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

Synopsis:

The dramatic 2nd act of the original Star Wars trilogy, it is the dark and tragic tale of Luke’s search for truth, Leah’s search for love, and Vader’s search for salvation from the Emperor’s evil influence.

Brothy’s Favorite Lines:

Luke: I’m not afraid:
Yoda: You will be.

Leah: I Love You
Han: I Know

Leah: Would it help if I got out and pushed?

Yoda: No. Try Not. Do or do not. There is no ‘Try.’

Vader: Luke, I am your father!
Luke: No! It isn’t true! It’s not possible!

Leah (about Lando): I don’t trust him.
Han: I don’t trust him either… he IS my friend.

Luke: I don’t believe it.
Yoda: That is why you fail.

Brothy’s Favorite Scene:

The finale is awesome. Darth reveals his true identity. Luke gets severely beaten and left for dead. Han is frozen in carbonate. C3-PO is in pieces. The Empire struck back hard and the band of friends look like all hope is lost. But… cliffhanger ending.

Brothy’s Opinion in a Nutshell:
This film came out when I was 8 years old. If you want to see what effect this whole series had on me read the article I wrote “A Jedi No More.” Lawrence Kazdan took George Lucas’ story and made it witty, romantic, dark and exciting. He built up the characters introduced in the first installment and got you so attached to them that when they are left beaten at the end you felt their pain. There were also a lot of religious and messianic allusions in this movie that I remember catching as a kid. Yoda wisdom sounds very Semitic. Luke’s temptation to save his friends rather than finish his training or to bow down before Vader and gain the power to control the whole Universe remind me a lot of Christ’s temptations to gain a crown without having to go through the cross. And most obvious, just when all hope fails (crucifixion) you know the Jedi will return and make things right, restoring balance to the universe (resurrection and exaultation).

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