u/NoReport2832

Remember when the Disneyland Hotel had a little marina? Now it's a pool play area I think.

The final entry into the isolated, or as it has been pointed out), the rescoring of The Empire Strikes Back, using music originally recorded by John Williams before it was cut or altered for the final film release. The Carbon Freeze/Vader's Trap/Departure of Boba Fett has been one of the more interesting cues altered in the film, as large portions during the Luke/Vader duel had been cut. Silence works to build the unease and tension, but the inclusion of music makes it really interesting, playing up the small victories Luke has while facing him. The first portion of the duel extends the somber marching tune associated with wheeling frozen Han out of Cloud city, and the second part of the duel incorporates the force theme and yoda's theme.

Following "Yoda and the Force" cue, the soundtrack uses a variant of Vader's theme, as opposed to the film version, which uses the opening notes of Vader's theme. Captain Needa being taken away comes with additional music as well, as some sinister music plays under the following scene until we return to the film's soundtrack version of the Falcon hiding on the Star Destroyer. By the time we are in the interior of the Falcon, the music is buried in the mix and you can barely here some fanciful woodwinds. No music plays over the following scene of Han and Leia discussing their next move, but right before the Falcon detaches from the Star Destroyer, music faintly leads us into the love theme.

Happy Labor Day! Here is a brief piece of music cut from the film. It's mostly the ominous opening notes to the Battle of Hoth cue.

Another instance of music removed from the final film, but present on the soundtrack. This piece gives us more of Yoda's theme as Luke trains, presenting it as light and fanciful, but utilizes Vader's theme when Darth is mentioned. I prefer in some instances to do a rescore rather than isolate, so you can hear what the movie would have been like had the cues been restored.

The film version omits much of the music when the Star Destroyer and TIE bombers are navigating through the asteroid field. The original soundtrack keeps the Imperial Theme intact, and keeps suspenseful music underneath the Mynock Cave. In the film, there is no music during Leia's first encounter with the Mynock, but the soundtrack keeps the excitement going.

In the film version, the Hyperspace (and the Ord Mantell level in SotE) cue was favored instead of the original score, though the end of the scene where they find Han and Luke retains the original score. While Hyperspace offers more heightened suspense rather than a more light, optimistic tone of the original score, Hyperspace ultimately works better IMO. An interesting part about the original score is a musical reprise of the piece at the end when Luke is in the bacta tank. Seems odd, but I suppose they were going for something to show he's recovering from his injuries?

The film version keeps the wampa cave cue intact, but cuts music from Han's search effort and inside Echo Base. While no music was certainly effective to evoke the bleakness of the situation, the added music dials up the intensity of the search and the dread Leia and Chewie had knowing Han and Luke may not return.

The Empire Strikes Back is unique in its score due to how different it is compared to the final cut; some of what was recorded was eventually scrapped, trimmed or rearranged. What Williams initially scored is very expressive and has many flourished to add personality to characters and events. Using the GOUT DVD version as a guide and an isolated score from original trilogy forums, I wanted to see what had changed from scoring sessions to final cut, because when I listened to the soundtrack, there were many cues that I don't remember from the movie. This scene is presented with no dialogue or effects, only the original score.

Track #2 from the 1997 2-Disc CD set "The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition" is the Main Titles and Ice Planet Hoth. The opening is more energetic and tense, and one of my favorite cut cues is present here: when Han returns to the base on the tauntaun. It's a more militaristic piece of music as we see inside the rebel base. It was later used as the screen select music in the Shadows of the Empire video game.

Seeing lava rock formations in Hawaii always reminds me of the Living Seas preshow film