Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

DVD, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) film

My theory is that the phenomenon really began with this film. Sure, the first 'Star Wars' was a huge success, but this only encouraged George Lucas to make more of his universe. I was surprised to notice that this original version of the film, the cinematic release, even then had 'Episode V' emblazoned above the opening scroll as I had it in mind that, like Episode IV, it was only added with the Special Editions of the late nineties. It must have been a bit of an oddity to go and see a sequel to such a popular film, then find that rather than it being called Episode II or Part II, or whatever, it's clearly denoted as a fifth part! Mind you, I expect with all the excitement people wouldn't have paid all that much attention to the first few titles, they were all in high gear of anticipation for the coming film, no doubt. Still, it makes me think that this was the point at which Lucas' grand plans first really formulated: we see major revelations, the tone is much more serious, there's a greater sense of family and equality amongst the main characters, and the roles are more clearly defined. The first film set up the bowling alley, now this film begins the game. And I like that it is more serious in tone. That isn't to say it becomes po-faced like some of the prequels, it plays off of the fun between characters, whether that's C-3PO's constant worrying or Han's teasing of Leia, or even Yoda's joy at life at the expense of the moody Luke. Depth and seriousness don't preclude levity, and in fact this lightness only contrasts the hard moments of choice and revelation that Luke endures.

In the original 'Star Wars' Luke is practically a teenager, a boy who has yet to grow up, who craves adventure and excitement. Goodhearted, but he doesn't have the features of a real man inside him. 'Empire' is his journey to becoming a man, or a Jedi in the parlance of the story, leaving it to 'Return of The Jedi' to complete his arc and for him to take his rightful place. In the meantime, he gets tempted to take the quick, easy path, a shortcut to where he wants to be. I don't know whether this temptation would have been more effective if Darth Vader hadn't been his Father, or maybe hadn't revealed this fact yet. Would he have been more likely to accede to the villain's wishes if he hadn't had such a jolt of anguish at that key moment? Was that the real reason neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda told him of the man's true identity, in order to gut-punch him and force such strong emotions that he was concentrating on that, rather than on making a choice to become a Jedi the wrong way? It's an intriguing concept, but I don't think Luke would ever have joined the Dark Side, however the point had held, it's just that the revelation makes him almost suicidal with grief. I don't think he planned to escape, I think he fell back in loss, perhaps without really considering, and it was only the unique makeup of Cloud City that prevented him from plummeting to his doom.

Had Luke been killed, there was a safety clause in the contract as it is this film that we hear that he isn't the only one, that there is another. I suppose from the fact that it's Leia he reaches out to when dangling from an aerial below Cloud City, and that she is able to respond, we should be able to guess that it is she who has the potential for Jedi-dom. But was this always the plan, I have to wonder? It could just as easily have been someone we'd never met as one we had, and I still feel uncertain about how much Lucas knew about his story. In the first film he clearly has no plans to make Luke and Leia siblings, and there's absolutely no indication that Vader is his Father, which is why it feels like a bit of a retcon in the third film when it comes down to 'a certain point of view.' But in the second… After the success of 'Star Wars' they had to deliver, so how better than to make the man that we were told had killed Anakin Skywalker, be himself, it's just good writing? But at what point did Vader himself know? Obviously Luke made an impact because, like the movement of The One Ring in 'The Lord of The Rings,' the enemy knows the good side are on the move and have a plan. The Emperor himself has foreseen that Luke could destroy him. Did the Emperor let his servant, Vader, into the little detail that his child may have survived after all? The destruction of the Death Star at the assured, Force-guided hand of young Luke must have flagged him up as special. Perhaps it was a combination of all these factors that gave Vader reason to twig, though the same can't be said for him and Leia: once again they share scenes and neither ever shows hints of a familial connection.

