Wars Not Make One Great

Rating: Null/10 (25 December 2011)

In this sequel, Irvin Kershner takes over the director's seat from George Lucas (who is the writer and producer). The movie takes off a couple of months from where its sequel ended. Our favourite heros, R2, Luke, Han, Princess Leia, C3P0 and Chewbecca continue their fight against the dark side (Darth Vader and Co) for freedom and justice. Of course like 'Star Wars', this one holds tremendous nostalgic value for me and, having seen it more than twenty years ago, my memory of this one is fresher than the aforementioned. I especially remember the sequence with Yoda, Luke and R2 that takes place in a marsh.
In this film, the script is a lot tighter. There are plenty of training sequences and more romance (which is depicted with humour). However, the story is more human. Yoda warns Luke, telling him not to go rescue Han and the Princess but against his advice, he goes ahead. Similarly, risking everything, Princess goes back to rescue Luke. Han pays the price by sacrificing himself. The ending is somewhat open but it also rounds up the film well enough.
On the technical side, it's as good as ever. The lighting, cinematography, visuals, score, art direction, editing and sound sublimely work together. There's also plenty of comic relief (provided mostly by R2 and C-3PO). The battle sequences are very entertaining and the romance too is fun to watch. The cast is terrific. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Frank Oz, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker are great.
'Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back' provides more 'wholesome entertainment' than the first one. Perhaps this is mainly due to the fact that there was no pressure to introduce the character and story and/or provide more background information. Now I'm going to go watch the next film. 'Til later.