Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Review

Star Wars: Episode V-The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The Empire Strikes Back follows Luke, Han, and Leia, who, after Vader attacks the rebel base on Hoth, go on the run, sending the Millennium Falcon into an Empire trap on Bespin, prompting Luke to halt his training with Yoda to take on Vader and save his friends. 

Three years after A New Hope, George Lucas released it’s sequel, giving scripting credits to Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasden, as well as passing on directing to Irvin Kershner, and in turn, releasing the finest film of the trilogy by a mile. Considerably darker and more mature than it's predecessor, "The Empire Strikes Back" is a masterpiece of modern film. It is an intense, powerful, and entertaining movie with the ultimate twist and with a script worthy of it's potential. This is quite literally Star Wars at it’s creative best, utilizing so many of the day’s creative minds to come together to make a sequel that is better in every respective way, from it’s sets, to the visual effects, to the music, and most importantly, it’s story. It scratches at that unconscious desire to see our heroes fail and thus lives up to it’s moniker, sucking every ounce of hope from the rebellion while sending Luke and friends scrambling after such a massive setback. 

Star Wars is longer black and white. The lines become muddied, making for such a thought provoking film. All five force users find that their conflicting instincts are all entirely wrong. The film is really about the temporary triumph of human impulses over the mystical Force. Luke's human idealism is vindicated, but his supernatural powers, just this once, are not. Luke is left in a state of limbo between the dark and light, while the rebellion has seemingly lost it’s best pilot, showing just how powerful the Empire really is. 

Episode V once again sports an incredible cast, starring Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill. While Fisher and Ford share some amazing scenes here, it’s the menacing double act of Jones and Prowse who just dominate every scene as Vader, bringing such a visceral performance out of Hamill that is truly some of the best acting of the series. 

The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kirshner, is the best of the series because it doesn’t simply try to emulate the success of the first, it strives to be completely different, more mature, and all around darker, while still maintaining that sense of awe and amazement of what came before. 

9.8/10