FAQ for
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back can be found here.

Although the credits list Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan as having written the script, the pair of them did not collaborate on the screenplay. George Lucas came up with an outline for the movie and assigned Leigh Brackett to write the screenplay. Brackett completed a first draft and then sadly passed away. Unfortunately, the work she had done up to then did not satisfy Lucas, who then hired Lawrence Kasdan, who had only just finished writing an unseen draft of Raiders of the Lost Ark, to start afresh. Although all the major story points that take place are of Lucas' conception, the dialogue and character relationships were penned by Kasdan, who later went on to write Return of the Jedi with Lucas in much the same fashion. Leigh Brackett is credited because she contractually obliged and turned in a screenplay, even though almost none of her work made it on-screen. Lucas has commented that although being a very gifted writer, Brackett was the wrong choice for a Star Wars movie and that she had found writing the initial script a very difficult task. The credit is a reward for her work.

Yes, actually. The short scene where medical droid 2-1B talks to Luke Skywalker while he is getting in his flightsuit was directed by Executive Producer Lucas. He also directed the new Wampa scenes added in the 1997 Special Edition, and the revised scene of Vader's conversation with the Emperor in the most recent edition of the film.

Mark Hamill was involved in a car accident shortly before filming on this episode began, which resulted in a broken nose, requiring surgery that resulted in some scarring on Hamill's face. It has since become a popular legend that this attack was written into the story to explain the scars. However, this attack dates from the earliest draft of the script, predating Hamill's accident. Lucas explains in the DVD commentary that this attack was merely to keep the audience interested while the Empire searched for the rebels, and to introduce the Obi-Wan Kenobi force ghost and, by extension, Yoda.

The original production, helmed by Irvin Kershner, did actually attempt to film the Wampa using a performer in a suit; however, the actor had a great deal of trouble moving in the costume, and found walking in it for more than a few steps nearly impossible (this can be seen in the making-of TV special SPFX: The Empire Strikes Back). Consequently, the Wampa was seen only as a hand puppet in the original film (and in various tight shots of hands, legs, etc.). The suit used for the reshoot was presumably better-designed and allowed for easier movement.

Leia's kissing Luke was simply to make Han jealous. Han was hitting on her shamelessly and gloating in front of everyone that he knew she had feelings for him, so what's the quickest way to shut him up? Kiss the other man in the room. (Wookiees not included) The real reason was that Lucas hadn't decided at the time whether Leia would be Luke's sister; it was finalized after Star Wars:The Empire Strikes Back was made that Luke and Leia would be twins. The characters, of course, wouldn't have known it either, considering they were separated at birth. An early draft of Empire gave Luke a different sister entirely. The screenplay-centric reason for the kiss was to create uncertainty in the audience over whether Leia would end up with Luke or Han by the end of the story. In hindsight, it has become a source of humor that the two kissed, because now many fans utter phrases such as, "Yikes! Luke had the hots for his sister?" While Luke appears satisfied after having been kissed by Leia, he may have tried appearing satisfied to help Leia make Han jealous. After all, he cared about Leia, even if he didn't know she was his sister at the time.

The Emperor was played by an uncredited older woman and voiced by British actor Clive Revill. To make the character appear stranger and more unsettling, a chimpanzee's eyes were superimposed over the actress's face by the ILM effects crew. For the DVD release, a slightly altered version of this scene was shot using Ian McDiarmid, who played the character in Return of the Jedi as well as the three prequel films. The altered scene that features McDiarmid changed some dialogue.

In the new version, the Emperor tells Vader, that the one who destroyed the Death Star was in fact "the offspring of Anakin Skywalker." to which Vader acts confused. Because Vader was under the impression that Anakin's child had died with his mother. This has lead to some controversy, because earlier in the movie, Vader specifically searches for Luke Skywalker and therefore already should have known, that he was Anakin's son. Though it's not impossible to think that perhaps some people around the galaxy would have the same last name and not be related. There was actually a character named "Bale Antilles" mentioned in Episode I and the character of "Captain Antilles" was the previous owners of R2-D2 and C-3PO. Also, the character "Wedge Antilles" is one of Luke's Rebel friends and a fighter pilot who appears in all three of the original films. None of these characters are ever suggested to have been related. The original scene can be viewed here

At the time of the original trilogy's release, having seen Return of the Jedi, it seems obvious that Yoda is speaking about Leia, but there is now some debate. The debate has arisen because it was assumed by many that the way Obi-Wan had said of Luke "that boy is our last hope" indicated that he did not know who, or how important, Leia really was until that moment. However, as we see in Episode III, Obi-Wan not only knew of both twins, but assisted in their birth. It would seem strange that Obi-Wan might have forgotten her, or been unwise to her potential. Without the prequels, there is no doubt that we, as a viewer, could safely assume Obi-Wan did not know about Leia and Yoda's line "there is another" was a revelation about which he learned more in time to explain to Luke in the next episode. However, as with many plots, the prequels have altered our perceptions. Creator George Lucas has often stated that the movies are now designed to be viewed in order, 1 to 6. Watching the saga in this order, taking into consideration the Jedi "chosen one" prophecy and the eventual outcome of the story, another option could be that Yoda is actually speaking of Anakin/Vader, and some lingering hope that he may yet fulfill the prophecy. However, this seems a little ambiguous.

