Characters come into their own. Story develops masterfully. Action-packed! Best Sequel? Heck, best movie?

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2011)

Han Solo and Luke Skywalker become the most famous space-frontiersmen of all-time.
This is the penultimate moment in movie history. The answer to the question: Can a sequel be better than the original? Even Lucas' attempts to "enhance" the film over a decade later would be futile. It was like trying to "enhance" a classic song. You cannot improve upon it - you can only mess it up.
The puppet Yoda would later give way to the CGI Yoda, but Yoda would never be as significant nor as powerful as he was in "The Empire Strikes Back".
This film is basically three acts. Hoth. The Degoba System(sp?). Cloud City.
The movie moves at a breakneck pace, and the film's action sequences have a degree a realism in the model-usage that still seems unrivaled with CGI.
The film manages to be funny without being corny, action-packed without being unrealistic, and iconic without being clichÃ©.
No film is perfect, but this is very close. It is hard for any avid movie fan to come up with a top ten, but this is unquestionably top 5 for me.
I'm 38. Many films had an impact on my life. Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Empire, Platoon, SIxteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Ferris Buellers, E.T., CLose Encounters, Goonies, Raider's, Bond FIlms Etc, etc. This film IS my childhood. If bias means the best film from your childhood - then I'm bias. The Empire Strikes Back could be the best film ever made.
You'll Like this if you liked: The Wizard of Oz, Raider's of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, or Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
"Now all I have to do is find this Yoda - if he even exists"