Leia herself is at something of a disadvantage in this film, her royalty only worthy of passing mention now that her kingdom, Alderaan, has been atomised. It's difficult to be a Princess of somewhere that no longer exists. So she becomes a partly unwilling sidekick to space scoundrel Han Solo, though she continually refuses to acknowledge the bond between them, as true as Han's words are. It's not just her and Han, there's a strong sense of camaraderie between all in the Millennium Falcon, even 3PO, who gets a lot of good stuff to play even while he's mostly separated from his double-act partner, R2-D2. There's a sense in this film that though droids are still second-class creatures, barely one step up from the ship or facility computers, 3PO has become something more than that. I wouldn't say Han learns to respect him, but he does learn to listen to what he has to say (such as the problem with the Hyperdrive, or advice on what needs doing, which he relays discreetly to Chewbacca!), and both Leia and Chewie look out for him - she's very concerned when he goes missing on Cloud City, and Chewie makes the effort to search for him and carries him around, despite all his complaining. The rules of this universe are better established this time - in the first film 3PO sometimes has his eyes lit up, sometimes not, but in this we learn that when the eyes aren't lit, he can't see. Although he also calls the Princess both Leah and Leia, so things still aren't perfect!

The first film had a simpler narrative structure, but this one branches out so that, as well as seeing things from the villain's side, as before, we now have two hero strands to follow. Luke must separate from his friends in order to follow his own path to righteousness. I noted that in the opening crawl it talks of a 'band of rebels led by Luke Skywalker,' but it seems ridiculous that he could have risen to leader of the Rebel Alliance. I read it that he was a sort of cell leader of the Hoth group and that there are other cells in other places (otherwise where's Admiral Ackbar and such?). But even that doesn't make sense since it's General Rieekan who appears to have the authority, even granted that Luke's not around, especially as it's his orders that no ships leave until the shields are up (incidentally, when the roof of the snowy cave base starts to crumble, was that supposed to be Wampas trying to get in? I'm sure I read that in the photo novel - and just how many probe droids did the Empire deploy, as they're searching the entire galaxy and we see several arrive just for Hoth!). You'd think more than just Han would be wondering where Luke had got to if he was the actual leader of the outfit, so I would take it that it was more of a metaphorical leadership, that he's highly respected and his voice listened to, but that he isn't the literal leader. That said, he does display a maturity in battle, a willingness to change tactics and adapt to circumstances that is perhaps enhanced by The Force, as evidenced by the tow cables idea for taking down the AT-ATs (I guess their fall weakened the AT-ATs, as there's no other reason why the armour should suddenly become pregnable!). Even his face is different.

In fact Mark Hamill's face was literally altered since the previous film as he'd been in a car accident and, I believe, basically thought his career would be over. In fact, the subtle shift away from boyish handsomeness gave the character just the edge he needed, and they even cleverly incorporate the change into the story through not showing his face properly until he's had the fight with the Wampa (or 'Snow Creature' as the credits have it), which aids us in both seeing how far he's come in terms of his Jedi abilities, and how far he still has to go. I'll look at the changes between original and Special Edition versions later, but I think perhaps they got the improvements correct for the SE by showing the approaching Wampa more, as it does seem less tense in the original, even though you'd usually assume not seeing, just hearing the creature would generate more tension. That's one of the additions I appreciate, it may be that I'm so used to seeing it that way. I still think he should have used his lightsaber for warmth, either by cutting himself a cave in the snow, or maybe even by killing the Wampa and staying in its cave, though he was severely weakened in mind and body so he may not have been thinking straight. And that would have denied Han the chance to show his change of heart at the end of 'Star Wars' was more than a quick change as he performs his heroic act of friendship, rescuing his friend - plus we'd have been denied the sight of Han using a lightsaber when he cuts open the Tauntaun! Interestingly, each uses the other's weapon in this film, Luke making use of a blaster, though Han's reliance on it is proved false when Vader simply 'catches' the blasts in his hand.

