This is topic 'The Empire Strikes Back' turns 30 today... in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-20-2010, 06:58 PM:
 
Well, it's May 21st here in Oz so...Happy Anniversary to one of the greats.



Original trailer with Harrison Ford's voice-over.
 

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Posted by Jonathan Althaus (Member # 5042) on 05-20-2010, 09:11 PM:
 
I just bought that trailer off ebay
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-20-2010, 10:53 PM:
 
(uh-oh .... bringing up a warhorse movie again..lol)

Have to laugh now with this: While I was running the re-release of "SW" in 1979, these trailers came out to be played.

And to be original and to keep people in their seats, I spliced on this trailer (there was no green tag nonsense back then..) right before the end credits zoomed in, which I made the most fade-in approach to this trailer-like it was destined to be placed there ... and you should have heard the applause and screams from the crowds at our 1100 seat theatre suddenly anticipating this new "SW" release for the following summer of 1980.

In short, I ran all of the original "SW" movies at this one house back then ...

-Monte
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-20-2010, 11:01 PM:
 
When we ran Episode III's midnight premier I ran a Star Wars trailer reel at around 11 PM (the theater was already full of die hard SW freaks by then). It was about 30 minutes long. That trailer is one of a very few that I was missing.
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 05-21-2010, 02:07 PM:
 
Michael Coate has a very thorough look at the early days of EMPIRE STRIKES BACK over at Cinema Treasures.
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 05-21-2010, 03:26 PM:
 
30 today? It's 2 weeks and 3 days older than me.
 

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Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 05-21-2010, 04:24 PM:
 
Also turning 30 this year is the Dolby CP-200.
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 05-21-2010, 05:13 PM:
 
Back when Empire came out I was not a Star Wars fan in any capacity. I only saw the first movie all the way thru when the theatrical reissues came out, whenever that was, and I became more of a fan (but still not a fanatic). Of course I knew the "big revelation" at the end of the movie long before I actually saw it, so it was anticlimactic for me. Too bad, it would have been a great jaw-dropping moment to experience.
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-21-2010, 09:43 PM:
 
Anyone know of any mag prints in private hands? Just curious if they still exist - even though they're probably way pink by now.
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-21-2010, 10:57 PM:
 
I have a test roll of Empire from 1980 in 70mm mag...don't recall if it was pink or tone...it has definitely turned to less than optimal color.
 

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Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 05-21-2010, 11:42 PM:
 
We ran one of the few 70mm prints with no Dolby NR- and only tracks LCRS.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-22-2010, 09:59 AM:
 
I wish I could have seen The Empire Strikes Back in 70mm back during its original run. Return of the Jedi is the only one of the original trilogy I was able to see in 70mm.
 

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 05-22-2010, 10:20 AM:
 
I was the relief projectionist at the old Tyson Twin in northern VA. I we ran it for months. 70mm mag on Bauer U2's
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-22-2010, 11:21 AM:
 
Anyone run 35 mag - or see it in that format?
 

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-22-2010, 07:43 PM:
 
Well, yes and no.

I ran a 35mm Mag/Optical print for one session only...although we did not have mag heads. The 6 reels were so big I had difficulty shutting the trunks.
 

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Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 05-22-2010, 09:05 PM:
 
Would have been nice to get a re-release for the 30th anniversaries of the trilogy even if it was a limited run. I haven't seen Empire on the big screen. If anyone has a print in the UK I have two cinemas we can use

That trailer is great. When did the voiceover disappear on trailers for event films? I only ever hear them now on soppy comedies.
 

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Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 05-24-2010, 09:05 PM:
 

quote: John Wilson

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I ran a 35mm Mag/Optical print... The 6 reels were so big...

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quote: "Happy 30th, Empire"

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"Empire" was a six-reel movie, even though its running time was greater than two hours. Reels are rarely longer than twenty minutes, and so a movie a few minutes over two hours typically would be on seven reels. ("Empire" was 124 minutes; the Special Edition was even longer — and still six reels — at 127 minutes.)

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