Rated PG (Sci-Fi Action Violence)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 7 Minutes
Cast:
Mark Hamill-Luke Skywalker
Carrie Fisher-Princess Leia Organa
Harrison Ford-Han Solo
Billy Dee Williams-Lando Calrissian
Peter Mayhew-Chewbacca
James Earl Jones (voice)-Darth Vader
Frank Oz (voice)-Yoda
Anthony Daniels-C-3PO
Kenny Baker-R2-D2
Kenneth Colley-Admiral Firmus Piett
Julian Glover-General Maximilian Veers
Alec Guinness-Obi-Wan Kenobi
Temuera Morrison (voice)-Boba Fett
Ian McDiarmid-Emperor Palpatine
Bruce Boa-General Carlist Rieekan
Denis Lawson-Wedge Antilles/Rogue Two
Directed by Irvin Kershner
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| "Search your feelings, you know it to be true!" |
Hollywood loves to make sequels of
successful films in the hopes of earning more money. Unfortunately, directors
nowadays lose sight of what made the original successful and end up delivering
an inferior follow-up. Perfect examples include the recent “Sex and the City 2”
and last year’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” but there are exceptions
such as “The Dark Knight.” After the unprecedented success of the original
“Star Wars” in 1977, a sequel was all but guaranteed and Lucas immediately set
to work on writing “Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.” Curiously,
he decided not to direct the film and instead focused more on overseeing the
visual effects through his startup company Industrial Light & Magic but
maintained complete creative control. Irvin Kershner was personally asked by
Lucas to direct and although he was initially hesitant that he would do as good
a job as Lucas, his agent changed his mind. “The Empire Strikes Back” is one of
the darkest entries of the saga and does what Hollywood still struggles with
today: delivers a sequel that raises the stakes and improves upon the original
in every way, which is no small feat considering how well-received its
predecessor was. The characters are more developed, the actors are more
confident, the action is more intense, and the film ends with an epic
lightsaber duel and an ending that has come to define the saga!
Three years after the destruction of the
Death Star on Yavin 4, the fledgling Rebel Alliance is forced to relocate to a
new base on the ice planet of Hoth. The Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader
(voice of James Earl Jones), is obsessed with finding Luke Skywalker (Mark
Hamill), who delivered the shot that destroyed the Death Star. Using his fleet
of Star Destroyers, he deploys thousands of probe droids across the galaxy to
search for the rebels and crush their insurrection. Back on Hoth, Luke sees one
of the probes crash to the surface and goes to investigate on his tauntaun but
a wampa ice creature suddenly attacks him, knocking him unconscious. The
creature drags Luke to his cave as his next meal. At Echo Base, Princess Leia
Organa (Carrie Fisher) becomes concerned when Luke hasn’t returned and Han Solo
(Harrison Ford) decides to go look for him despite the temperature dropping to
dangerous levels. Luke manages to escape from the wampa by slicing off its arm
with his lightsaber but succumbs to the extreme cold. He sees the spirit of his
friend and Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), who urges him to go to
the Dagobah system and complete his training with Yoda. As the spirit fades
away, Han suddenly arrives but since there’s no way to get back to base (his
tauntaun froze to death), he sets up shelter for the night. The next morning,
Rebel snow speeders rescue them. Han and Leia’s relief that Luke is all right
is short-lived, as an Imperial probe droid discovers and transmits Echo Base’s
location to Darth Vader. As his fleet comes out of hyperspace, Vader prepares
for a ground assault, sending an army of AT-AT’s to attack the base. The rebels
try to hold them off with snow speeders as all personnel begin to evacuate but
it soon becomes clear that they are fighting a losing battle and are forced to
retreat. Han takes Leia aboard the Millennium
Falcon and departs from Hoth. With Echo Base lost, Luke and R2-D2 (Kenny
Baker) set a course for Dagobah in his personal X-Wing to look for Yoda.
Meanwhile, the Falcon is unable to
escape the Empire’s fleet of Star Destroyers due to a broken hyperdrive,
forcing him to take refuge in an asteroid field. Luke successfully arrives on
Dagobah and meets Yoda (voice of Frank Oz), and is shocked by the Jedi Master’s
diminutive stature. At first, he refuses to train Luke because he lacks
patience but Obi-Wan’s spirit convinces him otherwise. Back in the asteroid
field, the Falcon finds itself inside the mouth of a space slug but they manage
to escape and evade the Imperial fleet thanks to Solo’s quick thinking. He
decides to set a course for Bespin, where his old friend, Lando Calrissian
(Billy Dee Williams) is the administrator of Cloud City. Unknown to Han, Vader
has hired a group of bounty hunters to capture him, which includes the famous
Boba Fett (voice of Temuera Morrison). As Luke continues his training with
Yoda, he sees a vision of the future where his friends are in pain. Overcome by
this premonition, he decides to abandon his training and rescue them despite
the insistence of Yoda that he is not ready to face Darth Vader. At Cloud City,
Lando agrees to help fix the Falcon’s hyperdrive but he is forced to turn over
Han, Leia and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to Darth Vader to prevent the Empire
from taking over the city. As Luke arrives at Cloud City, he must face the Dark
Lord and learn a shocking revelation.