Back to Luke, though: he demonstrates all the qualities a Jedi should have, and even if we can say that he mostly just interacts with R2 or Yoda and so doesn't have much opportunity to deal with people, isolated as he is (almost as if he's being set apart for his role as saviour of the galaxy), he still performs admirably, whether that's in the Battle of Hoth, giving the transports time to escape, or paying attention to Yoda. This little, dull-green puppet is the highlight of the film and even now I still marvel that such an incredible character could be created from a mould, with people operating and voicing him… He's so amazingly expressive: his eyes, the ears that bobble as he talks, the easy transition between funny little alien clown, to wise and ancient Jedi Master, a total triumph of technology. Unlike the CGI creation from Episodes II and III where all reality is lost and he seems somehow less real than a simple puppet. How is that possible? I don't know, but Frank Oz was a master of puppetry and voice acting and the character is written so well that we instantly warm to him and back-to-front talking, his. I got the impression that Yoda hadn't had so much fun in years when innocent mark Luke came down to his swampy planet for a visit (though the oddness of planets having one ecology points to the simplicity of the SW universe - first we had a desert planet, now a snow planet and a swamp planet, not to mention the coming forest moon although the change from desert to ice makes for a strong visual contrast - if 'Star Wars' was yellow, this film is definitely blue).

It was probably a combination between Yoda being cooped up on a dingy swampland for years, and a test to see how Luke would react to someone seemingly so unimportant and powerless - you can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat those less powerful than themselves, not that Yoda needed to test him, as he'd been keeping an eye on him all his life, but perhaps it was for Luke's own benefit, to give him something to mull over: his own behaviour. Luke doesn't really excel, showing impatience, perhaps a hint of arrogance and later, despondency and a quick line in giving up. But what is a true hero without flaws? If he'd been perfect from the start where would the journey have been for us to watch, and we might well have wanted to see him fail, human nature to want the pompous to fall flat. Instead, we have an underdog feel, someone we can be disappointed in, but urge to do better in our own minds. Of course, as Obi-Wan says, "Was I any different when you taught me?" Hang on a minute… It was Qui-Gon Jinn who taught you, don't you remember? We can put this in the same category of age-related befuddlement that led him to forget he ever owned a droid, admitted in the previous film, except Yoda never contradicted him. Has his memory degraded too, or are they speaking loosely, not as in specifically an apprentice? Or perhaps we never saw the period in the prequels where Yoda did instruct him, besides moments of consultation. Another inconsistency is in his: "Do, or do not. There is no try" - it was said only the Sith deal in absolutes (which made no sense anyway). I can almost see the midiclorian connection when Yoda states life creates The Force and makes it grow...

It is a bit baffling that they didn't make Obi-Wan Yoda's padawan in the prequels (not to detract from Qui-Gon, one of my favourite characters of those films), apart from it being difficult, even in 1999, to make Yoda work in that way. Perhaps if they'd put all their effort into Yoda instead of the CG Jar Jar (and this is the only time you'll find me saying something negative about the over-maligned Gungan in these reviews), the roles might have been improved? Obi-Wan also claims to have been reckless, but in the reverently portrayed version we saw in the prequels the most outrageous he gets is telling badly timed witty observations in a slightly mock-serious, prim and proper tone! Maybe he remembers the good old days differently? It just goes to show that you never know who's watching you, as Luke finds out that this great Jedi Master has watched him all his life and seen the flaws in his character. Even then, Luke still seems to underestimate the power of The Force and its greatest practitioners, and this may be the reason he's so quick to go and face Vader with incomplete training (though we'd find out in the next film that it pretty much was complete after all - he returns to Dagobah to be told he's now ready!). It's also because he loves his friends and is willing to die for them, but he doesn't consider the greater good at that stage: that if he were to die then all hope of ending the Empire's grip on the galaxy would be for naught. Obi-Wan's obviously still kept in the dark about some things as Yoda has to tell him there's another candidate - you'd think he'd realise it must be Luke's sister, because I think he knew Padme had twins…

If Obi-Wan's memory is fairly easy to reconcile (he's an old duffer, let's be honest), gaps in a droid's aren't so easily dismissed. Step forward R2, the most resourceful piece of tech ever to have graced the big screen, and the true hero of the SW saga, always there to make sure everyone gets out of scrapes. It was nice to see even he isn't immune from mistakes, as shown by his connecting to a power socket instead of a computer interface on Cloud City. If that had happened before Dagobah we'd have grounds for saying certain parts of his experience might have been lost, but it happens after. So why doesn't he recognise the most famous Jedi in history? Was it his experience getting spat out by the swamp monster and covered in mud? Maybe the slime permeated his circuits and he was too busy feeling sorry for himself to let Luke in on the fact that this little goblin creature is actually the leader of the Jedi Order in exile! He even has a little fight with Yoda who bashes him with a stick in one of the most hilarious moments in the film. It's so sort of cute and whimsical, and I can imagine that Yoda enjoyed having a bit of fun, but R2 should have had more respect. For that matter, why did't he use the boosters we saw in Episode II to get him onto dry land instead of 'swimming' ashore? Don't tell me, he was out of fuel. Or maybe they didn't want to make a droid too powerful, a qualm they clearly didn't have in the prequels where R2 becomes almost a superhero… He's also got a bad case of black panels in the space scenes, just as in the first film (still an issue with blue screen, I would guess).

