The Empire Strikes Back
A continuation of my Star Wars review from not too long ago. I guess I’ve made it clear that I love the series, and the original trilogy is one of my favorite trilogies ever made. I do also enjoy the prequel trilogy and its back story, despite the massive hate that has been established for it. There’s no doubt that not only is The Empire Strikes Back a magnificent follow-up to one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, it’s one of the greatest sequels in movie history. So please, read my review…or destroy you I will. (That was “Darth Yoda” speaking…)
Bottom Line: Not quite perfect, but still wondrous.
Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Starring: Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse, Frank Oz, Harrison Ford, Kenny Baker, Mark Hamill, Peter Mayhew
“The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet.” –David Prowse and the voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
When George Lucas created STAR WARS just three years before, he wasn’t constructing a film but instead a universe. A sequel to further the story was inevitable and vital to the timeless tale’s legacy, and after being received well by both critics and audiences alike, a sequel was confirmed. If THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK were the primary entry in this three-part legend, it would not have stood out. After all, it was released in 1980–the year responsible for an overwhelming number of unforgettable classics. THE BLUES BROTHERS, AIRPLANE!, THE SHINING, ORDINARY PEOPLE, RAGING BULL, and many more. Considering this is one of the greatest sequels ever made, it stands out in its own unique respect.
Giving the film a trashy title like the one it has held for 32 years now is just as much understating it. However, the Empire truly does no less than strike back in this enthralling sequel. After the destruction of the Death Star, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is told via a vision of his former trainer Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) to venture to the jungle planet of Dagobah and seek further training from Jedi Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), who initially trained Obi-Wan himself. Meanwhile, his friends Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia (Carrie Fisher), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) are trapped by the evil Darth Vader (portrayed in costume by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), who is currently preoccupied by his maniacal plans to turn Luke over to the Dark Side.
“No. Try not. Do…or do not. There is no try.” –the voice of Frank Oz as Yoda
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK has a great knack for bringing more fun to the counter, even after its predecessor, a richly entertaining science fiction film as it is. We knew Darth Vader was a treacherous villain in STAR WARS, due to the information we were given in the title crawl and the threatening performance that supported it. Here, we have his appearance complemented by John Williams’s “Imperial March” which makes him seem an even stronger antagonist. There are also some new characters introduced here to make the continuation even more exciting. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Han Solo’s longtime companion, and Yoda are the major standouts. Yoda especially adds to the comic relief. In fact, had he not been present, there would be none of the light touches of humor that made the originating story so much more unique. C-3PO and R2-D2, Luke’s two “droids”, were a lot of fun to watch quarrelling in the first film. But as R2-D2 is traveling with Luke and C-3PO with the rest of the good guys, we don’t get to enjoy so much of their humor. C-3PO is written to try to act humorous on his own; it just doesn’t help when Han points out how incredibly distracting and obnoxious he can be.
“He is as clumsy as he is stupid.” –David Prowse and the voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
Let’s leave aside those minor faults. If anybody other than a compelling genius like George Lucas were behind this, they would pervade every crack and crevice of the film. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a film that looks down on the “failing sequels” stereotype with an insurmountable number of ways to prove it wrong. Clearly, the stereotype remembers sequels like BATMAN AND ROBIN and SPEED 2, films that meaninglessly give another story that is bound ever so loosely by the characters appearing in their predecessing works. There aren’t many other follow-ups quite as sturdy, but when it all comes down to how well the film does as its own work, it’s a masterfully produced and well told epic.
Strange thing about this one (which I think is the best of any Stars War movie) is that George Lucas didn’t have as much to do with it as he did with the others. Nice review. You got me wanting to watch them again.
Yeah I’m still surprised by Lucas’s choice to assign other directors to the rest of the original trilogy. I was under the impression that it was purely him all along. But Kershner’s direction is fabulous. I hadn’t heard of him, but I looked him up a while ago and saw that he had directed another film I enjoyed or had heard was good…can’t quite put my finger on what it was.
And I used to hold this as my favorite of the series. It also gets significantly greater rave than the already massively praised original work. I just thought it fell slightly short because C-3PO…well, I guess it’d be too literal if I were to say he didn’t have an off button. I was begging for the moment when he would just shut up. So I had to knock off that green “+”. I know it doesn’t sound like a valid reason to knock off some of the grade, but it scratched away some of my enjoyment with the film.
And yes!! Please do revisit these classics. They’re wonderful. I’d literally freak out if I met George Lucas because of how awesome his cinematic universe is. Probably took him a while, but when this is the result of his hard work, it means a lot. I’ll be away for a few days, but after that, I’ll order Return of the Jedi from the library and finish my trilogy of reviews. Thanks for commenting!
Sure. Looking forward to Jedi. It’s a shame you couldn’t have seen these in the theater like I did. I was very young when the first Star Wars came out, but I was there. I lived through the craze – had all the toys – etc. They are so much a part of me I’m not sure I could write a fair review. How many times can one person say great in a post?
