Part five of a great fantasy series

Rating: 10/10 (30 August 2007)

This is the fifth part of my essay on the themes and motifs of Star Wars.
The Empire Strikes Back is widely considered the best of the Star Wars movies and is one of the darkest. Released in 1980, it continued the story and contained what was, at the time, the most shocking moment in cinema history in the revelation of Luke Skywalker's parentage.
Lucas' use of pairs of things continues to be strong motif. Luke is sent to Dagobah to train one-on-one with Yoda, hearkening back to the master-apprentice relationships of the glory days of the Republic. These scenes contain some of the best dialog in the series as Yoda explains the nature of life and the Force: "We are luminous beings, not this crude matter." One of my favorite moments in the entire series also occurs, as Luke beheads the apparition of Darth Vader whose mask disappears to reveal Luke's own face, foreshadowing the twist to come. After Luke abandons his training to save his friends, it is revealed by Yoda that there is in fact another who can save them (ie not one but two).
Technology is once again presented as potentially dangerous and above all fallible. The Millennium Falcon is constantly in a state of disrepair and never seems to work properly at the most critical times: a classic motif of science-fiction. Technology is also demonized by the shadowy presence of Boba Fett and especially by the only semi-human Darth Vader.
The climactic moment of this movie occurs in Cloud City, as Luke and Vader duel in a hellish chamber of smoke and red lights. Vader severs Luke's right hand (as his had been previously by Count Dooku) and reveals that he is Luke's father. Luke chooses to fall to his death rather than live with this truth but he is saved by deus ex machina. The omnipresent malevolence of technology rears its head thereafter, as Luke's hand is replaced with a mechanical one, making him just slightly more like his father and nemesis and leaving the viewer in doubt as to how the story will conclude.
Criminally ignored in its time by the Academy, The Empire Strikes Back is likely the greatest film of the genre ever made and sets the stage for the conclusion of the greatest series of all time.
10/10