The Sequel Was Better? is a series of reviews looking at famous movies with sequels that are considered, rightly or wrongly, to be better than the original movies. Typically, sequels are a step down in quality, acting, and/or production value. But not always. See other reviews here.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, rebel spies stole the plans to a secret battle station of the great galactic Empire. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is part of the rebel alliance and a traitor (at least according to Darth Vader (David Prowse with voice by James Earl Jones)). She tries to get the plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) on Tatooine but her ship is overtaken by Imperial forces led by Darth Vader himself. She hides the plans in a robot called R2-D2, who flees the ship in an escape pod with protocol droid C-3P0. They land on Tatooine , are captured by scavengers, and sold to the Skywalker family to work on their moisture farm. Nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) discovers part of the secret message from Leia to Kenobi and seeks out "Old Ben" Kenobi in the nearby wastelands. Kenobi tells Luke about his father, a skillful pilot and Jedi knight named Anakin Skywalker, who fought in the Clone Wars with Kenobi and was Kenobi's student. Kenobi wants to take on Luke as a new apprentice and as a help to get the plans to Leia's home planet of Alderaan. Luke's aunt and uncle are killed by Imperial troops looking for the stolen plans. He decides to go with Obi-Wan. They go to the local spaceport (Mos Eisley) and hire Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to fly them to Alderaan in his ship, the Millennium Falcon. Han owes a lot to local gangster Jabba the Hut, so he is happy to take the high-paying job. The troops catch up with them just as they leave.
As they fly to Alderaan, Obi-Wan trains Luke in the ways of the Force, the mystical power used by the Jedi. Han scoffs at the "superstitious mumbo-jumbo" but Luke shows some promise. They arrive at Alderaan only to find it destroyed. The Empire used a battle station called the Death Star to destroy Leia's home world in the hopes she would give up the location of the main rebel base. She gives up a name but they destroyed her home anyway as a show of force (not Force) to the rest of the galaxy. The name she gave was an old, abandoned rebel base. Once the Imperials discover her ruse, her execution is ordered. The Millennium Falcon is captured by the Death Star (which is still in the area where Alderaan was) and our heroes are forced to sneak around the base, freeing Leia from prison and deactivating the tractor beam keeping them from escaping. Han and Luke take Leia back to the ship but Obi-Wan, who disabled the tractor beam, comes across Darth Vader. They fight with light sabers. Vader wins. Han, Luke, and Leia escape with the droids.
They go to the actual rebel base where the plans are analyzed to find a way to destroy the Death Star. Their escape turned out to be too easy because the bad guys snuck a tracking beacon on the Falcon and now the Death Star has come to destroy the real rebel base. Luke and a lot of other pilots fly off to blow up the Death Star before it can get in range. Han declines to join them, taking his reward for saving the Princess. The pilots have an intense dog-fight with Imperial fighters over and around the Death Star. Luke flies into the trench where he can shoot a torpedo down a shaft that will cause a chain reaction to destroy the Death Star. He is chased by Vader's fighter, only to have Han show up at the last minute in the Falcon. Han knocks Vader out of the fight and Luke destroys the Death Star.
Back at the rebel base, Princess Leia gives awards to the heroes during a great victory celebration. Cue the credits.
The movie was a runaway hit. The story is a classic hero's journey with a science fiction setting. It also taps into fantasy with its Jedi knights and "laser swords." And it is reminiscent of World War I and II dogfighting. The attack on the Death Star borrows heavily from
The Dam Busters. For that matter, the overall plot borrows heavily from Akira Kurosawa's
The Hidden Fortress. Lucas even wanted Toshiro Mifune to play Obi-Wan, though Mifune played the Han Solo character in
The Hidden Fortress.
The movie is also notable for the advances in special effects. The extensive use of miniatures, mattes, costumes, make-up, and sounds give the movie that other-worldly look that never looked so good before. I watched the "Special Edition," where Lucas went back in the late 1990s to update the film with a missing scene featuring Jabba the Hut. He also added more elaborate scenes with more going on, especially in Mos Eisley. Funnily enough, the digitally-added effects stick out and don't look as good twenty years later as the practical effects from forty years ago.
