Seriously, I just had to; how could I not? Who doesn't love Star Wars? Unfortunately, I actually know a decent few who don't, but... let's not talk about them. It was definitely interesting trying to watch one of my favorite series through an artistic lens, and I'll admit, at times I discarded it completely in order to better enjoy the movies, but here are some things I managed to gather.
First of all, you should know that I watched "The Empire Strikes Back", because it's far and away my favorite. As a child, I'd seen "crazy jungle world environment" (Return of the Jedi) way too many times in various other shows, and the desert/hardcore sci-fi environments of "A New Hope" never really struck me as awe-inspiring, just interesting. For whatever reason, I'd never seen an ice-themed environment/planet before, so the sheer novelty of Hoth just had me hooked. And you can't forget the Cloud City either; that whole bit was just gorgeous. The sheer amount of thought and care that radiates from every detail of Cloud City is almost enough to make me drop out of Ringling and pursue movie set design as a career.
Being more familiar with the creative process since joining the ranks of visual artists, I've been able to appreciate the environments of the Star Wars films to an extent that baffles me still. I always thought they were cool, sure, but to just pull something that feels so real and unified out of nothing like that, and have it feel completely original and owned by that franchise, distant from anything the viewer has seen before? Jaw-droppingly impressive.
And let's not forget about the writing. Whether it be for the cheesy, almost campy nature of the lines or the artisan perfection of them, I believe that episode five stands out among its colleagues as the champion as far as script is concerned. Leia and Han's arguments in the beginning of the film feel genuine and actually tempers the viewer's interest in their relationship, whereas, if you'll recall, the spats between Padme and Anakin in the prequels are little more than melodramatic drivel reminiscent of a 90's teen drama. And Lando Calrissian's betrayal of Han at Cloud City? Completely threw me the first time I saw it, not to mention his double-betrayal of the empire further down the road. And of course, I can't talk about script without touching on the little fact that "The Empire Strikes Back" contains one of the single most iconic lines ever spoken in cinema history; I don't want to spoil anything, though, so I'll leave it at that. Best. Space Opera. Ever.
--William Avery
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