The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Movie Review

Welcome back to old movie reviews, and sorry for the long hiatus previously before I made a review on The Force Awakens, I was very busy. But anyway, to use these two weeks of Christmas Holidays, I feel like making more movie reviews!

It’s always a good idea to casually expand my taste of movies, and since The Force Awakens came out, I figured: I had to make two more reviews of the Star Wars Trilogy. After that, I’ll be thinking of ranking the favorite Star Wars movies, from 4^th to 1^st. And no, I will not be doing it with the prequels. Those were atrociously horrible movies, and I don’t see the reason why I have to care talking about them.

So anyway, I’m back to talk about possibly my favorite Star Wars movie of all time: The Empire Strikes Back. In fact, I respectfully disagree with the fact that it’s the best Star Wars movie ever made; it is one of the best movies and sequels ever made.

Basically, George Lucas threw Irvin Kershner to the director’s chair, while throwing Lawrence Kasdan to the writer’s chair, clearly telling them I’m a bit done with the sequel stories here, I’ll give it to you guys to do the work. It is more than a wise choice, in fact, having it as one of the best choices George Lucas has made. This is not a way to insult him, but it’s true: Irvin Kershner and Lawrence Kasdan were absolutely brilliant with this movie.

There are a number of things that are so different from The Empire Strikes Back and the first Star Wars movie. The first one, being that this movie has brought Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and even Darth Vader, to heightened emotional levels. This is the first time we have seen these characters that 3-dimensional. It has also given us a bigger picture of the Star Wars Universe. Before this movie came along, Star Wars was an awesome movie, yet we don’t know much about these characters, and how else the Star Wars Universe can be capable of. Filmmakers knew people are going to watch this movie now, thanks to the first movie, and are willing to take risks by taking the movie into a different direction. It is, needless to say, darker and more sinister than Star Wars, but ultimately more involving than Star Wars.

If I missed anything out, I apologize, but there’s just way too many positive things about this movie. This review will definitely contain spoilers; you’ve been warned. 

Film Synopsis - The adventure continues in this "Star Wars" sequel. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) face attack by the Imperial forces and its AT-AT walkers on the ice planet Hoth. While Han and Leia escape in the Millennium Falcon, Luke travels to Dagobah in search of Yoda. Only with the Jedi master's help will Luke survive when the dark side of the Force beckons him into the ultimate duel with Darth Vader (David Prowse).

The Pros

The expansion of the universe - The Star Wars saga doesn’t stop there about expanding the universe; you can see it growing. We finally see a snowy planet called Hoth populated with cold blizzards and freezing ice caps. We finally see an asteroid field taking place. We also see a swampy planet called Dagobah, as well as having a wise old Jedi master lurking around the area (Dagobah felt absolutely nothing like a set. It was so real and impressive). We see a gas planet called Bespin with a floating city that hangs above it. As you can see, the Star Wars Universe has gotten more creativity of a universe more than any other cinematic universes when it comes to science fiction. You keep seeing it expand, you keep seeing it grow. You truly wanted this universe to exist, and not only that, kept expanding what you already saw from the first Star Wars movie, except the fact that they gave it more. 

A bigger picture - You finally get to tie some loose ends around the questions you didn’t know from the first Star Wars movie. For example, why does Darth Vader need the suit? Is he wearing it for style? Why is the force strong within Luke? Why does Leia know Luke is hanging underneath those antennas hanging underneath Cloud City? Most of the questions have been solved in this movie, satisfying you, but in the end, sometimes may give ten questions more to the answered question. This is what I love about this movie; it’s more than just another adventure movie. It expands and gives you more details about each and every character.

The acting - This is possibly the 2^nd kind of the best acting I’ve seen, the 1^st being The Force Awakens. The young actors have obviously become more confident with their roles, giving them more characterization than they did from Star Wars. You see them as three-dimensional characters with a lot of feelings. You look at them as real characters, and whenever something happens, you see them distressed, sad, and sometimes remorseful. You see them as real people, not a bunch of heroes.

