Film Year: 1980 (riff of the 2004 DVD version)
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Director: Irvin Kershener
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Alec Guinness
Rifftrax Year: 2009
Riffers: Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, Chad Vader
The Movie
*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*
Luke Skywalker takes the advice of Ju-On ghost spirit animal guide (or whatever the hell he is supposed to be) Obi-Wan Kenobi and seeks out the guidance of one of the few remaining Jedi, a puppet named Yoda. There he will train to be a Jedi Knight and challenge Darth Vader. Meanwhile Han and Leia get into wacky misadventures on their way to Cloud City, where they meet up with Han's hilariously traitorous friend Lando Calrissian.
Often considered to be the best Star Wars movie, and even as a casual viewer I don't necessarily disagree with that. The Empire Strikes Back is certainly the most well-rounded Star Wars movie of the original trilogy, even if it often seems aimless. The storyline features Luke seeking training, then he proceeds to whine about it and doesn't even finish before running off half cocked (OUR HERO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN). Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3P0 more or less provide excuse for special effects shenanigans wherever they go, and rarely ever seem to have a plan or a purpose.
But the important point to make is that in spite of the movie kind of wandering around aimlessly in search of a plot, Empire is a lot of fun. Irvin Kershner directs a more stylized film than Lucas attempted, and the film is always interesting to look at. Characters are more colorful while interactions are stronger. And of course there is the twist at the end, which took the world by storm. Even those who haven't seen the film know how it ends, which says a lot about the movies impact.
Yeah, you won't get any argument from me in calling Empire the best Star Wars movie. It certainly feels like there was no other choice to take that throne. Though the fact that every Star Wars movie in it's baseline kind of sucks in spite of itself means it really isn't hard to be top of the heap.
The Trax
Chad Vader is back with the gang and unlike Attack of the Clones he is a more prominent riffing presence in Empire Strikes Back. They utilize him fairly well in scenes where they have him dub Darth Vader's voice, though in instances where he tries to riff on other characters he comes off hit and miss. However he does get off one of my favorite lines of the riff...
"Good Luke, release your inner bitch."
Overall this riff is more of a sparring session than a full blown main event. They jump in and get a few good jabs, but overall there is very little effort to go above and beyond. There are a lot of stock jokes in here: getting stoned, farts, tangents into unrelated subjects. Some of them can be funny, though for the most part Empire falls tepid.
I still consider this a superior trax over The Phantom Menace in that I don't feel the experience crossed the line into becoming unpleasant. This is more of a casual riff that is swell for background noise while doing something else. But I do hope for more personally when I sit down to listen to one of these. Here's hoping they aren't just out of steam on this series.
Note: Yet another victim of Lucas tampering, Empire Strikes Back always for the most part seemed to get off easy. While I don't think there is anything too different between the DVD and blu-ray versions, the blu-ray does run six seconds longer. The riff is synced to the DVD, which makes that your safest bet.
Average
No comments:
Post a Comment