Right onto the second part of my look at the Star Wars trilogy and of course this will cover The Empire Strikes Back, which saw a change of director, after the exertions of the making the first film, George Lucas handed over the directorial duties to Irvin Kershner in this sequel which many consider to be the best out of three (or indeed six films). So let's wrap up, get on the tauntauns and have a look at the 2nd chapter.... (or 5th!).
So the film begins with the sprawling titles telling us that it is now three years later after the events of Episode 4 and the rebel alliance have now relocated their man base on the ice planet within the Hoth system. During a routine scout of the freezing barren environment of the planet, Luke (Hamill) spots what appears to be a meteorite land in the snow, which turns out to be a probe, which was sent by Darth Vader (David Prowse and James Earl Jones yet again). However before Luke can investigate he is attacked by a yeti like monster, which leaves him unconscious and it drags him off. Han (Ford) who has also been doing a recce goes back to the rebel base and grows concerned when doesn't come back and decides to go out again. Luke awakens, hanging upside down in a cave, clearly awaiting to be the monster's lunch, he manages to use the force to grabs his light sabre, which is embedded nearby in the snow and he releases himself and cuts off the monster's arm and he escapes out into a severe blizzard. Luke soon collapses from exhaustion in the blizzard, but before he passes out he sees a vision of Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) tell him that he must go to the planet Degobah where he will be trained by a jedi master named Yoda. Han soon arrives and rescues Luke and uses his light sabre to cut open his tauntaun after it dies from the cold, and he stuff Luke inside it to keep him warm and soon they are rescued.
When Han and Luke arrive back at the base, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) rejoins with them as she leads the alliance. Meanwhile Darth Vader has managed to locate the rebel base on the planet and sets up an attack. The rebels intercept a transmission telling them that the Empire are set to attack them and they prepare for battle. When the imperial troops arrive in their giant robotic walkers called AT-ATs, the rebels mount a strong defence but the base is soon captured. And Han, Leia, Chewie and the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO (Baker and Daniels) soon escape in the Millenium Falcon just as Vader arrives. Luke meanwhile travels along with R2 in his X-wing fighter to the Degobah system, where his ship crash lands in the muddy swamps on the surface and looks around and soon sets up camp and finds an old small creature with big ears, who soon turns out to be Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) who tests Luke patience by pretending to be just a small inhabitant, but after consulting the spirit of Obi-wan, he accepts Luke as his pupil.
Han, Leia and the others in the meantime try to evade the attacks fom imperial TIE fighters and Han hides the Falcon inside a cave. During their time there, Han and Leia put aside their bickering and start to become attracted to one another and they kiss, however they are interrupted by Threepio, and soon they also are aware of strange tremors outside in the cave. When they go out to investigate Han fires his blaster, which sets off more severe tremors and they decide to take off as it dawns on Han they aren't in a cave, and we soon see it is a giant space worm, which they narrowly escape from. Luke meanwhile starts his training with Yoda and makes good progress although along the way he faces his own dark fears as he enters a cave and fights with himself as he sees an image of Darth Vader and they duel during which he decapitates Vader and the mask explodes open to reveal Luke's face. Luke later on during his training sees a vision of Han and Leia in pain, being punished at the hands of the Empire, Yoda however pleads with Luke to complete his training before he leaves, and Obi-Wan also insists that he do as well, as this is dangerous time for him, but Luke refuses to listen and departs to help them.
Han meanwhile having evaded the Imperial fighters decides to take the Falcon to the planet Bespin, where this is a floating gas colony owned by Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee-Williams) an old friend of Han's. When they arrive they are greeted warmly by Lando, however we soon discover that it is a trap as Vader and his troops are already there and they are captured, as Vader had sent the bounty hunter, Bob Fett (Jeremy Bulloch) to track them. Han is tortured by Vader's troopers but he tells them nothing and Lando insists that he had no choice and that the whole thing was arranged to lure Luke to Vader. Vader decides to use the facility's radiocarbon dating machinery to freeze Luke, but they decide to test it on Han first, who has a price on his head at the hands of Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett intends to collect it. Just before Han is frozen, Leia professes her love for him, and Han survives the process and is taken by Boba Fett. Luke then arrives at the colony and he sees Leia briefly who warns him its a trap, and he soon faces Vader and they engage in a fierce light sabre duel, during which he learns a horrible truth about Vader......
