40th Anniversary Review of the Movie

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2020)

***Spoiler Warning***
The Empire Strikes Back came out three years after the original Star Wars and six years after The Godfather: Part II, the sequel that changed movie sequels forever; and Empire was a follow-up for the ages. This film showed that the Star Wars universe was a cinematic world that had real grit and 'teeth' to it: even after the triumphant ending in the previous movie this one is defined by The Empire relentlessly pursuing The Rebellion in the wake of The Death Star's destruction during the Battle of Yavin 4, and it shows that 'fairy-tale endings' always have a deeper aftermath to them than you think and that hard-won battles need to keep going if the enemy is to falter.
The Empire Strikes Back is the sequel that came to be THE golden standard for movie sequels; without it there'd be no necessary sequels that are thought out for narratively creative reasons as opposed to monetary reasons. This film also proved to be quite the shocker when it came out in 1980: we finally found out what happened to Luke's father, and he wasn't killed by Darth Vader; he became Darth Vader himself. This soon became THE greatest cinematic plot-twist of all-time, and forty years on it's still a hard one to top (if not outright impossible). It was Star Wars' equivalent of Citizen Kane's 'Rosebud' moment and both those twists are still great narrative pillars for filmmakers to get inspiration from today.
Star Wars is inseparable from cinema itself: it's become a legacy of a franchise that came from George Lucas' desire to pay homage to the Flash Gordon serials from the 30s, and just like cinema itself people still actively discuss the series and medium to this day in ways that people dissect philosophy and religion to their heart's content. It's fun to look deeper into the things we love, and it's life-changing when you find newfound wisdom to make your mind and will stronger in life. Cinema may not be the same as it was decades ago (neither is Star Wars), but there's still plenty of new changes that show old and new techniques can become harmonious with one another: technology is not substitute for hard-earned storytelling or wisdom, but progress can help expand one's understanding of what they couldn't comprehend before.
The Empire Strikes Back is one of cinema's all-time titans, and this is what sequels dream to become: an immortal experience that's set a bar so high it takes something truly incredible to surpass it (whoever may dare try to do so that is). 5/5 stars.