One can, and probably should, conclude that Yoda was making reference to Leia, despite Obi-Wan's seeming lack of faith in her. It can be taken as an indication of Obi-Wan being either pessimistic of their chances in light of the time and energy thus far invested in Luke, or of his desire not to involve Leia. But even with all this considered, strictly from a film-making point of view, the line was actually written to make audiences believe there was a chance that Luke might be killed by Vader and to therefore give their duel more tension. At the time that Empire was written and released, Leia was not meant to be Luke's sister. Luke instead had an unnamed sister, also undergoing Jedi training, on the opposite end of the galaxy. It is also possible that had Luke fallen to the Dark Side, then it would stand reason that Obi-Wan wouldn't want to get Leia involved, as both her brother and father had fallen to the Dark Side. Therefore there would be too great a risk that Leia herself would be turned to the Dark Side as well.

Yes and no. By 1980, Star Wars fans were told that George Lucas intended to shoot a trilogy of Star Wars trilogies. In many interviews done around the time of the original film's release, George Lucas said that he planned on making a series of Star Wars films, even if the first film was not successful. He did not name the number, but he would fund the sequels himself and, if necessary, he would shoot them as much smaller, cheaper films. By 1978, however, Time magazine confirmed that sequels were being planned and reported as many as 12 films total, and Empire producer Gary Kurtz was quoted as saying there were as many as five planned Star Wars films. By 1979 George Lucas confirmed in interviews on the set of Empire that a total of nine films (a trilogy of a trilogies) were planned: "The first Star Wars movie was one of six original stories I had written in the form of two trilogies. After the success of Star Wars, I added another trilogy. So now there are nine stories. The original two trilogies were concieved of as six films of which the first film was number four." Also around this time, actor Mark Hamill was quoted as saying that Lucas had told him he wanted to shoot the later sequels when Luke Skywalker was Obi-Wan Kenobi's age. Many other people involved in the making of Empire also stated that Lucas had planned a nine-part saga, with the original Star Wars trilogy being the middle trilogy (this is also stated in the liner notes for The Empire Strikes Back soundtrack album). So by 1979 fans knew that Lucas planned to shoot a trilogy of Star Wars films and that he had another six planned after that. Lucas continued to talk about Episodes VII-IX in interviews throughout the 1980s and 1990s, however, in 1999 he started back-pedaling saying, "I'd always envisioned it as six movies," and in 2001, "the idea of a third trilogy was more of a media thing than it was me." Lately, there's been some rumors that Lucas may actually be reconsidering doing a third trilogy, but they are just rumors at this point.

Yes, it is true. The potato actually appears during the asteroid field sequence, and can be seen flying from center right to upper right of the "forward window" of the Millennium Falcon after Han Solo says, "I'm going in closer to one of the big ones."

An understandable confusion, as it's never explained in the movies: In Episodes 2-3 the troops are clone troopers, cloned from the DNA of Jango Fett (played by Temuera Morrison). Boba Fett is also an unaltered clone of Jango, raised as his son. In the DVD edition of The Empire Strikes Back, Temuera Morrison dubbed over the voice of Boba Fett to help tie in the original trilogy to the new one. In episodes 4-6 there are also Galactic Imperial troopers (now known as Stormtroopers). The reason that Temuera Morrison doesn't provide the voice is because, as the years went on, the Emperor disbanded Clone squads and started accepting and drafting regular human recruits. While there are still some clone units scattered throughout the galaxy, they are mostly obsolete. According to the overall Star Wars mythos, by the timeline of Episode 4, the last remaining pure bred clone troopers are in the 501st legion, a special elite unit commanded exclusively by Darth Vader.

Yoda's species has never been stated in any Star Wars film or related media. All that is known about them is that his species is long-lived and that Yoda is around 900 years old.

The Millennium Falcon had arrived at Ord Mantell for repairs, which caught the attention of a bounty hunter named Skorr. Concluding that a direct confrontation with Han and Chewbacca would be suicide, Skorr ambushed and captured Luke and Leia, threatening to kill them unless Han came to his hideout alone. Han managed to foil Skorr with an elaborate ruse of his own, but the encounter caused Han to question his allegiance to the Rebels.

