Your favorite statement of the Imperial March

[Bellosh 3,375]

I rarely ever listen to the Imperial March on it's own, but in my opinion these are some of the best statements of it.

 

My choice is the one heard in the Battle of Hoth!

 

If your option is Other, post away, I'd love to know.

 

Here they are for reference with timestamp and all 🤗

 

ESB: The Imperial Probe: (2:44-3:20)

 

 

 

 

ESB: The Battle of Hoth: (11:14-11:40)

 

 

 

 

ESB: Carbon Freeze / Darth Vader's Trap / Departure of Boba Fett: (2:13-2:32)

 

 

 

 

AOTC Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale: (2:58-3:37)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

 

[Bellosh 3,375]

I'm laughing more at how fast this was posted. 😂😂

 

It's like you had this ready to go for a while now.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Main Title (The Main Story Continues)

Padme's Funeral

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

 

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

My favourite use of the Imperial March is, believe it or not, not one that really uses it as a grand and powerful march. In fact, my favourite is the very first statement of the unforgettable theme-right after the Main Title ends in The Empire Strikes Back. In this instance it is played on solo piccolo as the Imperial probes are jettisoned out to a host of systems. We all love the Main Title, and with the original film that instance of that rising and falling piccolo as the crawl finally fades and we are left in a mysterious and unknown space. That piccolo, reprised in The Last Jedi, is such a massive musical moment for me in Star Wars. John Williams mirrors it in the next film, ESB, as the first melody after the Main Title is played on piccolo- The Imperial March. This version felt so dark and foreboding, as if the probes would lead to a pivotal moment where the Empire gains some important catch on the Rebel Alliance, which is indeed the case. 

In further detail with the whole idea of piccolos in Star Wars scores, I'd like to point out Michael Giacchino's almost instant usage of the instrument (or possibly another woodwind, but the same idea) in the first cue of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It's a melody used only once, but the point is that Giacchino cleverly nods at a Williams technique and Star Wars score mythos. It's a very effective method of  evoking the cold and deep heart of space, galaxies unknown to mankind.

 

Memorable callbacks of The Imperial March would include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's Hope, the unreleased cue from The Force Awakens which is dubbed by many who've done a Blu-Ray rip as The Legacy of the Dark Side, when Kylo Ren talks to the relic-like mask of Darth Vader.

 

Other usages in the Original Trilogy would include the unconventional quote in Return of the Jedi's Into the Trap, and additionally Aboard the Executor from ESB, which I recall to be that first blasting and powerful march statement.

[Quintus 5,399]

The really big regal one which underscores the awesome "we shall double our efforts!" scene at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. It's also pure Nazi imperialism... the tone and assurance of music there almost seems to announce itself.

[Jay 37,281]

That's a good one!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Return of the Jedi busts out great Imperial March statements like a frat boy and six-pack Budweisers. There's two in the Battle of Endor that come specifically to mind. 

 

What a hell of a musical climax to the series at that point. 

 

 

Revenge of the Sith has some fun variations too: I always liked that sneaky one when Anakin gets pissed off in the Council room, and the one when he shuts the doors on the Separatists. Moments like that make you wonder how people thought the man lost it.

10 minutes ago, Quintus said:

The really big regal one which underscores the awesome "we shall double our efforts!" scene at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. It's also pure Nazi imperialism... the tone and assurance of music there almost seems to announce itself.

 

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

 

The two statements at 1:43 and again at 2:17 in this clip. Two of the best moments of spotting in any film - perfectly integrated into the frenetic underscore, and at the same time synced exactly with the appearances of Vader.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

Return of the Jedi busts out great Imperial March statements like a frat boy and six-pack Budweisers. There's two in the Battle of Endor that come specifically to mind. 

You refer to the one in Into the Trap, where Piett says that "we only have to keep them from escaping". It's not a full statement, but it's memorable.

[King Mark 3,624]

I like that unused statement for Aboard the Executor

[Nick Parker 3,040]

12 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

You refer to the one in Into the Trap, where Piett says that "we only have to keep them from escaping". It's not a full statement, but it's memorable.

