30th Anniversary of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Aw yeah. My favorite of all the Star Wars films.I can't believe it's been 30 years. Time has flown by. I just recently re-watched the original trilogy a few months ago and yes, they still rock. They make the prequels look very lame. So what if the new films have all the nifty new special effects and gadgets, they can't hold a candle to the originals. Star Wars just blew the doors off everyone's idea of an exciting new kind of sci-fi film and then The Empire Strikes Back went all dark with the rebels on the run, Vader chasing Luke, Han being wanted by Jabba's relentless bounty hunter Boba Fett. Empire also introduced some great new characters to the Star Wars universe like Yoda, Lando, The Emperor himself and the aforementioned Boba Fett. Also had the terrific battle scene on the ice planet Hoth. The pursuit of the Millenium Falcon by Imperial forces through an asteroid belt. The back and forth banter between Han and Leia. Luke's training under Yoda and then his eventful face off with Vader. A lot happens in this movie and it actually improves on A New Hope in every way. It's ironic that Lucas didn't even direct Empire, that task fell to Irvin Kershner, who did one hell of a job. And the screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan is epic worthy. Empire manages to combine elements of drama, romance, adventure, humor and more into a satisfying science fiction film. Empire is one of my Top 5 favorite films of all time. From the very first time I saw this as a teen-ager it has been that way, and I don't think that will ever change. No matter how many times George Lucas wants to change or edit his films, he can't mess over what is a true classic. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Recently Entertainment Weekly did a cover story on the 30th anniversary of the film and previewing a new book called The Making of The Empire Strikes Back due in stores October 2010. Check out the cool previously unseen pics here in this post.