First Scene of the Imperial March
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- čas přidán 8. 02. 2010
- The Imperial March is, without a doubt, one of the greatest legacies Star Wars movies left to popular culture. A grand militaristic tune, it has become the theme song of power, the evil sort.
The first appearance of John Williams' timeless piece perhaps could not be any more glorious, for the scene it accompanies displays the near infinite power of the Galactic Empire in the form of Lord Vader's flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor.
In a flash of genius, the audience is first shown a close shot of an imposing Imperial Star Destroyer flying by in full glory, reminding us their huge size and the threat they pose. Yet, the ship slowly enters the shadow of something else -we are left to wonder for a moment: What can possibly overshadow a star destroyer?; and then the Executor makes its appearance, dwarving the ISDs with its colossal size. At the helm is Vader with his iconic breathing, and we are shown in no uncertain terms that the man isn't quite easy to take down, and he is back with a vengeance... - Hudba
And thus Evil was given an anthem.
Makin' Bacon ohh good one
Executed no, don’t bring politics to Star Wars
CloseDoughnut37 yeah the prequels already did that
more like Hillary clinton the feminazy Barack Obama and the Left in general.
And was it good.
As an establishing shot, of the Empire's immense power, this is such a perfect scene.
And more specifically that Vader rules over all of it, after palatine of course
And then Return of the Jedi just ignores it
I always think the gratouitous amounts of apparently randomly flying around Tie-Fighters kind of nails the comical absurdity totalitarian systems tend to devolve into.
One could say it's combat air patrols, but those Ties are just too many and flying around too chaotically (extrapolated from the amount we see crossing paths in every shot). It feels more like:
"It's protocol for each Star Destroyer to have x amount of CAPs at any time in presence of Lord Vader. So tell the air group commanders to triple he patrols."
"But Admiral, our airspace is already fully covered, it's going to be chaos out there."
"You're not getting paid to second guess the protocol, Captain!"
"But we don't have enough fighters to sustain a full 24/7 presence at that level. The pilots have to sleep and the fighters need maintenance breaks."
"I don't care how you do it, Captain! Send the bombers on CAP for what i'm concerned! I'm not getting force choked today."
"Y-Yes sir!"
@@tomitiustritus6672 I'd say they are simply doing practice rather than patrols (what's the point of strictly interceptor/dogfight fighters doing patrols, when you have a whole fleet of giant vessels with advanced scanners/radars/etc onboard each)
LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!
0:13 and thus we were introduced to the most iconic piece of musical score in movie history
Nick94956 Alongside with a couple of other John Williams scores.
Duel of Fates?
@@user-xx6vy9ri8p thats iconic af but literally everyone has heard the imperial march
@@erikzeng1032 Fair, since the Imperial March is usually associated with Darth Vader and Duel of Fates is usually associated with Darth Maul (even though they are not originally their themes) and Darth Vader is the most famous cinema villain ever...
true. Even people who have never watched star wars knows it
This never gets old.
Just like the younglings
Empire strikes back came on one of the screens in my gym today.
Couldn’t stop watching it.
After 40 years... still an amazing film. I haven’t watched the trilogy in a long time. I should.
I wonder. What if Empire was from 1936 and Hitler had a chance of seeing it. Would he have loved the uniforms? And the capital ships?
After 43 years…
Nah, it never gets old
I did tho…
@@justafemalejedifromhongkon5619 whooooowww that was dark...
I remember when I was little the first time seeing this. The first star destroyer in the scene I was like, "Wow that is huge!" Then it went into the shadows of something else and I was like, ".....AHHHHH!"
nymetswinws lol
There is always a bigger fish ^^
mee tooo haha
@@LtCWest say it again in Liam’s voice…
This scene is one of the best movie scenes in my opinion.
In cinema history ?
@@CalmaxFilm mmm maybe yes?
Agreed! My favorite scene and star wars movie
Oh for sure. The whole Hoth sequence is the best Star Wars ever gets
the whole film is the stuff of legend.
