Widely considered to be the greatest entry in the Star Wars saga, The Empire Strikes Back is a pitch-perfect action-adventure masterpiece that never gets old. Thanks to its fast-paced storytelling and abundance of iconic moments, Empire stands up to countless repeat viewings. While Luke Skywalker is training in the ways of the Force with Yoda on Dagobah, Han and Leia are being relentlessly pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and the full force of the Empire.
Like its predecessor, The Empire Strikes Back finds the ideal balance between thrilling the audience with large-scale action-packed set pieces and humanizing the characters with quieter interpersonal moments.
Character Moment: Yoda’s Fight With R2-D2
When Yoda first meets Luke, he doesn’t let on that he is the legendary Jedi warrior he seeks; instead, he pretends to be a batty old hermit who can take him to Yoda. He roots around in Luke’s belongings and nibbles on his dinner. Then, when R2-D2 tries to stop him, Yoda starts smacking the little astro droid on the head with his cane.
Just two decades earlier, the same character was doing triple-flips through the Galactic Senate floor in a frenzied lightsaber duel with Darth Sidious.
Action Scene: Luke Trips Up An AT-AT Walker On Hoth
As the Rebels get ready to defend their base on Hoth from an Imperial attack, they’re horrified to see giant AT-AT walkers trudging toward them in the distance. The snowspeeder pilots, Luke among them, fly out into the snowy plains to take them down.
Luke deploys a hook from the back of his speeder, attaches it to one of the walker’s legs, and wraps the line around its three other legs to trip it over.
Character Moment: Han & Leia’s First Kiss
Throughout the first act of The Empire Strikes Back, Han and Leia’s romantic tension turns hostile as Han leaves the Rebel base (and, effectively, the Rebel cause) to go to Tatooine and pay off his debts to Jabba. Being stuck on the Falcon, chased across the galaxy by the Empire, forces Han and Leia to confront their feelings for each other.
This culminates in their first kiss — a big, sweeping, cinematic moment with a grand, romantic score — which is hilariously interrupted by C-3PO in the most awkward way possible. One of the funniest things about Threepio is that he can communicate in millions of different ways, but he has no social awareness.
Action Scene: The Asteroid Field
Unlike the jaunty, slow-moving chase in The Last Jedi’s middle act, The Empire Strikes Back’s second-act pursuit is a thrilling masterclass in action filmmaking. The plucky little Falcon is mercilessly chased through the cosmos by a gargantuan Super Star Destroyer, an entire Imperial fleet, and a band of notorious bounty hunters led by Boba Fett.
One of Han’s first moves is to fly directly into an asteroid field to disperse the fleet. C-3PO informs him they have a 3,720-to-1 chance of survival, to which Han bluntly replies, “Never tell me odds!”
Character Moment: Yoda Lifts Luke’s X-Wing Out Of The Swamp
This is one of the most inspiring moments in the Star Wars saga. When Luke decides to abandon his Jedi training to save Han and Leia, he’s disheartened to discover that his X-wing is submerged in the swamp. Yoda insists it’s possible to move it with the Force, but Luke gives it a try and deems it impossible.
Then, Yoda raises his hand and lifts the ship out of the swamp and onto the adjacent bank, ready for flight. Do, or do not — there is no try.
Action Scene: Escaping From The Exogorth
Commonly known as a “space slug,” the exogorth became one of the Star Wars universe’s most recognizable creatures with just one brief on-screen appearance. Han decides to lay low in a cave and wait for the Empire’s forces to pass, but the cave begins to collapse and they realize it’s not a cave at all; it’s the mouth of a giant slug.
The miniature model work by Lorne Peterson and his team at Industrial Light & Magic is impeccable. Where some schlocky CGI sequences from three years ago don’t hold up today, Empire’s exogorth scene still has the ability to thrill.
Character Moment: “I Love You.” “I Know.”
In the original script for The Empire Strikes Back, after Leia told Han she loved him, Han was supposed to say, “I love you, too.” But Harrison Ford didn’t think this was original enough, or very characteristic of Han, so he changed it to the now-iconic version of the exchange.
As Han is about to be frozen in carbonite and sent to an uncertain fate at the hands of his ruthless creditors, Leia finally confesses, “I love you,” and Han casually replies, “I know.”
Action Scene: Han Shoots At Vader
When Lando takes Han and his friends to dinner and the door slides open, they instantly realize it’s a trap as Darth Vader and Boba Fett are waiting for them.
Han is hopelessly outmatched by Vader and he knows it, but that doesn’t stop him from drawing his blaster and taking a few shots anyway — that’s Han all over. Vader deflects Han’s first few shots before seizing his blaster with the Force.
Character Moment: “No, I Am Your Father.”
Due to its countless parodies and three whole movies about Luke’s mom and dad making his parentage less of a secret, The Empire Strikes Back’s “I am your father” twist has lost a lot of its impact.
But it still has the ability to shock new viewers who go in without any spoilers or background knowledge, and it’s still arguably the greatest plot twist in movie history.
Action Scene: Luke & Vader’s Climactic Duel
When Luke cuts his Jedi training short to confront Darth Vader on Cloud City, Yoda warns him that he’s not ready to face the dreaded Sith Lord. Since Han and Leia are in danger, Luke doesn’t believe he has a choice and jets over there anyway.
Luke gets his clock cleaned in his first duel with Vader. As Yoda predicted, he’s woefully unprepared to tangle with the most powerful, most evil Force user in the galaxy.