This is explained in Attack Of The Clones. It is revealed that Yoda teaches Jedi-Younglings (young children) the basics of the force and how to control it. After a certain amount of time, usually by the time the child is bordering on young-adult, they are promoted to the rank of Padawan and a Jedi Master takes them on for the completion of their training until they are granted the rank of Jedi Knight. So Obi-Wan would have been instructed by Yoda until he became a Padawan, then Qui-Gon Jinn would have been paired up with him. It should also be noted that when Obi-Wan started training Anakin, he had no previous training in the force, much like when Obi-Wan was being trained by Yoda. The reason why Anakin is not trained by Yoda first is not stated explicitly in the films, but it would seem that Yoda believed him to be to old to begin training in the force as it appears that the Jedi began training when they were still very young.

As with the previous film, the Emperor does not have a large role. However he orders Vader to capture Luke Skywalker and bring him before Palpatine in order to turn Luke to the dark side. For the next steps see Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Following the rise of evil Galactic Empire and the sudden extinction of the Jedi Knights spread across the galaxy, Master Yoda went into exile on a remote planet after he lost a significant battle with the evil Emperor Darth Sidious. Now, before the Empire, Master Yoda was a key member on the Jedi Council; possessing strong powers and being highly skilled in the Jedi Arts. Yoda was a very serious character in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. However, after being isolated for many years on a remote planet, Master Yoda lost touch with reality. When Luke Skywalker finally sought him out, Master Yoda was already somewhat "stir crazy". Still highly connected to the powers of the Force, Master Yoda went from a serious character to an almost comical character in this installment, because he had not been in contact with civilization for so long of a time. In other words, Yoda almost became senile but still possessed the Jedi powers that would train Luke Skywalker to become the final Jedi Knight for the old Republic. An alternate theory is that because Luke didn't know who Yoda was at this time; Yoda decided to have a little fun with Luke, test Luke's patience to see if he was worthy of the training. This is why as soon as Luke grows impatient and loses his temper, Yoda, disappointed, finally reveals his identity and says to the spirit of Obi-Wan that he cannot train Luke. After this scene, Yoda becomes much more serious and direct.

Yes. During the scene of the carbon freezing, Leia says, "I love you" to Han who was supposed to say "I love you" back. The director, Irvin Kershner, felt that Han saying "I love you" didn't sound right, so Harrison Ford came up with the response "I know". George Lucas wanted to keep Han's "I love you" in but Irvin decided not to, which was the right decision because a scoundrel such as Han has to keep up appearances even if he has a soft spot for Leia.

The All-Terrain Armoured Transport (AT-AT) Walkers movements during the Hoth battle scene are based on an elephants walk. The effects artists first used animation to decide what movements were best for the Walkers and decided an elephant's gait looked best because it was slow and mechanical. The movements from the hand drawn animation were copied when the stop motion was created for the Walker scenes on Hoth. The slow, methodical elephant-like movements gave the giant Walkers a sense of scale and an ominous creepy presence as they moved towards the Rebel stronghold.

In 1997, George Lucas re-released the complete (original) Star Wars trilogy with some updated digital effects and new or expanded scenes. Of the three films, The Empire Strikes Back had the fewest changes made to it, though the most prominent changes include the expanded scene with the Wampa ice creature and the expanded shots of Cloud City in order to make the city look bigger and more crowded. A brief scene of Darth Vader returning to his star destroyer towards the end of the film was also included. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.

Despite the intents to present the old saga in the best way possible, many fans were not happy with the 2004 DVD release. The DVD edition is based on the 1997 Special Edition, which was released in theaters and on video in 1997 and has been the cause of much debate among fans ever since. Only after massive protests by die-hard Star Wars fans did Lucasfilm decide to also release the original trilogy in their original theatrical presentations (i.e. without digital effects) in 2006. However, besides smaller changes, the second release is not anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions but is presented in 4:3 letterboxed format. In order to use the full frame of a 16:9 TV-set, the picture thus has to be zoomed in, which lowers the image quality significantly. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here.

George Lucas has stated that the more recent versions of the original trilogy are the "definitive" versions. The reason for this is because at the time the original films were made, 1977, 1980, and 1983; the technology to bring George Lucas' true vision to the screen simply did not exist and the cost to realize it would have been astronomical. So with the technology available in the late 90's through the 2000's; George Lucas was able to touch-up, re-invision or create from scratch scenes from his original trilogy. On the flip-side; many die-hard Star Wars fans disagree with many of the changes or additions that George Lucas made to his original trilogy (most infamous is Greedo shooting first) and consider the original theatrical releases of the films the definitive "perfect" versions of the movies. As the technology is still a product of it's time, the films themselves are still timeless. Also, the graphics are still considered fairly good even when compared to newer films. Bottom line; it depends on what side of the fence you land on. It's your own personal opinion what version you consider "definitive" but to ask the creator himself; the newer "special editions" are the definitives.

For the recently released Blu-rays George Lucas altered some shots and dialogues of the Star Wars movies again. Only little changes were made for "The Empire Strikes Back", like corrected colors in the scene where Chewbacca is searching C-3PO and other small things. In general one will hardly notice the alterations in the second Star Wars movie. Nonetheless a detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be seen here.