The Empire Strikes Back

"The Star Wars saga continues."

1980 2h 4m EN

🙌

8.4

BANGER

★8.4TMDB · 18,954

AdventureActionScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The epic saga continues as Luke Skywalker, in hopes of defeating the evil Galactic Empire, learns the ways of the Jedi from aging master Yoda. But Darth Vader is more determined than ever to capture Luke. Meanwhile, rebel leader Princess Leia, cocky Han Solo, Chewbacca, and droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are thrown into various stages of capture, betrayal and despair.

“The Star Wars saga continues.”

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Cast

Mark Hamill
Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford
Han Solo
Carrie Fisher
Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams
Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels
C-3PO
David Prowse
Darth Vader
Peter Mayhew
Chewbacca
Kenny Baker
R2-D2

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Irvin Kershner
Writers: Lawrence Kasdan, Leigh Brackett, George Lucas
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $538M — a 29.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Part of the "Star Wars Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Irvin Kershner, shot by Peter Suschitzky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Marcia Lucas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The Star Wars saga continues.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Irvin Kershner directs. Peter Suschitzky behind the camera. John Williams scores. Marcia Lucas cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $538M — a 29.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
246 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Star Wars Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Irvin Kershner, shot by Peter Suschitzky. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Marcia Lucas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The Star Wars saga continues.".
9IMDB entry: tt0080684 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1018,954 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "rebellion", "android", "spacecraft", "asteroid".
12Released under 76 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Suschitzky
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Marcia Lucas
Production design: Norman Reynolds
Costume design: John Mollo
Makeup / hair: Nick Maley
Sound: Ben Burtt
Stunt coordinator: Peter Diamond
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $538,400,000
Return: 2991% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Awards

Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
Academy Award for Best Sound
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Star Wars Collection

An epic space-opera theatrical film series, which depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…."

Also by

Irvin Kershner

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Ian Beale2017-02-16
★ 4/10
Overrated An enjoyable film - just not as engaging as parts IV and VI. The argument that Jedi was ruined by little furry creatures is laughable as this instalment features a little green muppet. I was expecting Kermit and Miss Piggy to show up. Once we get the impressive Hoth battle over with the film meanders and crawls along - padding out its running time with predictable romantic sparring and an extended and dull sequence on Degobah. Things finally pick up again at Cloud City but not enough to justify the worship this film receives. I much prefer Return of the Jedi to this one - at least Return of the Jedi gets the emotional juices flowing. This one leaves me as cold as the snow on Hoth. - Ian Beale
mindfroth2018-01-01
★ 10/10
A masterpiece of cinema. The film transcends the franchise, seamlessly combining elements of myth, science fiction, fantasy, war film, romance, bildungsroman, epic and tragedy in a way that its sequels have been unable to replicate. It is a move without a moment of fluff. Cut anything and the film would suffer. Story, character, effects, cinematography, music, screenplay, acting, editing and action are all superb. One of the most artistically poignant films ever made. And because its style cannot be replicated, it will continue to appreciate with age. This was a time when George Lucas still had integrity, as evidenced in this 1980 Rolling Stone interview (he has since contradicted much of what he espouses in both word and deed): https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-empire-strikes-back-and-so-does-george-lucas-19800612 Here's a blog article shows Empire's cinematic chiasmus, or narrative symmetry: https://dejareviewer.com/2014/05/20/cinematic-chiasmus-the-empire-strikes-back-is-a-perfectly-symmetrical-film/ My favorite version is the Team Negative1 Renegade Grindhouse Edition, an unrestored 35mm scan complete with damage and dust. The Despecialized version is okay too. All official releases are desecrations. People may say that Star Wars is dead, but The Empire Strikes Back is deathless.
John Chard2019-07-21
★ 10/10
It's a dark time for the rebellion; and us the audience as well. Luke, Leia and Han are fighting with the rebels in the hope of defeating the Imperial forces. But Luke gets a calling to the planet Dagobah, where under the tutelage of Jedi Master, Yoda, he hopes to become a Jedi himself, but that also brings him closer to his, and Leia's, destiny. Lets tell it as it is, The Empire Strikes Back is a better film than Star Wars, not as impacting of course, but most definitely better. Technically, in story telling and in tone, it holds up well today and certainly warrants the amount of times it crops up in best sequels debates. That it's not actually a sequel is irrelevant, it is of course the filler in a wonderful sci-fi sandwich, because as second instalments go, Empire has few peers. With Empire Strikes Back we get all the whizz bang adventure strewn heart of Star Wars, but George Lucas (stepping aside for Irvin Kershner to direct) has also fleshed the story out with a serious dark tone that oddly becomes a bedfellow to the romantic fun on offer, where new and engaging characters (and creatures) add spice to this wonderful fantastical broth. Aided by the considerable writing talent of Leigh Brackett (The Long Goodbye, Rio Bravo, The Big Sleep), Lucas took the bold and ingenious step of giving the bad guys the upper hand, in fact it could be argued that he was taking a considerable risk with his ending. Forcing his viewers to wait for the final chapter (three years later), after tantalisingly setting us up with a corker of plot twist (one which is still to this day as potent as it was back on release), Lucas pulled perhaps one of the cheekiest carrot dangles in cinema history. Though more famed for its dark undertones, Empire is for sure still a very fun movie, C3PO goes into camp overdrive and Han Solo ups his quip quota by some margin. Then of course there is Yoda, in himself a comedic joy. The action sequences beg for repeat viewings, a battle on the ice laden planet Hoth is a marvel and the choreography for Skywalker's fight with Darth Vader is out of the top draw. But ultimately it's with the dark side that the picture excels. Complex and amazingly posing moral quandary's, The Empire Strikes Back is quite an experience, one that will forever hold up to repeat viewings for this particular viewer. 10/10