When the Great Demon King Piccolo was released upon the world, he broadcasted a message on television declaring May 9th as “Piccolo Day”…and promptly celebrated by announcing his ownership over the planet. Since then, May 9th has been officially recognised as “Goku Day” but, to make things simpler, I’m using this as a good excuse to celebrate all things Dragon Ball and spend this month taking a look back at one of the franchise’s most popular villains: Broly.
Released: March 1994 Director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi Distributor: Toei Company Budget: ¥14.5 million Stars: Kyle Herbert, Vic Mignogna, Kara Edwards, Laura Bailey, Robert McCollum, Sonny Strait, and Sean Schemmel
The Plot: Whilst searching for the seven magical Dragon Balls with Videl (Edwards), Goten (ibid) and Trunks (Bailey) accidentally awaken the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly (Mignogna), who crash-landed to Earth after escaping the destruction of New Vegeta. With Goku (Schemmel) dead, it’s up to the Saiyan children, and Goku’s oldest son, Gohan (Herbert), to confront Broly and end his threat once and for all.
The Background: After debuting in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump back in 1984, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball spawned not only an anime of its own but also a sequel series, Dragonball Z, in which series protagonist Goku had grown up to become a superhuman defender of the world. After being licensed by Funimation back in 1996, Dragonball Z largely dominated the lives of a generation of kids who were exposed to its depictions of good and evil and wacky, otherworldly concepts. A series of feature-length animated films accompanied Dragonball Z; though produced without the direct involvement of Toriyama, and thus largely considered non-canon, the films did introduce us to Broly, the hulking, terrifyingly powerful Super Saiyan of legend. The character became a near-instant hit, which no doubt contributed not only to him being only the secondDragonball Z movie villain to star in more than one film but also his multiple appearances in videogames and being the only movie villain to eventually be integrated in Toriyama’s recognised canon.
The Review: Broly – Second Coming opens to show a Saiyan pod ominously crash-landing on Earth. Its passenger is, of course, a seriously wounded Broly, who is quickly frozen and entombed in ice. Apparently, mere moments before the destruction of New Vegeta in the last movie, Broly was able to make his way to a Saiyan craft and escape; quite how his pod knew to come to Earth isn’t really explained (I assume Paragus (Dartanian Nickelback) pre-programmed all of his crafts to head there since it was his goal to invade the planet, after all) and, while it is a bit lame to have Broly’s injuries not be as fatal as they appeared in the last movie, it’s no more lame than him being defeated by a simple punch. We quickly join Goten and Trunks, who are searching for the seven Dragon Balls in order to summon the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, for Gohan’s girlfriend, Videl. Their motivation for this literally extends to simply being that Videl wishes to meet the dragon, Trunks wants his own amusement park, and Goten wants to live in a land of cakes and ice cream; the quest for the Dragon Balls has often been arbitrary and played for laughs but you’d think the group could think of something a little more useful to wish for.
Videl, Goten, and Trunks are searching for the Dragon Balls to make arbitrary wishes.
The group stumbles upon a village of locals, which is largely destitute despite the abundance of crystals scattered across the landscape. According to the village shaman, Maloja (McCollum) they are under constant threat from a monster that demands human sacrifice; Videl is characteristically sceptical but the village elder, Zalador (Grant James), attests that Maloja’s demands are the only way to appease their mysterious monster. Noticing that Maloja has a Dragon Ball around his neck, Trunks offers to take care of their problem and the three of them lay out an elaborate feast to lure the monster out. When Goten is unable to resist his Saiyan hunger, he gets a slap from Videl that sends him bawling; his cries echo through the mountain and awaken Broly, who was traumatised by the cries of Goten’s father as a child. The villager’s monster turns out to be little more than a dinosaur, a common creature in the Dragon Ball universe, which the Saiyan kids quickly taunt and make short work of, much to Videl’s chagrin. They then roast the dinosaur’s remains and return to the village as heroes, receiving the Dragon Ball for their troubles and disgracing Maloja. Their good time is soon interrupted, however, when Broly emerges from his frozen tomb and begins destroying the countryside; still baring the scars and wounds from his battle with Goku, and driven to insanity in his desire to kill the Saiyan who has haunted his nightmares, Broly violently attacks Goten (who naturally closely resembles his father) and the others.
Broly goes right for Goten, mistaking him for Goku and decimating anyone in his way.
Immediately outclassed, the Saiyan children are little more than play toys for Broly’s raw strength. However, while Broly is attacking them and searching for them in their many periods of hiding, they manage to locate the Four-Star Dragon Ball, the last one they need to summon Shenron, and make a plan to hold out against Broly long enough to call upon the dragon for help .Sensing the battle, Gohan rushes to join the fight and is horrified to find Broly still alive. Well, maybe “mildly aggravated” would be a better way of putting it as even Gohan, despite having witnessed Broly’s bloodthirsty and brutal nature, seems more annoyed by Broly’s presence than fearful. Equally outclassed, Gohan is unable to best the Legendary Super Saiyan, even when transforming into a Super Saiyan 2 and throwing everything he has at Broly and with Goten by his side. With certain death looming their way, they desperately wish for more power (specifically, in Goten’s case, for his Dad’s presence) and, finally, the Dragon Balls decide to activate, bringing Goku’s spirit to the battlefield and joining his sons in obliterating Broly with his own ki sphere.
The Nitty-Gritty: Videl is just as pig-headed as always but, thankfully, her role in the film is relatively short. It’s amusing to see her charge at Broly head-on but at least the film never depicts her as having a chance at going toe-to-toe with the Legendary Super Saiyan. One scene that is a source of constant amusement, however, is when Krillin (Strait) impersonates and imitates Piccolo (Christopher R. Sabat) to rescue Gohan, proving that Krillin alone is all the comic relief a Dragonball Z movie ever needs. Goten and Trunks are as annoying as ever in their arrogance and stupidity; they constantly avoid serious harm simply by virtue of being little kids and having been basically born Super Saiyans. Realistically, they would never stand a chance against Broly based on his power level from the last movie, especially at this point when they haven’t even mastered fusion yet.
Even Gohan is no match for Broly’s raw power, which really isn’t all the surprising…
As expected, the children care more about food, peeing, sleeping, and looking cool rather than actually being capable fighters, lucking into a lot of their advantageous positions due to dumb luck and the raw power of their Super Saiyan forms rather than skill or strategy. The same largely applies to Gohan, who was continuously noted to be far weaker as a young adult compared to when he destroyed Cell (Dameon Clarke) as a teenager. Indeed, Gohan’s power at this point was presumably far lower than his father’s when he fought Broly, and Goku could only defeat the Super Saiyan through the power of his allies. Because of this, the battles against Broly lack the impact and danger of those in the last film; rather than seeing Dragonball Z’s most powerful characters helpless and beaten to within an inch of their lives by this monstrous new foe, Broly – Second Coming is more about the remaining protagonists trying to survive until Shenron decides to hear their wish and summon Goku to the battlefield.
A triple Father-Son Kamehamehais a fitting end for Broly.
As a result, Broly’s power and menace seems far less impressive this time around; injured and driven to a near-mindless rage, he even seems leaner and less imposing that in his debut appearance. Though he makes short work of the children, and Goten, it’s nowhere near as impressive as the way he no-sold the combined attacks of Goku, Vegeta (Sabat), and Future Trunks (Eric Vale), characters all far more powerful than those that appear in this movie. Sadly, despite his raw power and constant rage, Broly is a bit of a joke in this movie; he is easily outwitted and eluded by the kids (despite the fact that he should be able to sense their ki) and even gets pissed on by Trunks at one point and still fails to live up to even half of the threat he posed in the last film. Once Broly finally powers up to his “Legendary Super Saiyan” form, much of his former glory begins to return as he pummels Goten mercilessly, to the point where he is forced to beg for his father’s help. This, of course, leads to a pretty decent call-back to the iconic “Father-Son Kamehameha” that finally destroyed Cell as Goku joins his sons, in spirit, and, after Trunks follows his own father’s example and lands a minor blow that is enough to distract Broly, the three Saiyans vaporise Broly once and for all. It’s a great moment and trumps Broly’s disappointing end from the last movie, finally giving him a fitting death, but the entire film is a poor imitation of Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan.
The Summary: Broly – Second Coming could have been so much more than it ended up being; thanks to the time period at which the film takes place (essentially some time after the end of the “Cell Games Saga”), we’re left following Goten and Trunks for the majority of the film’s runtime and, biased though I may be, I never found these characters that interesting; they’re an annoyance at the best of times and aggravating at the worst, constantly messing about and acting like…well, spoiled, arrogant little kids. I would have much preferred that the film focus on Gohan and his personal battle against Broly in a recreation of his battle against Cell; since much of the film borrows from these recognisable elements anyway, I feel it would have been far stronger if it had gone down this path and included Vegeta, Goten, and Trunks as supporting characters rather than not at all and primary protagonists, respectively. Either way, Broly is a neutered threat; he lacks most of the imposing menace and destructive power so brilliantly showcased in his debut film and seems to struggle against a handful of opponents who are far weaker than those he faced last time, making for a bittersweet reunion with one of Dragon Ball’s more ferocious villains.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
Did you enjoy Broly – Second Coming? How do you feel it holds up compared to Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan? How do you feel about Goten and Trunks and the missed opportunity to have Gohan become the series’ main protagonist after Goku’s death? Do you agree that Broly was severely neutered in this film or do you, perhaps, rank Broly – Second Coming quite high compared to other Dragon Ball movies? Whatever you think about this film, feel free to share your memories of Dragon Ball in the comments below.
Released: July 2000 Director: Bryan Singer Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $75 million Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Famke Janssen, Ray Park, Halle Berry, and Bruce Davison
The Plot: After discovering her potentially-lethal Mutant powers, Marie D’Ancanto/Rogue (Paquin) goes on the run and crosses path with James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine (Jackman). When they are attacked by the henchmen of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (McKellen), they are rescued by Professor Charles Xavier’s (Stewart) “X-Men” and introduced to a nigh-inevitable conflict between Man and Mutant.
The Background: The X-Men have been a staple of Marvel Comics since their introduction way back in 1963. Alongside long-time collaborator Jack Kirby, Stan Lee created a team of hip, young teens who had a built-in excuse for having their various and fantastic powers; they were Mutants, born with a latent “X-Gene” that activated at the onset of puberty, since their debut, more and more Mutants have appeared and, in some cases, dominated Marvel Comics, with the superhuman offshoot of humanity standing in for a variety of social issues including oppressed creeds, genders, and minorities everywhere through their deep and complex stories. Perhaps the greatest impact of the X-Men outside of comics was the popular and much-renowned animated series produced between 1992 and 1997 but development of an X-Men movie began as far back as 1984 and struggled to get off the ground for quite some time. After the success of the X-Men animated series, however, 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights and development of a live-action movie truly began to take shape. At the time, superhero movies were a bit dead in the water; Batman & Robin(Schumacher, 1997) had been a devastating critical failure and, while Blade(Norrington, 1998) had proven successful and lit the fuse for the explosion of superhero movies that were to come, it was far too dark and violent to capture a wider audience and we were still a couple of years away from Spider-Man(Raimi, 2002) truly capturing that intended audience. So, to say X-Men was a risk is not an understatement; featuring a cast of relative unknowns, bolstered by Stewart and McKellen’s classical training and professionalism, X-Men was a risky venture that paid off dividends, earning over $290 million, catapulting breakout star Hugh Jackman to superstardom, and kicking off one of the most profitable film franchises ever seen that brought comic book movies into undeniable prominence.
The Review: X-Men begins with one of the most striking and affecting scenes in a superhero movie, one that instantly grounds and legitimises the film and its intentions. It’s 1944 in Nazi-occupied Poland and a young Erik Lehnsherr (Brett Morris) is being marched into an Auschwitz concentration camp and, most likely, his cruel death. Separated from his parents, the pain and trauma activate his Mutant ability to control metals and immediately you know everything you need to know about the future Magneto’s motivations: he has seen first-hand the atrocities of humankind and the oppression of his people and he has vowed to never again allow himself or his people to suffer at the hands of “Homo sapiens and their guns”.
Senator Kelly advocates for Mutant registration to keep them regulated and under control.
Director Bryan Singer’s approach to Marvel’s colourful and bombastic comics characters is to ground them in a realistic world, one set in the “not too distant future” and strikingly similar to ours. That means relatable characters, realistic costumes, and an abundance of science-fiction over the more fantastical elements of the comics. As a result, when the film jumps ahead in time, we’re thrust immediately into the ongoing political debate regarding Mutants. Senator Robert Kelly (Davison) is adamant that Mutants need to register with the American government so that their abilities and level of threat can be established for the safety and security of all Americans, however his motivations are so pig-headed and blinkered that they can only be from a place of extreme fear and prejudice.
Jackman makes an immediate impression in the role of Wolverine.
With the threat of Mutant registration hanging in the air, the now adult Lehnsherr decides to finally put into motion a plan to level the playing field. He has assembled a group of like-minded Mutants, the Brotherhood, and constructed a machine that…somehow…uses his magnetic powers to generate an energy field that will trigger unexpected mutations in ordinary humans. As this machine drains Magneto’s powers almost to the point of death, he sends Sabretooth (Mane) to capture Rogue, whose mutation allows her to absorb the powers of other Mutants, so that he can sacrifice her life to make his point. However, thanks to the way the narrative is framed, it initially appears as though Magneto’s target is Logan, a Mutant with a superhumanly fast healing factor, heightened animalistic senses, and an indestructible metal called Adamantium surgically bonded to his skeleton (and claws). Suffering from amnesia and content to fight for money, Logan is unwittingly brought into the world of the X-Men when he and Rogue are saved by Xavier’s pupils; initially, he is a loner with no interest in their cause or the coming war but he develops a soft spot for Rogue and comes to begrudgingly team up with the X-Men in order to save her.
The complex relationship between Xavier and Magneto forms a central focus of the film.
Once Logan is brought to Xavier’s School for the Gifted, the movie really blows open; suddenly, Stewart’s dulcet, soothing tones are expositing information in easy to digest bites as the lore and scope of this world are related to us, the audience, through our two surrogates (Logan and Rogue). The school is built into Xavier’s childhood mansion and is a public front for the massively elaborate tools and resources of the X-Men; they even have a military-style jet under the basketball court. It’s a bit crazy when you stop and think about it but it’s probably best not to and just accept that, somehow, Xavier was able to build all his X-related stuff either without arousing suspicion or by wiping the minds of countless contractors. Central to the film, and Xavier’s exposition, is the relationship between Xavier and Magneto; though they share very little screen time together, Stewart and McKellen’s presence and gravitas instantly elevate the film above many of its peers. Xavier’s dialogue and the way he talks to and about Magneto really develops the sense of a fractured relationship, a long brotherly friendship destroyed by their clashing ideals. There’s a respect and an admiration there and it’s clear that they both appreciate how powerful the other is and have no real desire to fight with each other but will do so, if necessary.
The other X-Men sadly don’t get much to do or much in the way of character development.
Despite being an ensemble piece, the film’s breakout character was, of course, Wolverine. Jackman’s natural charisma and impressive physique and commitment to the role saw him return to the character again and again, dominating Fox’s X-Men movies and largely accounting for the success of the franchise. Despite being far taller than the character is usually portrayed, Jackman certainly looks the part and captures the tortured, animalistic spirit of the role. Haunted by nightmares and struggling with his true origins and identity, Wolverine is initially dismissive and antagonistic towards Xavier’s ideals and his pupils; he laughs at their Mutant code-names, mocks the idea of training and preparing Mutants to defend and live alongside humanity, and immediately clashes with the X-Men’s field leader, Scott Summers/Cyclops (Marsden). Sadly, Cyclops, the characteristically straight-laced and officious leader of the X-Men, doesn’t really get a lot to do here. He mainly stands around, looks cute, and bickers with Wolverine over his unpredictability and the fact that he obviously has the hots for Cyclops’ wife, Jean Grey (Janssen). And did you know that Halle Berry is in this film? She plays Ororo Munroe/Storm, a Mutant who can control the weather and whose main purpose is to guilt-trip Logan into picking a side, providing fog cover to mask the approach of the X-Jet (which doesn’t even work as Magneto knows it’s them…), and deliver one of the worst lines in movie history.
As visually impressive as the Brotherhood is, they’re largely silent and underdeveloped antagonists.
