TV & Film Review

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Feature Film | Irvin Kershner
By Eric Schneider

Star Wars at its most soulful and suspenseful.

Often acknowledged as the best science-fiction film ever made, The Empire Strikes Back takes the fascinating universe created by George Lucas in Star Wars and gives it darkness and depth. Directed by Lucas's mentor Irvin Kershner, this 1980 sequel finds Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and their heroic friends in the Rebel Alliance battling the sinister Empire in extreme environs, from the icy fields of Hoth to the sky-high industrial structures of Bespin's Cloud City. Meanwhile, the heart of Empire lies in swampy Dagobah, where Luke travels to train as a Jedi warrior with the elderly green imp Yoda, who master puppeteer Frank Oz elevates to one of the most memorable characters in cinema history. Where Star Wars was wide-eyed and vibrant, Empire is steely and restless, but it's these qualities that give the movie its dramatic heft. Although Episode V ends as a serious downer, with one hero encased in carbonite and another temporarily minus a lightsaber-wielding hand, it expertly sets the stage for the finest moments of the trilogy's grand finale, Return of the Jedi, and towers as the high point of the entire Star Wars saga.

TAGS: Adventure, Aliens, Androids, Anger, Coming of Age, Dark Side, Good vs. Evil, Heroic Journey, Mentor, Mercenary, Science Fiction, Sequel, Temptation, Training,

FACTS: Released: May 21, 1980 (Lucasfilm); MPAA: PG; Runtime: 124 minutes; Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz; Composer: John Williams; Screenwriter: Lawrence Kasdan ; Screenwriter: Leigh Brackett ; Executive Producer, Screenwriter: George Lucas

Star Wars Blu-ray: AT-AT