The rebel alliance has a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. They are just getting set up when one of the Empire's search droids lands on the planet. Luke is out setting up perimeter detectors and sees what he thinks is a meteor crashing (it's the droid). He goes to investigate but is interrupted by a Wampa, one of the few indigenous (and carnivorous) creatures on the planet. The Wampa drags Luke off to his cave. Luke manages to escape thanks to his light saber and telekinetic Force powers. Evening is setting in. As he is crawling his way toward the rebel base, he has a vision of Obi-Wan who tells Luke to go to the Dagobah system and continue Jedi training with Yoda. Meanwhile, Han has been planning to leave the base so he can pay off his debts to Jabba the Hutt. When he hears Luke hasn't reported back in, he goes out searching. The evening gets late and the base is locked down. Han does find Luke and makes a shelter, keeping them both alive. The next morning, snow speeders are finally ready. They find Luke and Han and bring them back. The search droid is detected on the perimeter. Han and Chewbacca go out and the droid self-destructs. But not before it sends back its information. When an Imperial general looks at the data, he's not sure. Darth Vader is watching over his shoulder, and Vader is sure that's the rebel base. He orders the fleet to move in and attack.
After some romantic tension develops between Luke, Leia, and Han, the word comes that the Empire's fleet has just dropped out of hyperspace on the outskirts of the Hoth system. Han is forced to stay at the base and help with the evacuation, though mostly he's trying to get the Millennium Falcon functioning. The rebels have time to activate a defense shield, forcing the Empire to land troops for a surface attack. The battle is exciting and satisfying. Rebel freighters and capital ships begin escaping. As the base is slowly overrun, Han grabs Leia and takes her out on the Falcon. Luke fights for a while in the surface attack. He is forced to flee in his X-Wing fighter with R2-D2 as co-pilot.
The Falcon is pursued by several Imperial Star Destroys, much larger ships. The hyperdrive is not working so Han can't jump to light speed and escape. In a desperate attempt to evade the Star Destroyers, Han flies into an asteroid field. After some narrow escapes from Tie Fighters, the Falcon lands in a cave to make repairs so they can jump to hyperspace. Han and Leia have more awkward semi-romantic conversations. Leia isn't quite on board though she clearly has feelings for Han. Han is totally into her. Some cave creatures attack the ship. When the crew goes out to investigate, Han makes an unfortunate discovery. The cave they are hiding in is actually a giant space worm. They fly out in the nick of time and go back to being pursued by the Star Destroyers.
Meanwhile, Darth Vader has killed the general who dropped the fleet on the outskirts of the Hoth system. The Emperor contacts Vader and they discuss Luke's fate. The Emperor wants Luke killed; Vader convinces him that Luke can be turned, or at least they should try. The Emperor agrees. Vader also hires some bounty hunters to go after the rebels. Once Han and his crew are out of the worm's mouth, they try again to go to hyperspace, only to fail again. Han turns the Falcon around and makes a direct attack on a Star Destroyer. The deck crew panics as the Falcon almost crashes into them. Then the Falcon is gone and another general has to report his failure to Darth Vader. The Falcon is actually attached to the back of the Star Destroy. It detaches when the ship drops its garbage before jumping to hyperspace. The Falcon flies off, only to be pursued by one of the bounty hunters ships. Han goes to visit Lando Calrissian, an old friend from whom he won the Millennium Falcon in a poker game.
Luke heads to Dagobah where he crashes his X-Wing in a swamp. He's befriended by a local gnomish fellow who turns out to be Yoda. Yoda is reluctant to train Luke. The unearthly voice of Obi-Wan helps convince Yoda that Luke is ready. Luke goes through a lot of training and learns much about the Force. When his ship sinks into the swamp, he thinks it's impossible to get it out. Yoda uses the Force to take it out, showing how Luke hasn't fully developed his powers or trust yet. Later, Luke comes to an area powerful with the Dark Side. He goes in with his weapons (against Yoda's advice). Luke encounters a phantom Vader and fights him. Luke cuts off Vader's head, but inside of the mask is Luke's own face. Luke continues training. During one meditative moment, he has a vision of the future where Han and Leia are tortured in a city in the clouds. He wants to help them. Yoda insists that he does not but Luke is too impetuous. As Luke flies off, Yoda and the ghostly Obi-Wan have a conversation where Yoda reveals there is another hope for defeating Vader besides Luke.
Han, Leia, and the rest have indeed gone to Cloud City where Lando is administrator/governor. Something seems off but no one can quite figure out what. C-3PO wanders off and is blasted to bits by an unseen assailant. Chewbacca eventually finds him in a junk pile and begins to repair him while Lando invites Leia and Han to a meal. The guest of honor at the meal is none other than Darth Vader with bounty hunter Boba Fett at his side. Han and Leia realize they've been tricked. Lando tries to make an excuse that the bad guys showed up just before Han and Leia and they are to be bait to lure in Luke. Lando's made a deal so Leia and Chewbacca can stay in Cloud City. Han gets tortured in one room while Chewbacca works on C-3PO. Once C-3PO is functional enough to talk, he reveals that he was shot by Imperial Troopers. Vader decides that he wants to freeze Luke in carbonite. The process is dangerous for live humans so they test the equipment on Han Solo, who is being given to Boba Fett who will collect Jabba's bounty. In an emotional scene where Leia admits she loves Han (and his reply is "I know"!), Han is lowered into a pit and encased in carbonite. He is still alive, so Boba Fett walks off with him. Vader then tells Lando that Leia and Chewbacca are being taken away by the Imperials. Lando is upset with the deal falling apart and gets his guards to free Leia and Chewbacca. They try to save Han but the bounty hunter's head start is too much and he escapes.