What I also love about this movie is the fact that everyone is vulnerable; you can’t see them as superhuman anymore, just because it’s Star Wars and you don’t know the abilities the humans have from their world, but the fact that they can get injured, captured, and tortured, just like anyone else. Hell, even the Millennium Falcon was broken the entire time, and you can feel just because you have the fastest ship in the entire galaxy, doesn’t mean it can be vulnerable as well.

The direction Irvin Kershner took with these characters is great, because these characterizations are very important for the third and final movie of the original trilogy. There’s more to their characters now, and I’m happy to see them develop.

Han Solo - Han was an absolute badass in this movie. There is finally more to his character than just being a smuggler from the first movie. He saves Luke once again when Luke was lost around Hoth, and fired his gun first to Vader when Han realizes his best friend Lando Calrissian betrays him. See, that is why I hate the idea of Greedo shooting first in the Special Edition edit, mainly because it is true to the point Han does shoot first. I mean, hell, he shot Vader first without thinking. That’s the kind of character he is. When George Lucas had to change that, I absolutely hated it.

When Han thinks he might die of Carbonite freezing, Leia says to him: “I love you.” He responds: “I know.” See, that’s the kind of brilliant writing right there. The original line was called: “I love you too.” But writers knew Han wasn’t that kind of person to say that. So obviously changing it, not only making it a million times better, but also giving more characterization to Han’s character. That’s the same exact response I say to a lot of people when they say they love me.

Darth Vader - Now look, we all love Darth Vader. It’s not a theory, its reality. He’s one of the greatest cinematic villains to ever be shown on the big screen, but that’s only because this movie came out. Before then he’s just a guy with a black suit that’s evil and walks around doing his own thing.

In this movie, he is a thousand times more menacing than he was from Star Wars. You can even see the tone and voice of his character change. For example, he’s a dude that yells a lot in Star Wars, fights old men normally, drives a TIE Interceptor, attack X-Wings and Y-Wings and takes out fat people and guys with porn star mustache.

In this movie, he is a calmer yet way more evil character than he was in Star Wars, and instead of being angry and all, he stays cool, but proceeds on giving you hell.

You can even feel him having that power within him, and he is basically much scarier in front of the generals and soldiers around him. You can feel everyone’s fear when he comes around, because he’s that powerful. If the generals mess him up, they will die. If they fail to do what Vader wants them to do, he will kill them. Yes, we’ve all seen the force choke in the first star wars movie, but this movie is the first time he does that, calmly, murdering his generals without thinking about it, and of course not raging about it. He continues to kill his generals left and right, and promotes captains left and right. 

"You have failed me for the last time, Admiral."

He is an absolutely enthralling villain in The Empire Strikes Back, and we finally see a third dimensional side of him in this movie.

The special effects - When comparing the sequel to the very first movie, in just a time of three years, the special effects have gone so much better than the first one. The first movie’s special effects don’t suck, and they of course aged well, but The Empire Strikes Back had special effects we still see today in movies of our time, but of course, sometimes actually looked better.

Cinematography - As I said in The Force Awakens review, J.J. Abrams had the eyes of very good cinematography. Now of course, there is a brilliant man before him who also had the same eyes: Irvin Kershner. My god, the wide takes and shots, the use of panning around the characters, the great look and view of sets and shots, and of course, longer takes and shots instead of choppy editing, looked really good in this movie. Rest in peace, Irvin Kershner, you’ve given us a legacy from you we wanted.

The oppressive power from the Empire - As the title of this movie suggests, the Empire does indeed strike back. You’ve never felt this kind of power from them in the first star wars movie. In Star Wars, yes, they are bad guys. In the second movie, you can truly feel the oppressive power within them, and they have that kind of power to push the Rebels back with so many elements of surprise. They’re like: You took out our death star, you’re all literally dead. But hey, it doesn’t matter, we’re building a Death Star 2.0 anyway.

The battle of Hoth - Probably the first battle that doesn’t start in Space but on a planet, the battle of Hoth is great for a number of reasons. Firstly, this is the first battle we have witnessed the empire defeating the rebellion. You see the rebels get crushed down to the core, and the empire is not giving a crap about it. The Empire really doesn’t want them to win.

