(Credits once more so that no one sues me: This film was directed by Irvin Kershner, story by George Lucas, screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Leigh Brackett, produced by George Lucas. 20th Century Fox, 1980. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher.)
Han and Leia come to Cloud City. Everything here looks very natural. Nothing screams, "We're in a science fiction/fantasy movie!" The citizens wear clothing that looks like something we could wear someday, and they stand around in the background just doing things that normal people do--walking from here to there, having conversations, and so on. It gives the film a look that doesn't age instantly. Of all the movies, Empire is the one that has aged the least. It doesn't look like it was made in the 1970s or 1980s. It looks like it was made in a time outside of time. At the danger of sounding pretentious, I'll stop there. Then Threepio discovers something he shouldn't have and is blown into pieces. Threepio is so non-threatening that anyone who destroys him for seeing something must have a dark agenda, and his dismantling shows us quickly that coming here was a bad idea for the heroes, and that Luke's visions of them suffering were not unfounded.
Leia's upset for many reasons. She doesn't trust Lando, she's worried that Threepio's disappearance could mean trouble for them, and she's also upset that when the ship's ready, Han will take her back to the rebellion and then leave her: "Then you're as good as gone." This statement explains why she left Han on the ship when they were kissing. Then Chewie arrives with a disassembled Threepio, and Lando invites them to dinner. I can't remember my first experience with this movie, but I imagine that first-timers would get a sudden dread of foreboding just before the door opens to reveal Vader. Chewie gives a terrific roar while Han tries to shoot Vader. Of course, you can't shoot Vader. He'll just block the bolts with the Force and telekinetically pull your blaster away from you. Which is exactly what he does to Han. Lando reveals he had no choice but to help the Imperials and is sorry, to which Han replies, "I'm sorry too." Sorry for coming here? Sorry for trusting Lando? Sorry that Lando was put into a tricky situation? All three? Lando is who Han was at the beginning of the last movie, making the best choices to suit himself. The difference here is that Lando also has his city to think about; he's not completely selfish. As he says to Han early on, he has to be a responsible business leader. From that perspective, his betrayal is acceptable--he saves the lives and freedom of everyone in his city, which he has a responsibility to do. Nevertheless, he still betrayed the friend who came to him for help, and he sold him out so that Vader could draw the real target to the city. Perhaps Lando should not have allowed Han to land on the city, forcing his friend to go elsewhere out of the Empire's reach. But, Lando's human and makes very human mistakes and has to deal with the consequences. His desire to retain normalcy at his city has resulted in his friends' capture, possible deaths, and likely loss of his city and business to the Empire after all. After Han calls him "a real hero" for trying to to the best he could in the situation, Lando tries to make amends and fix what he's done, as selling his soul to the devil carries more fine print than he originally thought.
The heroes get taken to a carbon freeze chamber so that Vader can test the carbonite on Han before Luke, just to make sure that the process won't freeze Luke. We've seen before that Vader has no problem killing those on his own side. Now he proves he can walk the walk by freezing one of our heroes just as a test to make sure that it won't kill the real target. The heroes don't even try to escape as they're being marched in. They accept what's happening and know if they tried to escape, they wouldn't make it and would get killed. Han shows his selflessness by calming down Chewie, who's become angry and violent, and telling him to take care of Leia.
Then comes the infamous exchange: "I love you." "I know." Their relationship is such that they never have to say that they love each other. They communicate their feelings with other words. Instead of Leia saying she loved him earlier, she said, "You don't have to do this to impress me," "You have your moments," and even "then you're as good as gone." Now she says clearly how she feels, and he responds that he already knows, not that he loves her back. But she can tell with those two words that he feels the same way; he's just telling her in his distinctive, Han Solo way, which is what she loves about him. Saying "I love you too" would not be Han, and not be what she liked about him. He will eventually say "I love you" in Return of the Jedi, but he doesn't need to say it here for everyone to know his feelings.
In the meantime, Luke has arrived and wanders around Cloud City. He sees Leia and the others being taken away while Leia screams to him to try to alert him to the danger he's in. Instead of fleeing, he keeps walking, convinced that he can still conquer Vader, and is separated from Artoo as a door with teeth-like projectiles clamps down. Luke has been symbolically swallowed by the beast and is entering its belly in the carbon chamber to do battle with Vader and try to save his friends.
