Matches the original, though good for different reasons

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2008)

The Empire Strikes Back is the first sequel to Star Wars (1977), a thrilling and lively action/adventure movie, but Empire is actually a different kind of movie. It's darker, more thoughtful and slower. There's less action.
At the end of the first one, which is confusingly called Episode IV, Luke had joined the rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire and had destroyed its most powerful weapon, the Death Star. With Empire (aka Episode V), the imperial forces pursue the rebels through space, and Luke travels to a swampy world to learn from a Jedi master named Yoda. He receives visions from the future that his friends will get into trouble, and leaves his training, against the advice of Yoda and the ghost of Obi Wan, to rescue them. Luke confronts Darth Vader, who informs him that he is Luke's father.
For a movie about a war, this is pretty low on violence, with little action happening between the fight on the ice world and the climax where Luke faces Vader. That's because The Empire Strikes Back tries to be a different kind of movie. It is not so much light entertainment. It instead features thoughts on the Force, in scenes where Yoda instructs Luke, which basically means a discussion of the nature of good and evil. Evil is strong and tempting, and anger leads to it; but goodness is stronger. The Empire Strikes Back is thus a heavier work, though it's not exactly high art. Still, one should not get the wrong impression from the AFI lists counting Episode IV but not Episode V as one of the 100 greatest American movies. Episode V is as good (or better!)- much of it, including Yoda who is not in Episode IV, is iconic. By the way, Yoda is, from a special effects point of view, passable puppetry.
What else can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said? It's got a score that has become legendary in its own right. The plot twist of Vader being Luke's father is also famous and weighty. Altogether, an effective portrait of the struggle between good and evil.