Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers:

Leigh Brackett (screenplay) and
Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 May 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The Adventure Continues...

Plot:

While Luke takes advanced Jedi training from Yoda, his friends are relentlessly pursued by Darth Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Empire | Training | Rebel | Rescue

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams	...	Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
David Prowse	...	Darth Vader
Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
Kenny Baker	...	R2-D2
Frank Oz	...	Yoda (voice)
Alec Guinness	...	Ben 'Obi-wan' Kenobi
Jeremy Bulloch	...	Boba Fett
John Hollis	...	Lando's Aide
Jack Purvis	...	Chief Ugnaught
Des Webb	...	Snow Creature
Clive Revill	...	Emperor (voice)

Also Known As:

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (USA) (video box title)
The Empire Strikes Back (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action violence. (special edition, DVD version)

Runtime:

124 min | USA:127 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS (special edition) | Dolby Digital (special edition) | SDDS (special edition) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #26034) | Iceland:12 (original rating) (theatrical release) | Iceland:12 (special edition) | Iceland:LH (original rating) (video release) | Germany:6 (video rating) | Malaysia:U | Canada:G (British Columbia/Quebec) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | South Africa:PG | Netherlands:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) (special edition) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Chile:TE | Denmark:11 (special edition) | Denmark:12 (original rating) | Finland:K-10 (special edition) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | France:U | Hong Kong:I | Ireland:G | Netherlands:AL (video rating) (special edition) (1990s) | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 (re-rating) | Norway:12 (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (special edition) | Spain:T (special edition) | Sweden:11 (special edition) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:U | West Germany:12 | Mexico:AA

Filming Locations:

Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, USA

Company:

Lucasfilm

Trivia:

This is the first film to have a 5.1 surround sound mix.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the part where Luke jumps off the platform in the carbon freezing chamber, you can clearly hear the sound of a trampoline and then you can see the top of Luke's head pop into the bottom left corner of the screen.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Luke: Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, old buddy, do you read me?
Han Solo: Loud and clear, kid. What's up?
Luke: Well, I finished my circle. I don't pick up any life readings.
Han Solo: There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser. Sensors are placed. I'm going back.
Luke: Right. I'll see you shortly. There's a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won't take long.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Office: Michael's Birthday (#2.19)" (2006)

A worthy second (or 5th??) Star Wars installment, might be the best of the bunch.

My five children were all pre-teens when 'The Empire Strikes Back' came to the theater. While there had been other Sci-Fi movies with a theme of conflict in outer space, the 'Star Wars' trilogy filled our imaginations like no other movies before them. The fantastic, strange worlds were presented almost like we were there too. Aliens sitting around a tavern, enjoying drinks and speaking in all sorts of languages. Nothing before had approached the sheer size of the space ships depicted here, huge cities traveling all over the galaxy. And how about the jump to hyper speed, then disappearing from the screen as the speed exceeds light speed! And the light sabres of the Jedi Knights. The Jedi Knights, a striking parallel to the Japanese Samurai.

It is fruitless trying to argue 'which is best' in a trilogy, because the first one, in this case 'Star Wars', starts it all and has to be the 'father'. However, an argument can be made that 'The Empire Strikes Back' (now on DVD called Episode V) is overall a better-made movie which has more excitement, and grabs your imagination,than the other two original installments (now called parts IV and VI). The DVDs finally came out last month, and they are near perfect, as we should expect from Lucas Films and THX. The bit rate is high, and the picture is nothing short of superb. As is the Dolby EX surround track.

My wife and I watched all three of the movies on DVD this week -- Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi -- compliments of our local public library. It was an appropriate reminder how good these movies are, and still ahead of their time. Nothing else has been made to compare to them.