The lightsaber duel in Empire is, in my opinion, the best of all the duels in the Star Wars saga. It doesn't have any fancy acrobatics, sure--but in a real sword fight, acrobatics would only be a disadvantage. When I talk about how good it is, I'm not talking about overly-choreographed moves, though the choreography is very clear and shot so that the audience always knows what's happening. I'm talking about the sword duel being a physical representation of the internal conflict within and between Luke and Vader.
The setting could not be better. It takes place in the carbon freeze chamber, full of orange-red lights and blue back-light. As orange and blue are opposite each other on the color wheel, our eyes are drawn to the screen. The inclusion of smoke likens it to a hell, which is where Luke is, though he doesn't know it yet. He has rushed into a fight he's not prepared for on any level. This duel is the most visually appealing of all the duels. The art and set designers really put some thought into it. This scene also contains my favorite line from the Star Wars trilogy: "The Force is with you, young Skywalker...but you are not a Jedi yet." This line is what Yoda and Obi-Wan were telling Luke during training. Luke can feel the presence of the Force, but he can't fully control it. Everybody seems to know this except for Luke, who thinks he has a good chance to kill the man who killed his father and brought about tyranny on the galaxy. Notice that he draws his sabre before Vader, when Yoda told him that Jedi use the Force "for knowledge and defence, never to attack." Luke, in drawing his sabre first, is acting on the offensive. He instigates the duel because he wants to fight Vader instead of being forced into combat and having no choice but to draw his blade to protect himself. Vader, on the other hand, doesn't have the least interest in killing or hurting Luke, but only incapacitating him to take him to the Emperor. Instead of unleashing his great sword skills, which could have ended the duel in seconds, Vader does just well enough to stay on top. All of the talking is meant to distabalise the other fighter. Luke wants to make Vader feel uneasy while Vader wants Luke to start fighting with more anger so that his victory, if he gets one, will be won through violence instead of right.
The funny thing is, Luke still thinks he's going to win in the first phase of the duel. He thinks he's fighting the noble fight, trying to kill the man who's responsible for the deaths of the Jedi and avenging his father's death. But only a "fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as his ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor." Not kill, conquer. Yoda never says anything about killing anyone. Even Obi-Wan in Return of the Jedi never says that Luke has to kill anybody, only to "face Darth Vader again." Luke might have been able to win the battle without ever drawing his sword if he were as deep into knowledge of the Force as Yoda wanted him to be. But he's not--he's still an amateur with a few tricks but not the real knowledge and skill needed to face and overcome such an opponent as Vader. Though Vader's in a robotic body, he shows why he is still a "cunning warrior." He wasn't called one of the greatest Jedi Knights for nothing. He's got power and control that Luke cannot match.
He pushes Vader off the platform, then journeys farther into the heart of Cloud City instead of leaving. At this point, viewers know that Luke can't win and that his best bet would be to leave the room and return to his ship at once. He doesn't, of course, pursuing his foe instead of escaping, which would be the wiser thing to do. He ends up in a dark hallway in front of a glass window overlooking a chasm. I've always loved that window and the brief duel that takes place there to the track "Clash of the Lightsabers." It's aesthetically pleasing in all ways, from the music to the choreography to the colors to the conflict: Vader's overwhelming power and Luke's incompetence. During the duel, Vader starts fighting with the Force; he puts down his saber and telekinetically blasts objects at Luke, who does not possess the concentration to sense and deflect the blows, reacting to them only after the objects have hit him. If he did have the concentration and control, he could send them back at Vader, but he's not even attuned enough to sense the objects in time. He is blown out the broken window hangs on to a catwalk. His desire for revenge on his father's murder has turned into desire just to get out of there with his life.