I love the Executor's reveal in this movie. Everyone remembers how big a Star Destroyer is from the opening of Episode IV. Then we see this beautifully detailed shot of a couple SDs in formation, we just have enough time to start wondering what's throwing a shadow over them, and then BOOM! Executor comes into view and at first it's just too big to even fit the screen. There's something about these real models that looks SOOOO much better than the excessive CGI these days
That first shot looks its like the underside of a SD, but then its just the little tower on top of the SD
@@ismu34 exactly, that is conscious
Even before that we have the shot of a star destroyer passing by and the huge object turned out to just be its the bridge. The tie fighters flying around nicely convey the scale of how huge the star destroyers are, which in turn helps covey that what ever is casting a shadow over them must be gigantic.
And then we see it. There are cities in our world that aren’t as big as the executor.
Darth Vader's attitude changes from one episode to the other.
In episode 4, a reckless hard tempered commander. In episode 5, a rather calmer commander who chokes insubordinate officers and in episode 6, a very calm Sith Lord who awaits the arrival of his son Luke on the deck until he became his former self once again.
I think it is called development
I think that’s honestly just him growing fully out of his hot headed ness from when he was anakin
Rogue One kinda explained Vader's bitchy attitude on Episode IV. The Death Star plans just managed to escape his clutches by mere minutes because he enjoyed killing those Rebel scum, and so was delayed enough to catch the escaping ship.
Just like Anakin in ep2-3...
I guess the ''slap'' Palpatine gave him after the Death Star got blown up really did it for him
It’s not an exaggeration to say this is one of the greatest scenes in film history. The music is astounding, aiding the visual of seeing the Empire’s fleet all gathering to strike back.
The ellipsis in your coment adds an extra bit of cringe.
And then to think this was only one of many imperial fleets and one of several executor class ISSDs
Hey that's the name of the movie!
@@Vaelar2007 And imagine, Palpatine accumulated a fleet 1000x this size and hid them all on some planet somewhere as a backup plan in case he died! Instead of, you know, using them to destroy the rebellion completely.
@@blackhole7668 your whole attitude and incapability of correct spelling adds an extra bit of cringe
it is strange to know that the imperial march wasn't used in episode 4.
they could of added it in for the BLU-RAY re re releise
@@thejacobi1656 There is a video on CZcams with Darth Vaders theme from ep. 4.
@@guiltypleasure12345 well no fucking shit then
I never realized it until someone said it
@@guiltypleasure12345 oh really? That's so strange, who ever could have guessed that the reason a song wasn't used...is because it didn't exist yet!
Next you'll tell me the reason they didn't use CGI in the 60's, I'm sure the answer is just as unique!
Bad guys always have the good toys :p
Hahahahahaha :D
And bests Songs
First the Death Star, then the _Executor,_ THEN the Death Star II, and THEN Starkiller Base, *THEN* Snoke's badass ship. WHAT NEXT?!!?!
To be fair they were badass but shitty toys
Yeah, I remember someone
Hitler and his Panzers
I love the tie fighters flying around the fleet loud and erratically, like a swarm of angry bees around a hive, really sets the tone for the movie and how pissed the empire is at the rebels cause of the Death Star. Brilliant scene!
I love the scaling of power in this scene. The difference in magnitude from the (relatively) weak rebel base, to the star destroyer, the absolute awesome size of the super star destroyer, and last but not least, the most powerful weapon in all of the empire's arsenal. Vader himself. beautiful cinematography.
Fact: John Willliams wrote more memorable themes in Star Wars alone than most composers do in their whole career.
Fact: Star Wars awesomeness itself is largely responsible for these themes to become memorable.
The themes sustain Star Wars, and Star Wars sustain the themes just as much.
Absolutely perfect way to demonstrate scale and dominance. Show how massive the Star Destroyers from the previous film are with that closeup, cut out to the wide, then have it covered by a shadow of a ship that makes it look like an ant. So gurd
Now, imagine if the Eclipse had showed up in a latter movie.
@@lisboah Well the Eclipse is 1.5 kilometers shorter than the Executor (it only beats it on width and height) so I don’t think the comparison would be as cool as this one. Although I would LOVE if the Eclipse had shown up in a future film!
And the one to command it was none other than Vader himself. The way Vader was portrayed is just brilliant. First he was seen as enigma and the subordinate of the main antagonist. Then we are able to witness the true levels of his power and influence in the empire. Lastly we saw him for the person he really was.
