The Empire Strikes Back

Darth Vader is pissed at, and in search of, Luke Skywalker, in the hopes of swaying him over to the dark side. He does so by chasing his friends, Solo, Leia and Chewie, into his lair, while Luke is off studying the ways of the Jedi from Yoda, the Jedi Master. The Force continues…

Great follow-up to the original tale of a galaxy far, far away, this film has plenty of action, one-liners, special-effects, good vs evil rivalries and a pleasantly dark ending. This is the episode that also features one of the biggest revelations from the trilogy (mum’s the word), and a very good snow battle scene in the very beginning of the movie. Watching the digitally re-mastered version of this flick, I did notice several fake-looking special effects, especially in the explosions, and an obvious blue screen scenario, but overall, fantastic! The budding romance between Leia and Solo also worked in this film, while the whole Yoda training sessions with Luke left me a tad dry, feeling long-winded at times. The latter complaint may come from having seen this film too many times, so don’t pay it much attention. All in all, a fun times in the world of the stars and droids, packed with humor, action and romance, a superb score, excellent battle sequences, and Darth getting as nasty as he wants to be. Now if I could only use the Force to levitate my TV remote control and nachos right next to me by my pillow…the Empire would be in serious trouble.

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian