STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

star wars: the empire strikes back (1980) movie

Genre              |   Science Fiction

Classification   |   PG

Running time   |   124 minutes

Released         |   20 June 1980 

cast

Mark Hamill ... Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford ... Han Solo
Carrie Fisher ... Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams ... Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels ... C-3PO
David Prowse ... Darth Vader
Peter Mayhew ... Chewbacca
Kenny Baker ... R2-D2
Frank Oz ... Yoda (voice)
Alec Guinness ... Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi
Jeremy Bulloch ... Boba Fett
John Hollis ... Lando's Aide
Clive Revill ... Emperor (voice)
Kenneth Colley ... Admiral Piett
Julian Glover ... General Veers
Bruce Boa ... Rebel Force General Rieekan
Denis Lawson ... Rebel Force Wedge (Rogue 3) (as Dennis Lawson)
​John Morton ... Rebel Force Dak (Luke's Gunner)

director

Irvin Kershner

writer

Leigh Brackett ... (screenplay by) and
Lawrence Kasdan ... (screenplay by)
 
George Lucas ... (story by)

cinematographer

​Peter Suschitzky ... director of photography

music

John Williams

film editor

​T.M. Christopher ... (1997 special version)
Paul Hirsch ... (edited by)
George Lucas ... (uncredited)
Marcia Lucas ... (uncredited)

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box office result

Worldwide             $​​​​​​538,375,067 ​

Australia                 $​​​​​ not available

North America       $​​​​​​​​209,398,025

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movie minutiae

In order to avoid sharing creative rights, George Lucas decided to avoid using a major studio to finance this movie. Instead, he bankrolled the $18 million production himself, using a combination of his profits from STAR WARS (1977) and a bank loan. Although the move was risky, it paid off several times over. Lucas recovered his investment within three months of the movie's release. He then showed gratitude far beyond the Hollywood norm by sharing the profits with his employees (nearly $5 million in bonuses).

​Security surrounding this movie was so intense that George Lucas had regular reports about "leaks" from actors and actresses. George Lucas was so determined that the ending be kept secret that he had David Prowse (Darth Vader) say "Obi-wan killed your father", and dubbed it later to be "I am your father". In fact, only five people eventually knew about the ending before the movie's release: George Lucas (came up with the idea in his second draft, after the death of Leigh Brackett), director Irvin Kershner (informed of such during story conferences), screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (also informed during story and script conferences), Mark Hamill (informed shortly before the shooting of the infamous scene), and James Earl Jones (told during the recording sessions for the final dub, and who believed that Darth Vader was lying).

To preserve the dramatic opening of the STAR WARS movies, George Lucas insisted on moving all the credits to the end of the movie. However, although the Writers' Guild and Directors' Guild had begrudgingly allowed this on STAR WARS (1977) (because that movie wasn't expected to be very successful), they resented the trend being continued on this movie. First they tried to pull this movie from release, but were unsuccessful. They then fined Lucas heavily, and tried to fine Irvin Kershner, but Lucas paid all of the fines himself (nearly $250,000). Lucas then bitterly dropped his membership in the Writers' Guild, Directors' Guild, and the Motion Picture Association of America, a move that has hindered his hiring choices on later movies.

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related movies

STAR WARS:
RETURN OF THE JEDI
​(1983)

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) MOVIE IMAGES

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STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) STORY 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).

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 20 June 2014

​​Pop Movee Rating

The success of STAR WARS made it possible for George Lucas to commit to a sequel sooner than expected. Production of STAR WARS PART 2 began in the middle of 1978 with an expected release date for the summer of 1980. In an effort to get total creative control of the project, George Lucas used the profits from the first film to secure financing for the follow-up. This would be a practice he would employ for all subsequent STAR WARS movies. Lucas felt that with the financial control taken out of the studio's hands, he would be in a better position to create the film he wanted. 

