I never realized how much they downplayed Guinness in the trailer. Only a couple quick scenes, and no voice work, I doubt 1 in 100 people would have realized who it was, beardface, hood and all. Nowadays when you bring in one name actor for anything more than a cameo, among a bunch of unknowns, and it’s the whole trailer.
I vividly remember the first time I saw a TV commercial for Empire when I was ten. It was the first I knew that there was a continuation of Star Wars. So exciting!
I remember People Magazine Putting Yoda on the cover, and realizing after seeing the movie that they totally ruined the surprise. IIRC it was the first time something had been spoiled for me. (I was 10).
[POST=9640882]The Star Wars Holiday Special should be considered the only canonical work of the entire series.[/POST]
Stranger
You saw The Empire Strikes Back when it first came out and you thought Yoda was the surprise?
I gather the surprise was that the funny-talking green muppetty thing was Yoda, and not just some random comic relief bugging Luke until Yoda showed up.
Agreed. I spent the first couple of Yoda scenes thinking “O.K., so when is the little green guy going to take Luke to see Yoda???”
and then
“Gasp! He is Yoda!!!”
I didn’t find Yoda a surprise, really, and I couldn’t honestly tell you whether I’d heard or read anything about him before.
But Yoda has always bothered me. He sounds like Fozzy Bear with a cold and weird speech patterns, and I’ve never been able to shake that impression.
Exactly. It was meant to be a surprise, and People Magazine ruined it. Certainly not the only, or the biggest, surprise, but still.
Ok I did not get Harrison Ford out of the Empire trailer but I swear that’s Bill Shatner narrating your trailer.
Incidentally, I remember the visuals of that Star Wars trailer. I think I was even watching a Space 1999 rerun as a truly nerdy 11 year old when I saw it and was instantly obsessed.