Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

As far as the Star Wars series goes, Empire Strikes Back is remembered as one of the greats.  Between the fantastic scriptwriting, incredible special effects, and the development of a rich plotline that twists and turns at every corner it has earned this title and will continue to top classic sci-fi movie must-see lists.  The iconic fight scene and revelation of Darth Vader’s true identity as well as Lucas’ portrayal of the Force as it relates to each Jedi Knight makes it an epic sequel to the chronologically first installment of the series.

The fight scene between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker occurs towards the end of the film at Bespin and it is the ultimate example of good versus evil.  While Vader attempts to convince Luke to join the Dark Side we can see a clear transformation happening within Mark Hamill’s Luke as he leaves boyhood and enters the fearful world of Jedi Knight adulthood.  With Yoda as his newfound master, after losing the powerful Obi-Wan at the hand of Darth himself, Luke has found a new sense of confidence that the eager young boy from A New Hope never gained.  This rejuvenation of Luke’s personality serves a twofold purpose: one is to give him agency that he never discovered in the first film and the other is to symbolize Lucas’ own personal achievement.  It is pretty obvious how Luke gains agency between the Jedi training with the ever-so-wise Yoda, and it reaches a climax with his decision to abandon training in search of Han Solo and Leia.  The battle with Darth Vader is a mere extension of Luke’s growth as a character because he finally has the strength to confidently face the Darkness.  Of course, his newfound strength is tested with the revelation that Vader is, in fact, his father (a plot twist so juicy the line “No, I am your father” remains vivid in all minds) and Luke has to grapple with the fact that part of him might be inherently evil.  In typical Lucas fashion this raises an existential question of how much individuality we have from our family members, our parents in particular.  We can see the expression on Luke’s face change as he makes the decision to die rather than succumb to the Dark Side, although he predictably lives in the end. (How could Lucas make a trilogy without a protagonist?)  Luke’s growth can also represent Lucas as a filmmaker and his realization that Star Wars is so much bigger than himself and his own personal success.  It would be a fair assessment to look at Luke Skywalker as a mirror like reflection of George Lucas transforming from an amateur writer/producer into, arguably, one of the most revered film creators of all time.

The scenery and effects give away Empire Strikes Back as a successor to a previously extremely lucrative film because, unlike A New Hope, Lucas has the ability to set them on different planets within the galaxy and even make them appear different from each other or any realistic place existing on Earth.  He was able to hire the director he wanted, Irvin Kershner, and splurge on expanding the limits of this newest project Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).  He used bluescreen in order to achieve some of the special effects that were more complex, but it is still such a pleasure to watch Empire Strikes Back because the characters are still physical representations of themselves, like a puppet or a metal contraption.  Yoda would not be the same, and he is not the same in the prequels, if he is not a physical character that can interact with the actors on set.  Someone so wise and gracious as well as cunning and unassuming cannot be replaced by CGI versions of a puppet made of felt and wire.  We can clearly see the rawness of Empire Strikes Back, but with the refined, classical nature of a George Lucas creation.

This installment of the series has received one of the highest percent approval ratings of 97% on RottenTomatoes.com because there truly isn’t much to complain about.  Lucas sets up the end of Empire Strikes Back perfectly for another piece to the trilogy to take place and finally reveal what happens to the Imperials and the Rebel Alliance.  Who lives? Who dies? These are the cliffhangers that Lucas doesn’t get around to answering for his cosmo hungry film fanatics until 1983.