Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition)
Soundtrack
RCA Victor Records, 1997
REVIEW BY: Alfredo Narvaez
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/04/2000
The late '70s - early '80s can be considered John Williams'Golden Period. Not only because of his output, but also because ofthe outstanding quality of his work. Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters Of the Third Kind, Superman: The Movie among the many. After garnering so muchpopular success and critical acclaim, one would think Williamsmight have found it easy to drop the ball here and there. To not dohis best on a score or two. Who would have noticed?
Perhaps his biggest chance for mediocrity came with thissoundtrack. After the massive triumph of the Star Wars: A New Hope score, Williams could have justrehashed the old score right back into this one. Simply use thesame themes over and over and allow the work to stagnate. Again, Irepeat: who would have noticed? By giving this score the old music,he would have appeased the fans and done the job that directorIrvin Kershner and producers Gary Kurtz and George Lucaswanted.
Instead, Williams uses the music from the first film as aspringboard for the score to The Empire Strikes Back. He takes the already-establishedthemes for Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, the Rebels, the Force andadds to their ranks with new themes and motifs. All of this worksuggests the growth of the saga from a simple good vs. evil storyto a more complex and dynamic fable.
The three new themes Williams writes are "Yoda's Theme," "HanSolo And The Princess," and "The Imperial March (Darth Vader'sTheme)." Of these, the most recognized and popular is "The ImperialMarch." If you remember, Williams wrote a small motif for Vader forthe A New Hope score - which I hope gets reintroduced sometimeduring the prequels, so it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.However, it cannot compare to the atomic blast that is "TheImperial March." It came to embody the villany of the Empire and ofall its members. So famous and popular it has become that it existsoutside of the movie just as much as it does inside - becoming astaple of college and high school marching bands.
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