(Credits so I don't get sued: 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.)
The movie starts with the title and a summary, like Star Wars. We learn that the rebels have lost their base and are pursued by the Empire. Already, we know that things are going poorly for the heroes, which makes us want to keep watching and find out just how they're doing. We also learn that Vader is obsessed with finding Luke in particular, a foreshadowing of the great revelation at the end. We then see an Empire ship releasing droids to find the rebels' new location. Cut to the ice planet Hoth. Ice and snow is a great place to set the opening, as a snow desert is inherently dangerous to us--plant life is limited or nonexistant, food cannot be easily found, and exposure can kill in minutes. The cold is just one more oppressive force on the heroes and is a good start to this film in which the heroes don't win. We see Luke on an ice creature talking to Han about going to check out the Empire droid, which he thinks is a meteor. He is then attacked by an ice monster and dragged away. It's four minutes into the movie and our hero is already in great danger. We have a reason to keep watching. Great job. This movie achieves in its first scene what other movies fail to accomplish in the first twenty minutes--a reason to care and stick around to see where the story goes. Granted, it is a sequel and thus has less to explain, but even sequels can get bogged down in introductions, and this one doesn't. Starting the movie with danger and suspense gives us a forboding of the dark things that are coming in this second act of a trilogy.
Cut to Han returning to Echo Base, where he sees Leia. This is her first appearance in the film; she looks at him and then looks away. Already, we know that something has changed between them since we saw them at the awards ceremony at the end of Star Wars when they were smiling and winking at each other. We don't know if they were together, are together, or if someone or something came between them, but we're intrigued and want to know what the relationship between the two is. Han tells the general that he's going to leave to pay off Jabba, which means that he may not return. He then goes to Leia and says, "Well your Highness, I guess this is it." She responds flatly, like she couldn't care less about whether he stays or goes, "That's right." The audience thinks that Han might say something loving or give a fond farewell, but he subverts it with a smug "Well don't get all mushy on me, so long Princess." And he leaves. So that she has to come after him, as he knew she would. Wow. They have a great dialogue sequence as Han tries to get Leia to say she likes him, but she never gives in. The sparks and words between them are electrifying and leave the audience very interested in where their relationship will go.
Then we have the first appearance of the droids C-3P0 (Threepio) and R2-D2 (Artoo). They are arguing, and even though we don't know what the beeps and whistles mean, we understand exactly what Artoo is saying. Threepio ends with, "Oh, switch off." Yes, we're back. These are the same characters we know from Star Wars, and they're still doing what they were doing. Lucas and Kershner don't have to explain who or what everybody and everything is. They just present them and we remember, and we're happy to be back with these droids that have such human interactions. Threepio tells Han about Leia's concern that it's getting cold and dark outside and nobody knows where Luke is. Han responds with, "What do you mean, nobody knows?" What's so good about this moment is that it shows Han's genuine concern over his friend without being gushy and sentimental. Han doesn't become quiet and solemn; that's not Han. He's baffled, he's irritated, he's a bit angry, he's Han. He's not so cold inside that he can't show concern; he just displays it in his own style.
He decides to go out into the freezing weather to rescue Luke, which could kill him, but he doesn't care because the weather's getting too cold and his "friend's out in it." This is a huge moment for Han without drawing attention to that fact that it's a huge moment for Han. He wants to leave to pay back Jabba; he doesn't care about the Rebellion enough to stay and risk more bounty hunters coming after him. But he draws the line at the safety of his friends. He cares more about Luke's safety than his own, and certainly more than he cares about paying off a gangster. He's grown since the first movie. He doesn't care about risking himself for great causes, but he does care about others enough to risk his life. While not a selfless person, he's come a long way while retaining his roguish personality.
Luke escapes from the ice cave and the monster by using the Force. Though he technically used it in the end of the first movie, this is the first time when we really see him use the Force and witness the direct effects. He runs out into the snow and nearly freezes to death before Obi-Wan appears and tells him to seek the Jedi Yoda. Let me take a quick aside here to comment on the perceived mistake of Ben telling Luke that Yoda was his master and not Qui-Gon, as is revealed in the prequels. First of all, the prequels hadn't even been conceived when this film was made, so the mistake comes in the prequels for not matching up to this bit of information. Secondly, Qui-Gon has nothing to do with anything going on on Hoth, Dagobah, or in this trilogy. So why should Ben mention him? Luke is freezing--Ben tells Luke only the bare essentials that he needs to know. How would the conversation go if he did mention his old master? "You will learn from Yoda, the Jedi master who instructed me. Until I was about ten, then a guy named Qui-Gon took over and taught me most of what I knew before he got killed by a Sith and I took my own apprentice and..." Meanwhile Luke freezes to death... This information is completely unnecessary to the story, so Ben leaves it out. Think how messed up Luke would have been if he thought he had to go to the Qui-Gon system to seek Yodagobah.