Lando starts to redeem himself by getting rid of the Imperials in a quiet manner and telling Leia how they might rescue Han. The rescue portion doesn't work out, leaving us anxious for a sequel where Leia does get to rescue him, which, judging by the look of pain and loss on her face when Boba Fett's ship leaves, we know she will do. A quick word about Boba Fett. He's a very competent villain--he figures out at the beginning that the Falcon never went anywhere when it fled from the Empire ship, then follows them, figures where they're going before they get there, alerts the Empire, collects a massive bounty, and has the assurance of another massive bounty for bringing Han back. Fett has very few lines, but they're all about collecting money, making sure Han doesn't die just because "he's worth a lot to me," and checking that he'll have compensation if the carbon freeze goes wrong. Fett is a formidable, competent, clever bad guy, though one that gets little screen time and may or may not deserve the fan clubs.
Meanwhile, Artoo has been wandering around Cloud City and has run into the gang, which delights Threepio, who, while strapped to Chewie's back, has not ceased to insult the Wookiee or Artoo whenever something is going wrong. Threepio still retains his personality in dire situations, which keeps the mood from becoming too dank in these scenes where Leia and Lando try to flee from the Stormtroopers. The special edition tampers with the scenes by adding in windows of the Cloud City exteriors in place of the original white walls. This is one of those cases where I couldn't care less what's going on behind the protagonists. I'm concerned about them, not whether or not I can see what sunset looks like on Cloud City. The change itself doesn't alter the story or suspense, which is why it shouldn't have been changed at all.
The music has been superb throughout the picture, but it really shines in the track "Clash of the Lightsabers," which takes place during the middle stage of the lightsaber duel and the escape from Cloud City to the Falcon. John Williams' score is nothing short of perfect here. It mixes the "Imperial March," "Yoda's Theme," "City in the Clouds," and "Han Solo and the Princess" themes into a tapestry of music that captures the action where all the elements of the film--the invading Empire, Leia and co. trying to escape, Luke's training--all come together. The Han and Leia theme that plays as Artoo opens the door perfectly fits the elation we feel in that finally something has gone right for the heroes; that little droid has saved them all. I think that these films owe part of their popularity to the score. Without it, I really think they'd be slightly less popular. The story is universal and the characters are very engaging, but a small part of the magic comes from the music. When are we going to get a DVD release with the isolated score?
So, the Falcon has escaped, leaving Luke on his own in the city, having been blown out of the glass window onto a lower walkway. In the last portion of the duel, Luke knows he has no chance against Vader. He walks into the hall to try to get back into Cloud City, but Vader jumps out at him. Thanks to the camera angles, Vader looks immense while Luke looks tiny and cowering. Vader swings at Luke, missing every other slash, but still beating the pants off Luke. You know that Vader's better than this, and if he wanted to, he could gut Luke anytime he wanted. And he does. It's only when Luke gets lucky and slashes his shoulder that Vader gets serious and immediately cuts off his hand. Vader then makes the famous revelation that he is Luke's father. Even fans who love the film say that Luke's reaction here looks stupid. Seriously, how would you react if you were in that situation? You probably wouldn't be worried about whether you looked "stupid" or not. You'd just react, no matter how ugly it looked, and that's what Hamill does. The truth is ugly; so's the reaction. Luke chooses then to plummet to his death rather than take Vader's offer to join him and rule the galaxy together. It does sound pretty tempting. Vader gives him an easy way out of the situation and also speaks of bringing order to the galaxy, which is what the rebels want, only in a different way. Instead, Luke, knowing that Vader probably means only to exploit him, and might even kill him, takes the route of noble sacrifice in order to save his soul. Vader's reaction is simple but effective: he stalks out of the city saying "Bring my shuttle!" angrily. He's completely failed in his mission; if there had been an officer around when Luke jumped, another officer would lie on the ground choking to death.
Few movies have ended on the level of utter despair that Luke experiences at the end of this film. He's lost his right hand, found out that the most evil man in the galaxy is his father, Ben and Yoda have forsaken him, he's been beaten down from the sword fight, he's hanging on a weather vane above a poisonous gas planet, and as far as he knows, no one knows where he is and will come to rescue him. This is possibly the most beaten down a hero has ever been. Empire is the second act of a trilogy, which traditionally is the act in which everything is dark for the heroes and nothing goes right: Aristotle called Act 2 the part where you "Throw rocks at the hero." Empire does this in style without ever doing it for the sake of doing it. All the hardships spring naturally from the characters' flaws and poor decisions instead of coming from a hateful universe and events beyond control. With all the hardships the protagonists go through, we're ready to see them triumph in the third act. Without seeing them at their lowest points where the antagonists win, the ultimate victory would be hollow and boring. Here, the heroes don't win. They just barely get free with their lives while the Empire takes control of another society.
