Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back

Once again the Millennium Falcon is pursued by the Imperial Fleet in Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back – the second installment of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

This was, by far, the best of the Star Wars films. It was the most mysterious and somber of the movies. It was the movie where the saga turned from being an upbeat space opera, and dove into the depths of mythology. The look of the film is richer than the first film; obviously because this time they were making a sequel to one of the biggest box office hits of all time. So they didn’t have to worry as much about the cost of the special effects.

I’ll say this for The Empire Strikes Back: It understood the personalities of the central characters better. And much more so than in the first film, The Empire Strikes Back is dominated by the powerfully chilling presence of Darth Vader. It seems like Princess Leia was right in the first film — Governor Tarkin was holding Vader’s leash — but in The Empire Strikes Back, with no one around to restrain Vader, subordinates drop like flies.

One of my favorite lines is when the Captain says: “I shall assume full responsibility for losing them and apologize to Lord Vader.” HA-HA! Bye-bye, Captain. In the next scene we see the captain fall over dead with Vader responding coldly, “Apology accepted, Captain Nader.”

The other characters have under gone a change since the first movie — Leia loses her baby fat and wisecracks, and is easily caught up by Han — like her mother, she’s drawn to the bad boy — while Han is a tamed rebel, and a recruiter to the cause. As Luke was to him in the first film, so he is to Lando in the second. And Luke? The unanswered question from the first film — would he get Leia? — becomes a non-issue. Plus he’s no longer pretty or happy or idealistic. Meanwhile, Darth Vader becomes more himself.

The heart of this movie takes place in a forest where Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is trained to be a Jedi by a creature named Yoda. Luke is finally off the desert rock, and finds himself stuck in a swamp, upstaged by a muppet.

There’s no doubt about it, The Empire Strikes Back is one of the greatest achievements in the history of world cinema. Not so much because of the special effects, because with enough money you can buy special effects; rather it’s because of the imagination behind the special effects. You can blow things up all day long in today’s Hollywood, and never give it a moment’s thought. But to create the different worlds and creatures in this film takes a certain genius. The Empire Strikes Back is rich and generous with imagination….

To read more go to http://www.mustseeornot.com