Truthfully, the main X-Men team gets quite shafted by the film’s bloated cast but the Brotherhood suffer even more. Sabretooth is little more than a growling bruiser; nothing is made of his connection to Wolverine, reducing him to Magneto’s muscle rather than the sadistic and murderous character he is in the comics. Toad (Park) is generally a silent character with little going for him other than his little character/body quirks and impressive martial arts abilities. And then there’s Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Romijn-Stamos), Mangeto’s chief blue-tinted, shape-changing, super sexy henchman who would also go on to be a breakout character of the films. Sadly, however, we learn almost nothing about these characters, their motivations, or their origins and they’re all largely silent. They work as parallels to the X-Men and allow for some tame, but pretty engaging fight scenes but who are they? What drove them to join Magneto? We’re not told as there’s just so many characters and the script and runtime cannot accommodate them all.
The Nitty-Gritty: I think one of the issues with X-Men is the presence of two audience surrogates; the dynamic between Logan and Rogue is interesting, though, and it almost feels as though the film would have worked better if it was them on the run from the Brotherhood and being assisted by, like, two of the X-Men and only being brought to the school at the end of the film. At the time, though, this narrative choice worked really well for introducing audiences to the world of the X-Men and setting the blueprint for the sequels and spin-offs that were to follow.
The colourful costumes are dropped for a uniform look that emphasises style over practicality.
Unfortunately, X-Men came out at a time when Hollywood was still cashing in on, and aping the success of, the action and stylistic aesthetic of The Matrix(The Wachowski Brothers, 1999). As a result, rather than the colourful costumes of the comics, the X-Men are decked out in impractical (but cool-looking) leather suits. I actually didn’t mind this at the time and still don’t now; the uniformity of the X-costumes actually works to show their unity and ties into Logan’s narrative arc: he starts off as a dissociated loner but, by the end, suits up and fights alongside the X-Men as one of the team. I’d still like to see more comic accurate costumes in the eventual X-Men reboot but I grew up with Michael Keaton’s Batman and an abundance of black, cool-but-impractical leather costumes so I’m largely okay with that choice.
Many of the film’s effects look a little dated these days.
Some of the effects, however, haven’t aged too well; the weird shimmering field Magneto uses to create Mutants looks quite janky, as does Mystique’s shape-shifting effects but they held up quite well when the film was first released and other effects, like Wolverine’s claws and Cyclops’ optic blast, still hold up really well thanks to an abundance of wire work and practical, on-set effects. The film’s themes still resonate, as well. As I said, Magneto’s motivations are very real and relatable and the disturbingly fitting end of Senator Kelly is surprisingly affecting. Altered by Magneto’s machine, Kelly mutates into a fish-like quasi-Mutant but, as his cells begin to deteriorate, he horrifically half-drowns before degenerating into liquid right before Storm’s eyes. It’s a terrifying visual, one that seems far too harsh a punishment even considering Kelly’s prejudices but there is some solace to be gained from seeing Kelly humbled at his end and turning to a Mutant for comfort.
The Summary: X-Men works really well as an introduction to the world of Mutants; it grounds its narrative and action in a world not too far removed from our own, which allows it to be grounded and based in some kind of reality so that its more flamboyant, “comic book” elements can be introduced in a way that makes sense. Yet, it’s not a perfect film; there’s a lot of characters here, many of which are left completely one dimensional or underdeveloped. Further sequels would fail to address this for many of these characters, retroactively casting a shadow on X-Men for not doing a better job of dividing its time amongst its large cast a little better. Yet, Stewart, McKellen, and Jackman shine all the brighter as a result of this; the other characters are almost inconsequential compared to their charisma, screen presence, and individual and connected stories. X-Men establishes the rules of its world quite well and definitely laid the foundation for expansion but I can’t help but think that, with the benefit of hindsight and taking into account the lessons of the many X-Men sequels and spin-offs that we’ve had since, that we could the same concept done better in the near future.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
What are your thoughts on the first X-Men movie? Were you excited for it when it first released? Do you feel it still holds up or do you agree that it’s seen better days? Which X-character was your favourite? How would you like to see a reboot of the franchise go down? How are you celebrating X-Men Day this month? Whatever you think, feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions on X-Men below and check out my other X-Men articles on the site.
To commemorate the culmination of their long-running and successful X-Men movies, 20th Century Fox declared May 13th as “X-Men Day”, a day to celebrate all things Mutant and the X-Men, Marvel’s iconic collection of superpowered beings who fight to protect a world that hates and fears them. To mark the occasion this year, I’ll be reviewing the original X-Men trilogy every Thursday from tomorrow to see how they hold up on a repeat viewing.
Story Title: “X-Men” Published: 1 September 1963 Writer: Stan Lee Artist: Jack Kirby
The Background: By 1963, Marvel Comics were riding a wave of success thanks to characters like the Fantastic Four, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and, of course, Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Faced with the prospect of having to come up with more costumed heroes and needing a way to quickly and easily explain their powers, Stan Lee came up with the idea of “Mutants”, ordinary people who developed extraordinary powers once they hit puberty. Alongside long-time collaborator Jack Kirby, Lee created the concept of “The Mutants”, teenagers who were born with extraordinary abilities, but was asked to retool the concept with a new title: The X-Men, with the titular superheroes being students at a special school to hone their abilities into a force for good. Unlike superhero teams like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, the X-Men were hated and feared by the general public for their powers and what they represented: the next step in human evolution. In this way, Mutants were used by Lee and Kirby to tackle variety of social issues, most notably racism. Although initial sales of The X-Men lagged compared to other Marvel titles and the comic was cancelled by issue sixty-six, a 1975 revival, in which an international team of Mutants joined the title, breathed new life into the concept and the X-Men have been an enduring and popular team in comics ever since, influencing an entire generation with a much-lauded animated series in the nineties and, of course, a series of massively successful live-action movies.
The Review: “X-Men” had quite a difficult prospect ahead of it that most other comic book origins didn’t at the time and that is that the story had to introduce an entirely new concept (Mutants) as well as seven new characters and the concept of the X-Men all in one issue. As a result, it’s quite a rushed and underwhelming issue in a lot of ways and none more so than in its first few pages. The issue opens with Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X sitting and brooding in the study of his “exclusive private school”; he’s just sitting there, all casual, and then suddenly sends a mental command out to his students, the X-Men, to report for class immediately. His pupils obediently obey, with each one entering the frame almost right away and in a way that immediately shows off their powers and abilities: Warren Worthington III/The Angel flies in on Angel’s wings, Hank McCoy/The Beast (not quite his furry blue self yet and resembling more of a muscular hunchback or ape-like man) bounds in through the window, Bobby Drake/Iceman (here resembling a living snowman more than a man of ice) slides down an ice pole that is connected to nothing but appears to be attached to one of Angel’s wings, and “Slim” Summers/Cyclops…runs in from the background, indicating how useless he is.
While Cyclops and Angel dote on Xavier, Iceman and Beast wind each other up.
In the very next panel, Cyclops and Angel, like the suck-ups they are, dutifully attend to Xavier’s comfort by adjusting his chair while Iceman and Beast get into a bit of banter that sees Beast more than a little perturbed by his team mate freezing up his arm. Iceman taunts Beast, and his fellow X-Men, showcasing an arrogant, free-spirited approach to his powers and abilities that immediately brings to mind Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Beast, with his large frame and quick temper, is equally reminiscent of Ben Grimm/The Thing). Angel keeps the two from coming to blows and Xavier orders the teens to begin their training exercise under Cyclops’ tutelage. Each of the Mutants is ordered to perform a specific task within a short time frame to demonstrate their powers and the control they have over their abilities: Beast expertly grabs a taut wire with his toes, spins himself around at an unbelievable speed, and then ricochets off the walls of the training room (not quite the Danger Room yet) before showcasing his superhuman balance and coordination (though he does overshoot on the final test). Angel (who exhibits a casual racism towards Homo sapiens) is up next, dodging jets of flame, crushing weights, and spinning blades with his expert agility and coordination but is momentarily stunned when a “sudden sound concussion” threatens to knock him out of the air. He recovers, learning a lesson in humility and also taking another step towards mastering hovering, all while Xavier mentally commands and praises his abilities.
Cyclops is easily able to subdue and best his team mates even when they outnumber him.
Iceman, impatient and frustrated, decides to throw a tantrum, believing that Xavier is going easy on him since he’s a little younger than the others. Xavier stresses patience but Iceman, ever the hot-headed and immature youth, decides to goof off and dress himself up as a snowman. At the last second, Iceman realises that this was all part of Xavier’s test of his reflexes as Iceman is forced to whip up a shield of ice to deflect a massive weighted ball that Xavier commands the Beast to throw right at his frozen comrade’s head! At this point, we’ve yet to see what Cyclops is capable of; up until now, he’s simply operated the controls of the training machine and supervised the drills of his team mates. Unimpressed with Iceman and Beast’s lackadaisical attitude to their training, he goads them into combat and showcases his own unique talent, almost blasting Beast through the wall with his optic blasts. Although Iceman encases himself in a thick ice cube, Cyclops easily breaks through it and, when all three of his fellow Mutants attempt to subdue him, Cyclops easily keeps them at bay with his red eye beams and physical ability, proving that he is, perhaps, the most powerful and capable of the X-Men.
Jean exhibits her impressive telekinetic abilities to quiet her condescending peers.
Satisfied with the abilities of his pupils, Xavier immediately calls and end to their training and rough-housing to introduce them to a new pupil, “a most attractive young lady”, which immediately sends the teens (with the curious exception of Iceman…at least, the dialogue makes it seem like it’s Iceman but he’s leering over her later in the story so who really knows?) into an excited frenzy as they leer at her from the window of Xavier’s study. The girl is, of course, Jean Grey, who has arrived more out of sheer curiosity than anything else since Xavier, apparently, didn’t give her any details prior to her arrival. He reveals that his school is actually a sanctuary for Mutants, those who posses “an extra power”, and home to his accordingly-named “X-Men”. Xavier introduces Jean to her new team mates, immediately inducting her into the school and onto the X-Men under the oft-forgotten and frankly lazy codename “Marvel Girl”. The boys, however, are unimpressed; seeing nothing unique about Jean, they regard her with scepticism and patronise her simply for being a gorgeous redhead. When “Slim” brings her a chair in which to sit, she shuts their condescending attitude right down by demonstrating her telekinetic powers, which are more than enough to move objects and fend off Hank’s creepy and inappropriate advances.
Magneto issues his threat against humanity and plots to take control of Cape Citadel.
With Jean part of the team, Xavier begins to divulge his backstory and the purpose of the X-Men: Xavier (who speculates that he was “possibly the first [Mutant]” since his parents worked on the “A-Bomb project”), recognising that “normal people” feared and distrusted him for his mental abilities, decided to set up a school to train Mutants in using their powers for the betterment of humanity, to help improve human/Mutant relations, and to protect the world from “evil Mutants”. The story then introduces us to one of these “evil Mutants”, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, who loudly monologues his own beliefs that humanity needs to be wiped out in favour of Mutants. Magneto demonstrates his incredible power of magnetism to destroy “the mightiest rocket of all”, turn a machine gun against a group of soldiers, and terrorise an army base by sending a tank amok before issuing an ultimatum to the Cape Citadel army base and calling for their immediate surrender. When the humans defy Magneto’s order, he destroys another of their missiles and then walks right into Cape Citadel! Garbed in a magnificently regal red costume and elaborate helmet, Magneto emits magnetic waves that render the soldier’s weapons useless and repels them with pure magnetic energy. Despite the General’s bluster, Magneto is easily able to overpower him and the entirety of his guards and lay claim to the base to fulfil his first objective towards his lofty goals of Mutant domination. Back at Xavier’s school, Bobby, Hank, and Warren’s disturbing leering of Jean is interrupted by another of the Professor’s mental summons; having heard of Magneto’s takeover of Cape Citadel, he orders his X-Men to confront the Master of Magnetism and defeat him in the first true test of their abilities. Seems a little unfair to Jean since the X-Men have been training together for some time and she literally just joined the team so she has no idea of their tactics and no experience of working alongside them as a team so she’s at a severe disadvantage even compared to the untested X-Men.
Magneto is defeated and the X-Men earn the respect and admiration of the army and their mentor.
Rather than dramatically flying to the base using the X-Jet on campus, the X-Men are driven to the airport in Xavier’s Rolls Royce and then spirited to their destination by a private jet controlled by Xavier’s “thought impulses”. Upon arrival, the X-Men find the army unable to penetrate Magneto’s magnetic force field and, driven to desperation, the General is willing to allow the X-Men fifteen minutes to attempt to breach Magneto’s defences. The soldiers are stunned by the X-Men’s abilities, which they thoughtlessly use to cut a path through their ranks and approach the shield, just in case you forgot what these new heroes are capable of. Thanks to Cyclops’ incredible optic blasts, the X-Men are able to easily breach Magneto’s barrier; the assault causes physical pain and a debilitating effect on Magneto so, in anger, he launches the base’s missile defences against the X-Men. Thanks to the team’s unique abilities and intense training, though, they’re easily able to avoid and dispatch the missiles, with even Marvel Girl pulling her weight with her telekinetic powers. Though impressed with their abilities, Magneto nevertheless takes immense pleasure in proving is power and superiority over them even when the X-Men are able to counter each of his attacks: when Magneto crushes Angel beneath a pile of junk, Cyclops blasts it away; when he sends a burning trolley of rocket fuel their way, Iceman shields them with an “igloo shield”. Magneto is then caught off-guard by the X-Men’s persistence and, after taking a blast from Cyclops, decides that an immediate and tactical retreat is in order; he levitates away using “magnetic repulsion” and uses another force field to keep the Mutants from following him. With Magneto scared away, the X-Men earn the respect and gratitude of the General as well as the praise and congratulations of their mentor,
The Summary: Even taking into account the way Marvel operated back in the 1960s, “X-Men” is a very disappointing debut story for Marvel’s premier Mutant team. The art is stark, simple, and not very eye-catching or inspiring, with only Magneto really impressing in his design and abilities, and the dialogue is full of some of the worst clichés of comics at the time. The X-Men are constantly talking, generally always boldly exclaiming their names and abilities in a constant reminder of who they are and what they can do; this is indicative of comics of the time, as superheroes constantly felt the need to remind readers of these things (and their origins), but it’s especially annoying and off-putting here as it not only happens constantly but is the main thrust of the issue’s narrative. For a comic about the debut of a bombastic and exciting group of superpowered teenagers, barely anything happens throughout the issue as copious panels must be used to showcase these new characters and their abilities and to explain to the reader what Mutants are. I can understand it but it does interfere with the action and pace of the story and, ironically, would be a consistent issue in subsequent stories and arcs in future X-Men comics and spin-offs; even to this day I find X-Men comics quite off-putting due to the sheer amount of characters, dialogue, and dense lore that is packed into every issue and I pity anyone that tries to break into X-Men on a whim!
Jean must endure a lot of uncomfortable scepticism, leering, and comments from her team mates.
I can forgive the out-dated slang and even Marvel cutting corners on characterisation by supplanting the personalities of the Fantastic Four into their new team but it’s very hard to forgive the treatment of Jean Grey; like Susan Storm/Invisible Girl and even Janet van Dyne/The Wasp before her, Jean is constantly patronised, met with condescending comments, and leered over by the X-Men a frankly disgusting amount. Again, times were different back then, but Jean’s narrative is so simple it’s almost insulting: the boys are sceptical of her because she’s a girl but even when she demonstrates her powers they still treat her as little more than eye-candy, meaning she must not only prove herself as a capable X-Man but also constantly strive to be seen as a capable individual regardless of her gender. Still, at least she shows a bit of gumption and puts the horny teenagers in their place. Each of the X-Men gets a chance to showcase their personalities, which are as distinct as their powers, but some are more interesting and unique than others. Why should I care about Iceman being an arrogant, hot-tempered show-off when Johnny Storm already did it better? We learn next to nothing about Angel except that he’s a bit of a bigot towards humans and Beast is far from the eloquent, educated voice of reason we know him as today; instead, he’s just a Thing knock-off who is just as immature and foolhardy as Iceman. Cyclops, meanwhile, is the straight-laced teacher’s pet of the team; he gets a chance to show off how formidable his powers and abilities are, proving that he can best all of the X-Men even when they gang up on him, but he’s not an especially fun or interesting character since he’s all about adhering to Xavier’s rules and taking their training seriously.
Despite Magneto’s incredible power, he is defeated with ridiculous ease!