The original “Star Wars” was a masterpiece
but “The Empire Strikes Back” is an even better one and exceeds all the
expectations you would hope for in a sequel and more. One thing that Lucas does
right is in further developing the characters instead of re-hashing their
conflicts from the original. Luke has been with the Rebellion for some time and
has come a long way since we met him as a simple farm boy. However, he still
displays an idealistic sense of adventure, a trait that is a detriment to a
Jedi-in-training. Yoda explains that this leads to recklessness and in order to
successfully become a Jedi, he has to break away from these thoughts and
concentrate on what he is doing right now, not what will happen in the future.
Watching the episodes in order, it’s easy to see how similar he and Anakin are
as Luke displays the same concern over the ones he cares about and would drop
everything to help them even if it meant putting the galaxy in danger. However,
he differs from Anakin when he is tempted by the dark side because he refuses
its power, thanks to the constant warnings of Obi-Wan and Yoda. He knows that
in the long run, it will consume him like Darth Vader. There is foreshadowing
of why Vader is obsessed with Luke when he goes into a cave that is corrupted
with the dark side. There, Luke encounters an illusion of Vader and he beheads
him with his lightsaber. The helmet explodes and reveals Luke’s face
underneath. It is a warning to Luke’s future if he turns to the dark side but it
is also a clue to his parentage as well. Like “Attack of the Clones,” there is
a romance subplot and you can see the sparks fly between Han and Leia. This is
why the original trilogy is better because the character interactions often
feel more natural and produce some great laughs while the prequel trilogy
suffers from stiff dialogue, though this can also be attributed to the actors
and actresses’ lifeless delivery of their lines. All the subplots finally come
together in the end as the defining moment of the film (and of the saga) comes
during the epic lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader. The truth about their
relationship was kept very secret and no one knew what would happen until the
film’s actual premiere. Only Lucas, Kershner, Hamill, and Jones knew
beforehand. Though it came as a stunning shock when audiences originally
watched the film in 1980, subsequent re-releases and alterations have lessened
its impact but Vader’s famous line still packs an emotional punch whenever I
view the film. “The Empire Strikes Back” stands as the saga’s best because
there is now a palpable sense of danger and our heroes are facing hardships to
which they can’t seem to surmount.
The actors feel more relaxed as they have
now settled into their roles. Mark Hamill plays a more mature Luke but is still
prone to fits of frustration due to his impatience. Carrie Fisher is still
feisty as ever as she bickers with Han and Harrison Ford is still as cocky as
ever, pushing the Princess’ buttons for his enjoyment. However, beneath his
bad-boy façade, there’s also a romantic side to him. Frank Oz lends his voice
to Yoda, who will go on to become one of the most iconic characters in the
saga. Billy Dee Williams is the smooth-talking Lando Calrissian, who faces his
own personal crisis.
The special effects marks a major
improvement from the original “Star Wars” as we are treated to an epic battle
between the Empire’s lumbering AT-AT’s and the Rebellion’s nimble snow
speeders. The action continues with the Millennium Falcon evading Vader’s fleet
of Star Destroyers and TIE fighters. Finally, audiences got to see for the
first time what a real lightsaber duel was like as Luke and Vader clash blades
in the bowels of Cloud City. Although it lacks the dynamic acrobatics of the
prequels, the duel still stands as one of the saga’s best. “The Empire Strikes
Back” was re-released in 1997 as a Special Edition but the changes were minor
compared to “A New Hope.” The only significant addition is a new arrival shot over
Cloud City. When the film was released for DVD in 2004, another change was
added and this was a new scene with Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine
conversing with Darth Vader. The original scene had Palpatine portrayed by an
unknown actress with chimp eyes superimposed and voiced by Clive Revill. Some
new dialogue was added as well to connect the original trilogy with the
prequels. Boba Fett’s lines were also redubbed by Temuera Morrison since he is
a clone of Jango Fett. Once again, the restoration work resulted in some color
errors with lightsabers, such as Vader’s looking pinkish or bright orange at
times. The music from John Williams is also more memorable thanks to Vader’s
leitmotif, The Imperial March.
Released on May 21, 1980, “Star Wars:
Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back” initially received mixed reviews but over
time, it came to be viewed as the best of the saga, with a whopping 97% on
Rotten Tomatoes. Including its numerous re-releases, the film grossed $290
million domestic and $538 million worldwide. It was nominated for four
categories at the 1981 Academy Awards but won only two for Sound and Special
Achievement in Visual Effects. Today, many view the film as a perfect example
of what a sequel should be but Hollywood is more obsessed with squeezing every
penny rather than telling a meaningful story. The original “Star Wars” was a
hard act to follow but Lucas had done the impossible, creating ‘one of the
finest and most rousing science fiction tales ever committed to the screen’
(James Berardinelli, ReelViews). No other “Star Wars” film has ever come close
(“Revenge of the Sith” almost did) and the film stands as a crowning
achievement in storytelling and special effects, a perfect sequel that
Hollywood has sadly lost sight of in today’s world.
Final Rating: 5 out of 5
"No, I am your father!"
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