This battle is great because every other character is doing something. In Death Star Assault from the first movie, it’s a great sequence, don’t get me wrong, but there’s no multiple subplots around it; it’s basically an air fleet taking on a space station. Cool.

In this movie, Luke Skywalker guides an Air Fleet to fight walking camels from the Empire called AT-AT Walkers. Awesome battle, and the AT-AT really gave the rebels hell. Princess Leia is ensuring that all the ground staffs and soldiers have evacuated from the planet because Princess Leia knew they were losing already, and she doesn’t want to risk losing another valuable life in the Rebellion. Meanwhile, Han Solo is trying to evacuate Princess Leia to somewhere really safe, to stop the Empire from getting their hands on her again.

See, it’s an amazing sequence. It is also great, since it’s not the climax of the entire movie, but more or less an entertaining first act battle.

The use of the Force - As the movie kept expanding, it also expanded the use of the force. Yes, now there is more than just using mind tricks are choking people with your mind. You can levitate and move things that is away from your reach by using your mind.

This is an awesome ability shown in this movie, as you can truly see it used for a lot of times, as it is necessary as well to keep the story flowing. The first use of it was when Luke was stuck in the snow, and the lightsaber is from his reach. He reaches out, calms himself, and you see the lightsaber in the snow shuffling within, as you can see Luke call the lightsaber to him. It is such an amazing scene, not only because I’ve never seen this kind of ability used in the first star wars movie, but also because you can tell Luke didn’t succeed in doing it at first. He had to try it out a few more times, and this also shows Luke is on the path of being a good Jedi… like his father. That is something I will talk more about later.

John William’s new addition to the Star Wars Score - John Williams updated his soundtrack of Star Wars by adding more awesome soundtracks to his music. The Imperial March is absolutely iconic music. In the first Star Wars movie, all there was were low monotone music for the empire. The asteroid field sequence is brilliant as well, and it gives a sign of adventure and brilliant flight of the chase. And finally, Yoda’s theme, showing you the calmer and mellower side of Star Wars, as well as the beauty within Yoda. And speaking of Yoda, let’s talk about…

Yoda - Please give me a minute, before I talk about the greatest Star Wars character in history.

Yoda is, honestly, the best thing about the entire Star Wars Saga, and all it takes for him to be that famous among many other characters was the fact that there is a voice actor (Frank Oz), and a puppet. Yet we all love him because he’s the one who taught Luke all the wisdom, and everything he also said that helps us in life. 

We start him out by seeing him as a really funny and cute character. You just really liked him for who he is. After Luke failed his test for being a brat in front of him, he takes on this calmer, more master-like character. After that, every scene, Yoda is in, he steals the entire show. Everything he said were so real and also very influential. “Do, or do not…there is no try.” That is a quote I’ve heard from him, and I’ve always been doing that in my life to this day. 

From the prequels, I hated the idea of Yoda with a lightsaber. Yoda does NOT need a lightsaber. He is a Jedi master, and I get it, everyone needs a lightsaber, but the thing is, possession is forbidden. Yoda is not the character to fight in duels, he is also a very peaceful character, who believes The Force is way better than having a lightsaber or a good old blaster at your side. That is also what makes his character great. He even told Luke on his second test, you don’t need that lightsaber. Put it down and face the danger in there.” But of course, Luke fails every test.

The scene where Yoda lifts the X-Wing out of the water is an amazing scene too. When Luke says: “You believe in the impossible.” Yoda’s like: “Shut up and just look what I can do” and just lifts that thing out of the water without trying a lot. When Yoda says: “That… is why you fail.” I can’t help but laughing at that burn, also knowing that is a cold cut that etched deep among Luke’s many failures.

Yoda is such an amazing character, and a worthy addition to the Star Wars saga.

