Monday, November 29, 2010

RIP Irvin Kershner, director of Empire Strikes Back

Irvin Kershner, director of Empire Strikes Back, dead at 87 | Blastr:

Image via Blastr.

'I wanted very much for the film to succeed because I knew that George was spending his own money on it. I think the critics felt that they were going to see an extension of Star Wars. In other words, they wanted another Star Wars. I decided that the potential was much greater than a rerun of Star Wars. When I finally accepted the assignment, I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film. It took a few years for the critics to catch up with the film and to see it as a fairy tale rather than a comic book.'
I think I'm hardly alone in listing Empire as my favorite of all the Star Wars movies. I didn't know, or had forgotten, he also directed Sean Connery's last outing as James Bond in Never Say Never Again which, while by no means my favorite Bond movie, is far from the worst. (Not his fault Connery was way too old to be playing Bond at that point.)
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