Lucas, having gained the control he wanted, set about creating one of the great movie sequels. In terms of films, THE GODFATHER PART II, STAR TREK II, TERMINATOR 2 and THE DARK KIGHT are all examples of sequels that ended up being better than the first.  The sequel to STAR WARS however, needed to be a complete departure from the first film. The first thing that gave a clue to the direction the film might take was its sub-title THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. It suggested that the future of the characters may not be as bright as the audience would have hoped at the conclusion of the first film. 

A critical part of the film is the story's structure. Instead of an introduction with high amounts of exposition, a middle that set-up a large scale finale and an ending that sees the heroes win the day, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK plays with the story structure and inverts the film, starting with the scope and spectacle of the Hoth battle and working its way backward to become a more intimate film that focuses on Darth Vader's desire to convert Luke to the Dark Side of the Force. 

The third great element of EMPIRE is the ending. Luke is left questioning who he is, Leia has had Han torn away from her just as their love is blossoming and Han's future is very much in doubt as bounty hunter Boba Fett travels to Tattooine to claim the bounty from Jabba The Hutt for frozen-solid smuggler come freedom fighter.

The story opens on the ice planet of Hoth. The Rebel Forces have established a base that is difficult to detect. Darth Vader however is relentless in his quest to track down Luke Skywalker and has launched thousands of probe droids to find which planet he and the Rebels are hiding on. While out on patrol, Luke sees one of these probes hit the surface near where he is patrolling. Not realising it's an Imperial droid, he decides to go and check it out. He contacts Han Solo and tells him he's going to have a look at a meteor that just crashed near him. As he is about ride in the direction of the meteor strike, he is attacked by a Wampa, a ferocious bear-like creature native to the planet.

Later, inside the Rebel base, C-3PO alerts Han Solo to the fact that Luke has not returned. Han goes in search of answers but doesn't get any that satisfy him. He grabs a Tauntaun, the Hoth version of a two-legged horse, and charges out into the dark, freezing, windy night in search of his friend. Meanwhile, Luke awakens upside down with his feet planted firmly in frozen ice. He's bloodied, bruised and disorientated, but, in the distance, he can hear the Wampa getting closer and closer. He knows that if he can't get himself out of the frozen ice and upright he'll be in mortal danger. He notices his light sabre sitting on the floor of the ice cave, just out of his reach. At first, he grasps for it. Unable to physically reach it and realising that time is running out, he closes his eyes and concentrates. The beast is almost upon him. Suddenly, the light sabre flies out of the ice and into his hand. He flicks it on and carves himself out just as the Wampa arrives. Quickly gaining his feet, he parries forward wounding the animal. ( I must add that I found the Special Edition version of this scene to dramatically prove the impact of the Wampa beast and the removal of its arm by Luke's light sabre.) Escaping the Wampa's lair, Luke stumbles into the howling freezing Hoth night. Trying to make his way through the treacherous storm, he finally collapses from exhaustion. Before he passes out, an apparition of Obi-Wan Kenobi appears to him. He tells Luke that he must travel to the Dagobah system and train with Yoda, the Jedi master who trained him. Luke passes out, but as he does, Han appears on his Tauntaun, just in time to save Luke from freezing. 

The next morning Rebel ships search the barren Icelanders of Hoth looking for Luke and Han. Before long they find both of them a little worse for wear. They are transported back the Rebel base and the injuries Luke received from the Tauntaun are attended to by the medical droids. Shortly after, the rebel forces pick up a probe droid on their scanners. Han and Chewbacca investigate but are forced to destroy the droid. Han tells them that it was an Imperial droid and it's a sure bet the Empire now knows their location. Leia orders the evacuation to commence.

So begins my favourite sequence from all six Star Wars films. From the time the evacuation starts to the time the Millennium Falcon flies by Luke as he escapes to his X-Wing after the Hoth battle is an exhilarating action sequence that combined live action with special effects never before seen in a movie. They may not have been heralded in the same manner as the effects from the first movie, but there is little doubt the lasting impact this sequence had on multiple generations of film-goers and movie makers.