Xavier is also something of an enigma; we learn a bit about his background and his motivations and his cause is certainly a just one but he comes across as a stern and strict teacher, issuing orders and expecting them to be followed immediately, without question, and to the letter. His school is also noticeably light on students, meaning that he’s literally been training his X-Men to be superheroes rather than educating an assortment of Mutants for a variety of reasons, and he seems like a very secretive, devious individual since he freely reads people’s thoughts, projects his thoughts into the minds of others, and recruits Jean without her even understanding what she’s signing up for. Even Magneto, clearly the most visually interesting character, is little more than a rip-off of Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom; he loves to monologue, is egotistical and brazen, and relishes in demonstrating his superior powers at every opportunity. Yet, despite appearing to be an unbeatable foe who is able to render men helpless simply through the weight of his magnetic force fields, Magneto is defeated with ridiculous ease! Seriously, the X-Men don’t even fight him as a team like the front cover suggests; they simply shrug off his pathetic attempts to destroy them, Cyclops blasts him once, and that’s it! Job done, Magneto flees, and the day is saved! It’s a lacklustre end to a lacklustre comic, to be honest, and it feels like everyone involved was just phoning it in and more concerned with getting over their new concept rather than debuting the X-Men in a fun and interesting way. The X-Men have certainly had better stories and debuts in the years since but it’s hard to really recommend their debut issue beyond nostalgia or curiosity to see how far the concept has come since its dull beginnings.
My Rating:
⭐
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Terrible
What are your thoughts of The X-Men #1? What did you think to the X-Men and their introduction? Do you agree that the story suffers somewhat from poor art and characterisation or were you instantly hooked on Marvel’s new team? Which character was your favourite? What did you think to Magneto’s debut, the portrayal of his powers, and his ultimate defeat? Which era of the X-Men is your favourite and who is your favourite ever team/character? How are you celebrating X-Men Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below and be sure to come back tomorrow, and every Thursday for the rest of May, for more X-Men content.
Released: 8 February 2012 Originally Released: 4 March 1991 Developer: Backbone Entertainment Original Developer: Konami Also Available For: Arcade, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Xbox 360
The Background: The Simpsons began life as a series of short cartoons created by Matt Groening for The Tracey Ullman Show, with Groening hastily naming each of the family members after himself and his own family and the characters coloured yellow by colourist Georgie Peluse simply because it was deemed amusing. In 1989, Groening was approached by a team of production companies to produce a series of half-hour episodes focusing on his dysfunctional family for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Groening jumped at the chance to produce an alternative to the “mainstream trash” that was currently airing and The Simpsons eventually premiered in late 1989. The show became a multimedia juggernaut after “Bartmania” gripped the nation; in addition to the long-running series, The Simpsons featured in every piece of merchandise imaginable, from action figures and comics to videogames. While the majority of these early videogames are notoriously poor, one stoodout for its high quality graphics and addictive beat-‘em-up gameplay and that was the arcade game produced by Konami. It was surprising how well the developers adapted the Simpsons concept to a sidescrolling beat-‘em-up however, while the game was somewhat restricted by the relatively short run of the show at the time, what really gave the game its prestige was its obscurity. I’ve been lucky enough to play this out in the wild over the years so, naturally, I jumped at the chance to get it when it was finally re-released on the PlayStation Network in 2012; sadly, the game has since been delisted, meaning there is no easily accessible way to play this classic beat-‘em-up title, but Whacking Day seems like a great excuse to revisit it nonetheless.
The Plot: Whilst out shopping, the Simpsons accidentally bump into Waylon Smithers as he is stealing a giant diamond for his employer, the greedy and malicious Charles Montgomery Burns. When the diamond lands in Maggie’s mouth, Smithers kidnaps her and the Simpsons are forced to pursue him to rescue her.
Gameplay: The Simpsons is a 2D, sidescrolling beat-‘em-up in which up to four players travel from the left side of the screen to the right through a variety of familiar Simpsons locations while pummelling wave-upon-wave of goons and other assorted enemies. Unlike some four-player beat-‘em-ups, any player can select any character and you’ll even be able to pull off unique double team moves with each member of the Simpsons family. There are four characters to choose from (Bart, Homer, Marge, and Lisa) and, though each one controls exactly the same, it does seem as though each one has slightly different pros and cons and each one attacks in a slightly different way.
Gameplay is incredibly simple, utlising only two buttons and a variety of attack animations.
For example, Bart and Lisa are smaller and faster, making it easier to manoeuvre around the screen and to avoid enemy attacks, while Homer and Marge are much taller and slower. Bart glides along on his skateboard, which he also uses to attack enemies; Lisa skips around using a skipping rope (which she also uses to attack); Homer attacks with his fists (and seems to have the shortest range as a result); and Marge whacks enemies with her vacuum cleaner, giving her the longest reach but a slightly slower attack than, say, Bart or Lisa. Gameplay couldn’t be simpler: you just move to the right and attack enemies until you reach the end of the stage where you’ll battle a boss. There are no special moves or complicated button presses and combos to worry about here; X jumps and Square attacks and that’s pretty much it. You can perform jumping attacks and each character has a unique combo attack (Bart whirls around like a spinning top and Homer flails his fists in a frenzy, for example) that is performed by simply mashing X but you can’t grab or throw enemies and there’s no dash function but you can pick up and throw items and objects at enemies.
Gameplay is briefly broken up by some good, old-fashioned button mashing.
While 99% of the game is a mindless, monotonous beat-‘em-up, The Simpsons livens things up not just with its bright, cartoony graphics, quirky features, and sound bites but also through its level variety and a couple of Bonus Stages. The first of these has you mashing buttons to pump up a balloon and the second has you doing the same thing to slap your character back to consciousness. It’s not much, and the computer-controlled opponents are ridiculously hard to beat, but it helps to break things up a little bit. The quirkiness of the game helps with that, too. Since the game was made so early in The Simpsons’ lifespan, much of the show’s characterisations and format had yet to be properly established. As a result, Smithers is a maniacal villain and many of the obscure and fleeting inclusions from the show (such as the bear, Homer’s dreamland, Princess Kashmir, and Professor Werner von Brawn) are much more prominent over characters like Abe Simpson, Milhouse Van Houton, and Otto Mann (who all show up in brief cameos to drop off weapons or health items) and some (like Kent Brockman) are missing entirely in favour of numerous cameos by Groening’s rabbit, Binky. Still, similar to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(Konami, 1989), cartoony slapstick and a vibrant aesthetic keep the game enjoyable to look at and play: characters will fly at the screen when smacked by doors, use speech bubbles to shout at you to wriggle the joystick when enemies grab them, and the game does a decent job of recreating certain locations from the show even if some are a little more obscure than others (such as Krustyland and Springfield Butte).
Graphics and Sound: The Simpsons is a bright, vivid, and lively beat-‘em-up full of big, colourful sprites, cartoony effects, and a decent amount of detail packed into every animation and location. Each character has several frames of animation, even when standing idle; they’ll quickly grow impatient with you if you leave them too long and often speak using both sound bites and word balloons. Additionally, when attacking or being attacked, each character has many frames of animation that allows them to attack in a flurry, be sent tumbling backwards, or return to life in the guise of a superhero.
The game’s selection of Simpsons locations is a little questionable at times.
Considering, as I mentioned before, how early into the show’s run the game was produced, stage variety is commendable…if a bit wacky, at times. Stage one is, naturally, the streets of Springfield but, while you’ll pass by the Noiseland Arcade and the Rusty Barnacle, other prominent locations from the iconic Simpsons introduction and various episodes are missing. Similarly, Krustyland is quite different to how it appears in the show and appears to be more like an amusement part, Moe’s Tavern is greatly expanded into something more like a casino and a strip club, and Springfield Butte appears to only be included because a handful of early Simpsons episodes occasionally ventured into the wilderness outside of the town. Things get really surreal when you visit Dreamland on stage six, which features all kinds of weird background elements and brief inclusions of what I would consider to be more prominent Simpsons landmarks (like the school and the Simpsons’ home).
Motion comic-like cutscenes and in-game graphics recreate the look and feel of the show.
While many of the stages are quite short and relatively barren, the game packs in a bunch of cameos and little details here and there: Howie walks out of the arcade (and will smash you into the screen if you get too close); frogs hop around in the cemetery; and various supporting characters (from Sherri and Terri to the original design for Sideshow Bob and even obscure characters like Doctor Marvin Monroe) show up to drop off health or power-ups. The Simpsons does a great job of recreating the look and feel of the early episodes of the show and this is helped all the more with the game’s commendable recreation of the iconic Simpsons introduction (which includes a brief rundown on each playable character) and theme tune. The game’s plot, such as it is, is told through the use of both motion comic-like cutscenes and in-game graphics, with a few sound bites thrown in here and there. This allows for a surprising amount of non-playable characters (NPCs) to briefly appear onscreen at once and a few amusing little animated sequences to play out, such as your characters getting swept over a waterfall, Smithers blowing himself up, and Maggie placing her dummy into the unconscious mouth of Mr. Burns.
Enemies and Bosses: As you embark on your journey, you’ll battle against a seemingly endless wave of men in suits whose sole mission in life is to pummel you to death. Some of these also throw their hats at you or wield brooms or other weapons; they’re also capable of grabbing you to drain your health and get progressively aggressive as the game goes on. You’ll also battle fatter enemies, who can attack in teacups or throw boulders at you, and enemies will drop from trees dressed as ghosts and toss bombs at you in the cemetery. There are also a handful of unique and quirky enemies to contend with, some of which act as mini bosses of sorts: in stage one, for example, you’ll have to fight past a fireman, Binky and fake Krusty the Clown’s regularly crop up in Krustyland, zombies burst out from the cemetery grounds, you’ll encounter Bigfoot a number of times at Springfield Butte, and Channel 6 even has you fighting ninjas and a laser-spewing robot!
The first two bosses ask little more from you that a bit of dodging and relentless attacking.
Easily the most surreal enemies are found in Dreamland; here, you’ll encounter anthropomorphic donuts and saxophones, Marge heads made of clouds, and nuclear technicians who continue to attack you even after you knock their heads off! As mentioned, most of the game’s stages end with a battle against a gigantic boss; these are generally pretty easy and all come down to a simple case of dodging and piling on the attacks. The first boss, Professor Werner von Brawn, fills most of the screen and attacks with punches and belly flops (but his trunks have a nasty tendency to fall down, leaving him vulnerable to your attacks) while the second boss is a gigantic Krusty balloon that tries to slap at you and rains bombs down onto the arena. In each case, though, victory comes from simply utilising any weapons dropped off before the fight, using your jumping attacks, and relentlessly pounding away until they are defeated.
Later bosses mix up their attacks and get a bit of back-up to make things a little more challenging.
Stage three doesn’t actually have a proper boss battle but, at the end of Moe’s Tavern, you’ll have to fight a cracked-up DJ who punches at you and breathes fire! However, his tendency to stop and taunt makes him an easy fight, as is the giant fake bear that awaits you at the end of Springfield Butte. The hardest thing about this boss is that it surprises you by bursting out of a cave, which can cause you to get hit by logs, and boulders rain down into the area, which can be annoying. Similarly, the large Kabuki Warrior who awaits you at the end of the Channel 6 stage is made more cumbersome by his long reach (thanks to his spear) and the fact that he conjures a ninja or two to distract you during the fight. Dreamland, however, ends with a particularly annoying and tough boss battle against a huge anthropomorphic bowling bowl that attacks in four different phases: in the first, it simple rolls and bounces around; in the second, it grows arms to bounce higher; the third sees it grow legs and shoot bowling pin missiles; and the fourth and final phase sees it grow one large, stretchy arm to swipe at you. It’s quite a laborious boss battle, especially considering that every boss before this was relatively short and simple, but is just a taste of things to come.
A tough battle against Smithers and Mr. Burns awaits you at the finale of the game.
When you reach the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, you’ll simply walk right through the stage and into Mr. Burns’ office for the final battle, which is preceded by a fight against Smithers. Smithers attacks with his cape and maniacally dashes around the office tossing bombs at you. Thankfully, you can throw some of these back at him and he goes down relatively quickly as long as you can get near him and avoid being chargrilled by his bombs and death animation. Defeat him, though, and Mr. Burns bursts through the wall in his mech suit for another four-phase boss fight. At first, Burns attacks with retractable pincer-like arms and spits out the odd nuclear bomb, then he rises up onto treadmill-like feet and starts shooting missiles at you. In his third phase, he switches to a hovercraft-like base and adds a spiked rod attack and, in the fourth phase, having had his exosuit smashed off throughout the fight, Burns simply resorts to bouncing around the screen and scattering bombs everywhere. This is definitely a fight made easier with another player or in Free Play mode as Burns is a damage sponge and can easily smack the life out of you in just a few hits.
Power-Ups and Bonuses: As in any self-respecting beat-‘em-up, the Simpsons have a variety of options when it comes to restoring their health; NPCs will drop off burgers, hot dogs, donuts, pie, and roast chickens and you can also shake apples from trees, each of which will allow you to keep fighting a little longer. Some of these can also be found right before boss areas so, if you’re low on health, it’s worth picking them up. Similarly, you’ll find and be gifted a variety of weapons throughout each stage; one of the most prominent is the slingshot, which allows you to fire a limited number of projectiles at your enemies, but you can also grab bowling balls, a hammer, bar stools, brooms, bottles, drink cups, and even Snowball II, Santa’s Little Helper, and the original design of the Space Mutants to launch at enemies.
Additional Features: The Simpsons has twelve Trophies for you to earn, each of them actually requiring a bit of skill and effort on your part as they task you with reaching certain stages, acquiring a certain number of points in specific game modes, or teaming up with other plays on- or offline. The difficulty of these varies quite a bit; it’s not much to ask you to finish the game four times, once with each character, but finishing the game in thirty minutes or less or on the “Expert” difficulty with limited continues is a bit of a tall order. When playing this version of the game, you are presented with a variety of gameplay options. You can choose to play in “Free Play” mode (which gives you unlimited continues), “Survival” mode (which gives you one life an no continues), “Team Quarters” (where you share forty continues), and “Quarters” mode (which gives you ten continues).
The Japanese version of the game adds a couple of extra features here and there to spice things up.
You can then select between Easy, Normal, Hard, and Expert difficulty modes (with enemies increasing in number and difficulty the higher the setting), select any stage you like (though, as I finished this game a long time ago, this may need to be unlocked so I forget if it’s available right from the start), view characters and artwork in the gallery, apply different borders and screen settings, and have access to a sound test. You can also choose to play the Japanese version of the game, which differs somewhat from the worldwide release. For one thing, it adds the nuclear bomb item to certain stages, which allows you to clear the screen of enemies. It also allows you to use weapons in mid-air, ups the power of the slingshot, adds a “Vital Bonus” score at the end of every stage, allows you to increase your health beyond its limit, and adds a number of different enemy, item, and NPC placements within every stage which can help mix up subsequent playthroughs.
The Summary: The Simpsons is not an especially deep or feature-laden arcade title; the lack of special moves, relative emptiness of the stages, the enemy variety, and the short length of the game all, arguably, make it somewhat inferior to other arcade beat-‘em-ups released around the same time. Yet, thanks to its colourful graphics, quirky animations, and simple pick-up-and-play formula, it’s a classic of its genre through and through and easily one of the most enjoyable beat-‘em-ups out there. Of course, much of its appeal comes from nostalgia and its rarity but none of that detracts from the fact that it’s a blast to play and never outstays its welcome. A sidescrolling beat-‘em-up may not necessarily be the first genre that springs to mind when you think of The Simpsons but it works really well here; even though the show was still in its early days, the game does a great job of capturing the spirit of The Simpsons and including a number of cameos and call-backs to the show. It’s a shame that The Simpsons wasn’t more commercial available through ports to home consoles and that this particular version has been delisted from online stores as it’s a great way to waste an hour or so and the additional features and options help to spice the experience up. It was a great little package for a long-forgotten game and I can only hope that, one day, it’ll reappear on the Xbox so I can experience it all over again.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Are you a fan of The Simpsons? Have you have played this game out in the wild or did you first experience it through emulation or the PlayStation and Xbox ports? Which of the playable characters was your favourite? How do you feel the game holds up today, especially compared to other beat-‘em-ups? Would you like the see the game re-released again or do you think it’s better left in obscurity? What is your favourite Simpsons game? Do you have a favourite character, episode, or moment from the show? How are you celebrating Whacking Day today? Whatever your thoughts on the world’s most famous yellow family, feel free to leave a comment below and be sure to check back in for more Simpsons content!
When the Great Demon King Piccolo was released upon the world, he broadcasted a message on television declaring May 9th as “Piccolo Day”…and promptly celebrated by announcing his ownership over the planet. Since then, May 9th has been officially recognised as “Goku Day” but, to make things simpler, I’m using this as a good excuse to celebrate all things Dragon Ball and spend this month taking a look back at one of the franchise’s most popular villains: Broly.
Released: March 1993 Director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi Distributor: Toei Company Budget: ¥713.7 million Stars: Sean Schemmel, Vic Mignogna, Christopher R. Sabat, Stephanie Nadolny, Eric Vale, Sonny Strait, Mike McFarland, and Dartanian Nickelback
The Plot: A rare moment of peace for Son Goku (Schemmel) and his friends is interrupted when Paragus (Nickelback) lures them to New Vegeta by appealing to the vanity and ego of Vegeta (Sabat), prince of the Saiyan race. Their curiosity is piqued by stories of the “Legendary Super Saiyan” running amok but things soon take a turn for the worst when they encounter Paragus’s unhinged son, Broly (Mignogna), who desires nothing more than death and destruction.