Meanwhile, Leia is anxious that her friends haven't returned because the doors have to be closed. Kershner turns a normally mundane activity into a suspenseful event: closing the doors means closing them out in the snow, possibly to die. The implication is that the doors can't be opened after the temperature falls too low or the rebels risk the safety of the people inside. Chewie's growl as the doors close says everything. Here is yet another character who doesn't need to speak English (or whatever language the film is dubbed into) to communicate his sentiments. Han finds Luke and returns the next morning. It turns out that he has to stay longer until certain preparations are finished. Han provokes Leia by saying that the real reason Han can't leave is because she doesn't want a handsome man like him to leave. Then Leia kisses Luke--not out of lust, but to spite Han. Han thinks he's won and proven that Leia likes him while talking in front of Luke. She responds the best way she can in the situation--by kissing the other possible rival for her affection. Many fans interpret this kiss as an incestual passionate kiss. I don't think it is. Leia kisses Luke, looks at Han with an expression that says, "See? Would I be able to do that if I loved you?" and leaves. She doesn't love Luke--she wants to one-up Han. Han and Chewie then go out to take care of the Imperial probe droid, which prompts the rebels to start evacuating their base.
Then we see the Empire properly. It marks the first appearance of the "Imperial March" theme, and hearing it in conjunction with seeing a spaceship that's the size of France instills terror. The Death Star is gone, but the Empire is still doing fine. They have the money and resources to pursue the rebels wherever they go, and in the biggest starships that one can conceivably make. The Imperials discover the location of the base from the droid and prepare to go to Hoth. Then Vader gets scary. One of his officers has made a decision that alerted the rebels before the Empire was ready. Vader calls him on the intercom and Force chokes him to death simply by looking at him on a screen. Not only can Vader kill somebody without lifting a finger, he doesn't even have to be in the same room as him/her. Maybe he can do it from light-years away. That is a terrifying villain to have. The leash that Leia said Tarkin was keeping Vader on in Star Wars is gone. He will kill subordinates for infractions and immediately promote someone else to take their places. And if he has no problem killing those on his own side, then he won't have a problem doing the same to his enemies. You can't run away from this guy--he'll get you anyway if he wants to. If a villain is incompetent, then there is no suspense, and the viewers can't feel the struggle that the protagonists endure. For the audience to appreciate the heroes' victory, they have to go up against a good villain, and Darth Vader is a great villain in this movie.
Aside: does anyone else get the feeling that Ozzel is a Rebel sympathizer, or even a double agent? He pulls out of lightspeed too close to Hoth, alerting the Rebels. Earlier, he wasn't at all interested in the base Piett found and was ready to ignore it and not tell Vader. When Vader says that it is the base they're looking for, Ozzel tries to talk Vader out of it by claiming it could be anything else. He looks angry rather than excited at the end of the scene. Why would that be? Well...he could be a double agent for the Rebels and wanted to get word to them that the Empire was coming before telling the Empire about the base. When that wasn't possible because Vader found out about the base too soon, the only way for him to get word to the Rebellion was to pull out of hyperspace too close to the planet. Or, he's a sympathizer who hates the Empire and wants to help the Rebellion even if he can't be a part of it, so he does whatever he can to help them, even die for them. Maybe he doesn't have Rebel sympathies, but those scenes suddenly make more sense when you think about them like that.
The rebels know that Imperial forces are coming and they prepare for the battle. This next bit is just a little moment, but this film has so many little moments that they all add up to create one great movie. One of the rebels spots an AT-AT and calls it in. We then see Artoo gliding down the hall at the base, where some dirt from the ceiling falls on him (her? it? droids don't reproduce, so...). Even though the AT-ATs are almost too far away to be seen through binoculars, they are close enough to shake the dirt in the rebel base onto Artoo's dome. Once again, forboding and dread. And those elephant walkers are threatening.
Then there is the battle. It's an interesting one because it comes at the beginning of the film and because we have the oddest feeling that the rebels are not remotely going to win. They're going to do the best they can, but they probably can't stand up to those elephant walkers. This isn't the first movie anymore. They don't have any secrets to help them beat the Empire, they're not going to destroy any major Empire stations, they don't have any big advantages. All they can do is have their rag-tag team stall the Empire while everyone makes a getaway. That's really all that happens in this film in regards to the main rebels-against-the-Empire plot: the rebels get chased away from their base and regroup on the edge of the galaxy to plan for another attack. That is all. Is this bad for the film? Heavens no. This focus elevates rather than dampens the film because this film is not about the rebels fighting the Empire. It's about the spiritual and emotional journeys of Luke, Leia, and Han. They hide out from the Empire, develop relationships with others, grow spiritually, make terrible decisions and live with the consequences, if they're lucky enough to live through the consequences. But that comes later.
So they have the battle, which gives us some good action with A-wing ships toppling walkers, and Luke downing a walker with a lightsaber and a grenade. The Empire still gets through to the base, which the rebels knew would happen but just needed to stall long enough to get the major equipment off-planet. Han and Leia try to escape on the Falcon, which is having major issues with minor things like, you know, starting up. Han turns on the lights in the cockpit; they promptly turn off. He bangs his fist against the wall and lights come back on. It's a throwaway joke that shows us how similar a galaxy far, far away is. Even in technologically advanced societies where some people can lift things with their minds, all you have to do is bang your hand on the wall and the ship will start working again. It's a funny moment, which you need in a dark, serious movie, but it's not too funny. Something too funny would break the atmosphere of the movie. It's low-key instead of slapstick, natural instead of forced. That coupled with Leia's line about getting out and pushing feels real. The characters don't call attention to the humor. They're not trying to be funny, which is why the humor works. This film has many more moments like these that lighten the tension but don't come across as overwrought.
Han and Leia just barely escape. Luke also leaves Hoth in his X-wing in search of Dagobah. The main characters are now separated from each other and will be until the beginning of Return of the Jedi. They don't have each other to rely on like they did in Star Wars. Han and Leia stick together, but Luke is on his own.
End of Part I
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