Date: Fri 07-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLK

Illustration: C

Location: A12

Quick Words:

Playing-Star-Wars-Empire-Lucas

Full Text:

(rev "Empire Strikes Back" for Now Playing, 3/7/97)

Now Playing-

`Empire,' Both As Joiner & On Its Own

By Trey Paul Alexander III

The Star Wars saga has landed at the Crown Cine theater with the re-opening of

The Empire Strikes Back , this reviewer's personal favorite of George Lucas'

mythic trilogy. If the response to Lucas' revamped, 1977 original is any

indication, then The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition should be playing at

the Cine for the foreseeable future. In fact, history was made recently when

Empire finished as the top-grossing movie last weekend. By teaming with Star

Wars, which is still going strong and placed second to Empire , it marked the

first time ever a movie and its sequel snagged the first two slots in box

office receipts at the same time. Plus, Star Wars has now overtaken E.T. as

the biggest money-making film of all time in the US (by grossing well over

$400 million on the big screen in its 20-year history).

But enough about the overall Star Wars craze that has recaptured the nation.

Let's talk more about specifics, namely The Empire Strikes Back: Special

Edition. Although Lucas has said there were many things in Star Wars that

always nagged him, even he admits Empire stuck fairly close to the concepts

both he and director Irvin Kershner envisioned. Therefore, this special

edition tinkers only slightly with the 1980 version (and all but one addition

- awkward, obtrusive scenes of Darth Vader leaving Cloud City to board his

Star Destroyer - are subtle and nicely placed). But then, how can you ask for

much more than the exhilarating asteroid sequence (with John Williams'

wonderful score helping to quicken our pulses), an extended, consummately

choreographed light-saber battle, and a blossoming romance?

Yet Empire indeed delivers more, such as several enduring new characters,

including Yoda, the wizened little jedi master who begins instructing young

Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the proper honing of the force. Even 17 years

later it's hard to look down upon this puppet creation (voiced by master

puppeteer Frank Oz, a director himself and also the voice of Miss Piggy). Not

to be mean, but there's more life in those big, green eyes than in many of

today's stoic action heroes.

Though Star Wars ended in a shining moment of glory for the rebels, Empire

picks up the tale at a point where the Imperial fleet has regrouped and put

more pressure on our heroes, who are on the run and hiding out on the

desolate, icy planet of Hoth. But it doesn't take long for the bad guys, led

by Darth Vader (who is meaner than ever in this installment), to decipher

where their prey is ensconced. The ensuing battle on Hoth's snow-covered

tundra between the over-matched rebels and the Imperial fleet's menacing AT-AT

Walkers is visually exciting, but also seeped in an overwhelming sense of

despair (made increasingly palpable by Williams' hard-working score).

Indeed, this is the main reason Empire works so well and is arguably the best

film in the trilogy. The rebels are the underdogs, and that is made resolutely

clear throughout this motion picture. Therefore, the outcome for our heroes

does not seem predetermined, nor does a happy ending seem sure. In fact, when

the film was first released 17 years ago, though some were engrossed by the

many twists of the plot and its shocking revelations ("Obi-Wan never told you

what happened to your father..."), a fairly vocal contingent also complained

it was a "downer" and it ended with too many questions left unanswered.

But in the end, what makes Empire such a worthy sequel to Star Wars (and a

fine film in its own right) is its ability to engage our emotions and get us

to clutch at our seats wondering about our heroes' futures. That, and the

trilogy's continued ability to make us gasp in awe at the fantastic and

inconceivable brought magically to life.