BBM Enterprises Online - The Empire Strikes Back review

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empitre Strikes Back
                                  Score - 9.3

   Bush - 9.5          Mahon - 9
   Burns - 9.5

   1980
   124 mins
   dir - Irvin Kershner
   stars - Mark Hamill           - Luke Skywalker
              Harrison Ford        - Han Solo
              Carrie Fisher          - Princess Leia Organa
              Billy Dee Williams   - Lando Calrissian
              Alec Guinness        - Obi-Wan Kenobi
              Frank Oz               - Yoda
              Anthony Daniels     - C-3PO
              Kenny Baker          - R2-D2
              Peter Mayhew        - Chewbacca
              David Prowse         - Darth Vader

    The Empire Strikes Back is a far superior sequel to the original Star Wars movie and to some extent most of the points that I critisised Star Wars for were rectified in The Empire Strikes Back. Mark Hamill's acting has improved, it is better directed, the script is far better and it allows for better character and a tighter storyline and the story as a whole is better.
     The Empire Strikes Back is all about telling the story in full and explaining what the heck the first movie was all about, we learn about the force and what it is and where the characters come into the tale and some background on Darth Vader and what has to be done to conquer the Empire. This is probably one of the reasons that I used to like Return of the Jedi the best of the three because in order to explain the story some of the excitement and action that we were treated to in Star Wars has to be sacrificed, it is a very dark movie and it is definitely aimed less at children than the others.
     The first battle in the snow is in my opinion one of the best things in the whole trilogy but after this the movie slows down as we see Luke training with Yoda whilst the rest of them are trying to evade Darth Vader and his cronies. Vader then uses Han Solo, Leia and the rest to set a trap for Skywalker and this sets up the movie for the fantastic ending. It follows straight on from Star Wars and finishes so that you can watch Return of the Jedi straight after it and it could just be one massive four hour epic.
     The Empire Strikes Back is best summed up by a short conversation about the merits of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi between Dante and Randal from the movie Clerks:

Randal: What did you like better Jedi or The Empire Strikes Back?
Dante: Empire.
Randal: Last for me.
Dante: Empire had the better ending, I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett it ends on such a down note, I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets.

click here to here it in full