The Background: Debuting in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump back in 1984 as Dragon Ball, Dragonball Z is the much-loved and popular creation of writer and artist Akira Toriyama. Originally borrowing many of its plot and characters from Journey to the West(Cheng’en, 1592), Dragon Ball followed Goku, a young boy with a monkey’s tail and exceptional martial arts skills, as he travelled the world growing stronger and often searching for the seven magical Dragon Balls. In Dragonball Z, Goku was depicted as an adult and a member of the exceptionally powerful Saiyan race. Dragonball Z took a far more science-fiction-orientated approach to the narrative, introducing several new characters and concepts that would come to define the entire franchise in popular, mainstream media. Dragonball Z was a massively popular anime in the West and was first licensed by Funimation back in 1996, who set about cutting or otherwise altering the often graphic and violent content of the original anime for its less desensitised audience. Nevertheless, the anime was popular enough in both the East and the West to inspire the creation of several feature-length films, seven of which had been produced prior to this one for Dragonball Z alone. Generally produced without the direct involvement of Toriyama, these films told a truncated version of the “Sagas” depicted in the anime and often failed to align with established canon as a result. As is often the case, though, Toriyama was invited to conceive of the design for an all-new antagonist, creating one of the most recognisable characters in Dragon Ball canon as a result, one who was so popular that he featured in three more movies (two of which were direct sequels to this one) and numerous videogames and ancillary media.
The Review: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan sets the stage for the threat the titular Super Saiyan poses right from the off as it opens with the South Galaxy being “shattered by a Super Saiyan”; the level of destruction is so fearsome that it puts the wind up King Kai (Schemmel). While that may seem impressive, though, you have to remember that every threat that comes along in the Dragon Ball franchise tends to give King Kai the shivers; it’s such a common theme that it doesn’t really carry the same weight, especially when viewed retroactively. We then jump to series protagonist Goku, who has been forced into a fancy suit and is being badgered, as always, by his highly strung wife, Chi-Chi (Cynthia Cranz). Desperate to make a good impression so that their son, Son Gohan (Nadolny), can get into a fancy private school, Chi-Chi is even more overbearing and demanding than usual (if that’s even possible) and Goku is just as awkward and dumb-headed as ever, thinking only about fighting and food, and only serving to aggravate his wife even more.
Paragus and his troops pay reverence to their prince, Vegeta.
Goku is restless not only because he’s bored and hungry but also because he’s missing out on a nice little picnic for his closest friends and family; in many ways, though, I envy Goku as he doesn’t have to put up with Krillin’s (Strait) God-awful singing, which is so bad that Vegeta looks ready to kill him. Thankfully, this ear-splitting screeching is interrupted by the arrival of Paragus, who drops down in a massive spaceship full of alien soldiers, all of whom immediately bow and pay reverence to Vegeta. While Vegeta isn’t massively impressed with Paragus’s desires to rebuild the Saiyan army, his curiosity is piqued when Paragus mentions that the “Legendary Super Saiyan” is wreaking havoc across the galaxy. Sure that it’s some kind of trick, Future Trunks (Vale) moves to stop his father from leaving and stows away on the spaceship with Krillin, Master Roshi (McFarland), and Oolong (Bradford Jackson), of all people. These latter two character exist simply to act as our comedy relief for the remainder of the film, which is generally their role in most of the Dragon Ball movies and anime but it’s somewhat out of place here; Roshi’s intoxicated state is good for a few laughs but I can’t help but feel like Krillin could have handled the awkward comedy relief parts perfectly well all by himself.
Both Goku and Vegeta are excited at the prospect of battling the Legendary Super Saiyan.
Goku, having learned of the “Legendary Super Saiyan” from King Kai, is just as excited at the prospect of facing such a powerful opponent. While Vegeta views the presence of the mythical warrior as a worthy challenge, arrogant in his belief that he will be able to overcome such a foe, Goku is as giddy as a schoolkid at facing someone that is potentially more powerful than him and immediately heads to the South Galaxy to track the Super Saiyan down. Neither character, or any of the others for that matter, seems to think about the fact that Super Saiyans already exist (Goku, Trunks, and Vegeta are already Super Saiyans by this point) but there is clearly a distinction between their power-ups and the “Legendary Super Saiyan” that inspired their golden forms. Equally odd is how easily impressed Goku is with the destruction left by the Legendary Super Saiyan; considering Frieza (Linda Young) did far worse to both Planet Vegeta and Planet Namek compared to what Goku sees, it’s a bit strange to see him so concerned about this new being’s power when all he’s seen is a wrecked city. Still, once the others reach New Vegeta, Vegeta is hailed as a king and takes an instant liking to Paragus’s Saiyan son, Broly. Vegeta even chooses Broly to accompany him in confronting the Legendary Super Saiyan over his son, which is a bit odd considering everyone goes out of their way to say how weak, timid, and unassuming Broly is. Clearly affected by his father’s choice, and concerned about Paragus’s true motives, Trunks investigates the planet with Krillan and Gohan and discovers that New Vegeta is little more than a barren wasteland filled with the skeleton of a civilisation to give the illusion of a vastly populated world. They also discover an alien race being enslaved by Paragus’s troops to power his citadel but, after Goku arrives via Instant Transmission, their concerns about Paragus are almost immediately and stupidly put to ease. However, we the audience are then subsequently shown that Paragus is, in fact, plotting to have a comet destroy the planet.
Broly was an immensely powerful and violent child.
Vegeta and Broly return empty-handed soon after; Vegeta is characteristically frustrated not just because they failed to track down the Legendary Super Saiyan but also because of Goku’s presence. And he’s not the only one annoyed by Goku as, upon meeting him, Broly gets extremely agitated, is barely able to contain himself, and must be subdued by his father and his handy-dandy remote control. The very next scene reveals that the remote is starting to have less and less effect on Broly’s power due to Goku’s presence and we get the first of a number of flashbacks to help flesh out the backstory of Paragus and Broly. Broly was a super destructive feral child and Paragus, unable to control him, was forced to fit him with a suppressing device out of fear for Broly’s violent and ever-growing powers, which almost caused Broly to kill his father, and in a bid to use that same power to dominate the universe. Critically, Broly was also born with a power level of ten thousand and on the same day as Goku; baby Goku’s constant wailing and crying disturbed Broly, traumatising him and causing him to grow up with a dead-seated hatred for Goku. Unable to contain this hatred, Broly attacks Goku in a mindless rage, proving a formidable opponent whose power appears to be almost limitless, until Paragus is able to calm him once more. The fight is enough to convince Goku that Broly is the Legendary Super Saiyan they have been searching for, a fact he shares with Vegeta just as he is about to leave and which is corroborated when the alien slaves identify Broly as the one who ransacked their world. With the truth revealed, Paragus immediately reveals his true intentions: he orchestrated the entire charade in order to use the oncoming comet to remove the only ones capable of keeping him from invading and colonising Earth with a new Saiyan army (quite how he intends to do that without any Saiyan women is beyond me…).
Thanks to Piccolo’s timely intervention, and the energy of his allies, Goku emerges victorious.
Paragus also reveals that he desires revenge against Vegeta since it was his father, King Vegeta (Sabat) who, fearing Broly’s power, banished the two of them and tried to have them killed. Unable to contain himself any longer, Broly disobeys his father, begins to power up, and engages with the Saiyans. Even as a Super Saiyan, Vegeta’s attacks don’t even faze Broly, who relentlessly targets Goku, shattering his restraining headband and finally transforming into the hulking Legendary Super Saiyan in an explosion of power so immense that it threatens to split the planet in half. Now little more than a mindless, ravenous beast, Broly’s awesome power is enough to bring Vegeta to his knees in fear; seeing that Broly truly is the Legendary Super Saiyan, Vegeta refuses to fight, believing that they (and even he) are powerless in the face of such awesome might. Broly makes short work of all those who oppose him, his power actually increasing the longer the fight progresses, and lays waste to the entire planet in a burst of rage. So total is his mindless, insane fury that he callously murders his father, freeing him of all restrictions and allowing him to truly let loose his full power. True to form, Piccolo (ibid) eventually arrives to lend a hand, healing the protagonists with some Senzu Beans and setting the stage for the film’s ultimate climactic battle and eventually convincing Vegeta to join the fight. Of course, Vegeta’s fears are true and they are no match for Broly’s power, even fighting as a group, forcing the protagonists to pool their energy into Goku for one last blow, defeating Broly and leaving him to die as the comet strikes New Vegeta.
The Nitty-Gritty: Broly is a nigh-unstoppable force of nature not unlike DC Comics’ Doomsday, who debuted a few months earlier, and attacks do little to faze him even before he powers up to his “Legendary Super Saiyan” form. He has the same distinct footsteps as Cell (Dameon Clarke) but, despite having an interesting backstory that directly ties him to Goku and being far chattier here than in other appearances, he is a far cry from more loquacious and charismatic villains like Frieza or Cell. Instead, Broly is all about sheer, mindless power and unbridled destruction; he is the Saiyan lust for battle incarnate and dialled up to eleven, revelling in death, devastation, and driven only to kill Goku and all those who stand before him So awesome is Broly’s power that he destroys an entire world with one energy blast; this puts him at a level above Frieza, who took forever and a day to charge enough energy to destroy Planet Namek. His sheer indestructibility and ability to absorb and no-sell hits also puts him on a similar level to Cell, though he favours raw, unbridled strength over absorbing or adapting to the abilities of his opponents. In just a few blows, Broly is able to blast Gohan and Trunks out of their Super Saiyan forms and, even after Piccolo’s Senzu Beans restore their vitality, Goku is, of course, soon left to tackle the Legendary Super Saiyan alone with only his strength and matchless tenacity.
Vegeta is uncharacteristically paralysed with fear in the face of Broly’s awesome power.
Vegeta is so horrified by Broly’s power that he refuses to fight; never before has Vegeta been so crippled by fear and awe. Even in the face of Frieza and Cell’s final forms, he would rise to fight, refusing to admit that he was outmatched but, here, he can’t even bring himself to defend himself much less try to oppose Broly. He cannot understand why Goku and the others even attempt to match fists with Broly, so total is his despair at the futility of their situation; even when completely out-matched by Kid Buu (Josh Martin), Vegeta at least attempted to fight but, against Broly, it’s all he can do to begrudgingly lend Goku the power to defeat the Legendary Super Saiyan. It’s an interesting new twist on Vegeta’s stubborn, prideful nature; seeing him shaken to the core and paralysed by dread is a sobering moment and really helps sell the level of Broly’s threat just as much as seeing him make mincemeat of Goku and the other Super Saiyans.
A physically impressive, if somewhat one-note antagonist, Broly decimates our heroes with ease.
Yet, as impressive as Broly is, he is little more than a mindless beast and this film essentially boils down to an extended fight scene. The plot moves along briskly, never stopping to dwell or elaborate on things and characters more than it has to, which is something I always liked about the Dragon Ball feature films: they distil the generally prolonged fight scenes and endless power up sequences of the anime down to the basics and get right to the action as quickly as possible. Broly has an interesting backstory and certainly makes an impression…right up until his anticlimactic defeat. In the end, after all the ki blasts, power-ups, and blows he has absorbed, Broly goes down relatively easily from a super-powered blow to the abdomen. At least it makes a change from Goku defeating his opponent with a Spirit Bomb but it’s a disappointing way to defeat what is an otherwise very impressive villain; luckily, though, the next movie retroactively shows that Broly actually survived this attack (and rightfully so) but Broly’s unbeatable aura would be diminished in his subsequent appearances.
The Summary: The Dragon Ball feature films have always been quick snapshots of the generally long-winded anime and Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan is no different; flying through the simple plot and getting right to the action, Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan stands out from its predecessors through the sheer impressive presence of Broly. A sadistic, merciless, hulking monster of a Saiyan, Broly is fascinating for the questions he raises about the Super Saiyan form alone: is he truly the Legendary Super Saiyan whom Vegeta had heard stories of as a child or is he simply an enormously powerful Saiyan who has tapped into a raw form of the same energy the other Saiyans use? While little more than one massive fight scene, Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan is worth a watch for the titular Super Saiyan, if nothing else, and definitely to see Vegeta so wracked by horror that he flat out refuses to fight.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
What did you think of Dragonball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan? Where does it rank for you against the other Dragonball Z feature films? What did you think of Broly’s introduction and how would you rate him as a character and antagonist? Would you have liked to see Broly integrated into the main series canon sooner or do you feel he’s over-rated and, perhaps, a relatively underwhelming character? What Dragon Ball character (hero, villain, or otherwise), saga, or movie is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Piccolo/Goku Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Dragon Ball, please leave a comment below.
Released: 20 March 2002 Developer: Slant Six Games/Capcom Also Available For: PC and PlayStation 3
The Background: By 2012, the Resident Evil series (Capcom/Various, 1996 to present) had undergone many changes since debuting as a cheesy survival/horror title hampered by “tank controls”; Resident Evil 4(Capcom Production Studio 4, 2005) famously switched the game to a more action-orientated, over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, which had been expanded upon greatly in Resident Evil 5(Capcom, 2005) and would basically transform the series into an action-heavy shooter by Resident Evil 6(ibid, 2012). In the midst of this transition into a more action-orientated franchise, developers Slant Six Games worked alongside Capcom on a spin-off, a squad-based shooter that reinterpreted events from the franchise’s earlydays. Despite selling over two million copies and being considered by Capcom to be a success, the game was met with mixed reviews perhaps in a reflection of the backlash against Resident Evil’s new direction; some praised the gameplay and mechanics while others criticised it as being inferior to other, similar videogames.
The Plot: In a retelling of the events beforeand during the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City, an Umbrella Security Service (USS) strike team, under the command of HUNK, attempts to secure the G-Virus sample from Doctor William Birkin. However, they are soon forced to battle against Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (UBCS) mercenaries, flesh-eating reanimated corpses, and the malevolent Umbrella Corporation’s many Bio-Organic Weapons (B.O.W.s), and faced with death and betrayal that cause them to question their orders.
Gameplay: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a third-person, squad-based shooter in which players can pick from six members of the Umbrella Security Service (U.S.S.) Delta team (known as “Wolfpack”): Vector, Lupo, Beltway, Spectre, Bertha, and Four Eyes. Once you’ve selected your character, you must then select three others to assist you in the game’s missions to be controlled either by other human players using the game’s online function or assigned to the relatively competent A.I. No matter which character you select, the controls remain the same and will be instantly recognisable to players of similar third-person shooters: press in the left stick to run and then press A to dive ahead, press the Right Trigger to fire and the Left Trigger to aim, B executes a melee attack, you can switch weapons with the Left Bumper, toss grenades and other explosives with the Right Bumper, and press X to reload. The directional pad (D-Pad) also factors into gameplay; you can select from the different grenades available by pressing right, use a First Aid Spray by pressing left, use an Antiviral Spray by pressing down, and toggle through various vision modes by pressing up.
Each character has different abilities that can be used to give you an edge in combat.
Each character does, however, have access to several different abilities, which you can activate with Y for a variety of temporary effects. Vector specialises in reconnaissance and moves much faster, can become undetectable to enemy radar, mimic other characters, and become completely invisible; Lupo focus more on combat and is able to wear stronger body armour, reload faster, and utilise more versatile ammunition; Beltway is the explosive expert and is able to better resist explosions, disarm mines and traps, and utilise a wider variety of explosives; Spectre is all about detection and mapping and is able to expand upon the mini map and detect nearby items and enemies using different vision modes; Bertha is the team’s medic and can carry more healing items, use them more effectively, and reduce the amount of damage taken; and Four Eyes, being more of a virologist, can carry more Antiviral Sprays, detect infected individuals, and both infect and command infected targets. Similar to the more action-orientated Resident Evil titles, much of the game is focused more on combat rather than exploration and puzzle solving; as a result, you will automatically snap to cover when you’re near walls, barriers, or other objects and must often clear a room of enemies in order to progress. The game is surprisingly dark, however, so I recommend increasing the “Gamma” settings in the options to bring a bit of illumination to the darker areas, though the use of darkness is used to create a sense of ambience and dread to the proceedings.
The better you play, the more XP you’ll get and the faster you can upgrade weapons and abilities.
