Director Joss Whedon gives some surprising thoughts about The Empire Strikes Back and why it cheated audiences out of a proper ending…
It seems almost like sacrilege for anyone to question or give criticism to the original Star Wars trilogy, which is regarded as some of the greatest work in science-fiction history.
If anyone has the gravitas to give a little feedback on the classic series, however, it’s current film and television icon Joss Whedon.
The man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Avengers as well as the upcoming Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show was talking about his favorite sequels recently and he mentioned time-honored classics such as The Godfather Part II and Empire Strikes Back as two of the best, but he still had issues with the second installment of the Star Wars franchise.
For anyone that needs a refresher—when Empire Strikes Back ends, Luke just found out that Darth Vader is his father after having his hand lopped off by the Dark Lord of the Sith. Han Solo is being taken back to Jabba the Hutt courtesy of Boba Fett, and everyone ends on a pretty down note.
While The Empire Strikes Back is widely regarded as the best film in the Star Wars trilogy, Whedon took issue with the non-ending in the movie, basically leaving everything up in the air as a cliffhanger and making the movie audience sit and wait three more years for the conclusion in The Return of the Jedi.
“Empire committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending,” Whedon said when speaking to EW.com. “Which at the time I was appalled by and I still think it was a terrible idea.”
It’s hard to believe anyone would speak out against anything Star Wars related from the first three films (the second three prequels are fair game), but Whedon says as a movie-goer the end of Empire Strikes Back was just a ploy to get people hooked for the third and final movie and gave no real conclusion.
Clerks Tackles the Subject of the Superior film – Empire or Jedi?
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While that technique has been used numerous times in recent films (The Matrix trilogy, Lord of the Rings, etc), Whedon wanted a better ending for Empire Strikes Back that really made it feel like it’s own complete movie.
“Well, it’s not an ending. It’s a Come Back Next Week, or in three years. And that upsets me. I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn’t end I’ll go to a French movie. That’s a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself, it can’t just build off the first one or play variations.”
Whedon still calls Empire Strikes Back one of the best sequels ever made, but felt cheated by the ending or lack thereof.
What say you Star Wars fans? Does Whedon have a point about Empire Strikes back?
