It was this weekend...30 years ago...that THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK first premiered. A friend of mine and I were talking about this the other day, and then I saw everyone talking about it online, so I thought I'd write about one of my all-time favorite movies. Growing up I was a "Star Wars kid." I had all the action figures, all the toys, and I saw all the movies. I even subscribed to the monthly fan club newsletter "Bantha Tracks" (does anyone still remember that?) And as a "Star Wars kid" I would say EMPIRE represented the apex of my fascination. Everything about the movie is just perfect. A great opening act with the "snow walkers," a great second act that's dark and mysterious with "Yoda," and a great third act with a great lightsaber battle and the best cliffhanger of all time. EMPIRE was the first movie I can remember being "impacted" by it in the theater as I watched it. I remember sitting there watching Darth Vader utter the most famous line in movie history..."Luke! I am your father!" I remember being truly stunned. I remember my friends and I afterward saying things like "I can't believe it!" and "How can this happen?" We were all in shock.
I had hoped one day to let Ben experience the impact of that line as well, but even before I let him watch the first STAR WARS film he had already read in a book that Darth Vader is Luke's father...so there goes that.
Anyway, it's amazing how the first 3 Star Wars films still hold up after all these years. And in my opinion, it was 30 years ago this weekend that the best Star Wars film of them all was made.
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