Two sequences run parallel throughout the Hoth battle which are critical for the story in Act Two and Act Three. The first is Luke's sequence which sees he and R2-D2 paired up, first, to mount an aerial assault against the advancing Imperial forces and, second, to make their way to Dagobah and find Yoda so Luke can complete his Jedi training. The second sequence puts Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO together as Han is forced to rescue Leia as Darth Vader and the Imperial forces over-run the Rebel base. This allows the story to spend time developing the relationship between Han and Leia so that their peril later in the film has great significance.

Between these two sequences there are cut-always to snow battle between the Rebel and Imperial forces. Once again the Rebels are hopelessly outnumbers and, this time, unlike the Death Star battle, are unable to beat the odds to win.

There's so much action in this sequence that it would be hard to do it justice for those who have never seem the film. If you haven't seen the film, it's worth it just for this sequence alone.

The first act culminates with Luke telling R2 that they're not going to be joining the rest pod the fleet. Instead, they're going to the Dagobah system to find Yoda - a Jedi master who will help Luke compete his training.

The Second Act continues the parallel story and oscillates between the quieter more contemplative story of Luke's Jedi training and the more action-oriented pursuit of the Millennium Falcon by Darth Vader and an armada of Imperial Star Destroyers. Some of the most impressive visual effects work happens in this part of the film as the story calls for Han and Chewie to evade the Imperial forces through a dense asteroid field. Act two also sees the love story between Han and Leia develop to the point where events of Act Three have a genuine impact on the characters and the audience. The other interesting story development on Act Two is Yoda's conjuring of a Darth Vader to confront Luke. Luke beheads Vader in a slow-motion light sabre duel only to find that beneath the mask is his own facing staring back at him. There are so many ways this scene could be interpreted. In the context of the movie at that point it seemed like a strange departure from what had been seen in any of the two STAR WARS films. The scene also seems really out-of-character with the George Lucas method of storytelling. The great thing about it is that it shows Luke has some issues that he needs to confront in both the present and the future. Yoda's reaction to Luke's "failure" shows that the revelation in Act Three is going to have profound effects on the young Jedi-in-training. 

One of the other notable scenes in Act Two of Empire is the introduction of Boba Fett. The character was first seen in the animated sequence of the 1978 STAR WARS holiday special. Fett was also offered as a mail-in redemption action figure, but he had to wait until almost half way through the second film until his live-action version made it to the big screen. With the subsequent Special Edition films of the late 1990s, Fett now appears the first film in the scene with Han and Jabba in Mos Eisley. In the original films, Fett is one of a number of bounty hunters Darth Vader brings aboard the Avenger to help with the hunt for the Millennium Falcon. It is Fett who works put Han's ruse to float away with garbage from star destroyer he attaches the Falcon to when trying to avoid imperial armada.

Back on Dagobah, Luke reaches a critical point in his Jedi development; the ability to sense the future. Unfortunately, it is his friends pain and suffering that he senses and makes the fateful decision to abandon his training with Yoda in an attempt to prevent them being hurt. Yoda protests telling Luke that he is not ready to confront Vader because his training is nowhere near complete. Luke, as petulant as ever, ignores the Jedi master's advice and insists on helping his friends.

Act Three of Empire is all down-side as far as Luke, Leia and Han are concerned. C-3PO doesn't fare much better as he is blasted into a pieces when he stumbles across imperial Stormtroopers on board the Cloud City facility. 