The Empire Strikes Back has to be said it is arguably the best film in the series as it dramatic terms it is the richest and darkest film out of them all. The characters are also expanded on very well as see Luke start to mature and become a more patient and focused young man as he learns the ways of the force. And Han and Leia begin to develop their love story and their early bickering also provides some amusement. And Vader continues to ooze pure evil as he is ruthless in his quest to try and find Luke for his own ends. George Lucas's decision to step back from the directorial duties was in its own way a wise one as it let him concentrate on other aspects of the production such as financing and the special effects, which were advanced and impressive in Empire than in the first film. Lucas also hired Lawrence Kasdan to help write the screenplay after Leigh Brackett who wrote the first draft, died of cancer in 1978, although she still received a writing credit in the film. Lucas also managed to make himself independent of 20th Century Fox as he had set up Lucasfilm and financed the film with his own money and insisted that Fox had no interference during the film's production. Effects wise the film is also quite spectacular as the Industrial light and magic increased the amount of visual effects shots in the film, which are very impressive that include the dogfights on the Hoth system and also the Falcon evading the ensuing TIE fighters.
Performance wise things in Empire are about as good as the Star Wars trilogy got as everyone involved gave their best here. Mark Hamill builds on his performance in the original as he shows Luke to be now more serious and focused than before, even though early on he shows signs of impatience, as he learns about the force he matures, but he ultimately falls into Vader's trap. Hamill has quite a few highlights in the film such as his scenes with Yoda and the sequence where he fights with himself in the cave while on the Degobah system. His lightsabre duel with Vader is also a terrific sequence as Luke does his best to battle against Vader, who proves to be too experienced and powerul for him in the end. And this provides Hamill with his best lines, as he is defiant of Vader's pleas to join him, "I'll never join you!" and as Vader reveals that "I am your father!" Luke is horrified and says "No! No that's not true!! That's impossible!!!". And apparently this revelation in the plot was unknown to Hamill until just before the actual scene was filmed. Hamill has little in the way of humouress lines this time in Empire but he does have a good one when after he has just landed on the Degobah planet, R2 is pulled under by an unseen swamp creature and it spits him out and R2 crash lands upside down, and Luke helps pull him up and says "You're lucky you don't taste very good!".
Harrison Ford is also great again here as Han Solo and while Han is still insistent on getting back to Jabba the Hutt to pay off his debt, his unable to as the Rebels are stranded on Hoth due to the Imperial blockade and during the film Han's romance with Leia begins to blossom. Ford get's plenty of good lines in the film such as in the scene near the start where he is about to say goodbye to Leia and she doesn't look to bothered and he says "Well don't go all mushy on me, so long, princess!". Followed by their argument in the corridor where Han says "What come on, were you worried I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss??" and Leia says "I'd sooner kiss a Wookie!" and Han storms off saying "I could arrange that. You could use a good kiss!!". And after Luke recovers from nearly freezing to death on the surface of Hoth. And Han says to Leia "Well at least you managed to keep me around here a little longer" and Leia says that had nothing to do with and Han says "I just thought you just couldn't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight!". And while Han and the others are in the Falcon which is parked inside a giant asteroid worm he has some good moments and he shares a good scene with Leia as he slowly starts to work his charms on her and he says as he leans to kiss her "You like me because I'm a scoundrel, and there aren't enough scoundrels in your life". And as their kiss interrupted by C-3PO who cheerily tells him he has isolated a circuit fault on the ship, as Leia slips away, Han sharply says to Threepio "Thank you. Thank you very much!". And later when Han realises they are not in a cave as they are being violently rocked by tremors inside what is giant spaceworm's mouth, when Leia says they might not make it out of the cave, Han says "This is NO cave!". And after Han is tortured he stumbles into his cell and is helped up by Chewie and he says wearily "I feel terrible!". And another favourite line of mine is when Han cuts open his dead Tauntaun and shoves Luke inside it to keep him and he says "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!". And of course lastly when Han is about to be frozen Leia says "I love you" and Han replies "I know".
Carrie Fisher also resumes her role as the feisty Princess Leia really well and her chemistry with Harrison Ford works great in the film as Leia and Han are drawn together. Fisher later said however that she wasn't too keen on the characterisation of Leia in Empire though as she felt she came across as a mouthy bitch more than anything else, and I can see her point, which is why they softened her character in Return of the Jedi. Regardless Fisher get's plenty of good dialogue as well and good scenes, such as the scene where Han argues with her while they are on Hoth. And after Luke recovers from his ordeal on the surface of the plane, Han teases her about how she must really be happy to still have him around, and Leia says "Well maybe you do not everything about women yet!" and she gives Luke a big kiss on the lips, which unbeknownst to her is really an act of incest! Also in that scene Fisher also get's another great line when she loses it with Han and says "Why you stuck up, half-wttied, scruffy looking.... nerf herder!". And during the scene when they are in the asteroid worm and there is a tremor outside, Leia falls into Han's hands and she says "Would you please let go" and Han says "Don't get excited!" and she says "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough for me to get excited!". Also during the sequence where they try to escape from the imperial troops on in the Falcon on the Hoth base, and Han is having trouble starting up with Falcon, Leia sarcastically says "Would it help if I got out and pushed?!" and Han replies "It might!".
