Nerds That Geek Movie Review - 'Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back'

Written by Shae Rufe

​The Empire Strikes Back is a family favorite within my household. My dad adores this movie the best, and thus we watched it the most. Out of the original series this film was the darkest, and actually the best, to me, as far as plot. Though, I am always secretly rooting for the bad guy in just about anything I watch. 

And this time, with this film, the bad guys won. Isn't that a little devastating!? Here our heroes thought that they would be able to beat the dark side and the Empire, easy! Destroy whatever was left of them and be done with it. Just kidding! Arrogance and cocky behavior ended up being the downfall of our heroes. Some more than others.

It's also the film where a lot of earth shattering moments happen to our characters. The rebels take a hard hit, Leia and Han finally get along for more than 10 minutes and even fall in love, and Luke finds a Jedi Mentor in the form of an old green gremlin. Our first meeting with Yoda will always be memorable. He went from funny to serious in such a short span. This isn't the Yoda we have known previously from the prequels. 

But before those even happened, this backwards talking little thing warmed our hearts with his teaching skills. Move over R2, we have another favorite puppet. Of course, in the end Han is frozen in Carbonite in a moment that features the infamous lines we still know to this day, Leia proclaims her love for him and instead of returning her affection he simply replies with 'I know.' Okay, as a kid, that moment when Han is frozen freaked me out. I legit thought they'd just killed off my favorite character, because yes, Han was my favorite character. Thankfully they didn't, but I didn't know that!

In the midst of it all, Luke loses his hand, which is kind of a big deal, and we learn that Vader is really his father! I can honestly say I was so surprised. Little Shae did NOT see that plot twist coming one bit. By the end, our heroes are scattered, Han is being taken to Jabba, Luke is wounded, and Leia has a lot to answer for. I mean, that famous kiss between her and Luke doesn't get gross until the last episode, but you know, it did happen. Still, as far as the Star Wars films go, this is my all-time favorite.

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