So, Luke's hanging upside-down on the weather-vane, echoing the other upside-down scenes on Hoth and Dagobah, creating a Hanged Man motif. Using this kind of mythology and symbolism is yet another way that Lucas reaches us. The Hanged Man in the Tarot is the figure who puts himself in danger or inconvenience to achieve enlightenment. The first time he's seen upside-down, Luke uses the Force to summon his lightsaber to escape from the ice monster. The second time, he stands on his hands while lifting rocks to hone his Force control. The third time, he successfully reaches out and communicates with a person whom has never used the Force (consciously anyway). Each time he is in a bad position but uses it to advance his abilities. He calls out to Ben, then, receiving no reply, tries Leia, who, in a foreshadowing of the plot twist in Return of the Jedi, hears his voice and flies back to pick him up. The return alerts the Empire, and once more they are on the run. Vader reaches out to Luke telepathically and asks him once more to join him. Despite his disbelief in the previous scene, Luke shows that he might believe that Vader is telling the truth in saying, "Father" when Vader first contacts him. Luke does not answer Vader, only asking, "Ben, why didn't you tell me?" He might be asking why Ben never told him back on Tatooine when he asked how his father died. This certainly throws a new light on his teachers and role models. Or, he could be justifying to himself that Vader can't be his father because if that were the case, Ben surely would have told him. However, this issue is not resolved until the next film, leaving yet another plot thread for audiences to stew over. Artoo, meanwhile, has gotten information from the City's computer that the Empire has deactivated the hyperdrive, and takes charge of the situation. Revealing itself/himself/herself as the true hero of the Star Wars saga, Artoo repairs the hyperdrive just in the nick of time and sends the Falcon hurtling through space. Vader looks out in defeat, walks by the Admiral...and doesn't kill him. His head is too full of thoughts to think about killing anyone.
On the edge of the galaxy, Luke gets his hand replaced while Lando and Chewie take off in the Falcon. Han is gone, but a reprise of "Han Solo and the Princess" while Luke and Leia look out over the galaxy assures us that one day, they will rescue him. We're left with many loose ends and unanswered questions which promise answers in the third act. The story is not yet over. A dark film ends on a calm note, letting us know that, while evil has triumphed this time, a small sliver of hope remains for the protagonists.
In this sequel, we get a closer look at the persons whose actions affect the fate of the galaxy. What really makes The Empire Strikes Back a great film and a great sequel is its emphasis on characters over story. As I said before, very little happens in the way of the main plot. On the other hand, much development occurs with the characters, both internally and between each other. Without the emotional core, this film would be just a remake of Star Wars. It might contain many exhilarating fight scenes, but if it's essentially the same movie only with different locations, then we won't care about the outcomes. That is not the case here. We do see them grow and try different things and fail. We don't see them doing the same things they did in Star Wars. If the audience wanted to see them do the same things they did in Star Wars, they could watch Star Wars. Instead, we have a very different kind of film that revolves more around philosophy, internal struggles, making decisions and living with the outcomes.
Also of note as that the special effects, costumes, and locations exist to serve the story rather than to look pretty in their own right. The models all look excellent, the lightsabers look slightly gritty in comparison to the overly-sleek blade designs of the prequel trilogy, the clothes look probable to wear, the ships and locations look like people actually use them and live in them (and, of course, break on occasion), and the puppetry exists to make a memorable character instead of to show off what the company can do with puppetry. This is a big reason why the film still is good and hasn't really aged. The look and special effects serve the story and the characters' journeys. The film is not a demo of reel of what the company can do with special effects. Many of the effects were cutting-edge, but the film doesn't make a big deal out of them. They exist for the story: the story wasn't cobbled together so that ILM could show off the new ways they could make ships fly around. The film is also abound in mythological archtypes, from visual motifs to character types, used in new ways. Universal ideas make the story accessible to everyone in all times, and that's why it still touches us. It has themes and characters that everyone can relate to, it structured well, doesn't look dated or hokey, and has that great score. Bravo, Empire cast and crew.
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