The GREATEST piece of Filmmaking ever!

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2019)

Star Wars changed the game for big budget blockbuster Cinema. The Empire Strikes Back took that high bar & raised it further. A very much darker tone to the movie is set out from the start. The opening crawl says 'It is a dark time for the Rebellion'. The joy & celebration of victory in the Battle of Yavin is long in the memory. The Empire are on the hunt, hell bent on wiping the Rebels out.
The Rebels plight is highlighted by their new base on an arctic wasteland of a planet with minimal life & less warmth. We get to know more about the characters, their motivations & their demons. Luke is struggling with his destiny, his role as a leader & his possible future as a Jedi, Leia is conflicted by her feelings for both Han & Luke. Han is worried primarily about his own neck & how to save it.
This brings us to the films major set piece which at the time was a nightmare to film. Firstly the main all action set piece comes in the first act & secondly the film crew were m trying to superimpose multiple moving objects on a white background which was more than tricky. The Battle of Hoth is immense & massively satisfying even though the Rebels take a right pounding.
The film very much changes tack as it concentrates on the main protagonists. It becomes very emotionally charged either through the blatant romantic tension between Han & Leia to the trials of Luke during his Jedi training where he is trying to learn all of the skills & techniques that he needs to become a Jedi whilst trying to conquer his own self doubt & his failures which seem to haunt him.
The emotion that is poured into the second act really builds up the suspense. You know that the Empire are coming at some point, you know that something is going to happen & it won't be good. We get introduced to key new characters such as Yoda, the Jedi Master & Luke's teacher who pushes him to his limits & has no qualms in telling him his limitations & failings. There is also Lando who is an acquaintance of Han's but there is something not right about him.
The third act is just filled with all out action, emotion & revelation including what can only be described as the greatest scene in cinematic history which if made today couldn't be kept a secret like it was back in 1980. It leaves you as the viewer, numb with disbelief as this bomb is dropped in the middle of this super emotional sequence of events & you don't know where it is going.
However, there has to be something, something we can hold onto moving forward & you are given just that small amount of hope at the end that there is a way back.
Throughout the entire film there is one thing that makes it work, as it did with its predecessor & that is the music. John Williams is an absolute genius & this is his greatest piece of work ever (how he didn't win at the Oscars for it is nothing short of a scandal). He manages to drive the entire mood of the film at every point. He generates tension, sadness, fear, threat, heroism, relief & at the end even hope. The film would not be the same without it.
As films go there are probably better written & directed films with better stories but Empire was a massive risk. Sequels were hard to make & never lived up to the originals. Also there was the case that this wouldn't be a standalone film. There would have to be a third instalment to close it out. Empire succeeds on all of these levels to such an extent that it is the greatest sequel of all time & it easily surpasses any of the other Star Wars films. I'm happy to say without hesitation that it's my favourite film of all tine & I would argue my stance that it's the greatest film of all time because it delivers just as much today as it did nearly 40 years ago & not many films can do that. It is the pinnacle of the cinematic experience even when matched against its predecessor (which was wonderful in its own right) & against other masterpiece blockbusters such as The Matrix, Jurassic Park, & Avengers Infinity War/Endgame.
You just don't make films better than The Empire Strikes Back.