With The Rise Of Skywalker on the way this Friday, I decided to do retrospectives on each of the films. I am going in the order of the story which means we’re continuing on with The Empire Strikes Back. This film came out in 1980 and is widely considered to be the best film of the franchise. You’d be hard pressed to disagree with that statement, it’s not just a good Star Wars film, it’s just a good film in general. There’s so many cool things that happen in this film, so let’s get right to it!
The film starts off on Hoth. It’s the ice planet that we all know and love. I always enjoyed the idea that when Lucas was getting everyone back that he was probably like : “Don’t worry, we won’t be burning up in the desert on this one…we’ll be freezing in the cold!” The rebels have set up this base here and it’s both a really good idea and a really cool setting for the opening scenes. You look around and you notice that this isn’t really a base, it’s an Ice Cave that they built into a base. There are command centers and things like that that have just set up for what we assume to be a short time. The rebels obviously lost their original base on Yavin IV following the battle of the Death Star in A New Hope. Han and Luke are out basically just scouting and Han starts to head back to the base when Luke gets attacked by a Wampa.(Big, white, furry thing. Basically the most horrifying version of the Rudolph Christmas Special.) Han doesn’t realize this and until he gets to the base and everyone’s looking for Luke. I love this scene for two reasons, 1. Han is incredibly scared to lose his friend and 2. The Millennium Falcon undergoes multiple different repairs and things like that throughout this film. Han just isn’t the same man we met in the Cantina a few years back. He’s trying to get back to Jabba to pay his debt but things keep stopping him from Leaving, including Leia in this instance. She berates him for Running away from the fleet and Han insinuates that it’s because she has feelings for him. She follows up with the classical line “I’d just as soon kiss a wookiee.” and Han storms off. Leia is even better in this then she was in the previous film. She gets to do a lot more and she shows herself to be a real leader.
Meanwhile, Luke is stuck in the Wampa’s lair and I’ve never quite understood how the Wampa got him upside down and encased his feet in Ice, my assumption was that the Wampa was actually a sith lord, #WampaTrueSith. Anyway, Luke uses the force to bring his lightsaber to him. It’s really cool to see because the only real force we saw in A New Hope was the Mind Trick. Seeing more physical stuff in this one is not only awesome but also it solidifies the force as a special power. Luke gets free and cuts of the Wampa’s arm and runs out into the snowstorm. When he passes out, he’s visited by Obi-Wan’s force ghost who tells him to Dagobah and find Yoda so he can finish his training. Han finds Luke right after that and saves Luke. How, you ask? Well Han’s tauntaun dies and Han puts Luke inside of it to keep him from freezing. It’s pretty genius honestly but this is just the beginning of fantastic toy ideas. Behold! :
“Open belly rescue feature” is both Ridiculous and Amazing at the same time. Back to Business, the rebels find them and bring them back to the base and Luke gets some much needed medical care. This leads to one of the most awkward scenes of the Original Trilogy where Leia kisses Luke. It’s not a light kiss either. It makes a statement. Now, granted neither one of them knows that they’re siblings…but once you do it’s awful. Later, the rebels pick up the code of an Imperial Probe Droid. Upon learning of this, they begin to evacuate while the imperials begin a ground assault.
This is a great scene because it’s the first time we’ve seen an actual ground battle between the Rebels and the Imperials. The AT-AT’s are very imposing and it’s just another sign of the Empire’s strength. Plus the rebels can’t really do anything against them at first until they start using their harpoons to tie up their legs. Then Luke’s speeder gets shot down and he has to take one of the walkers by himself. Because of course he does, dude just straight up grappling hooks it and uses a grenade on it. It’s at this point that we cut back to Echo Base and we have one of my favorite Leia moments. Han’s saying that he’s going to get her to her ship and she just walks away from him and goes back to leading the evacuation. Leia’s devotion to her people is one of my favorite things about her.
The eventually do escape but it’s by the skin of their teeth. Stormtroopers are shooting at them and Darth Vader’s on his way. I mean, it’s about to get bad but they finally get the falcon working after a few quick fixes.(Such as hitting a panel.) Luke is getting in his X-Wing right as the Falcon takes off. They each go their separate ways, Luke to Dagobah and Han and Leia to try and track down the rebel fleet. This film also does really well with showing how impressive Han and Chewbacca are as Pilots. First, they’re able to outrun 3 Star destroyers and then they’re able to navigate the asteroid field and take out the tie-fighters. It’s a great sequence. Of course this leads to them stopping one of the asteroids and attempting to fix the hyperdrive. We also get to see the romance of Han and Leia really begin to grow. They do it so well.
Darth Vader acts as another protagonist in this film. As he searches for the Millennium Falcon. He gets to shine a lot more in this film especially in the last 30 minutes or so. His scenes before that are all great and I love how he runs the imperial captains with an iron fist when they fail him. These are the moments that you see Vader as the ultimate villain who never accepts failure and he basically just force chokes everyone. (RIP To The homies : Ozzel, Piett and Needa.)
Luke Crashes in Dagobah and here, here is where we learn the truth of the Force and the Jedi. Yoda basically starts out as crazed old man when he first sees Luke and this will always be my favorite version of Yoda. The wise old hermit who pretends to be insane to fool everyone but he actually knows more about everything around him then he let’s on. Luke’s kinda a jerk to him at first but I love how quickly he changes once he finds out that he’s actually talking to Yoda himself. He struggles with the idea of training Luke but Obi-Wan keeps pushing for him to be trained and then Yoda delivers one of the defining lines about Luke as a character : “All his life has he looked away to the horizon, never his mind on where he was, on what he was doing.” It’s after this that Yoda finally agrees to train him.
