes will be in dire peril. It is, as the opening crawl informs us, the darkest of times for our small band of freedom fighters. After a colossal attack on their hidden base early in the film, all but Skywalker find themselves desperately fleeing Vader’s clutches. We learn that the Imperials hope to catch them as a lure to draw Luke into the diabolical Emperor’s grasp. When the Force begins showing Luke visions of his soon-to-be-captured friends, he prematurely leaves his training to rocket to their rescue….and into the waiting arms of Darth Vader, and perhaps the greatest movie cliffhanger of all time……
One of the many things I love about Star Wars in general and this film in particular is the keen use of contrast. This is a big, epic story, painted in rapid-fire adventure vignettes but still executed with loving attention to every detail in the corners of the frame. I’m not bored for a second watching Empire, but if I ever was I could divert my attention by studying the fully-developed aliens and droids inhabiting the rebel base and Cloud City, or by simply taking in all of the details of the floating metropolis’ twists and turns itself, or by wondering what the Lucasfilm back story is on the three-foot-tall aliens manning the carbon freezing chamber, or by marveling at the range of emotions the filmmakers were able to elicit from Yoda’s puppet face, or….well, you get the idea. Watching this epic, you truly get the sense of being whisked away from your own problems and into somebody else’s real, albeit fantastic, Universe. You don’t have to be a sci-fi geek like me to appreciate the sense of wonder that feeling elicits.