This past Saturday evening the combination of anticipation for the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society’s Conquest 41 coupled with the sounds of my daughter and her boyfriend playing Lego Star Wars on the Playstation 2 reminded me that I hadn’t indulged in any celebration of the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. I wasn’t about to let May get away without my own personal acknowledgment of a series, and most especially a film, that has had such a profound effect on me.
I quickly visited the basement library to bring up a few goodies to help me celebrate, one being the Roger Kastel autographed print of my favorite piece of Star Wars art, the post image for The Empire Strikes Back. This was a lovely surprise gift given to me a few years ago by Deslily.
Over the next 24 hours I would re-read a beloved Star Wars novel, watch The Empire Strikes Back, and travel back in time down a road littered with memories so palpable that they could have happened yesterday.
Three decades ago an eleven year old me stood in a long line outside the Cinema in Norfolk, Nebraska, waiting with barely contained enthusiasm to view the latest adventures of characters who I, along with an entire generation, had fallen in love with three years prior with the release of Star Wars.
The Empire Strikes Back was a BIG DEAL in so many ways. I was old enough to be dropped off, along with my brother and our friends, at the movie theater to wait in line, buy tickets, and enjoy the film without parental oversight. While this was unlikely the first film at which this occurred, it was the one I remember most. My memories from this day have a distinct clarity. Once inside we quickly head for the back row (something that was extremely important to me as a kid but that I hate to do today…I prefer being much closer to the action now) and claimed our seats. While waiting for the movie to start, two events occurred that helped secure this event so clearly in my mind: a girl of my acquaintance, who I didn’t particularly like to start with, spoiled the great reveal for me by telling me that Darth Vader was Luke’s father (she had seen the movie the previous day) AND I spilled the drink of a much younger child sitting on the other side of me. These were the pre-cup-holder days and I had warned him and his older brother to pick a different option rather than balancing the cup on the armrest that separated our seats. And while I could have said, “I told you so”–actually I DID say just that–I can still recall how bad I felt when the inevitable occurred. Anger and regret quickly gave way to wonder as the familiar music and scrolling introduction began what is arguably one of the best middle films of a trilogy ever made.
In the wake of thirty years of personal adventure, it was a real pleasure to watch The Empire Strikes Back again last night. It had been a few years since I last viewed it. As I sat sipping Mountain Dew out of my The Empire Strikes Back Burger King glass (thanks Jules!), I could not help but be conscious of the fact that I was watching the movie through two sets of eyes. The very fact that I could sit in my home and watch this film, at the exact time of my choosing, is one of the many things that brings on fits of nostalgia. I am not alone in having written about this before, but it bears re-examination in light of this anniversary: the way children (and adults) view movies today is not the experience of those of us who watched these films during their original run. In 1977 I was 8 years old and was taken to see Star Wars at the local drive-in by my parents. I honestly cannot recall if I saw it again during its theatrical run. I have some vague recollection that it might have been re-released in the run up to The Empire Strikes Back, but I could be very wrong about that. Chances are quite strong that I only saw the film once. But that is all it took. In the intervening years I read the novelization several times, and was thrilled beyond measure when 1978 brought Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and 1979 brought Brian Daley’s Han Solo at Star’s End and Han Solo’s Revenge to my Uncle Dean’s bookshelf. Han and Chewie were my favorites from the moment they stepped onscreen in Star Wars and multiple re-reads of those Brian Daley novels heaped fuel onto that fire. The tag line on Daley’s novels, “From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Based on the Characters and Situations Created by George Lucas”, continue to elicit a thrill in me today.
That is how we did it, remember? We saw the movies as many times as we could get parents and friends to pony up the money and the time to drop us off at the theater and in the intervening years we read and re-read the books, re-enacted and created new adventures with neighborhood kids in our back yards (wherein, for the sake of cooperation and to decrease arguments, I always played Boba Fett, the next best thing to Han Solo in my mind), re-lived those same adventures with action figures and other Star Wars toys, and on occasion pulled out the K-Tel record to listen to Meco’s memorable Star Wars tune. One of the few times in my life where I embraced what are now termed ‘spoilers’ was in reading the novelization for Return of the Jedi before actually getting out to see the film. And I read it several times afterward, unwilling to let go of what was then believed to be the final film in the Star Wars franchise. The advent of VCR rentals did not immediately change this “see it at the theater or else” mentality, at least for those of us who were still kids. That makes it even more incredible, to me, that Star Wars was such a dominate influence in the life of my generation.
