As movie theaters across the country continue to reopen, classic movies are being shown at select theaters. “Hocus Pocus,” “Psycho,” and “The Empire Strikes Back” are some of the movies that have or will be shown in theaters. As a big Star Wars fan, I thought it was a cool opportunity to see an all-time classic in theaters 40 years after it was released. This is one of my favorite movies and this is my favorite movie series, so I loved it. 

How Does This Movie Hold Up After 40 Years?

I would say that this movie holds up extremely well. The graphics are really good for a 1980 movie and the storyline is amazing. The characters are all loved and remembered, as everyone knows Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, and of course the dark lord, Darth Vader. This movie, the second movie made in the Star Wars Skywalker Saga, also introduced us to many new characters; Boba Fett the bounty hunter (he was in A New Hope, but was put in that movie in the 2004 re-releases), Lando Calrissian, the leader of Bespin, Emperor Palpatine, and of course Jedi Master Yoda, who everyone has come to know and love. 

On to the storyline that I mentioned above… The plot is great and it makes for a classic film. The film starts off with a star destroyer releasing probe droids into space to find the rebel base. The rebel base is on Hoth and the Empire finds them. The rebels have to flee and Luke, Leia, and Han split up. Later on in the movie, Luke and R2-D2 go to Dagobah to train with Jedi Master Yoda, and Leia, Han, Chewie, and C-3PO try to escape the Empire on Han’s ship, the Millenium Falcon. This ship is also where Han and Leia start to fall in love. The ship starts to have problems with the hyper drive (which means they can’t go into lightspeed to escape the Empire, so they have to go to Bespin to fix the ship and we meet Lando here. This is where the Empire finally catches these rebels and Han is frozen in carbonite and given to Boba Fett. Boba Fett wants Han Solo because Han has a bounty on his head. Boba wants to give him to Jabba the Hutt for money. This is when the climactic fight between Luke and Darth Vader takes place. Vader beats Luke in lightsaber combat and completely overpowers him throughout the fight. This leads to one of the most famous quotes in cinematic history. “No, I am your father,” Vader says this to Luke after he cuts his hand off. Speaking of famous quotes, Yoda has a great one in this movie as well: “Do or do not, there is no try.”

Rating and Recommendation

I would definitely give this movie a 10 out of 10. Irvin Kershner directed a great movie with little to no flaws. The nit-pickers may not even be able to find anything wrong with this movie. As an avid Star Wars fan, I loved this and would highly recommend this movie to anyone.