As you defeat enemies, find Raccoon City Mascots and data, destroy well-hidden security cameras, pick up Intel and send it using laptops, and complete missions, you’ll gain experience points (XP); XP is then used to purchase new weapons and unlock and upgrade each character’s Passive and Active abilities. While any character can use any of the weapons you unlock, once again you can only carry two weapons at a time, so you’ll most likely be dropping weapons and liberating new ones from your defeated foes, and you’ll need a great deal of XP to unlock and upgrade everything the game has to offer for its six characters. As is the standard for Resident Evil titles, you can pick up First Aid Sprays to fully refill your health and use green herbs to restore a little bit of health; if you come across a green herb, though, it cannot be stored in your inventory. Unlike most other Resident Evil videogames, though, you can actually become infected with the Tyrant Virus (T-Virus) and, unless you use an Antiviral Spray, will become a zombie and attack your team mates after a short period of time. Additionally, you can be afflicted with a “bleeding” status that will attract (and spawn in) all nearby enemies (though you can also inflict this status on human enemies to zombies attack them as well). Note, however, that while you can pick up First Aid Sprays, Antiviral Sprays, and additional weapons and explosives, you’ll lose all your new held items if you die during a mission.
Take advantage of the stashes of ammo to help stave off the swarms of zombies.
The A.I. is relatively competent in a firefight; if they get downed during combat, you can press A to revive them but you may find that they often wander around aimlessly and tend to shoot through doors and walls before enemies even spawn in. Your mission objectives generally involve holding out against wave upon wave of enemies, reaching a specific destination, and clearing out all enemies but you’ll also be tasked with destroying or locating certain items and objects. Other times, generally during boss battles, you’ll have to hold out until doors are opened, or open them yourself, and the battle becomes much more about survival as you desperately try to stay alive while a seemingly endless wave of enemies attack you. Despite the fact that the environments are littered with an abundance of ammo creates and plenty of ammo and weapons, it’s easy to be overwhelmed, which can lead to some frustrating moments that are probably made a lot easier when playing with another human.
Graphics and Sound: Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City mostly holds up pretty well; thanks to many of the characters having their faces obscured by helmets and masks, the character models largely avoid resembling action figures and, when popular and recognisable Resident Evil characters do appear, they shine all the better for it. However, I did notice quite a few instances of slowdown and jitteriness when there were a lot of enemies and characters onscreen at any one time and more than a few clipping errors where characters would walk through parts of the environment.
Gore and creepy, recognisable locations are plentiful, if a bit dark at times.
The game’s environments are decent enough; they’re dark and creepy and fully of the usual Resident Evil ambiance, featuring flickering lights, blood trails, and an abundance of gore to punctuate the game’s action-orientated approach. There are a lot of little details here and there (though the dark lightning can make a lot of them difficult to make out) and, once you finally escape from the drab, grey corridors, you’ll get to fight through the ravaged streets of Raccoon City (which was a notable highlight). Other environments include the dark, maze-like offices of City Hall, a creepy cemetery, as well as recognisable locations from Resident Evil 2 (ibid, 1998) and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (ibid, 1999) such as the police station (including Chief Irons’ office) and the prerequisite Umbrella laboratories and facilities. Despite the presence of a number of high-quality cinematics, the game’s cutscenes largely utilise the in-game graphics, primarily to ensure that your chosen character and team mates are properly loaded into each scene. This adds a degree of variety and replayability to the game as different characters have different dialogue in cutscenes, though it does seem as though the game recycles a lot of sounds from Resident Evil 5.
Enemies and Bosses: As you might expect, one of the most common enemies you’ll encounter in Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City are zombies; zombies are slow, shambling corpses who go down quite easily but generally attack in large groups and will lunge and grab at you to try and take a bite out of you. In these situations, you can frantically wiggle the left stick to try and shake them off and you better make sure you do this as they can infect you or cause you to bleed otherwise. Dead bodies in the nearby area will often pop up as surprise zombies, who can also power-up and return to life as the much faster, tougher, and more aggressive Crimson Heads so make sure you take them out with a good old head shot before they get the chance to do this. Similarly, you’ll also encounter the odd Cerberus; these infected dogs like to pounce at you out of nowhere to give you a good scare and you’ll also have to shake off their bite and have a good aim to take them out because of how fast they can be. You’ll also come up against spider-like Parasites that quickly scuttle across the environment and can also be difficult to hit. These become doubly annoying when they join with a zombie as not only will Parasite Zombies be faster and more dangerous thanks to the Parasite’s extra limbs but you’ll also have to kill the Parasite after taking out the zombie host.
Lickers and Hunters are as formidable a threat as ever thanks to their superior strength.
You’ll also come up against some of Resident Evil’s most notorious B.O.W.s, such as the Lickers and the Hunters; Lickers scramble all over the walls and ceilings, popping out from vents and grabbing at you with their long tongues. Fast and difficult to hit, it’s best to target their exposed brains but they can easily overwhelm with their sheer numbers and ferocity. Similarly, Hunters will often drop from the sky in torpedo-like capsules and attack with an unmatched viciousness; leaping and charging across the place, they attack with large, deadly claws and take a great deal of punishment before going down so you’ll definitely need your more powerful weapons to make short work of them. Apparently because B.O.W.s aren’t interesting and dangerous enough, you’ll have toe exchange gunfire with a variety of living, human enemies; soldiers from the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service (U.B.C.S.) will fire at you from behind cover and other barricades, often to provide support for series staples such as Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield, and are surprisingly durable and difficult to spot. You’re encouraged to inflict them with the bleeding status to send nearby zombies into a frenzy and tear them apart but this can just as easily be bad news for you, too, as the U.B.C.S.’ bullets can cause you to bleed and the final mission of the game is notably frustrating because you end up caught in a crossfire between the well-equipped U.B.C.S. and an endless swarm of zombies.
Keep your distance from the invincible “G” to avoid his swings and hold him at bay.
If you’ve played Resident Evil 2 and 3, you’ll instantly recognise the bosses and larger B.O.W.s included in the game; given that your first mission is to retrieve the Golgotha Virus (G-Virus) samples from Birkin’s laboratory, the first boss you’ll encounter is Birkin in his monstrous “G” form. “G” can’t be killed, however, making this a tense chase down a very narrow corridor as you desperately avoid “G”’s wild swings and slow him down by shooting nearby explosive barrels and pipes. If you linger around too long or get too close to him, it’s stupidly easy to get caught up and glitched on his hit box and the nearby environment so just turn around and run and save your ammo and efforts for when the game tells you to hold him at bay.
Mr. X is bad enough by itself but is accompanied by other enemies and another Tyrant!
Another recognisable B.O.W. you’ll encounter more than once is the T-103 Tyrant known as Mr. X; this massive, hulking figure has a tendency to attack and damage other B.O.W.s in its path and can be briefly controlled by Four Eyes but, for the most part, is indestructible when you first encounter it, leaving you to desperately run around taking out zombies and Parasites as you retrieve key cards to escape the area. In a later mission, two of the damn things attack you at once and you must take them out in order to progress. They’re incredibly strong, leaping and charging at you, pounding you into the ground and squeezing the life out of you with each so it’s best to keep your distance, focus on one at a time, and always aim for the head. One of the most troublesome and frustrating missions of the game sees you staving off wave after wave of zombies and U.B.C.S. soldiers while trying to bring down the Nemesis-T Type, an intimidating creature by itself without all the additional enemies swarming the area. After numerous deaths and failures, I found it was much easy to quickly take out any nearby zombies, grab some restorative sprays, and camp out by the ammo crate and take pot shots at Nemesis until it finally dropped to the ground, taking advantage of the explosive barrels wherever possible. Even then, it can rear up and keep ticking along, all while you’re getting shot to shit and desperately trying to bring it down so you can inject it with the NE-α parasite.
Concentrate your fire on the Super Tyrant’s exposed heart to take it out quickly.
As in Resident Evil 2, you’ll have to do battle with Mr. X’s final form onboard an elevator; again, like Nemesis, the Super Tyrant is powerful and formidable enough without the battle being made more strenuous by the presence of Lickers, flame jets, and being a gauntlet that you must complete without any checkpoints mid-way through. To take out the Super Tyrant, it’s best to camp out by the ammo crate, stay away from it, and shoot at its exposed heart with everything you’ve got. If it’s close enough to the elevator edge, you can knock it off pretty quickly in the first phase of the battle and, as long as you can pick off the Lickers and avoid being roasted alive, you can repeat this strategy for the second phase of the fight where the B.O.W. is much faster and more aggressive.
Claire, Leon, and swarms of soldiers and zombies await you in the final mission of the game.
In a change of pace, however, the final challenges of the game have you taking on Claire and Leon in separate missions; Claire awaits you in an infested train yard and likes to take pot shots at you with a grenade launcher but tags out before you get to make her pay for her insolence. When you get to the end of the train yard, Leon camps out up top and snipes at you while being protected by U.B.C.S. soldiers behind a fortified barricade and zombies roam the immediate area. This, without a doubt, was the toughest and most frustrating part of the game at that point and, in the end, I was reduced to simply tanking damage and running the barricade to reach the ladder and trigger the cutscene that led to the game’s final mission. Here, you’re given two options: one sees you spare Leon and the other sees you kill him as per your orders. If you kill him, you’ll have to take out a couple of your team mates before you can get to Leon, who blasts at you from behind cover and can cut you down with ease unless you bring along or get your hands on the sniper rifle. If you spare him, it’s the same thing but, this time, you’re defending him from your team mates and it’s a far easier fight but, if you want to get all of the game’s Achievements, you’ll need to slog through this final mission at least twice.
Power-Ups and Bonuses: As mentioned above, you have a variety of restorative items available to you in the game; green herbs offer a quick, one use pick-me-up, First Aid Sprays can be stocked and refill more of your health, and Antiviral Sprays will cure you from infection if needed. Unlike a lot of third-person shooters, your health won’t replenish over time so it’s best to keep a First Aid Spray in your inventory and to keep your team mates nearby so they can revive you as checkpoints are often lacking mid-way through the more frustrating missions.
Use XP to purchase new weapons and be sure to shoot open weapon crates whenever you see them.
Each character has a variety of unique Passive and Active abilities; Active abilities also come with a cooldown period so you can’t spam their use over and over and some are, honestly, more useful than others; the mechanics are definitely geared towards human players working together and using each character’s abilities to the best of their advantage and you’ll be grinding and replaying missions quite a bit to unlock everything and make life easier for yourself. Of course, the main power-ups you’ll pick up are the wide variety of weapons; pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and heavier weapons like grenade and rocket launchers are all available if you have enough XP but you’ll also be able to liberate them from dead U.B.C.S. soldiers and grab better weapons from weapon creates scattered throughout the environments (you’ll need to shoot the locks off these first, though). You’ll also be able to use familiar weapons from the franchise, such as the Samurai Edge and Barry Burton’s magnum, and three different types of grenades (frag, flashbang, and incendiary). Thankfully, you don’t need to use XP to upgrade the proficiency of the weapons and, once you unlock them, any character can use them but you’ll still need a lot of XP to unlock everything.
Additional Features: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City has fifty Achievements for you to earn; many of these are tied to simply clearing the single player missions but you’ll also get Achievements for purchasing weapons and upgrades, healing a certain amount of times, and killing a certain amount of enemies. Some are much trickier to get and require you to finish he game on harder difficulty modes, purchase and upgrade every ability, and kill enemies in specific ways.
There’s a fair amount of multiplayer and DLC options available if you want more content.
Many of the rest are tied towards the game’s many multiplayer modes; the game’s single player campaign can be played in co-op and it also features a variety of competitive modes, from traditional deathmatches to a survival mode and one that has you searching out G-Virus samples, and the Xbox 360 version also has an exclusive “Nemesis Mode” that allows one player to take control of the Nemesis and hunt down and kill the other players. Unfortunately, I never got to experience any of Operation Racoon City’s multiplayer options as they game cannot be played locally, which is always frustrating and mind-boggling for me, meaning I couldn’t even 100% all of the Achievements even if I wanted to. Operation Raccoon City isn’t an especially long game (I finished it on “Normal” mode in around eight hours), even in its most frustrating moments, but you can extend the game’s playtime by purchasing the “Spec Ops” downloadable content (DLC), which adds six more playable characters, a number of additional campaigns and Achievements, and more recognisable characters from the series to expand upon the game’s unique retelling of the second and third games.
The Summary: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is a decent enough title for a spin-off of the main series; it takes many familiar characters and concepts from the franchise and reimagines them, fully embracing its more action-orientated mechanics and being a relatively inoffensive third-person shooter. It’s not much compared to the Gears of War franchise (Various, 2006 to present) and lacks a lot of the appeal of main series titles like Resident Evil 4 but, had Capcom kept the more action-orientated, third-person mechanics confined to a side series such as this, Resident Evil 6 might have turned out a little less disappointing. However as great as it is to battle the franchise’s gruesome B.O.W.s with more freedom and more detailed graphics compared to the original PlayStation releases, Operation Raccoon City has a lot of flaws and bugs and frustrating parts that really drag it down; the clipping and frame rate issues were noticeable, the lack of checkpoints and losing all of your inventory after dying can make bosses and the survival missions needlessly exasperating, and the sudden, anti-climactic end of the game really derails what little story is on offer. Overall, it’s a decent enough experience that should satisfy fans of the series, especially the more action-heavy titles like Resident Evil 5, but fans of third-person shooters can definitely find better options on the market.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
What did you think to Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and how do you think it holds up as a third-person shooter and spin-off of the main series? Which of the playable characters was your preferred choice? What did you think to the game’s minor retelling of the main story and the encounters with recognisable Resident Evil characters and monsters? Did you choose to kill or defend Leon at the conclusion of the game? Did you ever play the game’s multiplayer and, if so, what was it like? Which Resident Evil videogame, character, monster, or spin-off is your favourite, and would you like to see a return to the more action-orientated style the games adopted during this time? Whatever you think, feel free to leave your thoughts down below.
While May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to extend the celebrations of the course of three days, with one of them being the “Evil Star Wars Day” of May 6th (as in “Sith”). This year, I’ve been using the three Star Wars Days as the perfect excuse to go back over the Original Trilogy.
Released: 22 September 2019 Originally Released: 25 May 1983 Director: Richard Marquand Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Original Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $32.5 million Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse/James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, and Ian McDiarmid
The Plot: After rescuing Han Solo (Ford) from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt (Scott Schumann), Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Hamill) prepares himself for a showdown with his father, Darth Vader (Prowse/Jones) while Princess Leia Organa (Fisher) and the Rebel Alliance prepare for one final, all-or-nothing assault on the partially-constructed Death Star II in the hopes of ridding the galaxy of the Emperor (McDiarmid) once and for all.
The Background: By 1983, George Lucas’s science-fiction “space opera” had developed into an extremely successful series of films and multimedia merchandise; yet, though the wave of books, action figures, and videogames that were released back then was prominent, it merely only hinted at the nigh-unstoppable reach of the franchise. After Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Kershner, 1980) proved an incredible, if divisive, box office success, Lucas began financing a third film and looking at potential directors (including Steven Spielberg). Eventually, he settled on Richard Marquand but was frequently on set offering advice and assistance. Originally produced under the title Revenge of the Jedi, Lucas eventually altered the title and would clash somewhat with star Harrison Ford over the fate of Han Solo: Ford wanted Solo to die but Lucas was vehemently against it and, eventually, talked the former carpenter around. Although Return of the Jedi didn’t make quite as much at the box office as its predecessor, it was still an incredible financial success, making over $475 millionat the box office and finishing first at the box office for six of its first seven weeks of release. The film’s critical reception appears to have been the opposite of Empire’s, with critics of the time largelypraising the film and modern audiences generally regarding the film as the weakest of the Original Trilogy for its more child-friendly inclusions and derivative elements. As with the other films in the Original Trilogy, Lucas later revisited and augmented the film using modern technologies which has resulted in one of the most derided inclusions of all the alterations Lucas has made to his influential trilogy.
The Review: I touched upon this in my review of Empire but when I was a kid, I knew about Star Wars and I liked what I saw but I hadn’t really ever had the opportunity to watch any of the films from start to finish; they never seemed to be on television (we only had the basic four channels back then) and the VHS tapes were quite hard to come by until the 1997 Special Editions were released. As a result, while I can recall snapshots and snippets of each film, the first one I remember sitting down and watching from start to finish (or, at least, enjoying all the way through) was Return of the Jedi and, for a long time, it was my favourite of the Original Trilogy until I came to find a deeper appreciation for The Empire Strikes Back’s bleak brilliance. Still, there is a lot to like about Return of the Jedi; the effects, for one thing, are at their peak in the Original Trilogy and it represents the culmination of each character’s journey and arc since we were first introduced to them.
Leia puts her love for Han ahead of her commitment to the Rebellionand fights by his side.
