Visit my website at: www.knowitalljo... Gene Siskel reviews "The Empire Strikes Back" for the Chicago CBS Channel 2 News. Follow me on Twitter / knowitalljoe Join me on Facebook / knowitalljoe
I saw it opening night. You should've heard the crowd during the big reveal. It's taken for granted now, you know that plot point before you even see the movie. But on opening night in 1980, it was a shock.
I remember when the news covered this movie back then, and they all mentioned that there was a shocking ending but none of them gave it away. That just made everyone want to see it even more!
I felt like the kid who didn't know when he was going to see it because he didn't know when it was coming to town. I was in the same boat. Even though I lived in a major city, we still had to drive to another to see the movie. Back then movies didn't open everywhere immediately like they do now. Sometimes you had to get in the car and drive to see a movie, even something major like a Star Wars sequel.
God, I remember when Empire premiered....all us kids were DYING for this flick....this was absolutely beyond huge. After all, this was the first time we had some "new" Star Wars (not counting the Holiday Special). With tickets adjusted for inflation, Empire is still one of the biggest films of all time. I was 14, this was such a huge part of my life. Who am I kidding, still is. Bring on Episode 8 and Rogue One!
Compare the acting at 3:20 with anything in the prequels and you easily see one of the biggest, most glaring problems with the prequels. They are mostly devoid of emotion and motivation for the actors. ESB is the only film that ever truly shocked me and enthralled me from start to finish. An hour and a half of awesomeness and then to hear Vader reveal he is Luke's father. My jaw-dropped and I was 10 years old at the time. Not only was that scene one of the most amazing in the history of cinema, but when Solo, Leia and Chewie walk into the dining hall and Vader is standing there was also breathtaking. Walkers, Wampas, Yoda, Bounty Hunters, Asteroids, pure excitement.
ITA- FUCK DISNEY and Lucas-Prequels forgot what made his movies cassic was COLLABORATION WITHOTHER GENIUSES. But Prequels atleast continued his Epic and expanded the past and universe, Disney just repeated everything and no character. eta- Rogue1 is okay passable
I first watched ESB at a special screening the day before the official release. It was a charity event to benefit the Neuman's Own Foundation, with some of Paul Neuman's children in attendance. It was held at the North Park Cinema in Dallas, Texas. There was even a wine and cheese reception out in the lobby. It was all reserved seating too, with the best seats having the highest prices. As you might expect, it sold out quickly.
omg my fucking childhood right here. I grew up an hour from Chicago and videotaped this off the air. I watched this over and over when I was 5. good times.....
Most sources like Good Morning America and such showed Hoth right before the walkers shooting, Luke seeing Leia at Cloud City when they were toting Han in carbonite, and the start of Luke and Vader's duel. So,as Gene Siskel mentioned at the end of this vid, they were allowed more footage than basically anyone else. Fantastic clip.
I was 12 when ESB came out. The first three movies will always be special to me. I remember sitting in the theater with my mouth open watching the asteroid scene and hearing John Williams score in the background. Watching and hearing the ESB for the first was well... I can’t describe the feeling. When the sequel to a kick ass movie comes out and it’s better. My childhood is wrapped up in episodes 45&6. That’s why it’s hard to watch Disney destroy my beloved Star Wars. 😔 The only movie they got right was Rogue one. 🖕🏾Disney!!
I feel ya, I love Star Wars but, the modern aesthetic and story telling is not my cup O tea - my favorite character is of course Boba Fett but, I have yet to see the Mandlorian. Or Kenobi for that matter. I know it’s probably fine but, it’s just not my Star Wars.
all because of hubris of Kathleen Kennedy. thanks to South Park, now everybody in the world knows who is responsible for demise of once great Star Wars.
Dude were the fuck did you get this clip? This is VHS TV recording. You find it in your Dads trunk in the attic? Holyshit. I can't beleive the things I find on RU-vid ...lol...
kakashi101able Oh nothing's wrong with it, I'm just amazed at what's still out there :) Little treasures hidden away here and there. I downloaded this for a folder I have named 'behind the scenes' :D
I can only imagine what it would've been like to have seen the original Star Wars in the theater, to be anticipating the sequel and then to see all of this footage including the Luke and Vader duel previewed for the first time. What were people in that position at the time imagining that the sequel would be like?
