Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (also known as The Empire Strikes Back) is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kirschner.thumb|300px|right

PLOT

Despite their victory over the Galactic Empire with the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebell Alliance has suffered setbacks; the Empire's forces have driven the rebels into hiding, forcing some of them to establish a hidden base on the bleak, remote sixth planet of the Hoth system. Darth Vader, having become obsessed with finding Luke skywalker, has multiple probe droids dispatched throughout the galaxy; one of these lands on Hoth. While patrolling near the base, Luke tells Han Solo that he is going to be late returning to base camp because he is going to investigate a meteor that had crashed nearby (really the Imperial probe droid). While searching, Luke is attacked and knocked unconscious by a wampa. Back at the base, Han Solo announces his intention to leave the Rebellion to pay off a debt to Jabba the Hutt, much to Princes Leia's displeasure. When Luke does not return that evening, Han decides to travel through the icy wastelands of Hoth to find his friend. Luke, meanwhile, has been trapped by the Wampa in a cave. Using the force, he manages to retrieve his lightsaber and slice off the Wampa's arm in order to escape. Escaping from the creature's lair, Luke begins to succumb to the freezing cold and collapses. The spirit of his late mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, appears before him and instructs him to go to the planet Dagohba to train under Jedi Master Yoda.

Han manages to find Luke in time and uses the body of his own tauntaun, which died due to exposure, to provide a shelter for Luke. They are rescued the following morning by a search team sent from Echo Base. Meanwhile, an Imperial probe droid locates the Rebel base on Hoth and is able to report to the Imperial Fleet before Han Solo and Chewbacca can stop or destroy it. An attack on the discovered base is ordered by Vader while the Rebels prepare to evacuate and disperse. The Imperial forces eventually overpower the Rebels using gigantic AT-AT Walkers(All Terrain Armored Transports) and capture the base. Han and Leia escape on the Millenium Falcon with C-3PO and Chewbacca when Leia's escape route is cut off, but they are unable to enter hyperspace because of technical difficulties. They evade pursuit in an asteroid field, where Han and Leia begin to grow closer to each other. Frustrated at having lost the Millennium Falcon, Vader turns to several notorious bounty hunters, including Boba Fett, to assist in locating the Falcon. Meanwhile, Luke escapes from Hoth with R2-D2 and crash lands on Dagobah, where he meets Yoda. After a relatively brief period of intensive training, Luke has premonitions of Han and Leia in pain and of his possible fall to the dark side of the Force. Against Yoda's advice, Luke leaves to save his friends, promising to return to complete his training. As they watch Luke depart, the spirit of Obi-Wan laments that Luke is their last hope. Yoda disagrees and reminds Obi-Wan that "there is another."

Having escaped the Imperial forces, but unaware that they are being tracked by Boba Fett, Han's party sets a course for Cloud City, a floating gas mining colony in the skies of the planet Bespin, which is run by Han's old friend Lando Calrisian. Shortly after they arrive at Cloud City, Lando turns them over to Vader to be used as bait in a trap for Luke. Lando then reveals to Han and Leia that he was forced to betray them to prevent the occupation of his city by the Empire.

Vader intends to hold Luke in suspended animation via carbon freezing, and selects Han as a test subject for the process. Before Han is frozen in the carbonite freezing chamber and taken to Jabba the Hutt, Leia professes her love for him; Han replies, "I know." Vader gives Han's hibernating form to Boba Fett, who plans to present this "prize" to Jabba the Hutt. Later, after Vader effectively reneges on the deal, Lando helps Leia and the others escape, insisting that there is still a chance to save Han. Unfortunately, Boba Fett makes off with Han just before they are able to confront him, forcing them to make an escape on the Falcon.

Meanwhile, Luke arrives at Cloud City and falls into Vader's trap. Luke and Vader engage in a lightsaber duel, which leads them over the central air shaft of Cloud City. Vader gains the advantage and severs Luke's right hand, disarming him. With Luke cornered, Vader tempts Luke with the offer to rule the galaxy alongside him, making the revelation that he is in fact Luke's father. Horrified and shocked, Luke nevertheless refuses Vader's proclamations, choosing instead to throw himself down the air shaft. He eventually reaches a tube system that ejects him onto an antenna attached to the underbelly of the floating city. He makes a desperate telepathic plea to Leia, who senses Luke's distress from aboard the Falcon and persuades Lando to return for him. Its hyperdrive finally functional thanks to timely repairs by R2-D2, the Falcon escapes. Luke is taken aboard a Rebel medical frigate and fitted with an artificial hand. As Luke, Leia, R2-D2 and C-3PO look on from the medical center, Lando and Chewbacca set off on a journey to free Han, who is being kept on Tatooine at Jabba the Hutt's palace.