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The Empire Strikes Back |
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Review by Kathie Huddleston
eorge Lucas continues his fiddling with the classic tale of good vs. evil in The Empire Strikes Back as Luke Skywalker (Hamill), Han Solo (Ford) and Princess Leia (Fisher) lead the struggle against the evil Galactic Empire.
The battle may have been won by the rebellion in Star Wars, but the war is far from over. Hiding on the ice planet Hoth, the rebels are discovered by the Empire and must make a hasty retreat to escape Lord Darth Vader and his attack fleet. Han and Leia barely escape in the Millennium Falcon and are pursued by Vader. Hoping to get repairs made to the Falcon, they travel to Cloud City where they meet an old friend of Han's, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), who may or may not be someone they can trust.
Luke has also made his escape from Hoth. He travels to the planet Dagobah to study with the great Jedi Master Yoda in hopes of becoming a Jedi Knight. Yoda reluctantly agrees to take Luke on as a student if he promises to finish what he starts. Luke agrees and begins his training. However, Luke begins to have visions of the future where his friends are in trouble. Soon he must make a decision. If he leaves his training and attempts to save his friends, he may fall under Vader's influence and be turned to the dark side of the force. If he continues his training, his friends may die.
A few enhancements here and there
Made three years after Star Wars and with Lucas's own Industrial Light & Magic at his fingertips, The Empire Strikes Back didn't need as much tweaking as Star Wars. Still, several shots have been added, including some very minor dialogue changes.
Overall, the changes enhance the film, especially the new and re-engineered shots of the Wampa ice creature and Cloud City. However, it's curious that Lucas would add shots of Vader traveling between Cloud City and his Star Destroyer, as they seem to distract more than enhance.
What it all comes down to, however, is that the average moviegoer won't notice any of this. All they will notice is that The Empire Strikes Back is a terrific movie, which benefits from the fact that all the exposition was done in the first movie. What Empire might give up by not having a real ending (that's left for Return of the Jedi) is more than made up for with lots of action, a fast -moving plot and plenty of time for character development. Not to mention a couple of great plot twists that, while they'll come as a surprise to few at this point in time, are terrific dramatic moments.
Empire has better acting than the original (especially by Hamill and Fisher), as the principals have had time to settle into their roles. The film also has the distinction of creating one of the all-time greatest movie characters that wasn't played by a human. It is hard to believe, even now, that Yoda (voice by Frank Oz) isn't real because he is such a rich character.
While Empire would never stand on its own as a movie (it's just impossible to get past the fact that it doesn't have an ending), it's a great second chapter to this science fiction classic. -- Kathie
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