On 'The Empire Strikes Back'
I recently watched in Bandung The Empire Strikes Back, the second part of the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition. I am annoyed by various errors I noticed in the movie.
The Indonesian subtitles were much better compared to Star Wars, the first part of the trilogy, but the translation was still bad. For example, the term "Imperial Walker" was translated as mesin kanon (cannon). I agree that translating it into Pejalan Kekaisaran would be ridiculous, but I think the translator should have used the official name of the walkers, AT-AT (All-Terrain Armored Transport).
A worse example was when Luke said to Yoda that he was not afraid (to become a Jedi). Yoda's answer, "You will be" was erroneously translated as Aku percaya padamu (I believe you). The translation effectively reversed what Yoda meant.
The wanton editing was very obvious, and was just as annoying as in the previous movie. Some of the scenes cut, in order of importance, were:
1. The scene where Luke fought Darth Vader in a cave in Dagobah. This scene is vital because it shows how much Luke had lost control of himself, and why Yoda and Ben were reluctant to let Luke go to Bespin to rescue his friends. It also made Yoda's "Remember your failure in the cave" when Luke insisted on rescuing his friends seem odd.
2. The scene where Chewbacca went into a scrap metal processing room in Bespin to "rescue" C3-P0 from being melted down after he was blasted by Stormtroopers. This scene explained how Chewie managed to collect C3-P0's body parts in the next scene (before he, Han and Leia were captured).
3. The scene where an Imperial officer reported to Darth Vader that the fleet's presence had been detected by the Rebels because the Admiral pulled out of the hyperspace too soon. The cutting of this scene made the Admiral's execution (by Vader) in the next scene appear odd.
4. The scene depicting the second part of Luke and Vader's light saber fight, where Vader sent Luke falling through a shattered window. This scene was not too vital and I almost did not realize it. However, the absence of the scene is still very annoying since it demonstrated Luke's struggle to defeat Vader and Vader's proficiency in using the Dark Side of the Force.
I am glad to say that new scenes (e.g. the one showing the Hoth Wampa eating in its cave) were still intact. However, the inconsiderate scene-cutting still mars this movie and surely decreases the enjoyment of the audience.
IWAN SETYAWAN
Bandung