Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (Movie Review)

     Every once in a while comes a movie that changes the way we look at movies, and the 1980 motion picture “Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back” is one of those gems that changed the way we viewed movie sequels, which I’ll discus in more detail in just a moment. This film is widely regarded as the greatest entry in the entire Star Wars cannon, and is often labeled as one of cinemas greatest movie sequels of all time. However, I’m here to share my own personal opinion on this film, not what everyone else thinks. So, how do I feel about “The Empire Strikes Back” ... well, obviously I love this movie, and consider it a great classic. I probably wouldn't right the film off as my "absolute favorite" Star Wars movie, but it has a secure spot ranked among my "absolute favorites". That’s not to say I have any major problems with this movie, far from it ... but admittedly, it just doesn’t leave as powerful an impact on me as the something like "Return of the Jedi". Still, this is a pretty damn good movie, and the stuff of how legends are formed. 

     Here’s the set up, after Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star in the last film, he’s led many Rebels to take action against the Empire, and now his actions have put him on the top of Darth Vader’s hit list. 

Thus, Vader’s obsession to capture Skywalker leads him to go full force in bringing down the Rebels. Caught in the cross fire are Han Solo, Princess Leia and the rest of Luke’s friends, who just can’t escape the looming shadow of the Empire. Meanwhile, Luke is contacted by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sends him on a mission to find a Jedi master named Yoda, who can complete his training. The film then falls into a slightly repetitive pattern, as we frequently cut back and forth from Luke in his training, to our other hero’s on the run, and Darth Vader on the hunt. It’s not a bad format, in fact the pacing is very good, and we spend just enough time with each group of characters to make it work. It’s just that the story telling here occasionally feels like it's going in loops, where as the other two original's always felt like the story was building with each scene.   

   

    Here’s another minor problem I have with this set up, sense our hero’s are separated throughout the majority of the film, they don’t get to interact with each other like they do in the other films. 

In fact, has anyone else ever noticed that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia never talk to one another throughout the whole movie? Sure, there’s moments when their briefly seen in the same room together, but they never actually get in a conversation, or exchange dialogue with one another. Thankfully, Han and Leia’s relationship is very subtle and effective, which balances out. I do love watching our hero’s constantly on the run, because as we follow them on their adventures, they almost begin to feel like family, and the Millenium Falcon begins to feel like a home. Another ace up this movies sleeve is Darth Vader, who’s now in full command, and more badass then ever. He isn’t following under the orders of Governor Tarkin like he was in the first film, or looming in the shadow of the Emperor like in the third film. Now, Darth Vader is large, in charge and completely steels the show. This was when Vader made his transition from cool-villain, to one of the greatest bad guys in all of cinema. 

      Another highlight is the new cast of characters, who've all become celebrated Star Wars icons among fans. One of my personal favorite characters is Lando Calrissian played by Billy Dee Williams. He’s first introduced as an old friend of Han Solo, and provides for our hero’s, only to betray them to the Empire. While that was a low blow, you never get the feeling that he’s a bad guy, or that he has bad motives. You can clearly see how much his actions are ripping him up inside, and you just want to see him break free from the villains grip. Thankfully, he dose prove himself a loyal friend by aiding our hero’s in their escape. The characters story arc is good enough, but it’s the actor Billy Dee Williams who’s just made of awesome, and brings the character to life with so much wit, charisma and charm. 

    Now, let’s talk about that mysterious masked bounty hunter called Boba Fett, who’s tasked by Darth Vader to hunt down Han Solo and his allies. Well, he doesn’t do a whole lot in the film, and Gorge Lucas never meant for him to be anything more than a cool looking background character. Yet, his legacy has expanded so much through comic books, video games, TV shows, and novels that he’s become a cult icon. Yes, he’s a personal favorite of mine too, which is baffling because he does so little in the movie. Sure, he captures Han Solo, which cares over into the next film, but he doesn’t really interact with the characters, never fights anyone, doesn’t do anything particularly bad ass ... and yet he still leaves a big impression! Maybe it’s his cool design, maybe it’s that voice, or maybe it’s the fact that he’s the only stand out supporting villain in the series. Either way, Boba Fett is just plain awesome, and his story has grown so much in the expanded universe, which makes me wish he had a bigger role in the actual film series.     

      However, the absolute best character who completely steals the show with every scene he’s in, of course, is none other than Jedi master Yoda. Holly cow, I frigging love this character, and apparently a lot of people do too. He’s probably the second most marketable character in the whole series behind Darth Vader. His look and design was just perfect, and who better to supply both the voice and puppet work for the character then Frank Oz, who many probably know best as the voice of Miss Piggy. I especially love how Yoda is introduced ... first he comes off like silly comedic relief, then he starts to get a little mysterious, and maybe even a touch scary as he warns our hero of the dangers and fears he’ll face. Then, we finally see him as the wise and motivating teacher that he was built up to be. Personally, I think he might just be the greatest wise, fictional character of all time, and everything he says is so humble and honest that you just hold on to everything he says. Who can forget his classic line “NO, try not ... DO, or do not ... there is no try.” 

      Also, I love that all three acts of the film have their own distinct locations. 