Han, Leia and Chewbacca initially believe they have evaded the imperial forces upon their arrival at Cloud City. Han's old friend, Lando Calrissian played by Billy Dee Williams, is in charge of the facility and, as Han says, has no love for the Empire. Unfortunately, Darth Vader, with Boba Fett's help, had managed to beat the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City and take command of the facility. Lando invites his guests to dinner but proves to be a less than hospitable host when the doors to the dining chamber open to reveal Darth Vader seated at the other end of the dining table. Lando is apologetic, but Han is furious. He pulls his blaster on Vader, but the Sith Lord simply raises his hand and uses the force to deflect the shots and then disarm Han completely.

Later, Vader tortures Han, leaving him in bad shape. Lando comes to check on him, but is greeted with outright disdain. He tells Han and Leia that Vader is after someone called Skywalker. The pieces begin to fall into place.

To test the trap he has set for Luke, Vader decides to use Han as a guinea pig. He brings all of the rebel prisoners to a carbon freezing chamber and encases Han in carbonite. In one of original trilogy's most melodramatic scenes, Leia professes her love to Han just as he is lowered into the carbon freezing chamber. Han, in the ultimate act of cool, doesn't tell her that he loves her, he simply says "I know".

Vader tells Boba Fett that he can take Solo to Jabba the Hutt and advises Lando that Leia and Chewbacca will be going back with him to the Avenger. 

Luke arrives at Cloud City with the knowledge that his friends are in danger. The danger is confirmed for him when he catches a momentary glimpse of Leia, Chewbacca and c-3PO. He begins to follow them but his pursuit is cut short by Boba Fett who has become aware of his presence. Leia however manages to scream out to Luke yelling that it's a trap before she is bundled out of sight by her Imperial guards.

Luke's path is cut-off as doors start opening and closing before him, as if his path is being managed in a particular direction. It soon becomes apparent that his path is the design of Darth Vader who waits for him in the carbon freezing chamber.

The subsequent confrontation between Luke and Vader changes the dynamics of the Star Wars universe forever. The initial lightsabre duel takes place in the carbon freezing chamber. At first, it seems that Luke is seriously out-classed as Vader’s moves take on a physicality not previously seen. Luke almost suffers the same fate as Han, but his newly-learnt Jedi training kicks in and his speed saves him on more than one occasion. Luke manages to knock Vader off balance and the Sith Lord disappears into a mass of pipes and steam on the lower floor of the chamber. Understanding that he must defeat Vader, Luke goes in search of him through the tunnels of the mining facility and shortly after emerges in one of the city’s main Reactor rooms.

Vader overwhelms the young Jedi with a barrage of equipment that is ripped clear of the walls and floor by his use of the Force. Luke valiantly fights to protect himself, knocking the flying debris clear, but he can only do it for so long. A larger piece of machinery knocks Luke clear through a window and out on to a gantry outside the Reactor Room. Elsewhere, Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO, Lando and now R2-D2 have escaped the Imperial forces but have been unable to rescue Han before Boba Fett gets to his ship, Slave I. Desperate to get to the Millennium Falcon, their path is, once again, blocked by Imperial Stormtroopers. Lando’s knowledge of Cloud City comes in handy, as the group finally make their way to the Falcon’s landing platform.

Vader’s pursuit of Luke is relentless. The young Jedi is driven onto the gantry outside the Reactor Room. He is knocked to the ground. Vader tells him he is beaten, but Skywalker retaliates with a flurry of lightsabre moves that helps him to recover his footing. Luke manages to strike Vader on the shoulder causing him to cry out in a mix of pain and anger. The Sith Lord’s resolved is strengthened and, finally, de strikes a decisive blow severing Luke’s hand and his lightsabre along with it. Then, in one of the best game-changing movie scenes ever, the truth of Vader’s pursuit of Skywalker is revealed …

                         VADER
               There is no escape.  Don't make 
               me destroy you.  You do not yet 
               realize your importance.  You 
               have only begun to discover your 
               power.  Join me and I will complete 
               your training.  With our combined 
               strength, we can end this destructive 
               conflict and bring order to the 
               galaxy.

                               LUKE
               I'll never join you!

