1980
3.5/4 Stars
The Empire Strikes back is widely considered the best Star Wars film ever made. It involves a deeper, more textured story than the original film and gives space for familiar characters to develop and grow. All of the main characters- Luke, Leia, Han, and even Darth Vader are shown to be more complex and involved than shown in the original film.
Empire begins with a salvo of action that does not let up for about forty minutes. The assault on Hoth and the subsequent asteroid field chase does not give the audience a chance to rest as the Empire and Vader are hot on the heels of the protagonists. With the exception of a somewhat silly looking ice monster that Luke fights in a cave, this sequence holds up very well. The tone is set- in this chapter of the story, the heroes are on the run.
Along the way, the love story between Han and Leia evolves in a way that feels far more organic than the Anakin/Padme story of the prequels. While there are still lines that should make the audience cringe ("scruffy looking nerfherder"), they somehow work. Perhaps it is because Ford and Fisher are allowed more room to act by the director, perhaps they are simply better actors. The bottom line is that Han's response to Leia's "I love you" is far more memorable than Anakin's diatribe about contrasting the coarseness of sand with the smoothness of Padme's skin. Put simply, it works.
Yoda makes his first appearance since Episode III (or first ever, depending on how one counts), and his return is welcome. His brand of "Jedi wisdom" and humor help to fill in (and even improve upon) the largely missing Sir Alec Guinness (Obi Wan).
The only complaint about this film is that it is just not as much fun as the original (Episode IV). It is a deeper and more sophisticated film, but it does not capture quite the same level of light-hearted excitement as the original. The main characters are bloodied (but not beaten) by the film's end and it is somewhat exhausting. Seeing a main character get tortured and then taken hostage and another character get maimed by a lightsaber is less fun than seeing the bad guy's mega-space-station get blown up by the good guys.
These minor complaints do not detract from the fact that this is an excellent film, especially given the success it had to live up to after the sensational Episode IV. As was discussed in the earlier review of "Two Towers", these bridging chapters can be the most difficult, and Director Irvin Kershner succeeds with flying colors here.
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