In some sense, yes, Star Wars was everywhere, but not to the degree that it was when Lucas released the prequel films nor in the way that advertising and watch-it-now instant gratification is today. I do not in any way decry the technological gifts we have today. I am overjoyed that I was able to put a DVD into the player last night to watch a crystal clear copy of The Empire Strikes Back. But I am oddly satisfied that my childhood and teenage years were during the cross over from that technological era to this one. The Star Wars novelizations and spin-off novels were by far the most influential books that not only turned me into a science fiction fan but also fostered a love of reading that grew during that period of childhood when I could have turned either way. I have no doubt that George Lucas, Alan Dean Foster, Brian Daley, Donald Glut, and James Kahn were influential in imprinting me with the wonder that could be found in the written word.
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In addition to bringing up the print from Deslily, I grabbed my used copy of Han Solo at Star’s End by Brian Daley. Daley’s Han Solo trilogy is set in a time before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope. Han and Chewie are indeed flying around in the ‘fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy’, but their adventures take place well before Han shot first. In this novel the lovable rogue and his faithful friend are unwillingly pulled into a rescue mission at the outer edge of the galaxy. In these novels, the bad guys are the Corporate Sector Authority, a governmental group that existed during the Republic and continue to exist under Emperor Palpatine’s Imperial regime. They are the group that no self-respecting smuggler wants to run afoul of, which is of course exactly what Han and Chewie proceed to do. The job for which they are recruited, which eventually leads them to the knowledge that citizens from many different races are disappearing if they are seen as a threat to the CSA’s power, takes them to the outpost called Star’s End. Along the way, no doubt as a nod to the comic duo first introduced in Star Wars, Han and Chewie pick up a couple of droids, one housed within the other, Bollux and Blue Max. Thankfully in personality and look they are different from C-3PO and R2-D2, and they actually add a nice layer of characterization to the series. This time through I caught a storyline that I hadn’t previously picked up on, which is that of robots, in this case droids, becoming sentient and being aware of having purpose. I believe it was reading so many Asimov robot stories over the last two years that made this part stand out to me in ways it never had before.
It is highly probable that I could look at these novels with a critical eye and find some degree of fault with them. At least I think I could. The reality is that I do not. It is not in my nature to do so. I fell hard for Daley’s books when I was a young man hungry for any Star Wars related story I could put my hands on. I have read these books over and over again in every decade of my life and they have come to be like a pair of comfortable worn jeans, like a favorite sweater, like a good friend. I cannot be critical of them nor do I care to be. For me Han Solo at Star’s End defies rating. I am every bit the wide-eyed child every time I read it and that sense of wonder is renewed afresh whenever I crack open the cover. It is a fun book featuring two of my very favorite fictional characters and it was a great pleasure to revisit their early days on this Sunday and Monday of Memorial Day Weekend.
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The 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back is not merely an exercise in fondly remembering a movie as a piece of art or as a piece of popular culture, it is truly a trip down memory lane. As my favorite of the trilogy, it is the corner stone of my love for the series and the novels and the comics and the games that have been a part of all four decades of my life. It is my favorite for many reasons, not the least of which is that it further establishes the bond between Han and Chewie and it is where the relationship between Han and Leia is firmly established. The bonds of male friendship and those of romantic love are two areas that I like to see explored/celebrated in fiction and film and no doubt Star Wars was a major influence in that part of my personality. I spent a little more time this afternoon celebrating by watching some of the featurettes on the bonus materials disc that came with the Star Wars Trilogy DVD release. It was pleasing to see directors I admire–James Cameron, Ridley Scott, Peter Jackson–talk about how much of an influence George Lucas and Star Wars had on them. Tonight I will end my side trip back into science fiction by watching Return of the Jedi and tomorrow will get drift back into my reading for the final month (21 days actually) of this year’s Once Upon a Time Challenge.