David Prowse and James Earl Jones also once again do a grand job as Darth Vader in both physical and vocal form. Jones delivers Vader's intimidating and threatning dialogue in his fine booming tones and he also has some great lines. Starting with the scene where he uses the force to choke one of his incompetent officers to death and he says "You have failed me for the last time, Admiral!" and he says to another terrified officer next to the dying one "You are in command now, Admiral Piett!". Jones even shows that Vader has a rather twisted dark sense of humour (fitting!) as it comes across in two scenes, the first when one of his other officers fails to capture the Millenium Falcon who says he will apologise to Vader, again he uses his force powers to choke the officer to death, and he says "Apology accepted, Captain Needa!". And later when Lando complains about the conditions of their agreement, Vader says "Perhaps you feel you are being treated unfairly???" and Lando says reluctantly "No" and Vader says "Good! It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here!". And later he says to Lando as he intends to change their deal further by saying he wants Leia and Chewbecca taken to his ship "I'm altering the deal a little. Pray I don't alter it any further!".
Jones also delivers some immortal lines in the film such as the sequence where Vader and Luke duel and he says to Luke when he arrives "The force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a jedi yet!". And later on after Vader cuts off Luke's hand he says "Don't make me destroy you. Luke you do not yet realise 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!". And he follows it up with the dramatic revelation "Obi-wan never told you what happened to you father" and as Luke says "He told me you killed him!" Vader says "No. I am your father!". And lastly another great moment from Vader is when the Falcon makes it last get away and as Admiral Piett (played by Kenneth Colley) is to face the chop for his failure, he looks on terrified as Darth Vader just walks away past him.
As Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels again they both do a fine job in their respective roles as R2-D2 and C-3PO. Baker does what he usually does by moving around in a tin can and R2 has one or two good moments where the droid get's spit out by an underwater swamp creature and it later spits some muddy water out of one of its flaps (probably R2's mouth equivalent). Daniels again get's some funny lines as Threepio, such as in the scene where he gravely delivers R2's assessment of Luke's survival chances outside in harsh weather on Hoth, "Artoo says that the chances of survival on the outside are 725 to 1. Actually Artoo has been known to make mistakes.... from time to time... dear oh dear!". And when Threepio tries to give Artoo some advice on how to get them to open a door on the cloud city, Artoo get's zapped by the terminal and Threepio says "Don't blame me. I'm an interpreter. I'm not supposed to know a power socket from a computer terminal!". And later on as Artoo drags a broken up Threepio behind him (as he was blasted apart by a stormtrooper on the cloud city) Threepio moans to Artoo "I thought that hairy beast would have been the end of me (i.e. Chewbacca who carried him). Of course I've looked better!". And my favourite is when the Falcon is parked inside the Asteroid worm's mouth, there is another tremor outside and Threepio says "Sir, its quite possible that this asteroid is not entirely stable!". And lastly there is the line where Han takes the Falcon into asteroid field to lose the ensuing TIE fighters and Threepio panics and says "Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field are approximately 3720 to 1!!" and Han says "Never tell me the odds!".
And quickly Peter Mayhew reprises his role as Chewbecca and get's some good moments such as showing Chewie to be an affable furball who gives Luke a big bear hug before he flies to do battle on the surface of Hoth. And also the scene where he nearly chokes Lando to death on the cloud city after he releases him and when he makes a feeble attempt to repair Threepio and he has put the droid's head on backwards and switches him off after the droid moans about it!
And I will also quickly mention Alec Guinness as Obi-wan Kenobi, who was killed by Vader in Episode IV but makes a reappearance here as a spirit who guides Luke to Yoda. And when Yoda sighs at Luke's impatience he says "I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience." and Ben says "He will learn patience". And Yoda continues "Much anger in him, like his father" and Ben says "Was I any different when you taught me?". And just before Luke leaves Ben pleads with him not to go and says "Luke don't give into hate, that leads to the dark side!".