Unfortunately, a lot of it is a bit redundant as we’ve already seen a fully operational Death Star before so returning to that well was a bit derivative and it lacks both the gritty, “lived-in” feel of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope(Lucas, 1977) and the large scale impact of Empire but what we’re left with is still a pretty decent rollicking space adventure when you focus on Luke’s journey and the desperate battle against the partially-constructed Death Star II. When Jedi begins, the Rebel Alliance are in a bit of disarray; though the threat of a new Death Star lingers ominously in the background, Princess Leia risks everything to deviate from concocting an assault on the space station to infiltrate the sordid palace of the disgusting and nefarious slug-like crime lord Jabba the Hutt in order to rescue her beloved Han. I mentioned when reviewing Empire how, in the previous film, Leia’s militaristic and pragmatic façade was slowly and methodically stripped away as her more human, vulnerable, and emotional side came to the forefront through her burgeoning feelings for Han and nowhere is that best expressed than in her putting aside her commitment to the Rebel Alliance to rescue Han. Once he is safely back amidst the Rebel Alliance, she then steps away from her more diplomatic role as a co-ordinator and commander to join Han in the mission to knock out the Death Star II’s shield generator, now fully embracing both her proactive, action-orientated abilities and her softer, more empathetic side.
Luke’s powers and confidence have grown significantly but he’s far from a flawless character.
Leia’s infiltration is just a mere part of the grand plan to rescue Solo, however, and it’s all been devised by Luke Skywalker. Now a far cry from the wide-eyed, naïve farmboy of A New Hope, Luke is garbed head to toe in black and Jedi robes, confidant in his ability to use the Force and sure that he has the power and ability to rescue Solo with a minimum of fuss. As impressive as Luke’s newfound abilities are, however, he’s not without flaws; he doesn’t bank on Jabba resisting his Jedi mind tricks or Han emerging from the slab of carbonite with temporary blindness. His concern for the well-being of his friend, particularly his treasured Leia, also causes him to receive a blaster shot to his cybernetic hand during the rescue though they are, nevertheless, successful. Somewhere between movies, Luke has grown considerably and, despite receiving only a crash course in Jedi training, is all-but a Jedi Knight when Jedi begins. However, upon returning to his wizened master Yoda (Oz), Luke learns that he must confront and defeat Darth Vader if he is ever to become a true Jedi. Luke is aghast at the suggestion, sure that he is unable to kill his father, and his doubts are further compounded when the spirit of his first mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), reveals that Leia is actually his twin sister. Rather than dwell on the romantic and sexual feelings and moments they shared in the previous films, Luke resolves to instead attempt to turn his father from the Dark Side and redeem him rather than kill him and is so convinced that Vader is in conflict between his good and bad feelings that he’s even willing to die in this attempt.
Though still a loveable rogue, Han has matured into a full-blown team leader.
After being freed from the carbonite and recovering from his vision loss, Han fully commits to the Rebel Alliance and their desperate crusade against the Death Star II; to show just how far his character has grown over the years, rather than simply laughing off or walking away from the Rebel cause, he voluntarily agrees to lead the ground assault against the shield generator and takes up a commanding position with ease and grace. He’s still the most charismatic of the characters and actors, however, and maintains that gruff, rugged edge that made him so likeable but he’s also clearly developed as a character, showing layers of vulnerability and leadership, respectively, where he previously only showed selfishness. Han reluctantly hands the keys to the Millennium Falcon over to his former smuggling buddy Lando Calrissian (Williams); it’s not addressed onscreen why Han immediately trusts Lando considering he was betraying him to Vader and the bungling bounty hunter Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) in the previous film but, regardless, Lando is now an accepted and integral part of the Rebellion and trusted enough with leading the head-on assault against the second Death Star. Still emitting a cool, smooth charm, Lando fulfils the role of a principal figure in the Rebellion as easily as Han, as though he was merely hiding from his greater destiny all this time. Once again, our heroes are supported by the droids C-3PO (Daniels), R2-D2 (Baker), and the Wookie, Chewbacca (Mayhew); this time around, Threepio gets a bit more of the spotlight as he is revered as a God by the tribal-like teddy bears known as Ewoks and shines in his comedic contributions and an abridged, adorable retelling of the saga so far. Artoo, meanwhile, doesn’t really get a whole lot to do beyond being Luke’s unquestioning confidant and getting the Rebels into the shield generator stronghold and, similarly, Chewbacca is taken away from the space action to join Han’s ground party where he humourously bonds with the Ewoks and commandeers an All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walker during the big forest battle.
Either Luke kills the Emperor or he kills Vader; either way, the Emperor wins.
Although the Emperor was retroactively inserted into Empire, he was first introduced in the flesh here in Jedi. After the Force and their kind were openly mocked and treated with scorn in A New Hope, its humbling and affecting to see that the Imperials fear the Emperor almost as much, if not more so, than Vader himself. A cackling, manipulative, wizened crone in a dark robe, the Emperor’s words are full of confidence and poison and he is so convinced of his victory that he willingly leaks information about the Death Star II to the Rebels in order to lure them into a trap. Seated in his enigmatic throne aboard the second Death Star, the Emperor taunts and cajoles Luke in order to fuel his anger and affect his turn towards the Dark Side; everything the Emperor says is designed to push Luke further and further and he even leaves himself completely defenceless, seemingly ready to die so that Luke can turn to the Dark Side and succeed him. His true motivation, of course, can be read through subtext; the Emperor wants Luke to battle, kill, and ultimately replace Vader as his apprentice and he (the Emperor) doesn’t really try to hide this motivation. As for Darth Vader, he is at his most conflicted in Jedi; in A New Hope, he was a mere puppet, almost bored with the mundane routine of his life, but he was a driven, focused force of nature in Empire. In Jedi, we see just how committed and devoted to his Emperor Vader is; he willingly bows in the Emperor’s presence, speaks for him to the Imperial subordinates, and seems in awe (or fear) of the Emperor’s power and ability in the Dark Side of the Force. In Empire, Vader offered Luke the chance to join him so that they could overthrow the Emperor and you can tell, even with the featureless helmet and after shunning Luke’s assertions of his inner conflict, that Vader truly desires to unite with his son to displace the Emperor’s authority.
The Nitty-Gritty: Return of the Jedi really ups the ante when it comes to practical and special effects; it’s truly a shame to see what a mess Lucas made of the Prequel Trilogy by relying so heavily on computer-generated characters and effects when the standards for the suits and puppets and stop motion work were so high in Jedi. Jabba makes an immediate impression thanks to being a huge, tangible puppet; slimy and disgusting, he’s little more than a lackadaisical slug but is so expressive and lifelike that you really buy into his presence and menace.
Return of the Jedi‘s puppets and practical effects were the best in the series at that point.
Similarly, the effects on the Rancor are still commendably impressive; a large, bipedal, nightmarish monster, we’ve never seen a character engage with a monster like the Rancor in the Star Wars films before and it’s very impressive the way the filmmakers pulled it off. Similarly, the integration of the Imperial Walkers into the more complex environment of the forest moon of Endor is equally impressive, marred only by the poor effects seen in the speeder bike chase. Return of the Jedi also features the best space battle of the saga so far as the entire Rebel fleet converges on the second Death Star and the second biggest twist of the series is revealed when the Death Star starts blowing up their frigates with its super laser. What follows is an intense, suicidal mission as the outnumbered and outgunned Rebels desperately engage with countless TIE Fighters and numerous gigantic Star Destroyers until Han’s group manages to bring down the shield and allow Lando to lead the assault into the space station’s superstructure. It’s a big, visually impressive space battle and leagues beyond the more gritty skirmish we saw in A New Hope; because of the sheer amount of ships and destruction happening onscreen at any one time, you really get a sense of the urgency and overwhelming odds that the Rebels are up against and that ths is their last chance at defeating the Empire for good.
Vader is overwhelmed and overpowered when Luke explodes into a relentless rage.
Ultimately, though, Vader willingly engages his son in the most brutal and emotionally charged lightsaber battle of the saga so far; like the Emperor, Vader taunts Luke, threatening his friends and sister to goad him into giving in to his hatred and anger. This works a little too well, however, as Luke flies into a rage and relentlessly pummels Vader, severing his cybernetic arm and rendering him beaten and helpless. Now held at the mercy of Luke’s lightsaber in a thematic reversal of the conclusion to their last battle, Vader wheezes helplessly on the floor, even holding a hand up as if to ward off Luke’s wrath and it is only when Luke compares his own cybernetic hand to Vader’s prosthetics that he realises how alike they truly are and he dramatically casts aside his lightsaber and refuses to kill his father. Insulted and angered, the Emperor unleashes his full power on Luke and reveals a peak at the true destructive potential of the Force; prior to Jedi, the Force was an abstract concept with a multitude of uses but never truly tangibly seen onscreen but the Emperor’s devastating Force Lightning changes that and it’s extremely unsettling to see him cackling away and taking such pleasure in roasting Luke alive.
One act is apparently enough to atone for a lifetime of genocide…
Darth Vader is deeply perturbed by these events; literally turning his head to his suffering son and his all-powerful master, physically evoking the conflict deep within his dark heart. Ultimately, Vader chooses to turn on his master, hoisting the Emperor up and casting him down a vast chasm to his death and absorbing the full, lethal force of his master’s lightning at the same time. Many like to argue that this one act redeems Vader (and Jedi goes out of its way to show this as the case as Vader, now restored to the form of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), appears alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda as a Force ghost at the film’s conclusion, now content and happy) but I actually take issue with this. It’s a poignant and moving seen seeing Vader’s scarred and vulnerable true face as he has one last heartfelt moment with his son but does one act, no matter how pivotal, truly make up for the years of torture and genocide that Vader personally revelled in? I would argue that it doesn’t and that it takes the focus off of Luke who, for me, is the true “Chosen One” of the saga and that Anakin’s destiny was to sire the Chosen One rather than be it himself.
The Summary: Many people like to rag on Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and I can understand why: the plot is largely derivative, the inclusion of the cute and cuddly Ewoks was a bit jarring, and it seems like a much shorter, far less intense film of the most part. For me, personally, I have no real issue with the Ewoks as they help to expand the Star Wars universe and tell a decent story of primitive cultures triumphing over superior forces (acting as a pretty on the nose allegory for the Rebellion itself in many ways) and the film’s intensity ramps up considerably once the big space battle and the culmination of Luke’s journey begins. No, for me, Return of the Jedi’s flaws lie in the disappointing trend it set for further Star Wars films to focus more on call-backs and redundant elements than trying something new; not only does the Death Star return, the first portion of the film returns to the bleak, barren, boring landscape of Tatooine and, while it does something new with this environment, it’s disappointing to me how many subsequent Star Wars films re-used this desert landscape or returned to the idea of a planet-killing super weapon. Still, that aside, there’s a lot to like in Return of the Jedi, particularly if you focus on the assault against the Death Star II and Luke’s emotional confrontation with his father and it’s easily the second best film in the Original Trilogy for me.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Where do you rank Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi against the Original Trilogy, and the other films in the Star Wars saga? What did you think to the inclusion of the Ewoks and bringing the Death Star back into the story? How about the Emperor; what did you think of him and of Darth Vader’s sacrifice in the film’s finale? Do you feel that one act redeemed Vader or do you agree that one act cannot be weighed against a lifetime of evil deeds? What did you think to the revelation that Leia is Luke’s sister? How are you celebrating May the Sith today? Whatever you think, drop a comment below and let me know and thanks for joining me in revisiting the Original Trilogy over the last three days.
Although May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to celebrate the popular, generation-spanning science-fiction saga on May 5th as a play on the word “Sith”. This can extend Star Wars Day into three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series and, as a result, I am using each of these days to look back at the Original Trilogy!
Released: 22 September 2019 Originally Released: 17 May 1980 Director: Irvin Kershner Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Original Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $33 million Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse/James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, and Frank Oz
The Plot: Three years after destroying the Death Star, Luke Skywalker (Hamill), Han Solo (Ford), and Princess Leia Organa (Fisher) and the Rebel Alliance have been constantly hounded by the Galactic Empire. Having been driven from their hidden base, the Rebellion is scattered, with Luke journeying to refine his Jedi sills and Han and Leia relentlessly pursued by Darth Vader (Prowse/Jones).
The Background: George Lucas’s science-fiction “space opera” was a near-immediate hit upon release and, almost immediately, talks began of producing a sequel. Despite the filming of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (ibid, 1977) proving a harrowing experience, Lucas wasn’t finished with his story and soon relented to the demand for a follow-up but had to navigate the minefield of sci-fi films and media that Star Wars had subsequently inspired. Having financed much of the film himself in order to maintain creative control, creating his own film studio in the process, Lucas turned directing duties over to Irvin Kershner, and filming began on 5 March 1979. Filming ran into a few snags when star Mark Hamill was injured in a car accident and Harrison Ford first voiced his desire for his character, Han Solo, to be killed off, both of which necessitated a number of rewrites. Conversely, the film’s now-iconic twist was kept a closely-regarded secret, with only a handful of cast and crew being in on the dramatic revelation, ensuring that audiences were shocked at the reveal. For me, even now, The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars film in the entire saga, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story(Edwards, 2016) a close second. Fittingly, the film was massively profitable, making over $550 millionat the box office but, interestingly, opinions on the film were divided when it first released, with many critics dismissing it outright. Since then, the film’s reputation was increased and it has, rightfully, been lauded as one of the greatest films ever made. Although Lucas would return to the film, restoring, augmenting, and remastering it, of the three films in the Original Trilogy it has received the least amount of alterations and changes, which, to me, says a lot about the standard to which The Empire Strikes Back was made.
The Review: So I said in my review of A New Hope that, while I like Star Wars, I don’t really think that much of the first film Lucas released; it’s far simpler, narratively, and lot of its characters and concepts seem jarringly out of place with the rest of the saga. Today, I have another confession: I actually preferred A New Hope over The Empire Strikes Back as a child. If I’m being totally honest, Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi(Marquand, 1983) was my favourite as a kid and was, as I recall, the first Star Wars movie I actually watched from start to finish (or, at least, the first one I remember enjoying). Over the years, however, my opinion has changed and I have come to regard Empire as the greatest Star Wars film of them all for its bleaker tone and the way it raised the stakes against our heroes.
Luke undergoes gruelling training in anticipation for his revenge against Darth Vader.
Luke Skywalker is back, a little older and a little less naïve than in the last film; now a Commander in the Rebel Alliance, he has attained a degree of notoriety amongst his peers (and the Empire) for destroying the Death Star and is no longer the wide-eyed, inexperienced farmboy we knew. That’s not to say that he’s become this battle-hardened soldier, though; Luke remains this adventurous, optimistic character through whom we are introduced to the complexities of the Force. Guided by the spirit of his deceased mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), Luke splits off from the Rebellion to travel to Dagobah and seek out another Jedi Master to further refine his skills. On the desolate swamp planet, he encounters the wizened Yoda (Oz), a curious little hermit of a creature who speaks in riddles and vagaries regarding the true nature of the Force and what it means to be a Jedi. Luke’s training is physically and mentally gruelling as he is forced to learn harsh lessons about his distracted ways and the anger boiling inside of him. Still, he learns much from Yoda and in a comparatively short length of time, certainly enough to motivate him to interrupt his training to rush to the aid of his friends. This, it turns out, proves to be his harshest lesson so far but, again, Luke’s motivations are clouded by his desire to help the ones he loves and to get a measure of revenge against the man who killed his father and his mentor: Darth Vader.
Through her growing feelings for Han, Leia’s pragmatic façadestarts to slip.
Having undergone perhaps the most significant character arc in the last film, Han Solo’s arc in Empire is intertwined with that of Leia’s as both characters are now in denial of their true feelings towards one another. Luke throws a spanner into the works as he is still infatuated with Leia but, luckily (especially in retrospect…), the film doesn’t dwell on or descend into a bitter love triangle thanks, largely, to our main characters being separated for the majority of the film. Accordingly, though now a Captain in the Rebellion and actively aiding their cause, Han is anxious to leave to pay off his debts but finds himself fleeing the Rebel base on the ice planet Hoth with Leia in tow and forced into a dramatic cat-and-mouse game with the pursuing Empire thanks to damages to his ship, the Millennium Falcon. This will-they-won’t-they attraction between Han and Leia helps to flesh her character out a bit more, too; still a competent and devoted leader in the Rebellion, Leia’s outspoken nature and forthrightness is revealed to be a front for her true feelings. Having denied or suppressed her personal desires due to her complete focus on bringing down the Empire, her interactions with Han allow her façade to slip and show her as a more vulnerable and layered character. Ultimately, when faced with what could be Han’s death, she is unable to hold back her true feelings and expresses them with a passionate kiss and cry of “I love you” to which Han, ever the loveable rogue, simply replies: “I know”, indicating that they were both in love for a long time, perhaps forever, but unable to properly express it due to their nature and commitment to playing a certain role (the competent, unemotional leader and the daredevil smuggler, respectively).
While Artoo assists Luke, Chewie tries to repair Threepio and the Falcon…with mixed results.