For act 1 it’s the frozen world of Hoth, for act 2 it’s the swampy world of Dagobah, and for act 3 it’s the high-tech world of Cloud city. On a side note, Cloud City is personally my favorite location of the entire series, as it's an awesome design, and the sets are still very impressive to look at today. Naturally, the film was nominated at the Oscars for Best Art Direction, and won the Academy Award for Best original Sound. Also at the Oscars, this film won a Special Achievement Award in Special Effects. While the visuals are bright and colorful, this is thematically the darkest of the original three. The one scene that always stuck with me was Luke's chilling vision in which he fights "Vader", but his face is under the mask. It's moments like that which add the the films sinister atmosphere, while also giving the audience something mysterious to ponder. One very important thing to note is John Williams musical score, which has always been a strength of the series. Now, it’s even more fantastic than ever, largely thanks to all the bonus tracks he composed for the film. Personally, I think “The Empire Strikes Back” has the most classic music in the entire Star Wars series, including Han and Leia’s romantic balled, Darth Vader’s classic Imperial march theme, Yoda’s mystical overture music, the exciting asteroid chase score, Cloud Cities haunting music-tempo, and my personal favorite is the overture music that’s herd when we first see the snow speeders ... I always get so hyped when I hear that score. Once again, John Williams music for the film was nominated at the Oscars for best score. 

   Of course, the highlight of the movie by far is the battle on Hoth. 

It is so frigging cool, I never get tired of seeing this. The Imperial walkers are simply the greatest battle vehicles of all time, and I love that their actual models with moving parts, as opposed to all those CGI weapons we see now a-days. The tension is great, the buildup is great, I love that every one of our hero's is involved during the battle, and after all these years, this sequence still thrills. Unfortunately, nothing this spectacular ever happens again in the movie, which was a real problem when I was a kid. Going from a larger than life battle like this, to all the talk with Yoda was so offbeat that it just got boring. It's embracing to admit, but back then, I often found myself turning the movie off right after the scene, because I was so hyped, I just had to play with my Star Wars toys or video games. That's an issue I never had as a kid with either of the other two classics. Thankfully, now that I’m older, it’s not a problem, mostly because the story, and characters still hold-up perfectly. Actually, the rest of the action is still very exciting. The spaceship chase in the asteroid field was great ... I mean holly cow, this scene has ships dog fighting in a canyon ... in outer-space, that’s awesome! There’s also an exciting encounter with a giant space slug that Han Solo mistakes for a cave opening, and it's creative details like that which really elevate the experience.

    The climax is like-wise a big event, but it’s also really subtle, as it trades big-spectacle for engaging character interplay. Princess Leia and the group fight of storm troopers in the city, and I always loved how Han and Leia’s romantic balled was reconstructed during the escape, as it makes for an exciting music tempo. Meanwhile, we have Luke battling Darth Vader in their first light-saber duel. It’s definitely an improvement over the last films light-saber duel, as they cover more ground, and there's a lot more tension. 

The image of them both standing as silhouette's at the start of the fight is one of my favorite visuals in the whole franchise. However, it’s not the duel itself that gets us hyped, it’s the classic twist reveal of Darth Vader being Luke’s father that really gets us thrilled. Personally, it's not the initial "reveal" that gets to me, it's the scene that happens after. When Luke is lying down in the recovery room, and Darth Vader begins calling out to him through the force. This is the moment when everything changes in our main villain ... he suddenly feels sincere about reuniting with his son, and it helps the audience except the truth. Had it not been for that scene, Vader's reveal just wouldn't have carried the same impact ... at least, not for me. The movie then closes on a nail biting cliff hanger, as the hero’s have been split up, Han is missing, and the galaxy is in worse shape than ever.   

     In many respects, this is the classic middle chapter that would set the template for several franchises to come. The middle chapter is the darkest and liveliest, with everything going wrong, the villains take over, the hero’s are beaten, and it closes on an epic cliff-hanger that leaves audiences anxious for more. Even though “The Empire Strikes Back” wasn’t the first movie to create this formula, it is the film that most middle chapters from other popular series would try to duplicate. Sometimes with success, and other times they come off like pail imitations. The weakest imitation I can think of in recent years was “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest”, which followed the exact same formula down to the letter, but without any of the natural excitement, and felt like it was just going through the motions. On the opposite side of that coin, I feel some franchise have beaten “The Empire Strikes Back” at its own game. My personal favorite being the season 2 finale of the TV show “Avatar: The Last Air Bender”, which had a story, and series of events that were eerily similar to “The Empire Strikes Back”, and yet, I felt it brought things to a higher quality.   

      Before I sign off, let’s look at some of the special edition changes. I think this one has had the most favorable changes, which fans aren’t as picky about. 

Subtle touches to the battle of Hoth were great. Also, I love all the the touch-ups on cloud city, as added windows, and city shots make the location feel larger then it's original claustrophobic set-design. There's also a gougers sun-set added for a backdrop, which allows for some really nice colors. I also love that we see more of the snow beast in the opening. In the original, he was kept off screen like in “Jaws”, which is okay, except we initially saw the thing burst on screen right when it attacks Luke. Sense we got a good look at the beast, there's really no reason to keep it off-screen anymore. Besides, the scene is only two minutes long, so it just feels more satisfying to see this creature in all its glory. The most controversial change was with the hologram of the Emperor. In the original he certainly came off as more mysterious and creepy, but the actor wasn’t the same guy who would play him in the following films, and that always distracted me. So, despite some altered dialogue, I’d rather stick with the 2004 DVD edition that inserted the actor from “Return of the Jedi” into the film, which just feels more appropriate to me.     

   

      Overall, “The Empire Strikes Back” still holds up remarkably well over the years. It's still not my absolute favorite, but certainly "a favorite" of the franchise as a whole, and it does everything a good sequel should do. It ups the darkness, develops the characters further, livens the story, introduces a cast of terrific new characters, and stands apart from its predecessor. Definitely a classic sequel, and it remains one of the high points of the Star Wars legacy.      

Thanks for reading my review of the 1980 sequel "Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back" ... and may the greatest adventure across the stars live forever.    

           To Be Continued...