Harry Situation’s Countdown Reviews: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS

                                                 EPISODE V

                                    THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

                        After the success of A New Hope, Lucas helped craft 

                        the ultimate sequel, one that he would not serve as writer 

                        or director. But as producer and storyteller.

                      It was a success as well. Many consider this to be one 

                      of the greatest sequels ever made. So great that it was 

                      altered little by the Special Edition.

                     Groundbreaking effects, well developed characters, and

                     a twist no one, at the time, saw coming! It has truly left

                     its mark on cinema history.

Continuing with the Star Wars Countdown Reviews we move on to what many consider the best sequel, if not the best of all the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back. 

Set three years after A New Hope, the Galactic Civil War continues. Darth Vader has now become obsessed with finding Luke Skywalker that he’s willing to capture and torment Luke’s friends in doing so. Meanwhile, Luke’s journey to becoming a Jedi Knight continues when he comes across Yoda, the once Grand Master of the Jedi Order. Eventually his confrontation with Vader will lead him to discover his true heritage.

There’s not much I can say about this one either. You’ve seen it. You already know how amazing it is. Like before, everything is amazing. The writing, directing, acting, the music, and special effects are all superb. Heck, I’d make an argument that they are actually an improvement over the first film. 

While I won’t go into full detail of the film, you can always check it out for yourself, but I will talk about four things that are quite notable.

First thing to talk about is what made this film stand out, to me, was this was the first film I saw where the bad guys actually won in the end. Even as a kid, that was shocking to me. When you think about it, yeah the Rebel Alliance lost their base on Hoth, Han Solo is still frozen in carbonite, and Luke was defeated by Vader. The heroes are still alive but they ultimately lost. It was a huge step back for them in the grand scheme of things.

The second thing worth discussing is the character of Yoda. I’ve always been a huge fan of Yoda. No matter how many times I see him, he was always real to me. Frank Oz, one of the brilliant puppeteers of The Muppets, gave genuine life into this character that you don’t see some sort of hand puppet. That was his magical gift to the world. The way he moved, talked, and lifted that X-Wing out of the swamp, he was a real person. 

The third thing worth discussing is probably the most famous moment of all of Star Wars: Darth Vader is Luke’s father. There’s no point of putting up a spoiler warning because this is something everybody and their brother already knows about. However that doesn’t take away how much of a shock it still holds. No one, for anyone watching it for the first time, could have guessed that Vader was Luke’s father. But if you look back into A New Hope you can see that Obi-Wan was right in that he did tell Luke about his father, from a certain point of view. 

The fourth thing to talk about is Boba Fett. He’s awesome. That’s all there is to say about it. ;)

I don’t think I need to say more about this film because it’s just fricking awesome. I, personally, don’t know if it is necessarily better than New Hope, but definitely on par with it. Just another film to watch over and over again.

                                  Lights Side:                      Dark Side:

                                 -Acting                             -None

                                 -Writing

                                 -Directing

                                 -The music

                                 -The characters

                                 -The effects

                                 -The twist

                                 -Bad guys win

The force is definitely strong with this one.

Final Grade: A+

Bum Bum Bum. Ba-Ba-Bum. Ba-Ba-Bum. God I love the Imperial March. So there’s my thoughts on The Empire Strikes Back. Have you seen this awesome film? What are your thoughts? What’s your favorite moment in this film? Please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check back for more Star Wars reviews as I lead up to Episode VIII!

5 Best Quotes:

Yoda: “No! Try not, do or do not. There is no try.”

Darth Vader: “Apology accepted, Captain Needa.”

Princess Leia: “Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder!”

Han Solo: “Who’s scruffy-looking?”

Darth Vader: “What is thy bidding, my master?”

Darth Vader: “No, I am your father.”

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