This is the best of the bunch people, admit it. I love it, personally, when a great movie is followed up by an equivalent or better sequel, and Empire Strikes Back is definitely better than A New Hope, which was still a masterpiece of science fiction all the same. Empire Strikes back still has the entertaining chase scenes (unlike the consensus says), but its also a tad bit darker than the first one with the same visuals and the same sense of wonder and excitement, of course with that legendary twist. It also features a strong story and strong performances, making it a fantastic movie and probably my favourite science fiction movie ever made.
The film starts at the new rebel base in the Hoth system. After Imperial troops enter the base, Luke and R2 have to separate from Han, Leia and Chewbacca to go to the Degoba system to find Yoda. Han and Leia have to navigate through an asteroid field and find themselves in the beautifully painted Cloud City. I won't really explain too much more of the plot, except that Luke learns his true parentage and Han's debts finally caught up with him. I really don't want to reveal the film's big spoiler either for those of you who haven't seen the film.
However, I would consider the film to be a masterpiece of storytelling. In fact, I consider the entire trilogy a masterpiece of storytelling. The film is also full of wonderful quips, especially from Han, and I was laughing while also being ensnared in the story. Pretty much all that can be said for the story in this film can be said in my review of the first film, so I'll move on to the iconic scenes, and this film has a lot of them.
This film easily has the most memorable stuff in it, from Harrison Ford slicing open his tauntaun to keep Luke warm to Darth Vader revealing to Luke that....sorry, almost revealed the big spoiler there. Anyway, nothing can really be said about the iconic scenes except that you need to see them for yourself because everyone should see these movies. The special effects are definitely an improvement over the first one, but are still way ahead of anything else that was being created back in the 1980's. The film's special effects include, as well as the fantastic creatures, the fantastic city (or planet) landscapes, especially cloud city. Anyway, I don't want to risk belabouring this point because most of what can be said has been said in my review of the first film, so moving on.
I feel the need to mention this. I knew the big twist, I had seen the movie before, but by the time that scene came along, I still didn't see it coming. I can only imagine how the people in the theatre reacted hearing it for the first time. The subsequent "noooooo" from Mark Hamill is also easily the most epic "noooo" in cinema history. I know that every single film that has a twist ending owes that to Psycho, and may I say, Psycho spawned a great twist.
In fact, this film definitely made cinematic history. It's the best of all the films and easily had the most memorable material in it. I hope that I haven't repeated myself or given anything away, but hey, this is my review! Anyway, this series has my total recommendation as a trilogy of must-see films and the best science fiction series ever (that is including the prequels). All in all, nothing can be said for this film except the fact that it's perfect. There's not a single thing wrong with it.