Goosebumps, when you realise Vader's ship overshadowed the entire star destroyer fleet.
I can only imagine what this was like, hearing this for the first time ever.
Seeing dozens of ISDs then all been shadowed by the Executor.
If there was time travel, I'd go back to a 1980 cinema just to see this.
I saw it back then. I had the awful feeling that the rebels were screwed.
@@NuclearFridge1 yea well I suppose that's quite a natural reaction. And I think that's exactly what John Williams was planning when writing this pasterpiece
Amazing how well the effects hold up 40 YEARS later.
What's even more epic than this music, the man behind the music. Star Wars.... Indiana Jones. Jaws. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Superman. Home Alone. Jurrasic Park. Harry Potter. It's not an accident so many film classics include John Williams music. They became classics in part because of Williams. He's 90 years old and still composing music professionally. He's established himself as one of the greatest if not greatest music composer of all time. If humans are still around in thousands of years everyone will still know his name. We should rename genius in the dictionary into the word Williams.
To add to your list: Schindler’s List
And, apparently he doesn't watch the movies after they're all done.
I'll say. In fact, I'd argue that John Williams is responsible for about 50% of Star Wars' success over the years. A New Hope doesn't fly nearly as high without...that...MUSIC!
Don’t forget that he was fighting against the established norm. By the 70s, movies had gone to using contemporary music as their background and classical was seen as old-fashioned. Lucas said ‘don’t care, we’re doing classical’ and John Williams was the genius choice who wrote the book on how epic soundtracks are expected to sound ever since.
@@cameronlancaster7596 And to add on to your addition: Saving Private Ryan. Hook. JFK. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The Olympics.
Goosebumps. *EVERY TIME.*
Also I LOVE how it's higher pitched than the original.
That was probably for copyright
0:31 I remember as a kid I thought that was some kind of cloak device or something.
As soon as the theme started, you knew in your core that shit was about to go down…especially seeing Lord Vader….gives you chills down your spine
Force sensitive you are, huhh?
I'll never forgive Disney for the apathy they've made me feel towards Star Wars. Even through the fog of my immense fatigue of the IP just seeing these old scenes of Empire can still get me fired up. My father taking me to the theater to see this movie was one of the greatest memories of my childhood. Still one of the best movies ever made!
Disney Star Wars isn't real Star Wars, I'd never consider them canon. If we block them out as much as possible, maybe one day we'll be able to more-or-less forget they exist, and fully enjoy these ones again..
I really enjoyed Rogue One but the Sequel Trilogy... I can't be arsed to watch the third one because of as you say; apathy.
@@DomWeasel Just like me then. Rogue One wasn't bad, but I haven't even watched the third sequel. More because I don't want to give my money to a company who didn't even bother to come up with a roadmap or overarching story for their trilogy. I guess it's more anger than apathy lol
@@DomWeasel i forced myself to Watch it, and i can tell you you missed absolute nothing.
Disney Star Wars, even when it is good, is just fan fiction. The best it can be is "very good fan fiction", the worst it can be is "very bad fan fiction". Don't let that impede your love of the REAL Star Wars movies
0:13 A legend was born
yup
Truly an epic scene with the first display of The Executor
Imperial March First Scene became iconic legend.
That Super Star Destroyer is still the stuff of Children's imaginations.
I know even in the mid 00's I was in awe of those imposing ships.
who needs a Deathstar when one has a Super-stardestroyer
One of my many favorite parts in this movie:
"It's a good bet the Empire knows we are here."
"We better start the evacuation."
There is no pondering, discussing, planning resistance or anything, just immediate evacuation.
Why didn't they just grab some hidden rifles and declare they "could take 'em"?
i remember seeing this for the first time in cinema in 1980. greatest moment of cinema of all time.
Can you believe all this is happening without any CGI Just Practical Visual Effects and Smart Editing
recommended to me 12 years later, not disappointed
Who knew Vader was having flashbacks of his childhood conversation with Qui-Gon about space 😄
Anyone else get goosebumps?
I think my hairs get goosebumps.
i can't watch this scene without chills
Seriously?!? *THIS* was the first time the Imperial March played in the franchise?!?!? Certainly explains why it goes all the way through. No wonder this one is the *G.O.A.T* (Greatest Of All Time)!
