SWTOTD SWTOTD 08 - The Good One 8:08 PM | Zeroplate I went looking for the Empire Strikes Back soundtrack over the weekend for a super-secret project and the only place that had it was Barnes & Noble. For future reference, if you ever need a motion picture soundtrack on CD for some reason, THAT is the place to go. They have a soundtrack section that rivals most store's Country or R&B sections. Anyway, as I was checking out, the clerk said "Ah, Episode Five, also known as 'the good one'." It was kind of funny and I had to correct him a bit by saying there were other 'good ones' but that this was the best one. He agreed that there was "something to love in all of them" but I still got the impression that he felt like Empire was the only one really worth watching. In recent years, the middle chapter of the original trilogy has experienced a renaissance of interest and fan support and has been held up as the pinnacle of the original trilogy (and by default of the whole saga since most online fans are dismissive of the prequels.) I always liked parts of Empire the best of the whole trilogy, but I don't know if I would have considered it my favorite or 'the best' of the series. So I rented it last week as well to help me make up my mind. Being the middle chapter of a planned trilogy is tough. The Two Towers has some impressive stuff in it, but it mostly feels like a long, drawn out connection sequence between the first and third chapters. I love it, but it definitely has that "middle chapter" vibe of not being really complete without the other films. Attack of the Clones is similarly spent on a whole lot of set up, and leaves with unanswered questions and dangling plot threads that will be tied up later. Both of those films end on an up-note, but with the threat of bigger conflicts looming. But for The Empire Strikes Back, there's a pretty amazing difference in that it feels like a middle chapter, but it's an incredibly downbeat one in which our heros are threatened and tested at every turn. Luke gets smacked by an Abominable Snowman, then gets shot down in his speeder, fails his test during Jedi training, then gets his hand lopped off while learning that his father is the galaxy's greatest villain. Ouch. That's a lot of misery to heap on one character, and yet Han Solo and Princess Leia & co. aren't spared any either. The rebels face a decisive defeat by the empire in the film's first act, they get swallowed by a giant worm, then Solo is tortured and frozen, 3PO is turned into scrap metal, and Leia is left hanging at the Carbon Freezing Chamber. Double Ouch! While the film ends with a plan to solve the problems left behind as the team organizes a rendevouz on Tatooine, there's really nothing happy going on at the end. Not surprisingly, this is what I think people now react to so positively about the middle chapter of the original trilogy. As kids who grew up with the movies grow older and more cynical, somehow the defeats of Empire tend to ring more true than the wide-eyed optimism of the youthful hero in the first film. Jedi is marred by the horrendous Ewoks, which by default keeps it from being superior to its predecessor, so I think most people conclude that Empire is 'the good one.' It's got my favorite sequence of all the films (the battle of Hoth) and it expands perfectly on the ideas of the Force and being a Jedi that are only touched on in the first film, but those aren't the only reason it's my favorite. It's easily got the best music and probably best direction of any of the films, and while there are still parts I love about the others, Empire just holds it all together better. All told, is it the best one? Yeah, I think it is, but not just because it's darker and moodier and down-beat. That's too easy. It's better because it's bigger AND more personal at the same time. It's got an inverted plot structure from ALL of the other films (usually there's a small conflict up front, large battle at the end), which gives it an interesting twist. While the Jedi training drags a bit for me because it seems like all Luke is doing is running an obstacle course and lifting rocks with his mind, it's nevertheless essential that we meet Yoda, that Luke leaves his training and that we see that he is already straying from the path set out for him by his mentors. For all the chances it takes, the twists and turns, and the way it broadens the scope without losing the personal touch, yeah, it's the "great one", but there are a couple other "good ones." Back to Top {0} Comments

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