Over the 5 years that I’ve been blogging I have done a number of posts around Star Wars and its influence. Here links to a few of them if you are interested:
Thursday Thirteen: Star Wars Style
Friday Favorites: The Art of Star Wars
A Long Time Ago (my 30th anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope post)
Star Wars, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy in both book and film format, is something that I could talk about, and talk about, and talk about, and…
I’d like to talk about it with you. As the month ends, thus closing the “official” 30th anniversary date for The Empire Strikes Back, what are your remembrances, thoughts, etc. on the films, the books, the phenomenon, and/or on that time long ago and far, far away when the film experience was much different than it is today?
Carl, I remember when the movie came out and we got in line to see it. It was such a long line, too. I have distinct memories of the spoiler scene being ruined for me, too, but I know the memories can’t be right because I remember it happening in 5th grade, when I’m sure that I was younger than that when Empire came out. In fact, I’m pretty sure I was in 5th when Jedi came out.
At any rate, my dad was a big fan, and I grew to love the series. Nowadays I teach an elective at my school on Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, and the original Star Wars trilogy is one of our texts. Amazing how many of my students have never seen it.
Dana: I am often surprised by people, even those relatively close to my age, who have never seen any of the Star Wars films. It seems odd to me that anyone from that time forward would have not somehow either chosen to or been forced to see them. Even my parents, who are not fans, have seen at least one of the films (the one they took us to).
I was recently sent some Joseph Campbell books by a friend and I really should take the time to read them. I think I would find them highly interesting, especially in light of the mythology in film and fiction that I tend to enjoy.
Whew, too much to cover in one reply here, so I’ll just say I watched STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI on Saturday, enjoying them a lot, though ROTJ is the weakest of the three, perhaps even the weakest of the six… parts of it are just plain slapstick. I have that Zahn paperback somewhere, I haven’t read it.
Richard: Great! I’m glad you watched them again and enjoyed the. There are definitely some slapstick parts in ROTJ, won’t argue with you there. I think Ep I and II are far more weak, but that’s just an opinion. There is enough really, really good stuff in ROTJ to make me enjoy it. I must say that I really miss the original ending music. I don’t think Lucas did anything to improve it with the music he chose for these DVD editions.
One thing that I was mentioning to my wife tonight was that, with the upgrades in the special effects and remastering that came about with the DVD releases, these films look much less dated than they used to. 70’s retro has been back in style for awhile and the SW films, especially ESB and ROTJ, actually look retro-cool in the way the set designs look inside the ships, etc.
One of these days I need to re-read the Timothy Zahn trilogy that takes place 5 years after the events of ROTJ, which we did end up watching tonight as promised. I remember being super-excited when they first came out. I was working in a small bookstore at the time. I haven’t really had any desire to read any of the other SW novels. Not a fan of where they’ve taken the characters post Zahn’s novels.
http://www.starwarscelebration.com/
If you don’t think I’d love to be at that above link you would be crazier than I am! I’ve seen Lucas once in person and would be thrilled to do it again.. but tickets for conventions are too much any more add to it you’d need a hotel and a way back and forth and food money etc ..a convention easily can cost 800-1,000 !
all I can say is that it is well worth celebrating! I can’t even guess at how many times I’ve watched the movies! I’d love to own them all in dvd.. but I just can’t do what I used to do. I have 2 different copies of the original 3 movies in vhs. I’d be thrilled to have all 6 dvd’s (the original star trek in dvd too! geez sometimes the technology gets past me.)
Deslily: I would love to be able to attend one of those Celebrations myself. It is way too expense for me now, but would no doubt be the thrill of a lifetime.
I don’t have any of the Star Trek movies, except the latest, myself, on DVD or VHS, so you are ahead of me there.
I loved watching these as a kid; they are just as wonderful to me today!!!
Wow, some great memories there! I’m too young (just about) to remember the original releases; Star Wars has always been *there* in my life 🙂 so I envy you the experiences of going to see it in the cinema.
I can’t say how much I enjoyed this post. I’m 24 years old. My first encounter with the beloved franchise was when “A New Hope” was re-released in 1997, putting me at 11. My brother, a year my younger, and I were both instantly hooked. We began collecting everything we could find: Doritos bags, Mountain Dew cans, toys, books, magazines, TV Guides, etc. And our love for the series continued to grow with each subsequent movie released. Still young, we were filled with anticipation when the prequels came out, and we even loved them. By the time EPIII came out, I was 19 and in college, but that didn’t stop my love for the stuff. I went to all of the movies midnight showings, arriving early and enjoying the pre-show. My brother and I would choreograph lightsaber fights (using broomsticks and fishing poles (ouch!)). And when I first picked up Heir to the Empire, I got sucked into the Expanded Universe, which I still read to this day. Over these past 13 years, my love for Star Wars has grown, and I fully intend to pass it on to my kids someday.
