Achieves a strong overall mood.

Rating: Null/10 (18 November 2003)

Of all the Star Wars episodes (#3 yet to be seen), this one achieves an overall mood. Despite the wide variety of settings and worlds, there is a certain Je ne sais quoi about the whole film, in every scene. You really feel that space is vast, stronger than all the other Star Wars films. The good guys are helpless from the start, and there isn't really any contrived plot twist or fluke circumstance that saves them. The story is made believable by the variety of conflicting agendas between (and within) the empire, the bounty hunters, the rebels, and the director of cloud city.
The mild comedy relief by Yoda is welcomed. The banter between the robots, and Han & Leia, grows tiresome.
As a side point, this is a most aptly named film. `The Empire Strikes Back' is basically the thesis statement of the story.