After the Empire overpowers the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda. At the same time, Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett pursue his friends across the gal... Read allAfter the Empire overpowers the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda. At the same time, Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett pursue his friends across the galaxy.After the Empire overpowers the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda. At the same time, Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett pursue his friends across the galaxy.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 27 wins & 20 nominations total
Clive Revill
- Emperor
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn order to avoid sharing creative rights, George Lucas decided to avoid using a major studio to finance this movie. Instead, he bankrolled the $30 million production himself, using a combination of his profits from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and a bank loan. Although the move was risky, it paid off several times over. Lucas recovered his investment within three months of the movie's release. He then showed gratitude far beyond the Hollywood norm by sharing the profits with his employees (nearly $5 million in bonuses).
- GoofsVader kills Captain Needa for losing the Millenium Falcon. When two Imperial soldiers pick up his body to carry away, the corpse steps itself up.
- Crazy creditsIn the alternate DVD version, the Emperor is still credited as being voiced by Clive Revill, despite his performance being replaced by Ian McDiarmid.
- Alternate versionsThe 1995 THX remastered Pan and Scan VHS release of the 1980 theatrical version has one difference from all other pan and scan releases and the 1992 and 1995 widescreen releases of the same. At the end of the film, the scene simply cuts away to the end credits. All other versions use a wipe to cut away to the end credits.
- ConnectionsEdited into SP FX: Special Effects - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Featured review
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.
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.
Women in Science Fiction
Women in Science Fiction
Whether they are exploring the stars, escaping dystopias, or making the world a better place, these women are what science fiction is all about.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Star Wars : Episodio V - El imperio contraataca
- Filming locations
- Hardangerjøkulen Glacier, Finse, Norway(exterior Hoth scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $18,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $292,753,960
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,910,483
- May 25, 1980
- Gross worldwide
- $550,016,086
- Runtime2 hours 4 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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