Star Wars 1980

I am showing the Star Wars films to one of my daughters (she asked).

I don’t want to go blow by blow, but it’s an interesting experience. Especially given that she’s never seen them, it’s a chance to “view them with new eyes.”

The first twenty minutes of The Empire Strikes Back reminded me of that halcyon period of Star Wars fandom. At the time, I hadn’t even seen Star Wars—I was three in 1977—but I knew the story from the Storybook, comic books, toys, “movie on record” and all the assorted merchandise.

I don’t think anybody today can really appreciate, as kids, how much we were invested in Luke, Han and Leia after the first film.

The bantering, the friction, the affection, the burgeoning love triangle—it was all so intriguing. And, of course, Harrison Ford as Han Solo was the coolest guy ever.

The funny thing is that it’s really only in the first twenty minutes of The Empire Strikes Back that that relationship is allowed to play in its original form, after the events of the first film.

We had been reading all the new comic book adventures, but finally, at last, the actual actors were portraying their characters in new scenes. But, if you think about it, there’s only one scene of them all together—in the infirmary.

After that, they split up and when Luke does his Jedi training, it changes his personality.

But those opening scenes are so much fun. And I don’t think it’s just nostalgia, the actors and creators really did capture something warm and magical in those interactions, however limited they may be.