Summary: “It is a dark time for the rebellion ....” Darth Vader (David Prowse) searches obsessively for callow hero Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Luke begins to discover his destiny. Roguish adventurer Han Solo (Harrison Ford) has bounty hunter Boba Fett Oeremy Bulloch) snapping at his heels. Rebel princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) has unbraided her earmuff coiffure into a bun, and the evil Empire has a new array of techno-terrors with which to plague the gallant freedom fighters beleaguered in a galaxy far, far away.
The best picture in George Lucas’s touchstone of modern cinema, the original Star Wars trilogy, this knockout sequel to the 1977 blockbuster and cultural phenomenon caps the first with more Oscar-winning special effects. Episode V has more personality: Romance blossoms in the lead trio, and strong new characters appear (like Billy Dee Williams’s dashing scoundrel Lando Calrissian), all of them safely in the sure hands of studio workhorse Irvin Kershner. The action rages, from the spectacular ice planet Hoth, where Luke has a hypothermic misadventure, to the rebels fighting their first epic land battle. The battle drives on to the c1iffhanging climax in Cloud City. where Han’s past catches up with him-and arch-fiend Vader (memorably voiced by James Earl Jones) reveals to Luke the shocking truth at the heart of the Star . Wars myth. Between these assaults, Luke continues to train as a Jedi knight. experiencing the Force in the swamps of Dagobah under the tutelage of qUirky mystic master Yoda-a wizened puppet sage performed with startling expressiveness and exasperation by Muppeteer Frank “Miss Piggy” Oz.
Like its predecessor, The Empire Strikes Back incorporates all the hectic thrills of 1930s saturday serials. The cracking screenplay by Leigh Brackettnoted for her collaborations with Howard Hawks and who died before the film went into production-and impressive newcomer Lawrence Kasdan. hurtles along with a spirited sense of romantic fun. One-liners became catchphrases-”I have a baaad feeling about this.” Charming comic Interplay for the scene-stealing androids C-3PO and R2-D2, and ever-weirder alien creatures wowed audiences the world over. Restored by Lucas in 1997 with digitally-enhanced effects and an additional three minutes. this rollicking popcorn adventure is arguably even slicker and just as entertaining today. —Angela Errigo (1001)
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
(1980)
