Happy B-Day, Empire

Hard to believe, but it is thirty years to the day that I first sat in the Galvez Mall movie theater (now gone - the mall and theater) and marveled at The Empire Strikes Back. Although I was twelve years old that distant summer (12 years old seems so much older today), a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was completely into it. Darth Vader was still frightening and evil, and amazingly, nobody knew he was Luke Skywalker's father. A secret like that wouldn't have survived today.

And naively, innocently, I clearly remember walking out of the theater thinking somehow, Han Solo was really frozen in carbomite and in the hands of the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Empire had a profound impact on me, and it is still the movie I say is my favorite film of all time if ever asked...I am not ashamed to admit (perhaps I should be) that the cliffhanger ending still gets me choked up. It's just so beautiful and poignant! Perhaps it's just John Williams' musical score, but I doubt any film will ever so affect me again.