Luke’s failures - Luke’s failures are actually really important in this movie. You see a character learn from their mistakes, and you can see him learn from each mistake he has made in this movie, and they are very important lessons from him, since in the third movie, he has overcome most of those mistakes and has become a really badass Jedi Knight. They are really important for this movie, and you already hated the fact that Luke is screwing up every decision he has made.

The Lightsaber Duel - Not only is this a lot better than the duel between Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars movie, but it is a very necessary battle for Luke to fight, before he does that in Return of the Jedi. Vader is basically toying with Luke at the start of battle, saying things like: “You have learned much, young one.” And Luke is obviously very rusty at this point. The final act of this duel was particularly the most memorable, as Vader is basically done playing with Luke. “Playtime is over, I’m going to cut something off…” As Vader keeps slashing and slicing without giving Luke a single opening to hit Vader, Vader cuts of his hand. Yes, this is the first time something biological that cuts off, excluding Obi-Wan, because after the slash his body’s not really there. I screamed when Luke’s hand got chopped off, I’ve just never seen that in a Star Wars movie before.

The Duel is great, not only having better blade laser designs, but also with better sound effects, wider shots and long takes of the blades clashing with each other. The duel is a lot faster, and the actors are obviously not having a problem with the lightsabers, as the reason why the first Star Wars movie had the men being so slow because it is heavy. In this duel, Vader’s holding the blade with one hand. Not heavy anymore. That's just awesome.

I am your father - Han Solo has been trapped in Carbonite, he was sold to Jabba the Hutt, Leia might as well not see him ever again, Luke loses his hands, can the day get any worse? Well, yes, of course it does. And all this comes to just one sentence said from Darth Vader:

“No, I am your father.”

That slapped the audience completely in the face, and changed everything we knew about Star Wars. The audience was crying and gasping, and to be completely honest, I also wasn’t expecting that. I literally went like: “WHAT?” because I was totally unsure of what Vader has said. And yes, Vader is not shitting; Vader is Luke’s father.

The audience had to wait 3 years to actually uncover whether what Vader said was true or not, if it is just a way to seduce Luke to the dark side. Unfortunately, it is; this adds something extremely worthy in Return of the Jedi. Speaking of 3 years, let’s also talk about…

Cliffhangers - the Audience left the theater slightly disappointed, not because it is a terrible movie, but because they wanted to see more. The journey took a dark turn, and not everyone had a happy ending at that time. They had to wait 3 more years before the next Star Wars movie comes out, and if I were me, maybe I could have also felt the same way. However, the writers played it really smart mainly because it is a way to suck people in for the next movie, to tell the audience what is going to happen next. I thought it was really smart, and there’s no end to the movie of The Empire Strikes Back. 

 

(That is all, folks!)

It hooked me up as well, because it took a day for the next Star Wars movie to get on TV (I didn’t have DVDs back then, when I first watched Star Wars) but my father had to wait for this movie for at least 3 YEAR. Just imagine that for a moment. Yeah, it sucks to be you.

Conclusion

The Empire Strikes Back defines what movie sequels should have been. It is a movie where it takes everything to the next level, whether how dark the theme got, the characterization and improvement of the characters… It is perfect in almost every way. I’m serious, I was a hawk looking for flaws in this movie, but I seriously can’t seem to find any. It is a fast-paced movie, with not a scene that stalls, it keeps moving, and everything seems to fit in with this movie (not Maz Kanata motion capture characters in a real world that seems fake, no.) I would have loved to give this movie more than just a 6/6, but unfortunately, that’s the highest rating I can give to any other movies.

The Pros - 16

Neutral - 0

The Cons - 0

Rating: CINEMATASTIC (6/6)

I am happy to judge what this movie is like, and in no words, described this movie as moving and brilliant. Return of the Jedi Review will be coming soon, and I’ll maybe start to rank the Star Wars movies. I might be watching The Force Awakens again to see how well the movie puts up with the other movies. I obviously haven’t taken in most of The Force Awakens, since there isn’t a time the film stalled and I had to think about and evaluate some good moments I missed.

But anyway, I might not be in long hiatuses for these two weeks. I'll keep posting old movie reviews here. You'll really like it.