Empire’s famous final fight is claustrophobic and soaring, triumphant and dismal. Bright lights flash and flicker, and Darth Vader waits somewhere in the shadows. Luke Skywalker has trained, sweated, and followed his feelings far into the smoky, dim underworld of Cloud City’s working spaces. In the end, there's my life before Empire and after Empire. And that's why I love it. It changed my tastes and what I thought was possible in storytelling, and it just touched my heart. It's just shocking that human beings could come together to make something so powerful and so good. I liken it to the first time you hear the Beatles' Abbey Road. I loved movies, but I had never seen one like that before. And just the way it looked and the way the story was told. Leia's strength and smarts and willingness to go right back at Solo and anyone else. The Battle of Hoth.with the good guys losing! Han's unmatched coolness and heart. I thought, "Yeah, I'll check that out." And I did not realize what I was in for. When I was 12, however, I saw a commercial on a cable station promoting that they were playing Empire one night, Return of the Jedi the next. This would have been 1991, and I remember it was something of a big deal. As the years went on, I had no real memory of the story or the films. I was a Star Wars fan when I was very young (we're talking four years old), but left it behind at some point, as one tends to do when you get older and discover new things. But when I think about why I love it on a personal level, it's because it's the movie that made me love Star Wars and opened my eyes to what filmmaking could be. And it is, without question, one of the best movies ever made, let alone the best Star Wars film. As a film, it's challenging, it's thrilling, it's dark, it's filled with emotion, it's shocking, it's hilarious. So much has been said about Empire's greatness, and it's all deserving. Yoda proves that you can be accomplished but still silly, and that we should never judge someone by our first impression. Plus, does it get any better than Yoda himself? With his peels of laughter and flashlight-thieving antics, the Yoda we first meet subverts all expectations of what a wise and powerful Jedi should be. Alongside Luke Skywalker, this is the moment where we learned about the Force and its virtues. Yet it's Yoda's wise words that first gave us a greater understanding of the core tenets of this mysterious, invisible energy, and had us believing in the Force and our own abilities to do whatever we put our minds to before he even began to lift that X-wing. Yoda's speech on the power of the Force and belief itself is an extension of the message of hope that permeates the saga. It deepens our understanding of the Force. To honor the 40 th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, which was released in the United States back on May 21, 1980, we asked some of ’s contributing writers to explain why they adore Episode V. In fact, many fans still name it as their favorite Star Wars film. Four decades later, the questions we were left with have long been answered, but there’s still an enduring appeal to the middle chapter of the original trilogy. Fans would emerge with three years to wait for the final film, which was plenty of time to ponder whether or not that Darth Vader twist was the truth or a lie, and wonder if Han Solo would ever be freed from that carbonite. It’s hard to imagine that when audiences first crowded into theaters to watch the sequel to Star Wars, they were just meeting Master Yoda, Lando Calrissian, and Boba Fett. To celebrate the classic film’s landmark 40th anniversary, presents “ Empire at 40,” a special series of interviews, editorial features, and listicles. On May 21, 1980, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back made its theatrical debut. We asked some of ’s writers to explain what keeps them enthralled with the original trilogy sequel 40 years after it was first released.
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