R2's colour change isn't the only inconsistency that it's fascinating to spot: this time, and I could be wrong, but Lord Vader's eyes, which had a definite red tint in the first film, appeared to be fully black. His look, though, iconic as it is, was further enhanced by a peek at his bald, damaged head. Aside from the wish to show us, and perhaps to give the new Admiral something to balk at, I don't quite see why he had that relaxation chamber, or whatever it was, open. The only other time we see him come out of it he's made sure his helmet is on nice and tight, so I assumed the chamber had its own atmosphere which enabled him to breathe outside of the bucket, but then… It's the needs of dramatic tension against the needs of consistency, and no doubt over the years people have come up with explanations for why he did that - I can't deny that it makes you even more intrigued by the character and want to see what horrors lie beneath the black plastic. The Empire's technological achievements are most impressive, not the least that they somehow reach Cloud City before the Falcon, even though, I think, the Falcon only decided to go there after leaving the Star Destroyer (again, ingenious way to escape, even if I find myself questioning that there were no windows which would show a large ship covering a portion of the bulkhead, or that they wouldn't have internal or external sensors to detect it, not to mention that the size of rubbish a Star Destroyer leaves is ridiculous!). There must be some limitations however - another is that ships have to be of a certain size to be able to use a cloaking device, something common in 'Star Trek,' but unseen (!), in SW, which I thought was an interesting comment.

Size, scope and scale are once again superbly provided to enhance the impression of a living, breathing universe which can hold huge creatures like Chewbacca, a Wampa, or even the cave-dwelling creature the Falcon lands inside, right down to the tiny Yoda or the skittering little black droids that could easily get lost under Vader's flowing black cloak! It continues to expand our imaginations of what's possible and acceptable in this environment, whether that be organic life or artificial constructs, such as Cloud City, hovering romantically in the Tabana gas clouds. There's no shortage of outlandish creatures, but they somehow all fit into the world they inhabit (even if the bounty hunter with the orange reptilian feet didn't look so real, like an alternately-coloured Gorn). One of the most popular bit parts in the saga makes his debut: Lobot! No, I'm joking (and in fact he only gets credited as 'Lando's Aide'), it's Boba Fett, complete with original menacing accent, unaltered (I can't help thinking of George Lucas whenever Vader says "Pray I don't alter it any further"). Like the first film, it's so easy to forget the impact the shapes and style of people and vehicles had, whether it's the camel-inspired wonder of the AT-ATs, Boba Fett's trojan helmet, or his Slave I, cunningly not fooled by the Falcon's escape tactic. It's all effortlessly cool, and easy to be blase about since I've seen these films so many times. Yet the design ethos makes it stay fresh, and although there remains a seventies look to the haircuts and some of the outfits (Han, for example), most of it is timeless because of its period setting (a period we don't even know about, being a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away).

Talking of Boba brings me to the difference between the original and SE versions. Now I'll always prefer the SEs since those are the ones I saw so much, but there's more than one version of those versions and what I did not like was the alterations they made to the original SEs. It began with this film, where they changed the voice of Boba to match the prequel version (stupid, unnecessary), as well as replacing the first image we ever had of The Emperor (still not named, I think). In the credits it says 'Voice of Emperor: Clive Revill,' which leads me to suspect it was a puppet, a good reason being the eyes didn't look right. But they replaced that with Ian McDiarmid (again, I respect his contribution to the character, indeed he is the character, but I don't see the need to paste over the original vision), and not just that, but with the unconvincing Episode III version of his makeup which never had the reality of 'Return of The Jedi's more 'bedded in' look. That's it, really, just minor irritations. This time… I loved the additions of all the Cloud City windows so you can see out a bit more, even though the action is good enough that you're not paying attention to the stark, white sets much, and the original print is noticeably rough around the edges which you notice on Hoth with the Snow Speeders, and the asteroid, although slicker than the first film it's still a little indistinct compared to the SE, though it looks astonishingly good as they flash close to the surface of that massive rock!