And here it was always my favorite because of Hoth & Cloud City
John Williams came sprinting out of the gate with the opening theme and Binary Sunset, then said “hold my beer” on lap 2.
For the record, Luke gazing out at the setting suns of Tatooine in ANH is probably my absolute favorite musical moment of all time. The lone French horn solo melody, then the full orchestra swells around it and just takes the air out of your lungs…chills, tears, and breathlessness every single time.
But to be able to follow that up with something like the Imperial March…it’s just not normal. The man is, has always been, and always will be a true master.
And till this day we still haven’t got a clean version of the music.
bro theres been a clean version for years czcams.com/video/-bzWSJG93P8/video.html
Yep I have been searching for movie version for years and haven't found it. It has never been released. This is the closest one I heard to movie version czcams.com/video/Km8hrbPj8Fg/video.html
@@CaptainM792 Or alternatively something like this czcams.com/video/6JPLdoRhRNg/video.html
@@CaptainM792 Unfortunately not a single one has movie like mix strong cymbal clashes. I think whoever mixed original album Imperial March messed it up badly (some instruments are gone like cymbals) and we got inferior version than what we were supposed to get.
What exactly are you two on about? "Clean version" or "Movie mix?" I'm confused. You're saying that the version played IN THE MOVIE isn't the correct version? Or that they never released the track as it was played in the movie?
Technically, the Imperial March first appears earlier - it can be briefly heard during the arrival of the probe droid on Hoth earlier in the same film, hinting at the dreadful power that is to follow. Still, this is the first full occurrence of the theme, and it's expertly paired with overawing visual language to establish the might of the Empire.
And this is why Star Wars is the best movie series with the best music
Still the best music in history of Cinema.
It wasn't just the Theme, it was the overshadowing presence of the Executor
The music alone is enough to convince me the fight for the Empire.
Wow I didnt know that the empire also install a full blown stereo to play this song everytime they arrived
In space, too, where there isn't sound!
They *are* powerful! 😂
Name a more iconic villain theme, I'll wait....
Frl there are quite a few, but in terms of thee most iconic...Imperial March takes it.
Bury the Light, It Has To Be This Way, The Only Thing I've Ever Known, Stains of Time, One Winged Angel, Soviet March.
Alright I know that the rebels are good and the Jedi are the good guys, but come on! There must be something admirable about The Empire!
*This one scene is better than the entirety of the Disney fanfiction "sequel" trilogy*
Fact, not opinion.
This is still, to this day, peak Star Wars.
What a feat this was in 1980.
I don't think this scene gets enough credit. First we start with the familiar scene of the gigantic hull of a Star Destroyer filling the screen, except is not the whole star destroyer but just the bridge tower, that and the next shot give us a sense of the scale of those behemots... except that at the same time something is shadowing that star destroyer. We are still wandering what can be that big when we see the Executor dwarfsizing the other ships. And will we're still in awe, our thoughts are cut by the back of a very familiar helmet...
Darth Vader(looking out the window): I am rock hard right now!
I love that sudden shadow that is cast over the already gigantic star destroyer, just to be dwarfed by that insane monstrosity that is the Executor.
Love the matter of fact, mature conclusion by the commander at 0:10 detailing the evacuation. No drama. No angst. Just level-headed implementation of the already established contingency plan. What a contrast to the childishness on display by future movies.
The galactic empire scene are more epic then the first order just saying star destroyers and the theme is just Epic
The scene of a star destroyer being shadowed by an even bigger one... The super star destroyer... Damn... I was standing inside the cinema I recall
I love how the tie fighters are incessantly, intensely, doggedly, fiercely, energetically, briskly, nimbly buzzing around the capital ships. If only the first order had taken this page out of the Empire’s book…
That shot of the Super Star Destroyer casting shadow on the other ships is just perfection.
Somewhere the emperor blasting this banger while sat on his chair in his office
Another reason Empire is the best one. It gave us this theme.
This is hands down the best looking film of all time.
The first people to hear this in the theater must’ve been like yoooo
This is also the first look at the bridge of a Star Destroyer, the first introduction of Executor, and the first introduction of Piett… that’s a lot in one scene!
