The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is the sequel to A New Hope, and the second of the original Star Wars trilogy (and thus is titled "Episode V"). Featuring most of the original cast of the first movie, it received its first cinema release in 1980.
A radio adaptation was heard on National Public Radio in ?1982 confirm date?
Plot Summary
After the destruction of the first Death Star, the Galactic Empire, under the control of the dictatorial Emperor Palpatine and his enforcer Darth Vader seeks revenge upon the Rebel Alliance by staging a surprise attack, forcing the Rebels to evacuate their base on the ice planet Hoth. Luke Skywalker, after ensuring that the Rebel fleet had escaped to safety, heads to the Dagobah System with his droid companion R2-D2 in order to continue his training as a Jedi Knight under the direction of Yoda - a diminutive yet powerful Jedi Master.
There, Luke undergoes a rigourous training regime from Yoda which includes moral lessons about the dangers of the Dark Side of the Force. That particular lesson is driven home when he told to enter a cave that is exude the Dark Side's power. Ignoring Yoda's consul to leave his weapons, Luke enters the cavern armed. Once inside, he has a vision of himself angrily confronting Darth Vader and beheading him. However, the severed head's mask bursts apart and reveals Luke's face underneath; it is a warning that if Luke battles Vader with no emotional control, he will become Vader himself, seduced by the Dark Side.
Meanwhile, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and the droid C-3PO finds themselves pursued as a priority quarry of Vader's fleet. The situation for the Rebels is especially dire considering that the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive has malfunctioned, precluding a jump to light speed to escape. In desperation, the Rebels attempt to outmaneuver their pursuers, which includes a near suicidal detour into an asteroid field. Eventually they hide a cavern in a large asteroid to repair the ship, but they forced to make a premature exit when Solo realizes that they inadvertantly entered the body of a massive monster. Finally they elude the Empire by making the insanely counter intuitive move of attacking the lead Star Destroyer. However, at the last moment, the ship veers off and secretly attaches itself to the ship, which is not extensively covered by sensors, making it appeared to have vanished to Empire. When the fleet disperses to search for the Falcon, the Rebels wait for the ship to do its standard dump of refuse before jumping, then detach to float away with it. Han decide to make their way to Cloud City, a gas-mining colony run by an "old friend" of Solo's named Lando Calrissian. Unforetunately, Boba Fett, a bounty hunter who was one of a number hired by Vader to search for the Rebels, had deduced the Falcon's escape method and had his ship jettisoned with the waste for the purpose of stealthly following the fugitives.
Upon arrival at Cloud City, they are welcomed by Lando. However, there are numerous elements that make the Rebels suspicious, not the least of which being C-3PO being found deactivated, dismembered and almost recycled. To their shock, they found themselves betrayed by Calrissian who was approached by the Empire before the Rebels' arrival and threatened him and the city unless he cooperated. They became the captives of Darth Vader, who proceeds to torture them to create a disturbance in The Force for Luke to detect. Luke, as Vader hoped, senses that his friends are in distress and, disobeying Yoda's warning, goes to Cloud City to rescue them. There, he meets with Vader and the two fight in an epic lightsaber duel, where Luke's undeveloped Jedi skills are no match for Vader. During the course of this fight, Vader reveals to Luke that he is his father in perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history. Vader attempts to persuade Luke to join him and embrace the Dark Side to defeat the Emporer. However, Luke chooses suicide over being corrupted and throws himself down a deep shaft.
Vader hands over Han Solo to bounty hunter Boba Fett who has him entombed in carbonite as a test subject for freezing Luke. This procedure places Solo in a state of suspended animation and Fett transports him to Tatooine to receive a bounty from gangster Jabba the Hutt (whom Han owed a debt).
Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 are able to escape from Cloud City with the aid of the redeemed Calrissian, but Leia mysteriously senses Luke is in trouble. Despite his fall, Luke was sucked into a air vent and exits the underbelly of the city and now hangs precariously on an antenna complex sending that telepathic distress signal until Leia, Lando and Chewie are able to return and rescue him. The group was almost caught when they learned the hard way with Vader in pursuit that the Millennium Falcon's hyperdrive system was deactivated to prevent their escape. However, R2-D2 manages to fix the system just in time for the ship to get away. The film ends on a medical ship, where Luke is outfitted with a prosthetic hand. He, Leia and the droids see Lando and Chewie off as they begin their quest to rescue Han. The film is set in 3 ABY.
Critical reception
Many consider this installment of the series to be the best of the original trilogy in that it lacks much of the stilted acting of its predecessor, A New Hope, and the obvious and—some would say—overdone cuteness of Return of the Jedi. It is also the darkest and most morally ambiguous episode of the trilogy. It's interesting to note that, though it is considered the darkest of the orignal trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back is the only one of the six Star Wars films where no major character dies.
Film credits
Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian), and James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader)
Directed by Irvin Kershner, from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett & Lawrence Kasdan (adapted from a Story by George Lucas), musical score by John Williams.
Trivia
- Great secrecy surrounded the fact that Darth Vader was Lukes father. This secrecy extended to the cast with only Mark Hamill being told the truth so he could react to it. David Prowse was given false lines to say during the scene and didn't find out the real lines until the premier screening.
