What Makes "The Empire Strikes Back" Great.

When asked even to this day of what the best star wars movie is, most people will say Empire Strikes Back, and, yeah it definitely is.

What I notice when I go back and watch the original star wars, is that there are some considerable acting and narrative problems. From Carrie Fisher trying and giving up on a British accent, Luke winging all the time, to Obi-Wan calling Darth Vader "Darth". While this far from kills the movie, these issues are worth noting. Empire, however, is where everything was coming together. George Lucas stepped down as director for Empire and was replaced by Irvin Kershner, whether it would have made a difference of whether it was George or Irvin is debatable, but the amazing work he did behind the camera cannot be ignored. Empire is also the best looking star wars film of the original trilogy. The different planets and locations in the film have so much detail, from the dark swampland of Dagobah to the beautiful and colorful Cloud City. The lightning and cinematography are Star Wars at it's absolute best. The darkness and rising smoke of the carbon freezing facility is an awesome image. The scene Yoda watches Luke Leave Dagobah with the colors of his ship surrounding him and the environment is also visually amazing. Lets also not forget the beautifully shot and gritty lightsaber dual at the end. The music is also the best we have seen from star wars. It's actually the first star wars film to play the iconic "March of The Empire" theme.

The performances and characters are also much improved from the first film. All the returning actors have a much larger grasp have who their characters are here. Harrison Ford is even better as Han Solo here as his more fleshed out than just being just the cocky space smuggler that we loved in the first film, which he still is here. The Romance subplot between Han and Leia( Carrie Fisher also great here) doesn't feel slapped on and builds up in a realistic way to the point where this two drastically different people hooking up makes perfect sense. The two actually act like a married couple with their constant bickering and arguments shown throughout the film, they act as they would rather live without each other, but in the end, they can't leave without one another, like any great couples. Luke is also more fleshed out then he was in the first film. While he is still a little whiny when he is around Yoda, he feels more like a real person here. The scene where he packs to leave for Cloud City knowing it is a trap and being told by Yoda and Obi-Wan that this is a bad idea is a great highlight for the character as he knows that Yoda and Obi-Wan are probably right, but he just can't live with the idea of his friends suffering for him and not being able to do anything about it. This is pulled off thanks in large part to Mark Hamil'l's more well-rounded performance as Luke Skywalker. The other characters are also great. R2 and C3PO provide charming comic relief when needed, and Yoda makes his first appearance in Star Wars Count in the best way possible. Darth Vader however, steals the show here. He is even more ruthless here then he was in the first film. He kills his own officers for their failures, and he shows just how much Luke has to learn with the force. His ruthlessness perfectly symbolizes the dark turn the franchise takes in this. The empire does indeed strike back here as the good guys constantly get dealt blows from all sides. The heroes are on the run throughout almost the entire movie and every time it looks like they're safe, everything goes wrong.

Empire while being the darkest of the trilogy is also quite possibly the funniest. Such great lines like "Laugh it up fuzzball", and "You scruffy-looking Nerf header" are for me right up there with "I am your father", and "Do or do not, there is no try". Yoda when he puts on the act of old fool when he first meets Luke is also very funny.

Despite the recent resurgence in star wars films, Empire still stands its ground as the saga at it's absolute best. It has everything people love about Star Wars and then some.