 

Maybe, I don't remember the movie that well to say confidently. 

 

 

The two statements I was thinking of is around 3:45 and 8:18. Pn my phone, so can't put timestamps, sorry.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The 1960s: The Turbulent Years

[Wojo 2,453]

19 hours ago, Quintus said:

The really big regal one which underscores the awesome "we shall double our efforts!" scene at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. It's also pure Nazi imperialism... the tone and assurance of music there almost seems to announce itself.

 

I also like the grandiose rendition used when Palpatine arrives at the Death Star II, with the brass solo on album. It's like the last time we hear it in full bombastic glory. 

[Obi 404]

17 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

The 1960s: The Turbulent Years

 

Something Wicked This Way Comes.

[MrJosh 892]

My favorite is in TESB, in The Probe Scanner. The power and force of the statement at the end of that cue...pure awesomeness. 

 

I also love the all of the times it appears in ANH!

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

2 minutes ago, MrJosh said:

I also love the all of the times it appears in ANH!

Fake news!

 

And you said A New Hope! That's two strikes!

 

[MrJosh 892]

9 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Fake news!

 

And you said A New Hope! That's two strikes!

 

I've got one strike left!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Am I the only one who doesn't really like Imperial March quotes in the sequels? I think in cases like this, Williams is starting to internalize his modus operandi that he gives in interviews too much.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I've always liked the rendition in Anakin v Obi-Wan (55 seconds into OST track).

[Nick Parker 3,040]

12 minutes ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

I've always liked the rendition in Anakin v Obi-Wan (55 seconds into OST track).

 

It is a great one! Definitive proof that Williams never lost his touch from the Original Trilogy.

[Marian Schedenig 8,172]

2 hours ago, Wojism said:

I also like the grandiose rendition used when Palpatine arrives at the Death Star II, with the brass solo on album. It's like the last time we hear it in full bombastic glory. 

 

All the ominous low key statements in the early ROTJ scenes are great.

 

Although I prefer a more "pure evil but noble" approach to the march itself (which is why I like the Skywalker Symphony recording much better than the LSO OST recording of the concert version), I'm a fan of all the brutal statements of the theme in the score itself. One of those is of course Aboard the Executor, but I also especially like the statements in the middle of Han Solo and the Princess:

 

 

1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

Williams is starting to internalize his modus operandi

 

[Holko 9,498]

26 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I like the Skywalker Symphony recording much better than the LSO OST recording of the concert version

Brother!

*Looks at location*

...in-law!

[karelm 2,903]

I like this Hans Zimmer influenced version in D minor.

 

[Loert 2,510]

Love this statement the most:

 

 

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

There's an awesome rendition in The Droid Battle from Episode I.

[Amer 2,080]

My favorite rendition is the one from RETURN OF THE JEDI 'The Emperor Arrives' It sounds so regal and heavy.

[aj_vader 533]

Anyone heard the London Philharmonic Version conducted by Dirk Brosse, I think it's becoming my favourite re-recording. 

[Datameister 2,037]

The one that immediately popped into my mind is the absolutely brutal unused rendition for the introduction of the Executor, the one that was replaced by the concert piece in the film. There are a lot of other great contenders, though.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

More from Return of the Jedi:

 

- The Emperor Confronts Luke

 

Slow version with eerie strings as Luke and Darth enter the Emperor's chamber.

 

- Rebel Forces Captured

 

When it cuts to the good guys held up and especially when the Storm Troopers go up the hill to capture the robots. The horns sound so badass with the timpani accompaniment making for a real whopper of a moment.

[Fabulin 3,507]

.

[Gnome in Plaid 219]

It's a tie for me among the AOTC statement, "Approaching the Death Star" from ROTJ, and this magnificent beauty:

 

[bruckhorn 105]

For purely personal reasons: the statement that follows "I am your father."  

 

When I got my first cell phone, I segued from that dialogue to the just the LSO for the ringtone for calls from my father.  He hated it until I pointed out that he took me to see Jedi and I reminded him who saved the day in the end. 

 

And, c'mon, James Earl Jones announcing his presence on the other end of the phone line: cooler than Hoth, am I right?