World Famous Comics: Star Wars - Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)
Star Wars - Episode V, The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels Directed By: Irvin Kershner Average Rating: Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, THX, NTSC Label: 20th Century Fox Number of Items: 1 Release Date: August 26, 1997 Theatrical Release Date: May 21, 1980
Amazon.com: The middle film in George Lucas's enormously popular Star Wars science fiction trilogy is a darker, more somber entry, considered by many fans as the best in the series. Gone is the jaunty swashbuckling of the first film; the rebellion led by Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) suffers before the superior forces of the Empire, young hero Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) faces his first defeats as he attempts to harness the Force under the tutelage of Jedi master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), and cocky Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is betrayed by former ally Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams). In the tradition of the great serials, this film is left with a hefty cliffhanger. The leap in special effects technology in the three years since Star Wars results in an amazing array of effects, including a breathtaking chase through an asteroid field and a dazzling, utopian Cloud City, where Luke faces the black-clad villain Darth Vader (David Prowse, voice of James Earl Jones) in a futuristic sword fight and learns the secret of his Jedi father. Veteran director Irvin Kershner (The Eyes of Laura Mars, Never Say Never Again) took the directorial reins from creator and producer Lucas and invested the light-speed adventure with deeper characters and a more emphatic sense of danger. The special edition expands Luke's encounter with the Abominable Snowman-esque wampa and establishes the creature as a tangibly more terrifying beast, in addition to refining many of the existing effects. The trilogy is concluded in The Return of the Jedi.--Sean Axmaker
The best of the six. I'm finding it kind of hard to review the best Star Wars film. What do I say? Where do I begin? It's bigger, better and superior to A New Hope in every way. Vader, who barely had a small presence in A New Hope, truly takes over in this installment. Vader........gotta love him. The red lightsaber, the black outfit, the eternal voice of James Earl Jones. Am I a fanboy? Yup. I can't believe there are people out there that haven't seen this movie. Non stop action from start to finish, and the lightsaber battle between Luke and Vader still amazes. I didn't care for some of the changes Lucas made to the original three. But, it is his creation and he is free to do with it as he pleases. It doesn't mean he should. This is easily the best of the six and no home should be without a copy. I'll review each one but here's my order and why. Empire Strikes Back - The best. Revenge of the Sith - The best of the new three. Return of the Jedi - Loved the movie, hated the teddy bears. Phantom Menace - Darth Maul, need I say more? A New Hope - Ground Breaking but dragged in too many places. Attack of the Clones - UUGH!!!!!!
What a nice gift! This dvd made a great gift! I gave it to my boyfriend who's a big "Star Wars" fan. The only likes the original versions, so this made the perfect gift. He was so happy to finally be able to watch the original " Star Wars" movies on our flat screen tv in widescreen format.
"Yoda, You Seek Yoda" The year '80 marked the release of the highly anticipated second installment of the Luke Skywalker trilogy, `Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back'. Not too surprisingly with all the money the first film made for George Lucas he had loads of capital to spend making Part II one of those rare cinematic occurrences where the sequel exceeds the original. Most obvious amongst the improvements were the astonishing special effects and the fleshing out of the main characters personalities adding texxture and substance to their interaction and thought processes.
However the most fascinating and imaginative addition to the storyline was the marvelous little Jedi Master Yoda. The sequences with Yoda and Luke on Dagobath are inventive and profound. It's the presence of this enchanting little green warrior with big ears that make the film for me.
My Rating: Yoda makes this a -5 Star- film for me. Why you ask? To quote the Jedi Master, "There is no why."
The ultimate Star Wars film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is by far my favorite movie of all time. Once again, I prefer the 2004 version to the 1980, or even the 1997 version of the film, even though I grew up loving the 1980 version. This is the film where the ultimate villian, Darth Vader, shows his true might. If someone fails Vader, he kills them. Love it! This is the film for every fan of Darth Vader. Of course the 1980 version of the film is not in anamorphic widescreen, and is only presented in 2.0 sound. While this might anger people, it does state that these are unaltered. Presenting it in anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 sound would require that the films be altered to present them that way.
This applies to all three Star Wars DVDs with the original and altered versions To everyone complaining about the non-anamorphic transfer for the orginal DVDs...stop it! Don't you remember a time when it looked like that George Lucas wasn't even going release the original versions? George Lucas was obviously trying to throw a bone to the fans when he release these DVDs and I for one am grateful for them. He didn't have to release the orginal versions and he may not do it again, so this should be considered a gift.
However, I do dock the DVDs two stars, one because both Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott released the original and special versions of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Blade Runner, respectively. Ridley Scott, in particular, didn't like the original cut of Blade Runner, so he could've easily have ruined the presentation of the original cut, but he didn't for the fans of the film. In that respect, George Lucas could've done a better job with his original versions and therefore see the point of view of those unhappy with these releases, but I still appreciate George Lucas for even touching the orginal versions again.
My only real complaint, and reason for the lack of another star, is that these sets are what should've been in the earlier boxset. That way, we get the 2004 version, the 1977, 1980, 1983 version of the films, and the bonus disc with the documentry. I had to go to the Amazon Marketplace to get the bonus disc. Personally, this bugs me more than the presentation of the original versions.
As for the films themselves, they are awesome. They all have great stories and great characters. No matter what version you are watching, these are great films. I would recommend any one of them. They are great. Buy these DVDs and enjoy three of the greatest sci-fi films ever. While these wasn't the best releases, they are still worth the buy, or you can get the box set if you are more worried about the documentry and special features.
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