The Empire Strikes Back: The Perfect Star Wars Movie

40 years ago today the most highly anticipated sequel of all time hit movie theaters: The Empire Strikes Back. I was four years old in 1980 and I was shocked that Han Solo was frozen in carbonate and that Darth Vader was Luke’s father (at the time I just assumed that Vader was lying).

The original Star Wars, retroactively named A New Hope, was groundbreaking with its visual effects and fantasy storytelling, but Empire took the franchise beyond its Flash Gordon roots with deeper philosophy, more complicated character development, and much better dialog. Many of the franchise’s most iconic moments and characters (Yoda, Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian) are from this film. Empire also had triple the budget of its predecessor and it shows with the snow-bound Battle of Hoth, creepy swamp of Dagobah, and regal Cloud City of Bespin.

But it is Empire’s ending that really makes it a standout amongst all of the films in this genre in that it flagrantly defies all expectations. You’d assume that after Lando tells Leia that they still have a chance to save Han that he’s be freed of the carbonite, but Boba Fett leaves with Solo as his prisoner. You’d assume that when Luke sets out to save his friends from Darth Vader’s trap that he’d rescue them just in the nick of time, but Leia, Chewie, and C3PO escape without him and then have to return to rescue Luke! Most surprising of all, Luke is not just defeated by Vader, he is broken both mentally and physically, losing even his hand in the fight.

While George Lucas openly referred to the original Star Wars as a movie for 10-year-old boys that adults could enjoy, The Empire Strikes Back was a movie for adults that kids could enjoy (unless they were traumatized by it). I can’t think of another film that had a similar level of anticipation that did so much to defy viewers’ expectations (maybe Avengers: Infinity War came close).

I only wish that I had aged so well after 40 years.