Logan: One of the many reasons why I am glad for the SW re-releases in theaters is just the reaction you describe, Logan. It gave that generation of kids a chance to experience, on the big screen, what my generation experienced 20 years before. I can completely identify with the experiences you describe. Although I had some problems with the prequels, especially given some time that passed, the reality is that there are still parts of all of them that I enjoy and I felt that by Ep III Lucas finally got ahold of everything again and made a really enjoyable film. I went to the midnight showings for Ep II and III myself, waited in line for hours to see them, and loved getting caught up in all the Star Wars mania again, as can be seen in these posts pre and post Revenge of the Sith:
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/and-so-it-begins
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/revenge-of-the-sith
http://www.stainlesssteeldroppings.com/revenge-of-the-sith-2
I believe the password for the last one is wookie.
I’ve passed on the SW love to my daughter, who recently introduced the films to a friend of hers who had never seen them, and I plan on doing my part to pass the love on to any grandkids I may be blessed with, as well as my now 2.5 year old niece.
Fence: It is one of the things that I am so glad to have been able to experience when it first came out, that is for sure. I feel the same way about the Lord of the Rings films.
Mary: It was indeed fun watching these again with you this past weekend.
I read Fence’s comment above about SW always being there, and it reminded me that the first sci-fi movies I saw were those Buck Rogers serials with tin foil ships hung from fishing line, farting smoke as they were swung across plaster-of-paris scenery. Even after seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey, the special effects in Star Wars were a complete revelation. It was really amazing how good they looked, how completely convincing they were – and still are.
Ah… the memories… ESB was great and I remember watching it in the theatre so long ago as well. As a parent I too have enjoyed introducing SW to my kids and I can’t wait to do so in the future with grand kids one day as well. Great post!!!
Jeff S: Your kids’ excitement over Star Wars just helps fuel my own. I’m glad I’ve got to see them, especially Zach, be so pumped about the toys, the movies, the ongoing cartoons, etc.
Richard: love the phrase ‘farting smoke’. Guess, despite my post about growing older, that I’m still a juvenile after all. 🙂 I agree, the special effects do indeed look really good considering its been a decade since some were updated and much longer for others.
Honestly, nothing else had even been close to the look of Star Wars. NOTHING. Yes, scenes in 2001 made the ship look realistic, but Star Wars was so much more, and I’m talking about the original version. Watch the original Star Trek series, and you can see how it was before Lucas and ILM did the magic. It was almost like having only seen black and white TV and then seeing color.
Richard: I couldn’t agree more. The black and white to color comparison is an apt one. It is amazing to watch the documentary, Empire of Dreams, and see/hear all of the innovations that Lucas and company brought to the film making process, from sound to special effects to the way things were shot and edited. It truly was amazing. Still is.
I’m really surprised none of you guys or gals have busted my chops over the mention of the Meco Star Wars tune!
I don’t even know what a “meco star wars tune is, so I certainly couldn’t make any comment. Is meco a band? a toy company? a gaming system? a type of turnip? Ach, doesn’t matter.
Surely you remember the 70’s discotech Star Wars tune that was playing all over the radio after the first film came out?!?! If not, here is a youtube link to a video that starts out with a little info on Meco and then plays the all too familiar song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ch794M9SM
We are the same age and share many of the same memories of the Star Wars expereince that shaped most every kid’s life back then. I was thrilled when they re-released the original films in the theater about 15 years ago was it? We brought a friend of mine from work who had NEVER seen them! Her town didn’t have a movie theater growing up and she was younger and never got around to renting them as an adult. She LOVED them and could not fathom that we had to wait so long to see the next sequel ;0)
Bumbles: I too was thrilled when the films were re-released, and I’m hoping that one day they will do so again. I love seeing them on the big screen. I saw Empire in its re-release in New York City with a friend of mine and it was so much fun waiting in a long line, seeing people dressed up, and having people cheer during different parts of the film.