Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Elevator Pitch. Darth Vader is searching for Luke Skywalker, using space drones, one of them landing on the ice planet of Hoth where the rebels including Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke are holed up. The Empire troops invade the planet scattering the rebel group. Luke ends up being trained in the ways of the Jedi on the planet Dagobah, and the others go on the run in the Millenium Falcon, hoping for assistance from old friends, but not everyine is as friendly as they seem, and gradually the enemy close in on them.

Content. Hazards in the icy exterior of Hoth followed by a Rebel/Empire battle using the familiar walking vehicles, Luke is trained by Yoda in the swamps of Dagobah. The Millenium Falcon flies about evading the war craft of the Empire,  Princess Leia, Han Solo bicker and C-3PO provides the comedy. Darth Vader breaths heavily and throttles inefficient assistants using the force, and finally he and Luke face each other. No booze, drugs, sex or nudity but Han and the princess  kiss once. There was probaby applause in the cinemas.

A View. If you are one of my few visitors you might already know that I am not a Star Wars fan, but this film was surprisingly OK. Apparently the director pushed the scriptwriters into creating interactive and sensible dialogue, never one of George Lucas’s strong points, and it worked. Also not too many space battles or light sabre combats. It is No 13 in the IMDb best film list, so pretty welll a watch for everybody, even those with limited tolerance of space opera.

Additional Info. This film was financed by George Lucas personally. He took a chance with $18 million, but made about $450 million in 1981 and a lot more money during re-releases.