Vader strikes back in second film of the Star Wars saga!
Star Wars fan, DVD collector, Star Wars fan of the 1977 Generation, John Williams fan, Long-time reviewer, Film music lover
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DEC
12
2007
Empire Strikes Back - Star Wars Episode V —
Although George Lucas had written a long and detailed "treatment" for Star Wars that contained the bare outline for the Classic Trilogy's story arc, he pared the first third of it and turned it into the screenplay for the film he'd later re-name Episode IV: A New Hope - tacking on the Death Star sequence he'd originally planned for the finale and hoped filmgoers would enjoy it enough so he could do the other two thirds.But when Star Wars performed better at the box office than its creator had imagined, Lucas began to work on a more detailed story outline and hired sci-fi novelist Leigh Brackett to write a screenplay for the second film of the trilogy. And although he didn't go with Brackett's take on the characters and situations, Lucas gave the terminally-ill author a co-writer credit even after hiring Lawrence Kasdan to revise the screenplay for what was now titled Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
Kasdan and Lucas didn't want Empire to be a typical Hollywood sequel in which the first movie was basically reprised with only minor cosmetic changes. (Think about Die Hard 2 and you'll see what they wanted to avoid.) Instead, they and director Irvin Kershner saw Episode V as the second act of a three-act play, in which the main conflict of the story is set up but not resolved.
The Empire Strikes Back takes place "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" and is set three years after A New Hope. The Rebels have destroyed the Death Star, but the Empire has flushed them out of their hidden base and chased them across the vast reaches of space.
Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO and Princess Leia have helped establish a new base on the ice planet Hoth, but even though they've become a tight-knit team, events are now conspiring to separate them. Han and Chewie have been marked for death by the gangster Jabba the Hutt because of an unpaid debt, and the evil Lord Darth Vader is hunting for Luke, the Force-sensitive pilot who destroyed the Death Star.
But before the inevitable confrontation between the Rebels and the mighty Empire, Kasdan, Lucas and Kershner build up tension by getting Luke into a bad situation involving a furry monster called a Wampa and then cleverly set up the really crucial plot point of Episode V - after a narrow escape from the Wampa's lair, Luke sees the spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells him to go to Dagobah and seek Yoda, the Jedi Master who taught him.
Eventually, the Empire strikes back against the Rebellion on Hoth, and after a fierce battle, Vader and his stormtroopers force the Star Warriors off the ice planet and scatter them hither and yon. Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO head off to Force-knows-where to meet up with the Rebel fleet, while Luke and R2-D2 fly to the bog planet where the young Jedi-to-be will begin his real training in the ways of the Force.
Of course. now that the saga is complete, we know why Darth Vader was so keen on chasing Luke Skywalker above and beyond the normal duties of serving the Emperor, who was first introduced as a hologram in this film. It's no spoiler, I think, to mention here that the "I am your father" line wasn't, as many naive fans thought back in 1980, a lie but rather a heartrending revelation by the man who had once been known as Anakin Skywalker.
Because the Brackett-Kasdan script more fully develops the characters and director Irvin Kershner gets great performances from Mark Hamill (Luke), Harrison Ford (Han), Carrie Fisher (Leia) and the rest of the cast, The Empire Strikes Back is held up by critics and most fans as the best of the six Episodes in the Star Wars cycle. It certainly defied audience expectations with its Episode V subtitle heading, Lucas' choice to give the viewers the expected big battle in Act One so the more personal battle between Luke and Vader would be accentuated, and its against-the-rules of leaving audiences without a "happy ending" (or any ending).
Not only is Empire well-written and more visually stunning than A New Hope, but it also boasts one of the most memorable scores by John Williams. Featuring a new and more menacing Imperial March for Vader, the music also includes a gentle and mischievous theme for Yoda, as well as a romantic love theme for Princess Leia and Han.
The Empire Strikes Back: The DVD: Like A New Hope, the 2004 DVD edition is essentially the same as the 1997 Special Edition, except for one revamped scene; Ian McDiarmid, who plays Darth Sidious/Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in the prequels and personified Emperor Palpatine's aged version in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, appears in the hologram that confers with Lord Vader and warns him they have a new enemy, Luke Skywalker. McDiarmid, who replaces both a heavily disguised woman and the voice of Clive Revill, has a new bit of dialog that implies that it took a while for the Emperor to figure out who had destroyed the Death Star, even though it seems Vader figured it out some time before.
In addition, because Episode II established that Boba Fett is a perfect clone of the bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morison), Jeremy Bulloch's lines (all four of them!) have been dubbed over with Morison's voice.
Final Thoughts: Although I believe that all the Episodes are good, I agree with fans who give The Empire Strikes Back five stars. Operatic in tone and epic in scale, Episode V is one of those rare sequels that in some ways surpasses its predecessor film, and over 25 years after its release it still thrills and chills its many fans.Last edited on May 05, 2008
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