Empire Strikes Back - Star Wars Episode V Review

Hmm. Creative tensions probably did crop up, but considering that Irvin Kershner was involved for over two years with Empire, it's more likely that the differences of opinion were minor. I do know this much; Lucas paid $250,000 in fines to the Director's Guild and Writer's Guild so Kershner wouldn't be penalized for the whole "no credits in the beginning" fracas, but he (Lucas) left both unions in disgust, and understandably so.

Kershner and Lucas got along very well; their collaboration was good and their friendship dated back to the days when Kersh was Lucas' instructor at USC. Thing is, Lucas got into political trouble with the Writer's Guild and the Director's Guild because he had done away with traditional "main title" credit rolls so he could do the title crawls a la 1930s serials-style. Both groups threatened to fine Kershner and Lucas for not putting credits in the beginning of the movie; Lucas paid a hefty fine, but he then couldn't hire Steven Spielberg as the director of "Jedi."

Did I happen to mention how much I love the star wars triology+? Thanks for reviewing these!

Last edited on Oct 30, 2007 at 10:15PM

I totally agree - Kershner far surpassed Lucas in the directing department. It's not Lucas's skill, as evidenced by the painfully lacking prequel trilogy.

Last edited on Oct 30, 2007 at 10:15PM