Once again, our heroes are supported by the bickering droids C-3PO (Daniels) and R2-D2 (Baker) as well as the loveable Wookie, Chewbacca (Mayhew). Each play a pivotal role in supporting the main narrative and the arcs of the main characters: C-3PO is the awkward comic relief always ruining potentially romantic moments between Han and Leia and ultimately learns of a betrayal against his companions, R2-D2 is the blank slate Luke can convey his concerns and doubts to on Dagobah and later finally repairs the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive so the character’s can beat a hasty retreat, and Chewbacca is shown to be much more than a brutish, growling bodyguard as he desperately tries to repair the Falcon, puts his mechanical ability to better (and more comedic) use trying to repair the damaged Threepio, and explodes into anger and anguish when they are betrayed and Han meets a bitter fate.
A smooth talking charmer, Lando is in cahoots with, and screwed over by, the Empire.
This latter plot point is due to the film’s other new addition, Lando Calrissian (Williams), a smooth talking former smuggler turned respectable businessman whom Han is forced to turn to for repairs and shelter. Williams excels in the role, exuding a slick and flawless charisma while still appearing somewhat disreputable and shady due to the nature of his past and his business. Ultimately, of course, he is forced to betray Han and the others to the Empire to keep the Empire from interfering with his business but this immediately backfires on him when Darth Vader continuously alters the terms of their agreement. Similar to Han in the last film, Lando is then forced to re-align himself with the Rebellion and join their cause in order to remove the Empire from Cloud City and try to rescue his old smuggling buddy. That proves much harder than first anticipated thanks to Darth Vader employing the services of a number of unnamed bounty hunters, chief among them an individual who would go on to become one of the franchise’s most popular characters: Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch/Temuera Morrison). Now, I like Boba Fett, don’t get me wrong; he has a cool look, a cool voice, and is a very mysterious and enigmatic character but I’ve never really understand why he is so popular amongst Star Wars fans. Taken in a bubble, using only the two films he appears in as a reference, he is only ever portrayed as competent once and that’s in this film and largely because Darth Vader allows him that chance. Otherwise, he’s just a nameless, faceless grunt who pursues the Millennium Falcon and takes possession of Han’s frozen corpse by the film’s finale.
Vader is driven, focused, obsessed with getting his hands on Luke Skywalker!
Thankfully, however, Darth Vader is greatly expanded upon in Empire; no longer a mere puppet of the Empire, Vader is proactively leading the Imperials seen in the film and even has his own Super Star Destroyer, the Executor, which is, like, three times the size of other Star Destroyers. The obsession with finding the one responsible for destroying the Death Star has, apparently, reawakened Vader’s passion and he is a far more intimidating and threatening presence in this film. Quick to anger at the incompetence of his subordinates (and no longer on the leash of other high-ranking Imperials), Vader doesn’t hesitate to kill those who fail him (he even utters a dry quip while doing so at one point). However, Vader isn’t just a cold, merciless machine; he promotes Captain Piett (Kenneth Colley) and entrusts him with hunting down the Millennium Falcon and makes a point to order his bounty hunters (in particular Boba Fett) that he desires his prisoners, especially Luke, to be captured alive. When meeting with the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid),Vader is even able to subtly steer his master towards attempting to turn Luke to the Dark Side of the Force rather than kill him and all of this comes to a head when the film’s big twist is revealed. During his dramatic and engaging lightsaber duel with Luke, Vader is far more aggressive and competent as a swordsman than before and, in revealing the truth to Luke, reveals yet more layers to his personality; you get a sense that he is absolutely overwhelmed, almost addicted, to the power of the Dark Side and he appears visibly shaken when Luke escapes his clutches at the lasts second, all of which does wonders for expanding on what was previously little more than a one-dimensional character with a cool look and an intriguing past.
The Nitty-Gritty: The Empire Strikes Back takes everything that worked about A New Hope and expands upon it masterfully; the galaxy is opened up much wider to include such locations as the desolate ice world of Hoth, the putrid swamps of Dagobah, and the beautiful copper-red skies of Bespin. Thanks to a far larger array of memorable characters and locations, we finally get a sense of the scope of Lucas’ galaxy; strange alien creatures don’t just walk the streets, they inhabit entire asteroids and take up such lucrative professions as bounty hunters, all of which only adds to the “lived-in” feeling of the world Lucas established in A New Hope. Furthermore, the film’s special effects and action sequences are easily 100% better than those in A New Hope; the Millennium Falcon doesn’t just lazily list to the left during space scenes, it spins and darts and flies all over the place to outmanoeuvre not just the smaller, faster TIE Fighters but the massive Star Destroyers as well. Space battles are actually few and far between in Empire in favour of more character-building moments, lightsaber combat, and ground-based action, meaning that the Falcon is left to carry the entirety of the film’s space battles and, thanks to its improved manoeuvrability and the tension-building sequences in the asteroid belt, it does so wonderfully.
Yoda has some harsh lessons to teach Luke about patience and the Force.
I mentioned the ground battles earlier and I would be remiss to not spend some time talking about easily one of the film’s most impressive effects sequences, the battle of Hoth, in which the Rebel Alliance is set upon by gigantic All-Terrain Armoured Transport (AT-AT) and All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walkers; these incredibly well-constructed machines are brought to life through a combination of models and traditional stop motion techniques and really make an impact, decimating the Rebel base and forcing them to flee into the vastness of space. Aside from Lando and Boba Fett, Empire also introduces another pivotal character to the saga in Yoda; a wizened old crone, Yoda reveals more about the intricacies of the Force and guides Luke’s training, however reluctantly. Like Obi-Wan, Yoda is clearly haunted by the mistakes and events of a vaguely-defined past and is continually disappointed by Luke’s impatience and conflicting feelings of attachment, fear, and anger. This comes to a head when Luke battles a vision of Darth Vader and, reacting out of instinct and emotion, sees himself literally reflected in Vader’s gruesome visage and, after Luke rushes off to help his friends, Yoda is left despondent but secure in the knowledge of “another” who could be trained to take Luke’s place.
Vader casually drops one of cinema’s all-time greatest plot twists!
Similarly, as mentioned, lightsaber combat is significantly improved in Empire; although we only really get one actual lightsaber battle, it is leagues above the plodding, awkward affair seen in A New Hope thanks to Luke’s youthful exuberance and desire for revenge. The fight has many layers to it, too, with Vader clearly toying with Luke in the early going and somewhat taken aback by Luke’s tenacity; in the end, though, while Luke is able to land a glancing blow on Vader, experience and ruthlessness allow Vader to easily (and literally) disarm Luke with a mere swing of his red-tinted lightsaber. It is in this moment, while Luke is in agony and overwhelmed by fear and anger, that Vader drops perhaps the biggest twist in movie history: not only did Obi-Wan lie about the fate of Luke’s father, Anakin, but Vader himself is Luke’s father! It’s a startling, shocking revelation given so much poignancy thanks to John William’s booming, iconic score (the unforgettable “Imperial March” debuts in this film, which elevates it even more in my opinion) and Luke’s agonising reaction. Shaken by this revelation, Luke willingly plummets to an unknown fate, apparently perfectly willing to die and only saved by luck or the will of the Force and the film ends with Luke’s hand being replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic, Han a prison of Boba Fett and encased in carbonite, and the Rebel Alliance in tatters. Luke’s faith in everything he was told is shaken and he and his friends gaze out into an unknown future, ending the film on an incredibly bleak cliff-hanger that masterfully sets the stage for the final showdown with both Vader and the Empire.
The Summary: Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is still the best Star Wars film ever made. It just is and that’s all there is to it but, if you want to get technical, just look at what it offers: the effects are bigger and better, the score is more iconic and bombastic, the characters are more nuanced and layered, and the lore is greatly expanded upon to show that there is so much more than even the titbits we were fed in A New Hope. With its far grittier, more mature, and bleak atmosphere and ending, some of the saga’s most memorable characters and, of course. one of the greatest reveals in movie history, The Empire Strikes Back stands head and shoulders above its predecessor, offering exciting space and sci-fi action, an emotionally charged and engaging lightsaber battle, and far more intriguing themes regarding destiny and portrayals of the futility of battling against a superior force. Empire very much sets the tone for the remainder of the Star Wars saga and many of the subsequent films and spin-off media would take their cue from its revelations and direction, for better or worse, and its influence to the franchise cannot be understated.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Where does Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back rank against the Original Trilogy, and the other films in the Star Wars saga, for you? Do agree that it is the best film in the Original Trilogy and the saga or do you, perhaps, prefer a different Star Wars film? Are you a fan of Boba Fett? If so, what is it about his character as portrayed in this movie that you find so appealing? What did you think of the other characters introduced in this film, like Lando and Yoda, and the way existing characters were developed? What was your reaction upon hearing Darth Vader’s revelation for the first time? How are you celebrating Revenge of the 5th today? Whatever you think, comment below and let me know, and be sure to check out my review of the final part of the Original Trilogy.
May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day thanks to it acting as perhaps one of the most fitting and amusing puns ever devised (“May the Fourth be with you” in place of the traditional “May the Force be with you”). The first and most popular of what can easily become a three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series, the day stands as the perfect excuse for Star Wars fans to celebrate the beloved franchise in a variety of ways and, this year, I’ll be celebrating with a three day review of the Original Trilogy!
Released: 22 September 2019 Originally Released: 25 May 1977 Director: George Lucas Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Original Distributor: 20th Century Fox Budget: $11 million Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse/James Earl Jones, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness
The Plot: For twenty years, the galaxy has been held in the grip of the malevolent Galactic Empire. Although captured by the wicked Darth Vader (Prowse/Jones), Princess Leia Organa (Fisher) manages to spirit away the plans for the Empire’s superweapon. When unassuming farm boy Luke Skywalker (Hamill) unwittingly acquires these, he is suddenly swept into a conflict against the Empire and their all-powerful, planet-destroying battle station: the Death Star!
The Background: Nowadays, everyone knows about Star Wars; the science-fiction “space opera” film has become a near-unstoppable multimedia juggernaut, branching off into numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs, novels, videogames, comic books, and more. But, back in 1977, it was merely the brainchild of a very young director called George Lucas, who was just coming off of the commercial failure of his debut feature, THX 1138 (ibid, 1971). Inspired by pulp science-fiction serials like Flash Gordon (Stephani, 1936), Lucas’s initial drafts for The Star Wars held the nucleus for what would become a generation-spanning franchise but was, at the time, a low-budget, risky venture for film studios to bank on. After refining the script into something more closely resembling the film we actually got, Lucas formed his own visual effects company to bring to life his vision for an ambitious galactic conflict and managed to secure veteran actors Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness (who, paradoxically, so believed in the film that he signed on to receive 2.25% of the royalties but also disliked the undue attention the film’s success brought him), and filled out the cast with a bunch of relative unknowns (and some carpenter who I’ve never heard of…) Despite the pressure and stress of filming negatively affecting Lucas’s health, Star Wars made over $10 million at the box office and became a cultural phenomenon almost immediately upon release. The critical reception was overwhelminglypositive and the film won numerous Academy Awards. Star Wars would go on to have numerous sequels, prequels, and spin-offs but Lucas returned to the film numerous times over the years to use modern computer-generated imagery and special effects to expand, improve, and remaster his classic film. While these changes have been debated by long-term series fans, many of these changes have been for the better, such as restoring long-lost scenes and improving the film’s noticeably-dated effects.
The Review: I’m going to kick this one off with a controversial statement: as much as I like Star Wars, I am not really the biggest fan of A New Hope. Of the three films in the Original Trilogy, it ranks the lowest for me because, as visually impressive and exciting as it is, it doesn’t quite feel like it “fits” in the overall saga because of the concessions Lucas made to consolidate his original ideas. Things like Darth Vader acting so neutered and out of character really stick out for me; I never get the sense that he’s supposed to be the “hero” of the franchise or really anything more than an intimidating, mysterious henchman of Grand Moff Tarkin and a lot of the film’s effects and lore are sub-par compared to what we see in later sequels. Crucial, for me, is the fact that the Death Star is destroyed at the end; this is the Empire’s greatest weapon, capable of destroying planets, no doubt staffed with thousands of their people, and it’s hard to really top that or believe that their forces are as formidable after it’s destroyed. Still, it is an appealing space/fantasy film and it works really well in a bubble; its themes and world were greatly expanded and improved upon in subsequent films, though, meaning that whenever I watch A New Hope (particularly in a Star Wars marathon) I can’t help but notice that it just sticks out a bit from the others and it doesn’t surprise me at all that Lucas added and expanded so much of the film in subsequent re-releases to try and better align it with existing continuity.
Though largely motivated by his libido, Luke eventually becomes a hero of the Rebellion.
Anyway, A New Hope is basically the story of Luke Skywalker, a wide-eyed farm boy from a back-water, desert world who longs to escape the monotony of his everyday life and find adventure and excitement out in the big, wide galaxy just like his long-dead father, whom he idolises with a naïve hero’s worship. Luke acts as the audience surrogate for the most part; cut off from the rest of the galaxy and ignorant to many of the greater conflicts and nuances of life, we learn bits and pieces of this world as he does and are drawn into the conflict alongside him, and view the majority of the film’s events through the eyes of this unassuming farm hand. Luke is primarily motivated by his libido; after stumbling across Leia’s holographic plea for help, he becomes immediately infatuated with her and, though torn between his desire to meet and help her and to explore the galaxy and his duties to his uncle, Owen Lars (Phil Brown), he jumps at the chance to accompany Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) on his journey to assist the Rebel Alliance after the Empire slaughters the only family he has ever known, turning his motivation also into one of hatred and revenge for the Empire and everyone in it. Accordingly, the minute he infiltrates the Death Star alongside his newfound friends and gets a blaster in his hand, he is more than happy to blast away at the myriad of nameless, faceless Stormtroopers and the first one to jump into the cockpit of an X-Wing to take on and destroy the Death Star to deal a crippling blow against the Empire he hates so much.
Obi-Wan’s sacrifice pushes Luke towards his greater destiny.
Obi-Wan (posing as an old hermit with the ridiculously paper thin pseudonym of “Old Ben Kenobi”) acts as Luke’s wise old mentor and father-figure; having fought alongside Luke’s father, Anakin, in the “Clone Wars”, Obi-Wan is Luke’s sole remaining (and strongest) link to the father he never knew. Obi-Wan talks of Anakin with reverence and respect, passes his lightsaber down to Luke, and is extremely enthusiastic about training Luke as a Jedi so that he can follow in his father’s footsteps. Though old and clearly haunted by events from the past, Obi-Wan is a patient and sage character, able to use the Force (the mystical energy that binds the galaxy together and can be manipulated by Jedi and Force-sensitive individuals) to influence (or manipulate, I guess) the minds of the “weak minded” (which, arguably, also includes Luke…) and resorting to conflict only when absolutely necessary. Obi-Wan also adds to Luke’s motivation not only by fostering and encouraging his desires for adventure but by fuelling his personal vendetta against the Empire through his self-sacrifice; aboard the Death Star, Obi-Wan has a confrontation with Darth Vader, a former pupil of his who he claims betrayed and murdered Anakin, and the two have a…lacklustre duel that is absolutely devoid of the hatred and animosity that there is supposed to be between these characters, which is disappointing when you consider the calibre of later lightsaber battles in the saga. Still, the point of this duel is to kill off Obi-Wan so that he can ascend to a higher state of existence and to push Luke further towards his destiny and it remains a surprisingly affecting scene as Obi-Wan is one of the most compelling and interesting characters thanks to the backstory he hints at and Guinness’s quiet, veteran screen presence.
Leia assumes many roles and is more than capable of holding her own in a fight.
As the only prominent female character in the film beyond Luke’s Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser), it falls to Leia to carry the film as a strong-willed, independent female character. Though she appears to be a mere helpless damsel in distress who is dependant on a gaggle of misfit men to rescue her, she immediately takes charge of their escape from the Death Star, berating Han Solo’s (Ford) recklessness and immaturity and throwing snark at him, Luke, and even the mighty Chewbacca (Mayhew). Fully capable of holding her own in a firefight, she’s also human and sympathetic enough to console Luke after Obi-Wan’s death and respected and influential enough to be a commanding figure in the Rebel Alliance once they finally reach the Rebel base on Yavin 4. We don’t really learn a huge amount about her (truthfully, we don’t about any character save Luke and vague hints of life prior to the film from Obi-Wan) but her actions speak louder than words; she’s clearly a very complex and layered character as she has deceived the Empire (and Darth Vader) into thinking she is a loyal supporter of their cause while actually being a principal figurehead in the Rebellion and her commitment to bringing down the Empire drives her character through and through.
Star Wars is populated by a variety of memorable characters.