0:16 Oh hey another Star destroyer flying overheOH GOD IT'S FUCKING HUGE
The greatest movie theme of all time in my opinion
Also combined with the sound of the star destroyers engines and the ties flying by. It is magnificent.
1980, Newcastle Odeon, me and my cousin queued 5 hours to see this, went back the next day to watch it again. When villains were formidable opponents to be defeated through adversity and courage. Now.....?, I'd rather watch this on loop.
Imagine people in the cinemas in 1980 resisting the urge to headbang to this
I think the best part of this movie, that made it look so amazing when I was a child, is that they used barley any CGI. Even the ships were just models.
They used literally zero CGI back in 1980.
They added cgi in 1997. Thank George Lucas for that.
@@SoundlabStudios63 they didn't add much in Empire tbf. The only egregious change in 1997 in Empire was the Wampa scene being recut. Everything else was sweet as.
I like when it's shown in the first shot of the destroyer how huge it is just for the next shot to show it being dwarfed by the really big one.
John Williams literally carried this franchise on his back
I remember sitting in the cinema next to my dad, mere days after watching the Episode IV at the same place.
The 'Imperial March' begins and I got goosebumps all over me - the _Executor_ comes into view and my jaw dropped.
Thank you, Dad, for taking me along ☺🤜🤛😎
I always wondered if this was always the empires National anthem..
It is
@@thomaspower9245 No it isn't. The anthem is called Glory to the Empire.
Mahmut Kerem Biçer neeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrdddddddd
@@thomaspower9245 It's literally in the films..
Mahmut Kerem Biçer Actually the empire’s anthem never plays in any of the films. Just that one episode of Rebels, which is why it sounds dull.
42 years on and it still stirs my patriotic heart for the glorious days of the Empire, a time of dreams and aspirations for Galactic unity and an end to division and disharmony. Not exactly a fan of the Sith religion part, but we didn't really see much of that in the old days.
The first time the Imperial March plays is just after the title crawl as the star destroyer is launching probes. Subtly with flutes, in the background.
One of the best scenes ever
My fav Star Wars!! 😻
0:14 - epic scene and music!
I remember this moment with the March and star destroyers so crisp and clear from many years ago. I watched it as a pirate translation in summer camp in big diner using a white wall
I get chills everytime this scene plays, it shows the might of the empire.
I have this as my mom's ringtone.
She tolerates it.
People love it.
They needed this in the Kenobi show man
Idk about you guys but I've seen these movies about 100 times each and I cheer everytime Vader shows up onscreen
This video is almost as old as me! This music is too iconic
Une légende est née.
I was six years old when this was released and still remember my parents taking me to see it.
best short scene and music in the entire star war
I came here from a recording of John Williams conducting this live with a full orchestra.
Hope Michael Giacchino have included the score in Rogue One.
Sadly too little of it..
I am happy it was with Vader. Michael Giacchino imperial theme was good. Not as great as John Williams score, but I liked it.
They did, to a degree, along with his own “Imperial Suite.” Reminiscent of the March, but still distinguishable.
It's just so good...
Nice to see Vader here after seeing his wimpy themeless impostor in Kenobi.
I will always love the scales at play in Star Wars. In the first movie, Corvette against Star Destroyer, and Star Destroyer against Death Star. Here it is Star Destroyer against Tie Fighters and Super Star Destroyer and - in a complete reversal - Star Destroyer against Lord Vader (at 0:42).
A much lesser-known bit of trivia about this music: it subtly echoes the style of a French prelude, a piece of music written specifically to mark the very footsteps of a powerful person (king or emperor, for instance) as he entered a gathering. While I'm not always a huge fan of Williams' flashy compositional style, he layers a lot of things into his music for effects that an audience will perceive even if they know nothing about them.
The Imperial March is brutally beautiful
This is the second one.
In the start if you pay attention to soundtrack you can hear the Imperial March.
U just gained a sub
Look at the size of that thing. Seeing the super star destroyer for first time as a kid. Huge moment
I Love this Song
i just love the empire. its soo cool.
Truly timeless
That video description tho... 👌
JOHN WILLIAMS!! Thank you!
It brings a tear to my eyes
it does