The Empire Strikes Back

That story counts for less than gimmicks, and characters less than both, might be judged from the lack of resonance in the one narrative revelation, concerning Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

The Empire Strikes Back Displays the same soaring imagination that made Star Wars a filmmaking classic; most other space movies seem clunky and earthbound in comparison.

This is a respectable sequel to Star Wars but not as good.

The Empire Strikes Back is no bland derivative. It has all the freshness and exuberance of an original. A marvellous space fantasy full of dazzling spectacle, exciting adventure, strange creatures and the mythic clash between good and evil.

The Empire Strikes Back is the ultimate in fantasies, a visual wonder and a movie that should be recommended highly if only because it makes you feel good.

Despite a couple of drawbacks, the Empire Strikes Back is an immense amount of fun -- big and splashy and breathtaking in its display of cinematic genius by a huge group of marvelously talented people.

A rare example, maybe the finest example, of a sequel greater than its predecessor. The Force is the strongest here.

Promotions in the Galactic Empire are instigated by execution; torture is more vivid; villains are more numerous; loss is more agonizing; and happy endings are more elusive.

Kirshner's direction gives the film an extra flare that Star Wars did not have. He got to make things bigger, both physically and in terms of the ideas at play.

If A New Hope is the body of Star Wars, Empire can lay pretty good claim to being its soul.