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Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

 -  Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi  -  21 May 1980 (USA)
8.8
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Ratings: 8.8/10 from 484,602 users   Metascore: 78/100
Reviews: 733 user | 171 critic | 15 from Metacritic.com

After the rebels have been brutally overpowered by the Empire on their newly-established base, Luke Skywalker takes advanced Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are constantly being pursued by Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke.

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Top 250 #11 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Yoda (voice)
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Jeremy Bulloch ...
John Hollis ...
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Des Webb ...
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Emperor (voice)
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Storyline

Fleeing the evil Galactic Empire, the Rebels abandon their new base in an assault with the Imperial AT-AT walkers on the ice world of Hoth. Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and the droid C-3PO escape in the Millennium Falcon, but are later captured by Darth Vader on Bespin. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker and the droid R2-D2 follows Obi-Wan Kenobi's posthumous command, and receives Jedi training from Master Yoda on the swamp world of Dagobah. Will Skywalker manage to rescue his friends from the Dark Lord? Written by James Pearce <james.pearce@cs.man.ac.uk>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

princess | empire | rebel | escape | training | See more »

Taglines:

The Star Wars saga continues See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi action violence | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

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Country:

Language:

Release Date:

21 May 1980 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back  »

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

ITL 609,584,000 (Italy) (11 April 1997)

Gross:

$290,158,751 (USA) (9 May 1997)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (special edition)

Sound Mix:

(70 mm prints)| (35 mm prints)

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The scenes where R2-D2 is submerged in the mud pool were shot in George Lucas' unfinished swimming pool. Most of the crew were hidden under the water and the entire sequence was shot by George Lucas himself. See more »

Goofs

Reflected in C-3PO's head as it travels down the conveyor belt in Cloud City, and also during the carbon-freezing scene. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Luke: Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, old buddy, do you read me?
Han Solo: Loud and clear, kid. What's up?
Luke: Well, I finished my circle. I don't pick up any life readings.
Han Solo: There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser. Sensors are placed. I'm going back.
Luke: Right. I'll see you shortly. There's a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won't take long.
See more »

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits. See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

A worthy second (or 5th??) Star Wars installment, might be the best of the bunch.
7 October 2004 | by (Houston, Tx, USA, Earth) – See all my reviews

My five children were all pre-teens when 'The Empire Strikes Back' came to the theater. While there had been other Sci-Fi movies with a theme of conflict in outer space, the 'Star Wars' trilogy filled our imaginations like no other movies before them. The fantastic, strange worlds were presented almost like we were there too. Aliens sitting around a tavern, enjoying drinks and speaking in all sorts of languages. Nothing before had approached the sheer size of the space ships depicted here, huge cities traveling all over the galaxy. And how about the jump to hyper speed, then disappearing from the screen as the speed exceeds light speed! And the light sabres of the Jedi Knights. The Jedi Knights, a striking parallel to the Japanese Samurai.

It is fruitless trying to argue 'which is best' in a trilogy, because the first one, in this case 'Star Wars', starts it all and has to be the 'father'. However, an argument can be made that 'The Empire Strikes Back' (now on DVD called Episode V) is overall a better-made movie which has more excitement, and grabs your imagination,than the other two original installments (now called parts IV and VI). The DVDs finally came out last month, and they are near perfect, as we should expect from Lucas Films and THX. The bit rate is high, and the picture is nothing short of superb. As is the Dolby EX surround track.

My wife and I watched all three of the movies on DVD this week -- Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi -- compliments of our local public library. It was an appropriate reminder how good these movies are, and still ahead of their time. Nothing else has been made to compare to them.


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