The linchpins for the film’s entire plot are, of course, probably the most famous droid duo in cinema history, C-3PO (Daniels) and R2-D2 (Baker); Threepio is an overly polite and helpful protocol droid who has no time for drama or adventures but is swept up into perhaps the biggest space adventure ever, whittling and complaining and despairing the entire way, and Artoo is the unsung hero of the film (and the entire saga) whose entire personality is brought to life very effectively despite the fact that he can only communicate through “beeps” and “boops” and at Threepio’s discretion. For the most part, they exist as mere supporting characters and the film’s comic relief but, without them, the movie couldn’t happen; similarly, Chewbacca, despite his great size and communicating only through growls or Han’s translation, isn’t much more than a supporting character but makes an immediate impact thanks to his unique design and screen presence.
Han is easily the film’s most appealing protagonist thanks to his loveable, rugged charm.
Speaking of which, easily the film’s most likeable character is, of course, Han Solo. World-weary and cynical, Han is a loveable, self-serving rogue who is only motivated by the money and has little time for the Rebellion’s futile efforts against the Empire or “hokey religions” like the Jedi and disparate concepts like the Force. Where Luke is young and naïve, Han is well travelled and has experienced the very worst that the galaxy has to offer; it helps that Ford brings a natural, relatable, and likeable charisma to the role and that, as a result, Han is the most “normal” of the film’s heroes and his “Everyman” persona is immediately appealing. His character arc is, obviously, that he comes to sympathise with the Rebellion’s plight and you really get the sense that he comes to care for Luke as a surrogate younger brother and it’s still a fantastic moment when he dramatically swoops in in the Millennium Falcon to clear Luke’s path in the film’s finale, proving that he has a moral compass and a heart of gold after all.
Though a threatening, impressive presence, Vader is little more than Tarkin’s puppet.
Finally, there is the film’s antagonistic force, the Empire, represented by Tarkin and, of course Dark Vader. Tarkin is the voice of “the Emperor”, an unseen figurehead who is behind the Empire and their iron grip on the galaxy; with his straight-laced, officious tones, Tarkin immediately commands and demands respect and attention from all of his peers…and that includes Darth Vader. Of course it helps that Tarkin is masterfully portrayed by the late, great Peter Cushing, whose screen presence and veteran ability commands attention; when Tarkin walks into a room or speaks, you pay attention and the film does a great job of showing how disconcertingly quiet and sadistic he is through his unwavering decision to torture Leia and destroy her home planet without hesitation. In the end, though, pride is Tarkin’s downfall; like many of the other Imperial officers, he believes so completely in the Death Star’s power and impenetrability that he refuses to heed the warnings and is killed alongside countless others when the Death Star is destroyed. Which brings us, at last, to Darth Vader…and this isn’t the complex, terrifying character we would come to know in subsequent sequels. Though he cuts an intimidating figure with his cold, emotionless suit and booming voice and wields mysterious powers that the ignorant cannot comprehend, Vader is little more than Tarkin’s puppet in this film. There are attempts to show him as a threatening presence and a malevolent force through the way Obi-Wan talks about him and his callous murdering and terrorising of those around him but it seems as though Vader is overwhelmed by apathy and boredom in this film (perhaps understandably so, in retrospect). He seems to lack the passion and drive we would see in later films and is a hollow character for it; thankfully, his personality, characterisation, and backstory are expanded upon significantly as the saga goes on but, for me, Vader sticks out the most as the film’s most out of place personality.
The Nitty-Gritty: For a sci-fi fantasy that deals with a conflict that spans galaxies, A New Hope is surprisingly limited in terms of its locations; thanks to the film’s small budget, we only really spend any significant time on one alien world and it is, for me, the worst kind of environment to see in a film as it is little more than a dry, arid, boring desert. As soon as our heroes dramatically escape from Tatooine and head towards the Death Star, the film really picks up and gets interesting and that’s a bit of an odd thing to say considering how bland and uniform the Death Star’s grey and black corridors look. Still, it’s way more visually appealing than a desert and we get to see a lot of different locations on the Death Star before joining Luke and Rogue Squadron for their thrilling assault on the space station.
Star Wars has some of the most iconic starships in cinema history.
Although the effects in A New Hope are probably the most dated of all of those in the Original Trilogy, even after all of Lucas’s re-edits and digital tweaks, it’s still commendable and impressive how detailed and visually interesting all of the film’s models and ships and such are. Everything has a very practical, “lived-in” feel to it, as though it’s been around for some time and characters have had to make do or the focus has been placed on purely practical, military equipment. The standouts are, obviously, the Millennium Falcon and the Death Star; probably one of the most, if not the most, iconic ship in sci-fi history, the Millennium Falcon is as rugged and crude as Han and you really get the sense that it is just barely holding together despite Han’s boasts and its impressive capabilities. Compare that to the sleek, quiet ominous Death Star, which hovers against a blanket of darkness and stars like a foreboding eye. The Death Star’s planet-destroying power is a terrifyingly immediate threat and one that, I feel, was perhaps too great for the first (or fourth, whatever) film in a series but that is, again, the benefit of hindsight; if you watch A New Hope as a standalone feature, it works really well and the film even ends with the suggestion that the Empire has been irrevocably crippled. As part of a saga, it then works as the first real, decisive blow against the Empire but the Death Star’s threat was never really topped in subsequent films, only duplicated and expanded, such is the influence of that impressive battle station.
A New Hope takes the first steps into a much wider and more complex world.
Finally, we have the film’s more disparate elements and world-building; it is primarily through Obi-Wan that we learn of the Force but both Tarkin and Vader also provide a few snippets of insight into this abstract concept. The suggestion is that those who can truly harness the power of the Force were once known as Jedi Knights and that the Force’s power renders even the capabilities of the Death Star obsolete; we don’t really see any of that in the film (or any Star Wars film, to be honest) but that’s mainly because the Jedi are all-but-extinct and the Force is largely perceived as an “ancient religion” that has died out, become a folk talk, or is a source of derision. Far more proactive and useful than simple blind faith, the Force allows Obi-Wan to manipulate the minds of others, move objects with his mind, feel the death of Leia’s home world, and ascend to a higher plane of existence from where he can continue to advise and direct Luke. Trusting in the Force over his targeting computer and more tangible senses allows Luke to make the all-but-impossible shot that destroys the Death Star, thus putting him on the path towards his destiny of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a Jedi Knight.
The Summary: There is a lot to like about Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope; the world-building and concepts introduced and hinted at are intriguing and Lucas presents just enough to both wet our appetite for expansion of this lore and tell a simple sci-fi fantasy with a beginning, middle, and end. The characters are all distinct and likeable in their own way, with each one hinting at having a particularly interesting and exciting life prior to the film except for Luke, who longs to be a part of an interesting and exciting life and, through the will of the Force, gets his wish in more ways than he could have bargained for. And, yet, for all the respect and praise I have for A New Hope, it remains, for me, the weakest of the Original Trilogy and one of the weaker entries in the entire Star Wars saga. It’s just too simple, is the thing, too limited in its scope and so at odds with the films that come after it. As a standalone movie, it absolutely works but it’s as though Lucas struggled to fit A New Hope into his wider narrative in retrospect as the film’s portrayal of Darth Vader, the Force, and the groundwork it lays for the Clone Wars are all decidedly at odds with what we later experience and was unsatisfactorily waved away by a throwaway line from Obi-Wan in the third (sixth? Whatever!) film. It may be a classic piece of cinema but the sequel takes everything that worked about A New Hope and expands upon it in ways that make it, and even subsequent follow-ups, superior in many ways as the narrative has been clearly established rather than being distilled into one single film.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
What do you think about Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope? Where do you rank it in the Original Trilogy and against the other films in the Star Wars saga? Do you think I’ve committed a cardinal sin by expressing my dislike of the film over others in the saga or do you, perhaps, agree that it’s a weaker entry compared to its sequels? What do you think about Darth Vader’s portrayal in this film and the way the Force and the Clone Wars are presented? Which character was your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Star Wars Day today? Whatever your thoughts, good or bad, feel free to leave a comment below and be sure to check out my review of the far-superior sequel!
Story Title: “Venom” Published: May 1984 Writer: David Michelinie Artist: Todd McFarlane
The Background: In 1982, Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief Jim Shooter took a liking to an illustration from reader Randy Schueller that depicted Spider-Man in a smooth, black outfit with a large red spider motif across the chest; after purchasing the concept for a mere $200, writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz conceived of the costume being a living organism and Spidey’s new black suit debuted without explanation in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 before Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 revealed that Spidey acquired the suit during the “Secret Wars” event. Over the next year or so, Spidey revelled in the costume’s unique and helpful ability to form both clothing and organic webbing until Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic revealed its true nature as a symbiotic lifeform. Out of fear, Spidey rejected the symbiote, using the cacophony of church bells to drive it from his body and began wearing a cloth version of his black suit. At the conclusion of Web of Spider-Man #24, though, a mysterious assailant attempted to push Peter in front of an oncoming train and a shadowy figure was clearly stalking him throughout 1988 before the symbiote, now known as Venom, made its full and dramatic reappearance. Since then, Venom has evolved from a gruesome, twisted killer into a violent anti-hero and a more morally righteous hero, with the symbiote jumping from numerous hosts and spawning a number of similarly-powered offspring. Acting as Spider-Man’s dark doppelgänger, Venom was an immediate favourite for me and many readers thanks to their knowledge of Spidey’s true identity, resistance to his spider-sense, and having all of Spidey’s powers (and more) but being far for vindictive, sadistic, and lacking Peter’s strong moral compass.
The Review: “Venom” opens with the startling image of Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Peter’s former fling turned wife, huddled in the corner of their apartment nearly out of her mind with fear. When Peter returns home, still garbed in his cloth black costume, initially Mary Jane recoils in horror before gratefully embracing Peter. Peter, though disturbed by Mary Jane’s condition and the fact that she was attacked in their apartment, is even more troubled by her description of her attacker and worries that the alien costume might have survived their dramatic break-up. Mary Jane, ever the feisty and capable woman, is largely back to her old self after a good night’s rest in a hotel and immediately makes arrangements for them to move so she can put the whole thing behind her.
The usually strong-willed and brazen Mary Jane is left a trembling wreck by Venom.
However, overcome with his characteristic worrisome nature, Peter retrieves a Sonic Blaster from the Fantastic Four (a formidable weapon against the symbiote, which is highly vulnerable to sonic waves and intense heat), but is too highly strung to notice a mysterious stranger stalking him or to properly socialise with his friends and family, despite Mary Jane’s best efforts to perk him up. It’s an extremely effective way to introduce Venom without even seeing them on-panel; although Venom doesn’t physically hurt or molest Mary Jane, their mere presence and alien nature are enough to reduce her to a shivering wreck. Her condition greatly disturbs Peter, who points out through his internal monologue what a strong, impendent, and capable woman Mary Jane usually is; she’s always been very brazen and outspoken so to see her reduced to little more than a frightened child is a chilling moment for him (and us, the reader). At their house-warming party, Peter suddenly leaves after spotting his alien costume swinging around town and is immediately blind-sided by a muscular doppelgänger of himself baring a horrific grin. Although the reader was introduced to Eddie Brock, a large, stone-faced, muscle-bound man who is in possession of the alien costume, earlier, we don’t actually learn who he is or any of his backstory until this moment. Previously, we saw that he lives in a rundown apartment full of weightlifting equipment and newspaper clippings of Spider-Man, openly converses to the symbiote (though it doesn’t answer him back), and that he religiously pumps iron to increase both his physical strength and the strength of the symbiote.
Brock was driven to the edge before bonding with the symbiote and becoming Venom.
Peter, however, recognises not only the symbiote but also Brock, who is revealed to have been a respected reporter whose reputation was tarnished when he was duped by a compulsive confessor. Because Spider-Man captured Stan Carter/The Sin-Eater, Brock’s big story was discredited and he blamed Spider-Man for the sudden downturn in his fortunes. Brock’s mania was so complete and had blinded him so completely that he was driven first to strenuous exercise and, finally, to suicide; however, right as Eddie was contemplating the worst sin imaginable to his Catholic upbringing, the symbiote found him and, joined in their hatred of Spider-Man, they formed a bond so complete that Venom was born.
Spidey’s mercy proves to be his downfall as Venom are easily able to overpower and defeat him.
Though Spidey tries to use Brock’s monologue to edge his way towards his Sonic Blaster, Venom easily overpowers him with their superior strength. Spidey is, however, able to knock Venom down with a massive girder and blast him with the Sonic Blaster; Spidey hesitates, though, when he realises that the two have formed an unbreakable symbiotic bond and that further exposure to the high-intensity sound waves could kill Brock and decides to regroup and think of a new plan. This is all the hesitation Venom needs to recover, though, and with one massive blow, they knock Spidey out. When he awakens some hours later, Spidey finds that he has been webbed up to a church bell by Venom’s far stronger and much thicker webbing. Brock, now garbed in a priest’s robe, revels in the delicious irony and fitting nature of Spidey’s impending death since Peter tried to use the same massive bells to destroy his “Other”. Like any good, overconfident villain, Venom leaves Spider-Man to his fate and, as such, misses their chance to keep Peter from using his sheer force of will and brute strength to keep himself from being pounded into mush and breaking free of Venom’s webbing.
Spidey outsmarts Venom by forcing them to expend their webbing and tire out.
Unable to match Venom’s strength and at a serious disadvantage since Venom doesn’t set off his spider-sense and appears to have all of his strengths and abilities, Spidey decides to outsmart Venom by forcing them to expend their webbing and tire themselves out, draining the symbiote’s energy and sending Brock crashing to the street below. The story ends with Brock, and the symbiote, being held captive at Four Freedoms Plaza, the high-tech home of the Fantastic Four; there, encased within a cylinder and rendered inert by a constant barrage of sonic waves, Venom’s threat is effectively neutralised. Upon safely returning to Mary Jane, Peter and his wife agree that it is no longer appropriate for him to wear the black costume given Venom’s sadistic nature and he finally returns to the classic red and blue for the first time in about four years.
The Summary: “Venom” is a really great introduction for one of Spider-Man’s most complex and vicious foes; this story took place during the much lauded Micheline/McFarlane pairing, which results in some absolutely fantastic and detailed artwork. McFarlane always drew a brilliant Spider-Man, emphasising the complexity of his webs, the inhuman positions and poses he would strike while web-slinging, and giving every character an edgy, nineties make-over to help them stand out a little more. Venom, in comparison, is far more subdued, visually, than he would later be, appearing as simply a jet-black, muscular version of Spider-Man with a demonic grin; it wouldn’t be until Mark Bagley came onto the title that Venom would take on some of their more recognisable characteristics, such as the writing tentacles, mass of teeth, and long, drooling tongue.
Brock is a hypocrticial, deluded, sadistic individual in his debut.
Still, Eddie Brock makes for a unique and interesting new addition to Spidey’s rogues gallery; Brock is one of a handful of Spidey’s villains who actually knows his secret identity and the only one (at the time) able to use that information to his full advantage thanks to his ability to circumvent Peter’s spider-sense and the many attributes of his alien costume. Brock is, of course, a complete madman here and in his early appearances; slighted by Spider-Man’s involvement, he blames all of his failings on Spidey rather than admit to being duped by a compulsive confessor. Eddie believes that Spider-Man is an evil and malevolent individual and that it is his sacred duty to put an end to his (Spidey’s) menace; his obsessive mania is so complete that he kills an innocent police officer and then justifies it as being necessary to his “righteous revenge”. He openly admits to being disgusted by innocent death but is all-too-happy to torment Mary Jane, stalk Peter, and attack Spider-Man with a maniacal glee.
Despite all their power, Venom are defeated quite easily through Spidey’s guile and cunning.
If there’s a downside to the story, it’s simply that Venom is defeated rather anti-climatically; the Sonic Blaster proves effective but Peter is too concerned with Brock’s well-being to press his advantage and, unable to match Venom’s brute strength (which is on par with Spidey’s and further augmented thanks to Brock’s intense physical training), Spidey simply has the symbiote exhaust itself and that’s it. However, Venom’s threat wouldn’t end here by a long shot and this is a simple way to leave the door open for their subsequent, far more impressive return and defeats. Furthermore, this tactic shows how blinded by his rage and spite Venom are and how adaptable and intelligent Peter can be; he doesn’t win through sheer mindless brute strength, as Venom are attempting to do, and must instead rely on his wiles and intelligence to overcome Venom’s very real and lethal threat.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Have you read “Venom”? Did you purchase a copy of The Amazing Spider-Man’s landmark 300th issue back in the day? What did you think to Venom’s introductory story; were you a fan of the concept and character or do you feel they are a product of a darker time in comics? What did you think to Spider-Man’s black costume and the revelation that it was an alien symbiote? What is your favourite Venom story? How are you celebrating Venom’s dramatic debut today? Whatever your thoughts on Venom, do please leave a comment below.
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