It's fun to see the stop-motion animation that was done on the Tauntauns, mixed with full-sized puppets, and is a definite improvement on the Dewbacks of 'Star Wars,' showing a steady development in technological knowhow in the crafting that would be taken to new heights in the third film. It makes me wish they'd continued to make SW films well into the eighties and nineties, about every three years, as it would have been fascinating to see how the SW look developed. It's this great stage upon which the story unfurls, Luke having to make a hard choice about his future that could affect the galaxy. But this is of secondary concern, as his friends are the ones he chooses to help, and it's nice that it worked out well for him overall. Yes, he loses his head (well, a hand), in the battle against Vader, but all except Han are safe and well by the end. It's not really an ending, being the middle piece of the story, the confrontation with his Father, the climax. It might have been even more dramatic if they'd left the film at the point where he leaps to his possible death, with Han off to see Jabba, encased in carbonite, what would happen next? But I like how the films play out so I wouldn't really want it changed (are you listening, George, no more changes, please!). The fight with Vader is a little more involved than the minor skirmish between Vader and Obi-Wan, but you get the sense that the Dark Lord of the Sith is holding back, testing Luke, which was fortuitous for him. The fight is as much about what Vader has to say as it is the physical exertion or manifestation of his powers and has far more bearing than many of the other eye-candy fights of the prequels.

Lando deserves some sort of mention, despite coming across as a bit of a flirt - like Han, his heart is in the right place, but only when pushed. While he thought he could get away with a reasonable deal and carry on with his mining operations he does what he's told, but as soon as things sway too far in the deal he realises he's basically lost everything and he'll be on the Empire's radar from now on so might as well side with the rebels. I also think he does feel guilt for setting Han up. It's good to meet an old buddy of Solo's, it gives us a little more backstory for the character and Lando is such a smooth operator that you want him to be with the good guys, using his nefarious skills and contacts against the establishment. He's not on the same magnitude of new characters as Yoda, but at this stage he's more interesting than the barely seen Emperor, and Boba Fett doesn't really get much of an opportunity to be a fully-fledged villain. Han gets the teasing he was doing to Luke played right back at him from Lando, who swiftly moves in on Leia, so it's good to see Han get some of his own medicine for a change. It's still uncomfortable to watch how much Luke enjoys the smooch from Leia, however, even though she was only doing it to spite Han. One line from that recovery scene that I'd misheard for years, was Han saying Luke looked strong enough to tear the ears off a Gundark - since Episode I I'd always thought it was a Gungan, some neat little reference that they'd chosen as Jar Jar's species!

It struck me as I watched this film that they're never going to be fortunate enough to find such a perfect group of actors that clicked so well and made it about them rather than the supporting cast of special effects. Today, such effects are ten a penny, and could never enthral to the same degree unless they were able to come up with the kind of plot twists and character that they achieved with this film, and I don't think that's possible, at least not for anyone that saw films like this first. New generations will fall under the spell of whatever influences they're subjected to in their formative years, and part of the joy of such films is recapturing a different time of your life, when you were young enough to be affected, before too many stories had breached the freshness of them to reach the magnitude of the old. I still remember the first time I saw this film, beginning one afternoon around Christmas time, the sun setting and the dark drawing around me before the film had reached its conclusion. Yet even this story wasn't really new, it was the archetypal hero's journey, interwoven with family politics and the fight for freedom. What made the difference was its success in character; in keeping humour, but not at the expense of, or undercutting the drama; of showing us possibilities, the age-old struggle for supremacy between right and wrong, between fast thrills and shortcuts to success, and wise consideration, taking time to think things through. It was visually, emotionally and narratively rewarding, and even better, it wasn't over, the story was left to be continued in one more film: the saga would carry on!

*****