The best of the "Star Wars" films

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2008)

No matter what you think 'defines' "Star Wars"- the action sequences, the detailed and enthralling mythos, the memorable characters, the romance, or just the atmosphere of adventure, "The Empire Strikes Back" is in just about every way the most rewarding viewing experience out of any of the six live action "Star Wars" films (I have not seen "Clone Wars" and don't intend to right now). Why? Because it pulls off what "Revenge of the Sith" failed at: creating a compelling and well-written character-driven story while still delivering plenty of action, humor, and remaining an homage to the serials of the 1930's and 40's.
It's surprising that there remains debate over how right or wrong critics were on the film at the time of its release, when it received not negative nor very positive reviews, but mixed ones leaning towards the positive side, generally. Few critics initially recognized the superiority of this screenplay to the first film in the series, and not only its relative complexity but its richness in its allusions to and utilization of literature and films of the past to create its own unique mythos. It's hardly surprising, given that Leigh Brackett was involved in writing the screenplay, some of her greatest achievements in her film career being "The Big Sleep", "The Long Goodbye", and "Rio Bravo", all rich, detailed, and intelligent screenplays.
Yes, attempting to argue that "The Empire Strikes Back" is an intelligent character-based film is fast becoming pointless; you're either preaching to the choir or attempting to convince those with the prequels fresh in their mind that "Star Wars" was, once upon a time, a franchise worthy of real praise. "The Empire Strikes Back" really does tell a compelling story, however, and it is compelling mostly because we really do care about Luke's journey, we do care about Han Solo, we love Chewie, we adore the banter between R2-D2 and C-3PO, and arguably most of all because Darth Vader isn't just a 'cool' villain, he's a genuinely interesting and compelling character (er, if you can keep Hayden Christensen out of mind). Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett have achieved something rare and special here, a grand Hollywood spectacle which can be analyzed and discussed at great length (which I'm definitely not going to do, if you're interested pick up one of the dozens, hundreds possibly, of books written on the subject, or just do a quick Google search) . It's a great screenplay.
Not that there haven't been great screenplays let down by incompetent film-making in the past, but "The Empire Strikes Back" is certainly not an example of this. I'm sure "Star Wars" fans know much more about the making of this film and how much credit Irvin Kershner deserves for the end result than I do, but for this review I'll credit him with the quality of this film on a technical level. It's an improvement over the first film in many ways, as far as I'm concerned, especially the set design (which is more ambitious here), and the quality of the visuals and even the acting. "Star Wars" may have an opening scene and shot which remains magical to this day, but I'd argue that most of this film is memorable and enthralling, with only one or two scenes in the first half hour or so being just 'good'. The acting also improves notably, with the exception of Carrie Fisher (who really just isn't a good actor), Mark Hamill is arguably the most improved since the first film, really coming into his own as Luke Skywalker here, and even giving us one of cinema's few good 'NOOO!!!' moments. "The Empire Strikes Back" also introduces us to Yoda, of course, and I'm really surprised at how animated and expressive Yoda is (being, I'm pretty sure, a puppet at this point). The special effects in general are outstanding, outside of a couple of the creatures near the beginning of the film.
It's not just that "The Empire Strikes Back" is an enthralling and exciting film, and an iconic one at that, but it really does work on a deeper level. No, I'm not saying that "The Empire Strikes Back" is some sort of immeasurably complex and subtle film, but what's impressive about it is that it offers spectacle and humor, but is also a genuinely compelling tale driven by its characters, primarily Luke. It's a great, great movie, and where "Star Wars" may fall just short of deserving the sort of praise it gets, "The Empire Strikes Back" really is a terrific movie and deserves all the praise it has received and will receive in the future.
9.5/10