There are synonyms.
George Lucas, I believe, is a name everyone has heard – and the star wars series should have been seen by everyone. He is an amazing director and has created a brilliant world, and I think you conveyed this message very well in your excellent review.
Thanks Lucy!!
I love this one. Though I do think the previous installment was superior, this definitely is one of the best sequels of all time that should rank with The Godfather Part II and Aliens. Nice review.
Thanks, but don’t forget:
The Dark Knight
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Spider-Man 2
Letters from Iwo Jima (though more of a “midquel”)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (a followup work to “And Now for Something Completely Different”)
Batman Returns
Shrek 2
The Bourne Supremacy
X2: X-Men United
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
All of those are great sequels as well. Thanks for reminding me.
You’re welcome. There’s about twelve more on my list, as those were just first sequels/second entries. But for the most part, the world of sequels IS filled with forgettable crap like Speed 2 and Batman and Robin. Films I try to avoid with my life.
Sequels might be hit or miss but there is still nothing as bad as a Squeak-quel (or however the hell you spell that piece of crap Chipmunks movie)
You spelled it right, afaik. And I actually thought that one was cute. Maybe because I was twelve years old when I saw it and had not a clue what a great movie was.
Great review, I actually just referenced this movie in my “plan” for how the Batman series should continue, citing the fact that George Lucas didn’t even direct this movie but people still think of it as a Lucas Film (i.e. the same could work for nolan if he wanted to switch to a writing or producing role)
In any case I just love how this film set the standard for making the second entry in a trilogy end on a note of somberness, i.e. the whole “the bad guys won this time” feel that gives an even greater sense of catharsis when the situation resolves itself in the third film.
I find it funny that the Batman series we best know has now come to an official end, and it’s only now that we’re talking about it more than ever. I’m waiting very, very impatiently to see TDKR.
And the ending was pretty one of a kind here. Bad guys win over, mwahahahahaha, just wait and see what happens in the next movie. Must have gotten people who saw it when it first came to theaters really excited for that threequel. There’s one of the upsides of being as young as I am. I don’t have to wait three years!
Probably the best Star wars film
I’d say definitely one of the best. IMO it comes very, very close to the original.
I’m a huge huge Star Wars nerd and I just love this movie.
Me too!! I probably won’t see any of the prequel trilogy’s 3-D re-releases in theaters (I missed The Phantom Menace in February already), but I’d be all over the theater when we are reminded of the original trilogy.
I think the theater’s around here only kept the 3D release around for like a week, I don’t think anyone really wanted to see it. I’m certainly going to skip the next two movies in 3D but A New Hope will be something I may see several times.
I’ll try to stay away from Attack of the Clones in 3-D unless a friend invites me to see it with him/her. Revenge of the Sith is on the fence for me, however, especially since I cried myself to sleep, like, every night that it was in theaters because it was PG-13 and I was only seven years old at the time so I wasn’t allowed to go see it.
So I should make up for that theatrical loss. Plus it’s the only downright satisfying film in the prequel trilogy.
I love this film. The original three Star Wars films have my vote for best trilogy of all time. The only other series that’s even in the running would be Lord of the Rings.
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is an odd one for me, actually. I have to agree with you that overall they are pretty well done. The Fellowship of the Ring is the only one in the series I have seen twice–once because I had intended to watch the series all in a row but never made that commitment, and another time because I decided to take another shot at that commitment, which I believe came after reading Tolkien’s book series. Both times I had trouble getting in to the first entry because it was so slow. I think I’ve mentioned Syd Field’s fantastic nonfiction book “Screenplay” on my blog before; in that book he mentions that the length of the movie usually goes by the length of the script (i.e. 120 pages equals around 120 minutes of screen time), but the one major exception he found was The Fellowship of the Ring. A 118-page screenplay that runs for a (slow) 178 minutes. The Two Towers is actually my favorite of the trilogy, by far, and I still believe that should have won the Best Picture Oscar over Chicago. Just barely, though. Whereas I think there’s a bit too much hype over The Return of the King. The first film ran 178 minutes, the second 179, then the final entry over 200 minutes. The last twenty I kept getting up and cooking more popcorn for myself because the ending was so freaking long!! I’d dock a partial letter grade for that much of it, and a bit more for some key scenes I found disappointing. Maybe I’m just too much a fan of the books (for once). On another note, I wish The Hobbit the best.
Anyway…I would agree that the original three Star Wars films solidify as the best trilogy ever made. After that, I don’t know. So many trilogies are washed away with their final entries. For example, I wish I could say I enjoyed The Godfather trilogy enough to call it one of the best ever, but Part III was just plain silly. Thanks for commenting.
Great review, I always thought that this film was the darkest out of the original triogy
I’d have to agree with you on that one.
Thanks for replying, just wanted to let you know that I have recently iuploaded another one of my question posts. You should check it out if you get the time
Thanks I’ll head on over right now.
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