Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Review
We’ve made it to week #2 of my Star Wars review series so today I’m reviewing The Empire Strikes Back. This is widely regarded as the best or one of the best sequels of all time and the best Star Wars movie. Do I agree with that? Let’s talk about it!
The Good
Simply put, yah I agree with that statement above that this is both one of the best sequels of all time and the best Star Wars movie in general. It’s a film that’s interesting to watch 46 years later with reflection because you see how many sequels this movie inspired. The big thing related to that is that it elevates everything and cranks it up to the next level. The stakes and the threat are bigger, you feel Darth Vader and the Empire as much more of a threat in this movie. They do more dangerous and villainous things here. All leading up to a finale where our heroes lose normally in movies like this our heroes struggle but they ultimately win in the end, with this movie they don’t. Luke is injured, Han is frozen and taken captive by Boba Fett, and Darth Vader is victorious in the end. It influenced so many sequels that had a similar style, most notably Infinity War is the Empire Strikes Back of the MCU. Whenever there’s a sequel that’s bigger and darker then the first they say “oh this is the Empire Strikes Back of the…*fill in the black franchise*”. As this was the original one of these sequels it holds up so well and is truly one of the best sequels of all time.
Going back to what I said earlier this film is bigger in scale and because A New Hope was such a big hit they were able to give this movie a bigger budget. The movie doesn’t feel as dated and feels more cinematic. The fights, whether it’s flying around Hoth or the showdown between Luke and Darth Vader in the third act it’s more cinematic. They’re able to do more with that final showdown and make it more exciting. The lightsaber battle between Obi-Wan and Vader in A New Hope is one of the worst lightsaber battles because it’s two men swinging their sabers around. But in this film’s showdown, the choreography is better and they’re in more exciting locations. As a point of reference, when adjusted for inflation A New Hope’s budget would be $59.8 million and The Empire Strikes Back budget would be $136 million. Just right there, you can tell how much bigger of a budget they had to work with. Because A New Hope was such a big hit and overperformed probably what George Lucas and the studio thought it would do, they felt more confident going into this film. I really appreciate that about that film.
As it is a Star Wars movie you of course get another fantastic John Williams score. I think there’s an argument to be made that The Empire Strikes Back is his best score. It’s a race between this film and A New Hope for me, either one you pick there’s no wrong answer. I find with this movie there’s more iconic moments in which the music plays. I remember the scenes in the movie largely because I remember the fantastic music. I think the “Imperial March” is one of the best pieces of music in movie history, I think it’s absolutely incredible. It’s actually my ringtone so anytime somebody calls me the “Imperial March” plays so that’s fun. One of the great scenes that I forgot about was the scene with Yoda lifting up the X-Wing out of the lake. The scene in itself is great but the music that plays that swells the emotions. You know exactly what you’re supposed to be feeling during that moment and since this sense of victory and awe that small creature like Yoda is able to do something so powerful. The chase scene through the asteroid field is once again elevated by the music. There’s just so many musical themes in this movie that stick with you after watching this movie. Like I said, the race between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back for best Star Wars score is very close. I think I’ll give it to The Empire Strikes Back because the movie was able to build on the foundation of A New Hope and create more music that sounds awesome in both the context of the scene and when you’re just listening to it for fun.
Another thing you have to talk about here are the characters. Once again, this is just a great ensemble of characters and every single one of them is so much fun and has depth to them. What’s fun about this movie is that despite it being the second movie in the trilogy this is really Luke’s origin story for becoming a Jedi. They told this story of the course of two films. A New Hope establishes that he’s from a boring desert planet that wants to go on this big adventure. The film ends with him being the hero he wanted to be and this film he continues that into being a Jedi. I think Luke is a much better character in this movie then he was in A New Hope. I think a lot of that is helped by the fact that Mark Hamill gives a much better performance. I think his performance in that movie is the weakest part. George Lucas didn’t direct this movie so there’s better performances all around. It’s very satisfying to watch his opening scene in A New Hope and the final scene in The Empire Strikes Back and you see just how much he’s grown in two films. His arc from a farm boy to a Jedi is so satisfying and of course that arc continues in Return of the Jedi. One of the more fun elements about this movie is the dynamic between Han Solo and Princess Leia. Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have such great chemistry with one another. Seeing them fall in love while also being annoyed by each other just puts a smile on your face. They provide a lot of the film’s humor that works really well in the movie. One of the surprises for me on rewatch was Lando. I’ve never really had particularly strong thoughts on Lando as a character. Rewatching the film this time, I liked how he used it and the sense of betrayal you get from him. His characters make the world of Star Wars feel bigger where we learn more about Han’s past and learn more about the smuggler side of the Star Wars world because of him. But that’s what’s so great about the original trilogy is that the entire ensemble is so good, all of the characters are so good and rich.
And the film does great a job of building tension and this sense of dread and urgency throughout the film. As soon as the Hoth escape sequence happens and Luke and R2-D2 head off to find Yoda and Han, Chewie, Leia, and C-3PO are on their journey it’s nonstop sense of urgency. Where you know that our heroes are being hunted by Darth Vader and the Empire. You know the stakes of what’s going on and that Darth Vader is a threat. Once we arrive at Cloud City you very quickly get this sense that things are off and you don’t trust Lando. The tension breaks as this action sequence happens which leads into the third act with Han losing. You feel this sense of “oh crap” this isn’t good for our heroes. From beginning to end it keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat. I think this the Star Wars movie that has the most urgency and in a lot of ways I think this is the most entertaining Star Wars movie.
Finally, with this film you have to talk about the “I Am You Father” plot twist. Man, this is maybe the most iconic movie plot twist of all time. I don’t think there’s many that are in the conversation as far as plot twists that have made their way into popular culture where everybody knows it. What’s fun about this plot twist is that it almost didn’t happen. If you don’t know, that plot twist wasn’t in the original script and it was decided fairly late into the shoot. Mark Hamill found out about that twist I believe the day they shot it. Even with that, it was so secretive that nobody knew about it except for a handful of people. It’s one of the great hypotheticals in movie history of what if that twist never happened, what if Darth Vader wasn’t Luke’s father? What would the future of Star Wars have been like? We never would’ve gotten the prequels which would’ve changed pop culture in the 2000s. Importance aside I just think it’s a great twist that’s surprising yet because it’s not really set up. Normally plot twists that come out of nowhere don’t work but in this case it does.
The Bad
As this is one of the greatest movies of all time, I don’t really have any issues with this movie and the ones I do are fairly small. I think the first act of the movie can be a bit choppy and it’s cutting around between a few to many things. We have to establish where all of our characters are at and the motivation of Darth Vader. Because the first act on Hoth can be a bit clunky and all over the place. I think the film becomes less clunky once our heroes go on their mission and part ways. That’s really the only issue I have with this movie and in terms of issues, that’s pretty small.
Final Thoughts: The Empire Strikes Back is truly one of the greatest sequels of all time, one of the greatest blockbusters of all time, and one of the greatest movies of all time. I don’t want to spoil my Star Wars ranking, but this movie will rank pretty high up on that list. The movie delivers everything you want from a sequel and a Star Wars movie, it’s fantastic.
The Score: 9.6/10 (A)
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