Best of the Star Wars line.

Rating: 9/10 (23 May 1999)

Better than Star Wars. Better than Return of the Jedi. And do you know why? Because it spends more time on character development and dramatic buildup than either of its siblings. While The Empire Strikes Back does include its share of space battles and lightsaber duels, the big focus isn't on special effects, but on relationships between characters. The heroes and villains are both developed in interesting ways, plus there's that surprise twist which you probably already know about, but which I won't risk spoiling for you.
The Special Edition of this movie is also the best of the three. Except for the dopey, fake-looking Wampa-eats-a-Tantan-like-a-corncob scene, and the bloodcurdling scream that's been dubbed in when Luke throws himself into the bottomless ventilation shaft, most of the added/retouched stuff is pretty good. I was very impressed by what was done with Cloud City, and felt that it added greatly to those scenes. Darth Vader has a somewhat silly-sounding new line, but I liked the way the final chase scene was intercut with him flying back to the Star Destroyer.
Definitely not the popcorn-gobbling big-screen videogame that Star Wars and Return of the Jedi are, but certainly superior to both in atmosphere, characterization, and execution.