Out of all the films from the original Star Wars trilogy none is as much loved and famous as the second film in the series 'The Empire Strikes Back'. It also happens to be my favourite from the original trilogy (obviously).
After the surprise success of 'A New Hope' it was only going to be a matter of time before a sequel was made. That sequel ended up being 'The Empire Strikes Back'.
The story starts off a few years after the first film after Luke and his friends successfully blow up the Empire’s ultimate weapon the Death Star. Now Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia are back, still fighting against the Empire who’s hold on the Galaxy is being felt more stronger than ever. Thousands of worlds have joined them in the Rebel Alliance that are fighting against the Imperial Army.
On a frozen world called Hoth, Luke is out on patrol when he gets attacked by a mysterious ice creature that lives in Hoth’s frozen landscape. When Luke wakes up he finds that he is in the creature’s cave. However, he’s not as defenceless as his furry opponent thinks; Luke has had some brief Jedi training from Obi-Wan Kenobi from ‘A New Hope’.
He is able to escape the ice creature but soon falls unconscious after getting lost in the snowy landscape. During that time he has a vision from his dead mentor, telling him that to complete the rest of his Jedi training, Luke must go to the Dagobah System and seek out Yoda, who had trained Obi-Wan himself.
It isn’t before long that Han Solo eventually finds him after Leia tries to persuade him to go looking for Luke because she’s worried about him. They in turn are rescued by an Alliance Snowspeeder after they pick up Han’s signal and eventually Luke is put in the Medical Center back in the underground base.
The peace of course doesn’t last long. Meanwhile, Darth Vader has been searching for Luke. Whilst Luke recovers, Han Solo has been debating on whether or not to leave due to “unpaid debts” with Jabba the Hutt. Luke and Leia try to persuade Han to stay, Leia especially since he’s the best pilot that they’ve got…but also for other personal reasons.
Meanwhile, Vader has discovered the Rebel base on Hoth and it isn’t before long before a battle is joined. Luke has to make a quick choice; go to the Dagobah System and continue his training or stick with the rest of the escort team as they try to leave Hoth before the Imperial Fleet arrive with Darth Vader.
Luke makes his choice and after helping the escort at the Battle of Hoth (complete with taking down some very impressive-looking Imperial Walkers), goes to Dagobah to seek out Jedi Masta Yoda to help him complete his training. In all of the confusion, Han hurryingly escorts Leia to the Millenium Falcon (Han’s ship) which is in the middle of being repaired with the help of Chewbacca and they are eventually on their way. Just as well because the moment they set off, Vader shows up with a bunch of Stormtroopers.
What follows next is a series of adventures on both sides, ending in a dramatic conclusion on Bespin, the cloud city on a gas giant and Luke learning a very valuable lesson.
The film is full of iconic moments which have inserted themselves into modern pop culture and have been spoofed on numerous film and TV series. Most notably The Simpsons. Despite it being done in 1980, the effects of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ still hold up to this day. In fact the effects look so much better than what they did with the Disney Star Wars “sequel trilogy” that it feels awkward (in a good way though) looking at a film from 2016 and compering it to a film from 1980 and realising that the effects were better on a film that is over 40 years old than they are on a film that is only five years old or so.
James Earl Jones is as intimidating as ever as Darth Vader’s voice and whenever I’ve watched it, I’ve always thought that it was a shame that he had ended up as Mufasa instead of Scar on ‘The Lion King’ even though he was just as good as Mufasa.
‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is one of those rare gems in which the sequel is better than the first film. After all, its forty-plus year legacy speaks for itself.
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