As for the new cast well Frank oz is great as he does the voice of Yoda (naturally Yoda is a puppet but you would have guessed that!) the near 900 year old Jedi master who trains Luke and has the tendancy to jumble up his sentences. Yoda at first is quite playful in the film as he tests Luke's patience and when they first meet Yoda has a funny moment where he mucks about Luke's camp and as he tries to take something R2 extends out a mechnical hand to stop him and Yoda hits R2 on the head with his cane and says "Mine! Mine! Mine! Or I will help you not!". Later on as Yoda becomes more serious and reveals himself to Luke as Yoda, he delivers one of the best lines in the film as Luke says "I won't fail you, I'm not afraid" Yoda looks warningly and says "You will be.... you will be!". And Yoda also in the scene Luke gives up trying to use his force power to retrieve his X-wing fighter from the swamp, Yoda then uses his own to completely lift the fight out of the swamp onto land. And as Luke looks around at the retrieved fighter in sheer astonishment he says "I don't believe it!" and Yoda says "That is why you fail". Later on Yoda also reveals an importance piece of information in his last scene when Luke leaves Degobah to help save Han and Leia, and Ben Kenobi says "That boy is our last hope" and Yoda reveals "No, there is another".
And lastly I will mention Billy Dee-Williams as Lando Calrissian, the smooth suave administrator of the cloud city on Bespin as well as former Captain of the Millenium Falcon. Billy's opening scene is a good one where he meets Han on the landing port of the cloud city and he says "Why you no good, double crossing swindler! You've got alot of guts coming here after what you pulled!" and he then gives him a hug. And as he tours Han, Leia and Chewie around he says "I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here for ever" and he opens the doors to reveal Darth Vader and his imperial troops. And Lando carries on to say "I had no choice they arrived right before you did. I'm sorry". Williams has another good scene where having escaped on the Falcon as they try to activate the light speed drive it fails to work, and Lando shouts "I thought they fixed! I trusted them to fix it! Its not my fault!".
Direction wise Irvin Kershner does a fine job with Empire and the film benefits a great deal from a director who can, and no offense to Lucas, direct actors and as a result he get's some fine performances from the cast. Kershner also handles the action very well as the film has plenty of exciting battle scenes such as the Hoth battle, the Falcon evading the TIE fighters as well as Luke's duel with Vader. As for the film's score by John Williams, yet again its marvellous and it features the very memorable Imperial theme as well the lovey dovey romance theme for Han and Leia, which I admit I'm not too keen on, but that aside its another great score.
As for the flaws.... does Empire have any glaring ones??? Not really, the film has the odd niggle but again nothing serious as its close to being the best Star Wars film (although the first one would still be my favourite). But one thing that did bother me and wasn't highlighted until I had scene the funny Family Guy spoof of the film, Something something something dark side, was that when the rebels evacuate Hoth the rebels decide to fly out directly into the path of the imperial cruisers! Now that does not make alot of sense does it????!! Surely if you want to escape imperial cruisers and TIE fighters you would want to fly AWAY from them! Another point which I do agree with Carrie Fisher on is that yes Leia in Empire is indeed a bit too bitchy and in the end the character threatens to alientate herself from the audience although she seems to soften a little towards the end.
Any of the other issues I have with the film aren't to do with the original itself but are more to do with the remastered versions since that Lucas has done, as he couldn't resist tampering with his films. The special edition version released in 1997 which included some new effects and one or two scenes again seemed to detract from the film more than add to it. This includes a rather pointless scene where we see what is clearly a reshot version of Darth Vader making his way onto his shuttle to head back to the imperail star destroyer and James Earl Jones's voice has been redubbed by a different actor, which sounds really naff! And the worst inclusion of all was in the scene where Luke drops off the gantry he was clinging to after Vader tries to persuade him to join him, that we hear Luke's lame screaming as he falls through the air! Thankfully Lucas removed that for the DVD release although I'm not sure if its still in the Blu-ray, but let's hope not! One good inclusion in the special edition on DVD however was to have the actor Clive Revill, who played the emperor replaced with Ian McDiarmid in the scene where Vader speaks with the Emperor as it makes for better consistency and continuity in the series, although I'm not sure what Clive Revill thought about it!
Anywayyyyy that aside The Empire Strikes Back still remains one of the strongest entries in the Star Wars series, although for me it is a close second, it is in alot of peoples eyes the best and as such its worth repeated viewing.
So with that I shall leave it there and will be back with Episode VI soon.....
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