Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Directed by Irvin Kershner
1980/USA
Lucasfilm
Repeat viewing
#663 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb users say 8.8/10; I say 8.0/10

[box] Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try.

Yoda: No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.[/box]

I watched it, I was entertained, and somehow I am stumped for anything else to say. This is kind of a western in space where a hard-pressed but plucky band of rebels fight the might of an evil empire.  I remember very little of the plot of the previous part so am not exactly sure how the crew got where they are.

The rebel forces are hiding out from the Empire on an isolated frozen planet called Hoth where they have various encounters with ice monsters, etc. before being located and attacked by imperial forces.  Luke Skywalker receives a visitation from the spirit of Obi Wan Kanobe telling him to go to Dagobah for Jedi training.  After a battle, Han and Leia escape with imperial fighters in hot pursuit and Luke goes separately to Dagobah.

There Luke meets Yoda, a Jedi master, who attempts to discipline the impatient hot-tempered youth to the ways of the Force.  Luke eventually calms down but during his training has a vision that Han and Leia are in danger.  Despite being warned by both Yoda and Obi Wan that he should finish his training, Luke decides to take off for Bespin where Han and Leia have fallen into a trap and where Darth Vader and imperial forces wait to capture Luke.

In the meantime, Han and Leia have gone to the planet of Bespin where Han’s friend Lalo Calrissian runs a mining operation.  Darth Vader and his imperial forces are lieing in wait.    Vader turns Han over to a bounty hunter and imprisons Leia.  His real prey is Luke.  When Luke arrives he engages in a mano-a-mano light saber fight with Vader.  Vader urges Luke to join him on the dark side but Luke refuses.  Will Luke survive?  Will the trio be reunited? If you don’t know, I won’t tell.

I cannot deny that the Star Wars series is a must-see as it launched a new generation of special effects that still inspire film makers today.  Other than that, it is an entertaining action-packed adventure with clear good guys and bad guys and a definite code of morality.  I like the fact that the technology is so fallible and the humans are the bosses of the robots.  However, I don’t connect with it on an emotional level.

1979 Theatrical Trailer – No Yoda?