Considered the most morally and emotionally complex of the original Star Wars trilogy, THE EMPIRE STRIKE BACK continues creator George Lucass epic saga where STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE left off. The Rebel Forces--which include young adventurer Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), rogue pilot Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and the beautiful but seemingly humorless Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher)--have been successful in destroying the Evil Empires Death Star. However, the Empires top commander, the terrifying Lord Darth Vader (played by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), is scanning the galaxy for the Rebels' secret location. After a visually stunning showdown on the ice planet Hoth, the Rebels are forced to flee, and Luke separates from Han and Leia. Masterful storytelling weaves multiple, archetypal plotlines that pit Vader against Han and Leia as he desperately attempts to capture Luke for political--and, secretly, personal--reasons. Luke, meanwhile, finds himself under the tutelage of the tiny but powerful old Jedi Master Yoda, who teaches him the ways of the Force and warns the impatient but talented student against the threat of the Dark Side. Greek tragedy meets a philosophical heros journey in EMPIRE, a remarkable sci-fi epic in which the performances are as powerful as the spectacular special effects. In 1997 a special edition of the film was digitally remastered with enhanced visual and sound effects. Several scenes--including the one in which Luke Skywalker encounters a deadly Wampa on Hoth--were reedited with more detail while other scenes--such as the one on Cloud City--were added for the rerelease.

The second film in the STAR WARS legacy is a prime example of absolute butchery! By now, there are (3) versions of this film; the original 1980 theatrical release, the 1997 Special Edition with added computer sequences and dialogue revisions and finally, the 2004 DVD release with the original actor playing the Emperor removed and replaced with Ian McDermid, who has played the role in JEDI, PHANTOM, CLONES and REVENGE. Whether it's his property or not, George Lucas had no right to continuously fix what wasn't broken in the first place.

Make no mistake! If you can find a good copy of the 1995 re-issued, digitally-mastered version of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK on VHS, buy it! Even if you have the film on DVD (and it is worth owning on DVD for that perfect picture and sound), own the original version, too. It's still the best!

Do you ever drive a regular route to work each day? You know, a route you're really familiar with? And some times, when you finally arrive at your destination, you don't really recall driving that route? You remember pulling out of the driveway, and then arriving at your destination, but you don't remember what happened in between? Ya didn't recall any traffic jams, or some odd thing on the side of the road, or any of the notable landmarks? It's almost like you're TOO familiar with that pathway to the sweat factory...

That's what happens to me some times when I watch the UN-Special Edition version of "The Empire Strikes Back". I've become so familiar with it, it's scary. I remember hitting the Play button and watching the opening "Story So Far" crawl. And the next thing I know, I'm watching Luke's brandy-new prosthetic hand gettin' prodded and poked by a medical droid. That's when I think to myself, "WHOA, WTF?! What happened to the Hoth battle with the AT-AT walkers? Or Yoda training Luke to be a Jedi? Or Han Solo gettin' turned into a giant fudgesicle? Or Darth Vader's revelation that he's-- (whoops, that'd be givin' away too much, heh)? I'm sure all that stuff was in there... wasn't it-?"

Needless to say, I get a bit scared whenever I experience this kind of "zone-out". On the upside, this experience ain't nearly as annoying and obnoxious as those Star Wars freakos who recite every single freakin' line of the flick by heart. Those guys make me wish I had one of those Han Solo blaster guns with a "slow death" setting on it, you know what I mean? `Course, there's also "death by Jar-Jar", but that'd be TOO cruel and unusual...

Bottom line: If you're big into the "Star Wars" trilogy in general, and "Empire" in particular, you might not wanna get TOO familiar with the movie. Then again, maybe you actually get a thrill from zoning out, who knows. Ya freakin' weirdo...

`Late