Back with Han and the gang, Tie-Fighters start to bomb the asteroid they’re on and that’s when we found out that They’re not actually inside a cave but a Gigantic Worm Monster! They escape the mouth of the worm and the Star Destroyers chase after them. Han tries to go to Light Speed and it still won’t work. I’ve always loved how Han just keeps saying “It’s not my fault!” in this one. He manages to hide behind one of the Star Destroyers and then they make plans to go to Bespin. Too bad they’re being followed by the greatest Bounty Hunter ever : Boba Fett. This was his first appearance in the films and even though he didn’t say a whole lot, he was very effective as a secondary antagonist who was out to get Han and take him back to Jabba.
Luke starts doing his training with Yoda and Yoda’s quotes here are just pitch perfect. He tells him about the Dark Side and that although it’s not more powerful, it’s easier to be taken in by it. There’s multiple hints in this film about Luke being a lot like his father that it’s honestly weird that some people didn’t know who it was ahead of time. Like this next scene for example when Luke goes into the cave. He finds there is a Force Projection of Darth Vader in the and it ends with Luke chopping off the fake Vader’s head and seeing his own face. It’s a brilliantly put together scene but it makes perfect sense for later. Next up, we get to see more of the force powers from Luke while he’s lifting stones with Yoda, unfortunately his X-Wing starts sinking further into the swamp and he loses his focus. He tries to lift the ship with the Force but he says that it’s impossible. Then Yoda does it for him because that’s just who Yoda is. The next time we see Luke’s training, he starts to reach out and sees Han and Leia in pain. Yoda tells him it’s what may happen to them and that he would destroy everything they fought for if he went after them. I’ve always been curious as to what Yoda’s plan was. Like, I get that he knew it was a trap, but he didn’t give him any other options or knowledge about the situation.
Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO all get to Cloud City and meet Lando. Lando’s the man who runs Cloud City as their administrator. Billy Dee Williams is a welcome addition to the cast and he does a great job in this film. Lando is very suave and basically hits on Leia immediately after he sees her. It’s a very fun introduction for his character. Han and the gang follow him through the city while they talk about the random day to day operations of it. Meanwhile, C-3PO stumbles into another room and gets blasted and left for dead by an unseen Stormtrooper. Chewbacca finds him in what is basically a garbage room. Later, Lando invites them for Dinner and when they get to dining room, Darth Vader and Boba Fett are there. Lando says that he had no choice but to allow them into the city. Chewbacca is imprisoned and starts to fix C-3PO. Meanwhile, Han is subjected to torture that readies him for being frozen in Carbonite. Vader’s plan is to test the carbon freezing on Han before Luke gets there. As Han is about to be put into Carbonite, Chewbacca starts fighting everybody and throwing Stormtroopers everywhere and Han has to calm him down so that he can stay and protect Leia. Leia kisses him and tells him “I love you” and Han responds with the infamous : “I know.” He’s frozen alive right after that and given to Boba Fett.
Luke leaves Dagobah while Obi-Wan and Yoda urge him to stay on Dagobah and finish the training but he feels like her has to go. When he leaves, Obi-Wan says “That boy is our last hope.” and Yoda says “There is another.” When he gets to Cloud City he has to fight his way to try and get to his friends, they get taken away but Luke Confronts Vader and begins to duel him. The duel between Luke and Vader is one of the best parts of the film. It’s one of the best duels of the entire series really and the choreography is beautifully well done. The fight blows people’s minds in comparison to the one between Obi-Wan and Vader in A New Hope. While this entire fight is happening, the pace and switching back and forth between the two of them and The rest of our group is pitch perfect. Leia and Chewbacca get released by Lando and he convinces them that they can still save Han even though Chewbacca does try to choke him to death after he first uncuffs him. They chase after Boba but he’s already flying away by the time they get there.
Getting back to it, Luke chases after Vader when he kicks him off of the platform. Me and my brother were talking about this scene and he was wondering why Luke followed him. I think it’s Luke wants to be the Hero so badly here and he believes that he could be that person here. Unfortunately, we know what happens next. Vader cuts off his hand and then reveals himself to be his father. Luke, instead of going with Vader, just jumps off of the platform and falls until he’s hanging upside down under Cloud City. Luke calls out to Leia while they’re flying away, but they turn around to go and save him. They get him and Try to escape the city but the hyperdrive is still out of commision. I love how Chewbacca yells at Lando when they try to go into Hyperspace. Lando screams “It’s not my fault” just like Han did earlier. They do finally get away because R2-D2 is the best and fixed everything with the falcon. Luke gets a new hand at the end of the film and Lando and Chewbacca are off to search for Han.
Top 5 Reasons Everyone Loves This One For
Now, naturally, this isn’t the definitive list for everyone but these are 5 primary reasons I could think of as to why everyone loves this one the best.
John Williams.
Two Words : Imperial. March.
The Visuals and Sound Design.
It’s clear to see that the visuals were definitely a step up from 3 years prior. This isn’t to say that A New Hope looks bad but you can definitely tell the difference. Whether it’s the blaster, the AT-AT’s, the lightsabers or even just the fact that Darth Vader looks way shinier in this version.
Han and Leia’s Romance.
Typically, when a romance is added to a film series, it drags on and becomes a bogged down part of the story. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with this one. The romance was both believable and yet, it was something so fantastic that you yourself would long for it too.
The Pacing
I mean, you’re basically following 3 main storylines throughout the entire film and yet, there’s never a point where one drags or is done too quickly. Pacing is something that so many films fail but Empire is one that mastered it.
The Jedi Training
This one is a cheap because it’s my favorite part of the movie. It’s just so interesting and Yoda is such a great character. Everything he says about the force and everything we see on Dagobah has such a mystery behind it. It’s “Familiar” to Luke. Yoda knows what the Cave holds. It’s just a great segment that takes this movie from a 9 to a 10 immediately.
