{"id":18798,"date":"2015-12-16T14:43:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T04:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=18798"},"modified":"2015-12-16T22:33:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-16T12:33:16","slug":"star-wars-episode-v-the-empire-strikes-back-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=18798","title":{"rendered":"Star Wars Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back [1980]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tagfilm\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"empirestrikesbackposter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Director: \u00a0<\/strong>Irvin Kershner
\nWriter: \u00a0<\/strong>Lawrence Kasdan, Leigh Brackett,\u00a0George Lucas
\nCast: \u00a0<\/strong>Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher<\/p>\n

T<\/span>he Empire Strikes Back<\/em> is often lauded as the finest film in the Star Wars<\/em> series and with good reason.\u00a0 The film built upon the foundations of A New Hope<\/em>\u00a0and expanded the lore of the Star Wars<\/em> universe even further.\u00a0 It delivered a famous revelation about Darth Vader\u2019s heritage and had the confidence to end the film on a dark cliff hanger where the Empire regained its hold of the galaxy and the fate of Han Solo \u2013 frozen in carbonite and left in the possession of Jabba the Hutt \u2013 was left uncertain.<\/p>\n

The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>\u2019s world building storyline might seem like par for the course in a modern context but in its day, it was a revelation.\u00a0 Most blockbuster franchises of its time \u2013 Jaws, Superman etc<\/em> \u2013 were very much a case of diminishing returns with each sequel gradually introducing sillier villains, more contrived storylines and smaller box office takings.\u00a0 The Empire Strikes Back<\/em> stood shoulder to shoulder with A New Hope<\/em> in terms of quality and was clearly positioned as a middle chapter in a trilogy that trusted audiences would follow the narrative arc across three films.\u00a0 Its serialized format paved the way for how film studios approach film franchises today.<\/p>\n

Empire<\/em> begins on the icy planet of Hoth where, after a brief interlude with an interplanetary yeti, Luke Skywalker joins the\u00a0Rebel Alliance who are desperately try to hold out against the encroaching AT-AT walkers who are marching towards their base camp.\u00a0 It\u2019s a thrilling opening act that stands out as one of the best battle sequences in the series.\u00a0 In the end, the Rebel Alliance is no match for the fire power\u00a0of the Empire and they are forced to flee.\u00a0 Luke and Han part ways with Luke searching for the old Jedi master Yoda and Han seeking the council of his old friend Lando Calrissian at Cloud City.<\/p>\n

\"empirestrikes\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Things really don\u2019t get a whole lot better for the Rebel Alliance in The<\/em> Empire Strikes Back<\/em>.\u00a0 They are constantly thwarted and outmanoeuvred by Darth Vader and the bounty hunter Boba Fett at every turn.\u00a0 Han is captured by the Empire and handed over to Boba Fett who intends to deliver him to Jabba the Hutt to claim a bounty.\u00a0 Luke Skywalker finds the reclusive Yoda on the swamp planet Dagobah and after some convincing\u00a0by the ghost of the late Obi Wan Kenobi, Yoda reluctantly agrees to help train Skywalker to become a Jedi master.<\/p>\n

Luke cuts the training short when he has a premonition of Han and Leia in trouble and he travels to Cloud City to battle with Darth Vader. \u00a0Luke is soundly beaten and Vader lops off his hand with a light saber.\u00a0 But not before delivering the most famous line in the series \u2013 \u201cNo, I<\/em> am your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Empire Strikes Back<\/em> is an important film in the Star Wars<\/em> series because it allows the villains to shine and win the day. \u00a0In Empire<\/em>,\u00a0Darth Vader is a greater warrior than Luke.\u00a0 Boba Fett outwits Han Solo.\u00a0 If the trilogy of Star Wars\u00a0<\/em>films was about the Rebel Alliance blowing up three consecutive Death Stars I don\u2019t think they would have worked nearly as well or have been as fondly remembered. \u00a0The catharsis we feel at the end of\u00a0Return of the Jedi<\/em> only works because of the ground work laid out in Empire<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\"atat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Empire Strikes Back<\/em> also sees some of the most significant\u00a0character development in the series.\u00a0 Luke\u2019s rash and impulsive actions in this film lead to his defeat at the hands of Vader and he has to learn from this before confronting him in Return of the Jedi<\/em>.\u00a0 After being torn between Luke and Han, Leia chooses her man and develops a romantic relationship with Han (she dodged a bullet there).\u00a0 Surprisingly, this sort of crucial character development is something of a scarcity in modern film franchises. \u00a0I can think of way too many film series\u00a0(Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers<\/em> to name a couple) where the lead character remains exactly the same from the first film to the last.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a strong case for Empire<\/em> being the best film in the series.\u00a0 It has the Battle of Hoth.\u00a0 It has the most memorable line in the series.\u00a0 Some of the most iconic characters are introduced in this film. \u00a0Thematically, it remains the darkest and most ambitious chapter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the rebels have been brutally overpowered by the Empire on their newly established base, Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training with Master Yoda, while his friends are pursued by Darth Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1800,5],"tags":[2358,1036,2355,2356,779,2357],"class_list":["post-18798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classics","category-films","tag-carrie-fisher","tag-george-lucas","tag-harrison-ford","tag-mark-hamill","tag-star-wars","tag-the-empire-strikes-back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18798"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18837,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798\/revisions\/18837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}