Believe it or not, this is where much of our present day "no spoilers" culture began. When audiences were leaving the theater, people waiting in line would hear them talking about Vader being the father of Luke. People initially thought they were being pranked, but then they would go in and watch it and realize it was true. When they came out of the theaters, people waiting in line would ask how it was and they would be like "Don't want to spoil it for you". A couple of years later, a similar situation occurred concerning the death of Spock in The Wrath of Khan. By 1983, when Return of the Jedi was about to release, there were so many things to wrap up that the whole "No spoilers" thing was in full effect. It has only gotten bigger ever since. Honestly, I think sometimes it goes a bit too far, but I also understand fans wanting to experience the plot twist and revelations first hand as they watch the film, and not from some random person exiting the theater who can't wait thirty seconds until they get into their car before they begin yapping about the movie they just watched.
Spirits, Bill Kurtis looks SO young! I still maintain that Empire is the best movie in the ENTIRE Star Wars canon, and that includes every film supervised by freaking Disney! Gene complains a bit about some of the background images in the film, which a lot of us can concede - there are issues, and it's probably one of the few things the Special Edition really DID improve.
Those interviews remind me of the interviews with people waiting to see The Phantom Menace, except these people are actually going to see a good movie.
I think the only time I was a huge fan of a movie, was dearly anticipating its sequel and then the sequel actually turned out to be a great movie was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I remember anticipating Ghostbusters 2, The Phantom Menace and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull greatly too but those didn't turn out all that great.
@@davidunderwood1773 lmfao what? that doesn't make any sense. i really hope they don't retcon luke's father being killed by vader just for the sake of a plot-twist
It was during this year that Gene got married for 19 years until his death months before the prequels came out. He would've been ashamed of them as his co-host Roger Ebert was lucky to see all six as well as the clone wars spin off movie before his death which happened months after Lucasfilm got bought by Disney. A new generation of movie reviewers will find out how good Episode VII is when it comes out next year...
***** I don't think it will be good at all, except for those who grew up with the altered versions and the prequels. It will be Star Wars in name only, but with none of the magic that made the original trilogy great.
An age when people didn't care about spoilers because movies didn't rely on gimmicky secret reveals to lure an audience, it was story that sold the films. Ironically this film has one of the biggest secret reveals in history lol but at least the media was pretty good about keeping a lid on it
Wow look how young bill curtis in. I wish I was around when people unlike today went bananas over a sequel. My first memory at 3 was my family taking my brother & I to see it. People got on their feet cheering when Luke did the flip off the plank and took on all jabba's people. The second time people in the theater were cheering and standing up when veddar over threw the empire down a shaft to save his son.
Black people even complained about no black people in Star Wars? OMG .. the main character is black and the voices portrayed by the greatest black voice in movie history! What more do you want
Poor review by Siskel. He goes on and on about the special effects and other bells and whistles, but doesn't mention anything about how much stronger the story and character development is this time around. Also, that "cheap-looking" "drawing" in the Bespin scene is actually a very atmospheric matte painting - it was intended to look otherworldly and dreamlike.
What exactly was spoiled? Han and Lea kissing? There werent a lot of important plot elements that were revealed, i was looking for the i am your father spoiler but he didnt mention it, so you people in the comments are silly
@@briansview2886 LOL who did people expect Vader to fight? Lucasfilm gave him that footage so obviously they didn't think it was a spoiler. Amazingly Boba Fett is not seen anywhere in this footage even though he was already revealed in the holiday special and as a preview action figure.
Thank God they didn't show Yoda in the early press releases and reviews. No doubt Lucas had a gag order on certain plot points. The fact that the funny little green frog looking alien that Luke meets on Dagobah was actually the Jedi master he was seeking out was nearly as big a revelation as Vader being his father. I was 11 years old when seeing Empire in the theatre and it would have such a shame if I had known who Yoda was ahead of time.
***** Muppets in Star Wars = deathknell. The concept of Yoda was fine. The execution was a shock even to me at 12 years old. And you can't defend the ewoks defeating Imperial stormtroopers. Come on. The Pope just tweeted the badguys aren't evil enough ...lol..
Hmmm, very interesting how it’s never mentioned how polarizing this movie was when it came out just like what Wikipedia and Rian Johnson have been saying since 2017. It’s almost like that’s one big fat lie 🤔
"The film's one new human character..." - Gene Siskel Gene completely ignoring Lobot, who's in the background of the same scene. (Not to mention Emperor Palpatine and various Imperial officers.)
Francis X. Lord what was given away? That there are new planets!? Omg! Or that all the characters are back!? No way! Oh my Han Solo who clearly had a thing for Leia still has a thing for her!? There’s a new character!? If you consider any of this spoilers then you should never watch any marketing material. Of course then you’d have nothing to Bitch and moan about so I doubt it will happen. There’s no Yoda reveal. There’s no reveal of the actual twist. Just clips from scenes. Spoiler alert those aren’t spoilers.
