The Empire Strikes Back (1980) reviews

The Fuzzy Mushroom take on The Empire Strikes Back

By Fuzzy Mushroom · Updated 11 November 2026 · The Pros 89 · The Punters 100 · Spore Score 92 · How we write our takes

The Pros and The Punters on Empire

The Empire Strikes Back is the Star Wars film many fans rank first, and The Punters' 100 says so loudly. The Pros give it 89, for a Spore Score of 92. The small gap of 11 points has a backstory. In 1980 some critics found the middle chapter of a trilogy unsatisfying, with no proper beginning and no real ending. Time, and every sequel since, has made that complaint look like a strength.

What it does well

After the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance is hiding on the ice planet Hoth when Darth Vader's forces find them. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) travels to the swamp world of Dagobah to train with the Jedi master Yoda. Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca and C-3PO flee in the Millennium Falcon, through an asteroid field and on to Cloud City, where an old friend of Han's, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), is waiting.

Director Irvin Kershner and writers Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan make it darker, funnier and more romantic than the first film. The battle of the AT-AT walkers is the action highlight, but the film's best scenes are conversations: Yoda lifting the X-wing, Han and Leia's exchange before the carbonite, and the duel between Luke and Vader that ends with one of the most famous reveals in cinema. John Williams adds the Imperial March.

Where people push back

It ends on a cliffhanger, with the heroes beaten and a main character frozen. If you want a complete story, you will need Return of the Jedi.

Who it is for

Anyone who liked the first Star Wars. If you only watch one film from the original trilogy twice, make it this one.

The Fuzzy Mushroom verdict

Must-see, with a Spore Score of 92. A sequel that deepens everything that came before it. The Punters' near-perfect score is hard to argue with.