By this point Luke has landed and is on his way to face Vader. He winds up in the carbon freeze facility where Vader and Luke have a spectacular light saber fight. It ranges all over the facility. Vader gets the best of Luke. Vader cuts off Luke's hand and then, just when Luke has nothing left, Vader drops the most famous twist in cinematic history--he tells Luke that he, Darth Vader, is Luke's father. Luke protests but also knows deep down that it's true. He drops down the shaft rather than join with Vader, leaving him hanging at the bottom of Cloud City in a hopeless and pitiable state.
Leia and Chewbacca race back to the Millennium Falcon. Lando goes with them after alerting the Cloud City residents to flee. They escape, but just barely. Leia feels Luke's distress and they fly back to the bottom of the city where they save Luke. As they fly away from Cloud City, they face another Star Destroyer. Lando tries to activate the hyperdrive, only to fail yet again. Leia and Chewbacca exchange a look. Meanwhile, R2-D2, who has been helping repair C-3PO, decides to fix the hyperdrive because he found out from the city's central computer system that the drive had been deactivated. R2 flips the right switch and the rebels escape, leaving another Imperial general in the bad graces of Lord Vader.
Luke is given a new hand in the hospital ship of the Rebel fleet. Lando and Chewbacca head off to Tatooine to start the rescue plans for Han. Luke says he will follow soon. He and Leia stare off into the distance and the end credits roll.
So is the sequel better? Let's look at some points of comparison.
- SCRIPT--As I said above, George Lucas used a hodge-podge of other sources as inspiration for the screenplay. Even so, the movie does not feel derivative, just familiar enough to let viewers focus on the new stuff--the Force, the world-building, the relationships of the characters, etc. The sequel continues the hero's journey though everything is up to a new level. The romantic tension is at a higher level. The rebels are reactive rather than proactive since they are in more peril. Even C-3PO's comic relief is funnier. Episode V also has, as I said, the biggest plot twist in the history of filmmaking. The dialogue overall is better and more quotable in Episode V. Advantage Episode V.
- ACTING--Part of the success of Episode IV was the new, virtually unknown actors for the three main characters. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher have great chemistry together and carry no baggage from previous roles, so viewers see them as their characters, not as actors. The bigger stars, Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness, have secondary roles in which they give fine performances. Episode V adds two new characters, Yoda and Lando, who both mesh well thanks to fine performances from Frank Oz and Billy Dee Williams. The main cast is as good as in the first film, growing more sure in their roles. Slight advantage Episode V.
- ADVANCES THE STORY/MYTHOLOGY--Episode IV establishes a lot about the Star Wars universe. Episode V has Yoda explaining more of how the Force works, what can be done with it, and what others can do with. The telekinesis (which is how Vader chokes people) and the ability to communicate/emote over distances (which Obi-Wan showed when Alderaan was destroyed) are more developed. Episode IV does a good job introducing the Star Wars universe; Episode V does a good job expanding it. No clear winner here.
- SPECIAL EFFECTS--The effects are quite equal between the two movies, even with the 1990s facelifts. Less content was added to Episode V--there's a bit more of the Wampa and a few more enhanced (not new) scenes in Cloud City. The Special Editions didn't really add anything of note (other than controversies like the "Han shot first" fiasco) and were really a warm-up for the prequels. No clear winner here.
- THE BIG FINALE--The epic fight to destroy the Death Star at the end of Episode IV is exciting and well paced. It also culminates in Luke using the Force to win, showing him clearly on the path to becoming a Jedi knight like his father before him. Episode V ends with a more personal battle between Luke and Vader where Luke is not strong enough in the Force to win and he is dealt crippling blows literally (losing his hand) and figuratively (discovering the most evil character in the series is, in fact, his dad). Even so, he is on the path to recovery--he gets a new mechanical hand and the plan to rescue Han is already underway. The ending of Episode V leaves a few things unresolved, so Episode IV has a slight advantage.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Both movies are classics. We've made sure that our children have watched the original trilogy. Episode V raises the bar enough to be better than the original, with an even stronger script and slightly better characterizations. It's certainly my favorite Star Wars film. Even though I've watched it far too many times, I'm always ready to watch
The Empire Strikes Back again.
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