A Bigger and To Some Better Sequel

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2015)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
**** (out of 4)
The second film of the original trilogy has the Empire forcing their vengeance as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) begins his Jedi training with Yoda while Hans Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca and the gang try to get to Darth Vadar.
George Lucas directed the original STAR WARS in 1977, which was a tremendous hit with both fans and critics. He basically took a "B" movie idea, something you'd see at a Saturday matinée and made it into a high-quality picture. This sequel had Lucas turning the directing duties over to Irvin Kershner and the end result certainly raises it to an "A" movie and one that many fans believe is the greatest of the series. I'm not going to lie, I somewhat enjoy the original a tad bit more but that's not to say this is a bad movie. Far from that.
What's rather amazing is the fact that the producers, director and screenwriters simply could have given us the same film again but instead they decided to make it much bigger, more darker and I'd argue they really wanted to blow the original out of the water. The film once again benefits from some terrific special effects, a rousing score from John Williams and there's no question that visually the film is a lot more impressive than the original.
You've also got the cast back together with both Hamill and Fisher once again delivering the goods but also Billy Dee Williams and Alec Guinness in a bit part. Once again it's Harrison Ford who easily steals the film with his comic timing and just that hero persona that shines through. Plus, it's just magic seeing him and Chewbacca work together.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is considered one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made and it's hard to argue with that.