Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Full Length with Erin

Thanks for your reaction to "Empire", Erin. I enjoy your reactions to the movies you've watched although I wonder how much you might've missed when you thought a scary or violent scene was about to happen and you covered your eyes. Anticipation was high for "Empire". I saw it on initial release in a theater in 1980. Back then there was no internet. There were probably local fan clubs where folks discussed theories on what would happen in the movie but generally we were in the dark. I never heard any spoilers and had no idea what to expect. Lucasfilm had put together the Official Star Wars Fan Club so we could get some news on the film production and order genuine movie theater one-sheets and other stuff but they gave no spoilers. Within a few minutes of the movie beginning I could tell that production values had gone way up for this sequel compared with "Star Wars", which originally had no episode number. George Lucas did not alter as much in "Empire" as he did with "Star Wars" as far as adding CGI elements. There was some new stuff added to the backgrounds in Cloud City scenes and a new shot of the Millennium Falcon as it made its way to the landing platform. Personally, I liked these added Cloud City scenes in "Empire" but not the stuff added to "Star Wars" (all of the CGI creatures on Tattooine). When Vader spoke his now-famous line to Luke on the gantry, everyone in the audience was blown away. It was completely unexpected. Back then, we waited three years between "Star Wars" theatrical releases. In the first few years these movies weren't available to rent on videotape or any other legal means so we went back to the theaters several times before it ended its theatrical run. All we had was the OSWFC (the Official Star Wars Fan Club) and the books and comics of which often took liberties with story lines and plots compared with the movies.

ButtercupsTrueLove