A sad day in Star Wars news, today is. Irvin Kershner, the director of by far the absolute greatest of all the Star Wars movies (aside from the original), The Empire Strikes Back, has passed away after battling a long illness. He was 87.

Kershner, a Philadelphia native, got his start in film as a photographer making documentaries in Europe. From there he returned to the states to direct a couple of TV shows and films in the fifties and sixties. He’s probably more known today for directing such movies as Robocop II, Never Say Never Again and of course, Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. 

I heard that Lucas is considering firing up the franchise again. My suggestion is that he take a look back at what Kershner did with his story and see if he can’t try to recapture that magic. I understand Lucas sort of went on a field day with the new technology with the last three prequels, but I think he got lost somewhere along the line and tried too hard to appease the younger audience (Harrison Ford said it best when he called the final scene in Return of the Jedi “the teddy bear picnic”). Original Star Wars fans are adults now. Try to aim for us this time, Mr. Lucas, and everything else will fall into place….

[Source: MTV News]

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