Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back Review

By Eric Pierce

Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back is, perhaps, one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made. The movie has something for everyone. Love, revenge, drama, and mystique. For people that need somewhere safe to retreat to when the world gets too hard to deal with, don't forget about episode five.

There are many different reasons why this is one of the best science fiction movies made. There is such a journey to go on for the viewer. Starting out on the ice planet Hoth where a ragtag band of rebels is struggling to survive as they hope the Empire will not be able to track them down and eventually ending up on a city in the clouds.

Of course this movie wouldn't have had as much appeal if the rebels sat around on Hoth the whole movie, so the Empire does find them. What follows is the best battle in the Star Wars movies. The ground battle for Hoth is an amazing example of a small group trying to repeal a much larger force invading them. The only answer for the rebels was to cut and run and live to fight another day.

After barely escaping, the main characters decide to split up. Luke goes to find Yoda, who is going to train him in the ways of the force. The training that takes place is some of the best examples of just how in over his head Luke was. He really had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.

While Luke is learning he may not have what it takes to be a Jedi, the rest of the gang is still trying to get away from the Empire. A faulty hyper-drive has left them stuck on the run, and they can't just jump away like everyone else was able to do. So they are in constant peril, always just barely ahead of the Empire who is hot on their tales.

The movie ends when all the characters make their way to Cloud City. There Luke learns that Darth Vader is actually his father. But even though they all fought and were captured for the sake of trying to further the rebellion, and even though Luke gets some of the worst news of his life, no one really ends up winning. They fight only so that they can live to fight another day.

The whole movie is about a handful of people on the run from a huge organization. This is why it works so well and why it has lasted as such an iconic movie for so long. This is the quintessential underdog story. The group that has no move but to be on the run.

There are some allegories to the real world in this story. So often small groups fighting for what they believe in are chased by an overwhelmingly large force. It doesn't always end up the way it ends up in Star Wars, and we see in the end of this movie that it might not end well for this group either.

No one knows what is going to come after Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back the first time they see it. They might think that everything will work out alright, but there is no proof that it will. The ending of this movie leaves everyone hoping things will be good for these characters in the future, but there is no indication that will be the case save for that they have finally caught back up with the rest of the rebel fleet.

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