EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... again

Before we begin, I should point out that The Empire Strikes Back is easily one of my top five favorite movies of all time. It may be my absolute favorite (the Gaean Trilogy has yet to be made into movies, so we'll see ;). I understand why many say that Star Wars (A New Hope) is better - it was first, it was the original and should get the credit for such daring and majestic beauty. Personally, I feel that Empire surpasses it's predecessor - more story, bigger battles, intense character growth, more fantastic landscapes and environments. For me it still stands as the best sci-fi movie of all time, and the best sequel of all time.

That being said, let's dig in and rip it apart (8<|

Remember, there is no Easter Bunny, there is no Santa Clause, capitalism is inherently flawed and Luke Skywalker is a big fat liar-pants.

It is a dark time for the
Rebellion. Although the Death
Star has been destroyed,
Imperial troops have driven the
Rebel forces from their hidden
base and pursued them across
the galaxy.

Evading the dreaded
Imperial Starfleet, a group of
freedom fighters led by Luke
Skywalker has established a
new secret base on the remote
ice world of Hoth.

The evil lord Darth Vader,
obsessed with finding young
Skywalker, has dispatched
thousands of remote probes into
the far reaches of space...

"ALTHOUGH the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base"?! ALTHOUGH!? How about BECAUSE the Death Star has been destroyed. Did they really think that was the center of Imperial power? No, they didn't. These opening scrolls are meant to set the tone and mood for the movies, and they are filled with propagandistic ploys and twistings of the truth.

Case in point; LED by Luke Skywalker. LED?! Really? Because while he seems to lead the fighter pilots' squadron, there seems to be a whole helluva lot of other people at the command center who never so much as ask Luke's opinion. Princess Leia and general Rieekan, for instance.

As discussed earlier, it's important to keep in mind that this is not a rebellion. The rebellion already happened, the Old Republic was deposed and the royals ousted. Leia and her followers are trying to get BACK into power. This is a counter-rebellion.

The propagandists slip in the third paragraph and a little too much is given away. We're told that Vader's obsessed with finding Luke. Not the Rebels, but Luke. Hmmm...

Re-examining everything about these movies led me to question whether Luke was Vader's kid at all. Was it some elaborate scheme of Luke's or Kenobi's? Well, Vader tracks down the Rebels, but then focuses pursuit on Solo's ship. He could just be trying to track down the princess. However, Lando gives it all away on Bespin, telling us that Vader is after Luke. The Emperor also becomes aware of Luke as the "son of Skywalker". So, yes, Luke is Vader's son. This seems to be agreed upon by all factions.

But at this stage in the game the Rebels (or at least, the vast majority of them) should have no inkling that Vader's true quary is Luke. Unless of course Leia DOES know who Luke really is. She does. She'll give herself away near the end of this movie.

Again we get the term "evil", this time directed at Darth Vader. He is referred to here as "lord", but no mention of the Sith of course. 'Lord' is a title then. However, in the screenplay the word lord is not capitalized when used before Vader's name, though titles like 'captain' and 'general' are capitalized when used before others' names (I generally don't capitalize titles - I disapprove of the military almost as much as I do the royals). Yet another attempt by the Rebels, who are telling this story after they've won this war, to downplay certain aspects of the Empire and Vader.

Dirty royals. How we hates them.

Obsessed is the right word for Vader's behavior. He's searching the remote regions of the galaxy (with "thousands of remote probes"), spreading the fleet thin. We'll see later that he is hiding his true intent from the Emperor as well.