Epitome of Filmmaking

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2016)

This film is sheer excellence. In my opinion, It's the best film of all time and the best film of the entire saga created by the visionary George Lucas.
I mean, where do I start? It has everything a Star Wars fan could ask for. From the masterful Battle of Hoth to the unexpected twist at the end, from sweet-talking Lando and cult classic Boba Fett to iconic Yoda, It's truly a masterpiece.
As for the aspects, The story is the darkest of the trilogy, The screenplay is the best of the bunch, the direction is commendable, the score, as always, by John Williams remains the best ever, special effects are top-notch and the characters and performances are fantastic.
The opening crawl followed by the Hoth sequences, especially the Battle, is really enjoyable as it takes up most of the first act. Its end shows Luke, the protagonist flying with R2-D2 to Dagobah, to find Yoda while Han, Leia, C-3PO and Chewie escape from the Imperial troops.
The training sequences at Dagobah are one of my favorites since Yoda is such an interesting character who Frank Oz voiced humorously. As for the rest of the gang, the scenes inside the monster were funny and romantic courtesy of the one and only Han Solo.
The escape to Cloud City where they meet Lando, Han's old friend, and the CGI there is fantastic. Lando's sweet-talking was one of the film's best bits along with Harrison Ford's charisma.
Meanwhile, the mysterious Emperor reveals to Darth Vader that Luke is Anakin Skywalker's son and Luke decides to stop his stop his training and go to Cloud City, to save Han and Leia,who might be in danger.
After that, the third act is legendary. The duel between and Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker is one of the sagas's best moments, not to forget Han's epic 'I Know' response to Leia's 'I Love You'
The pacing is OK, but might feel a bit slow if noticed or bored, which is impossible. Also, the fun and light tone of the previous film is completely lacking compared but is expertly replaced by the suspenseful plot line.
However, the ending MAY be a bit daft due to the fact that it isn't a complete conclusion and is kind of a cliff-hangar ending.
As for the performances, James Earl Jones and Frank Oz's voice acting for Vader and Yoda respectively is really good, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill were satisfactory, Anthony Daniels was hilarious as C-3PO.But the best of all was Harrison Ford as Han Solo, the epitome of cool, whose charisma and rugged good looks enough to make girls swoon were some of few great qualities that made him the film's best character and performer. He remains my favorite character in the whole saga.
Overall, The Empire Strikes Back is the perfect movie with all the qualities a masterpiece should possess and packs a perfect sci-fi punch. The Empire of George Lucas truly struck back with a marvelous effort.
Score-10 Grade-A+