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I watched Star Wars endlessly on cable between the ages of five and six (the trash compactor scene stands out the most from those early viewings, as does many a Vader-fueled nightmare), and saw Empire and Jedi multiple times growing up. But before this past weekend, the last time I had seen any of the original trilogy was in the winter of 1997 when the Special Editions of each of the films graced the big screen. Two years later, I was in line for the midnight screenings of The Phantom Menace and was so underwhelmed that... I haven’t watched it since and still haven’t seen Attack of the Clones or Revenge of the Sith. Well, that’s not entirely the reason. I also got tired of Lucas’ endless tweaks to his early films (the clear sign of someone with too much money and time and power on his hands) and his dictatorial imposition that only theaters with digital projectors be allowed to screen Clones and Sith.

I understand that my adverse reaction may have been partly spurred by my sadness at how quickly the idea of physical, tactile film was being swept away (and a decade later things are pretty much at the point George wanted them to be) but I also had no strong desire to see the fifth and sixth films. I have also calculated that based on the number of times Lucas has rereleased them in my lifetime, my son can expect to see them tweaked anew somewhere in the neighborhood of six to eight times, starting with the yearly 3D retro-fittings that look to stretch out from 2012 to 2017. From a standpoint of selfishness, I am glad that Lucas is releasing them plot chronologically as this means I may yet avoid having to see the second trilogy on the big screen, before my son undoubtedly discovers all things Star Wars.

And so I found myself watching the 2006 Limited Edition DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back (not the ’97 Special Edition but the original 1980 theatrical version on Disc 2) on a crappy 22 inch screen at my father-in-law’s house this past weekend, actually having to wear my glasses as my eyes strained and complained after becoming accustomed to the 42 inch HD widescreen my wife and I bought earlier this year. I am somewhat ashamed to reveal that I only made it halfway through on my first viewing attempt and had to finish it the following morning. Since I haven’t seen both trilogies, I can’t fairly claim it as the best of the series and (also somewhat ashamedly) since I was unexpectedly underwhelmed with this first viewing in 15 years this isn’t going to be a simple singing of its praises. All I can really do is attempt to hold on to some of the glow and offer up a few thoughts on what I think about when I think about Episode V:

The Title

It has the best title in the series, even if it is really just an episode title. There is something fatalistic about it. I always envision it as something one would encounter preceding a lost B-movie on some obscure cable channel in an era before home video. Not even the co-opting of it and the idea of “star wars” in general by our 40th president dims its B&W (for it is certainly not an “in color” title) luster.

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