                               VADER

               If you only knew the power of the 
               dark side.  Obi-Wan never told 
               you what happened to your father.

                               LUKE
               He told me enough!  It was you 
               who killed him.

                               VADER
               No.  I am your father.

Shocked, Luke looks at Vader in utter disbelief.

                               LUKE
               No.  No.  That's not true!  
               That's impossible!

                               VADER
               Search your feelings.  You know 
               it to be true.

                               LUKE
               No!  No!  No!

                               VADER
               Luke.  You can destroy the Emperor.
               He has foreseen this.  It is your 
               destiny.  Join me, and together 
               we can rule the galaxy as father 
               and son.  Come with me.  It is the 
               only way.

Faced with no other alternative, Luke, knowing that he cannot fall to the Dark Side of the Force, steps from the gantry into the abyss of the space below him … Despite his physical dominance over the young Jedi, Vader has lost the battle.

Luke’s free-fall continues as he is sucked into one of the city’s exhaust ports. Nursing his injured arm, Luke is unable to grip anything with his good hand and slides down the shaft. Eventually he comes to a stop but is ejected out on to the under-side of the city. His fall is broken by a weather vane; the only thing between him and the open sky of the planet Bespin. He cries out, at first, calling for Ben to help him and then Leia … On board the Millennium Falcon, Leia senses Luke’s peril. Despite Lando’s protests, the Falcon swings around and heads back toward Cloud City. They literally catch Luke in the nick of time, as his strength to hold on fails and he falls on to the top of the Falcon. 

Fleeing into space, Lando and Leia realise is not over yet as they are confronted by the Avenger. Their situation is worsened when they discover that the Falcon’s hyper-drive has not been repaired … Having already returned to his ship, Vader watches the pursuit of the Falcon from the bridge. His contingency plan is revealed when he asks whether his men deactivated the hyper-drive on the ship. Back on the Falcon, R2-D2 tells C-3PO that the Cloud City central computer had told R2 that the hyper-drive had been deactivated again … Luke sits up as he senses Vader is near. He makes his way to the Falcon’s cockpit as Vader continues to use the Force to mentally reach out to him. Vader’s men are about to engage their tractor beam when the Falcon suddenly disappears into hyper-space. R2-D2 has done it! The little droid has reactivated the ship’s hyper-drive and allowed them to escape before any more harm can come to them. Vader turns and leaves his ship’s bridge. For the second time in the day, Luke has evaded him.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK concludes on a sombre note, as Han’s fate is unknown, Luke is on his way to becoming a Jedi but is emotionally damaged by the knowledge that Vader is his father and Leia has lost the man that she loves. It’s the antithesis to the end of the first film where the heroes were being hailed and rewarded with medals. EMPIRE's conclusion is low-key and intimate. Each of the main characters has unresolved problems and there’s no clear path to resolution. That is the brilliance of this story. 

These days, ‘Summer’ movies cannot get away without the obligatory ‘Hollywood’ ending, where the audiences leave the cinema feeling upbeat about the hero or heroes prevailing. Sometimes, like with the current Marvel movies, there’s a hint of the danger to come in the next movie with a post-credit one or two minute scene alluding to some big story development. However, the audience leaves the cinema with a sense of closure about the story they have just seen. This is not the case with THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. 

​George Lucas was fortunate heading into EMPIRE, as he could have almost guaranteed a third film in the series. This allowed him and his writers to bring a story to the screen that they wanted to tell, was interesting for the audience and didn’t necessarily conform to the norm. With the services of Leigh Brackett and, after Brackett’s death, Lawrence Kasdan, at the disposal of Lucas, EMPIRE is the most adult of the STAR WARS movies. It may not have been as influential as STAR WARS but it is, by a large margin, the best of the six films to bear the words STAR WARS in the title.

STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) USEFUL LINKS

The Empire Strikes Back - Wikipedia
​Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - IMDb
​https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/empire_strikes_back

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