Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) | FIRST TIME WATCHING! | Movie Reaction 

Thank you all SO MUCH for enjoying this movie with me! As a reminder, I am a month ahead on Patreon, meaning that my Episode VI: Return of the Jedi reaction is being posted on there today! patreon.com/emmereacts

“I love you” / “I know.” is in my opinion among the best improvisations in Hollywood history. George Lucas originally wanted Han to say ‘I love you too’ but Harrison Ford improvised it as a simple “I know” which suits Han’s character so much better. He spent the entire film trying to get Leia to admit how she felt. When she finally does, it’s basically “well duh!”

To be fair emme, a Skywalker losing their hand is like a right of passage, his father was just helping him along.

The reason they tortured Han wasn't for information, it was because Vader knew of the connection Luke had with his friends, and if he tortured them, he knew Luke would feel it through the force, as he did, and come running. The point of the freezing with carbonite is because Vader wants to transport Luke to the Emperor, and keeping a Jedi prisoner, if he is conscious, would be extremely dangerous, even if he is shackled, he can still control minds, move things with the force, and is extremely powerful. Freezing Han was just a test to see if that facility could freeze a human successfully without killing them, because Vader didnt want to risk killing Luke.

The reason Luke looks abit different is because Mark Hamill was in a car accident just before they started filming this. They included the scene with the Wampa (yeti) and his face getting injured to explain away his accident and scars.

Han forcing the Falcon to start like it’s an old TV is seriously one of my favorite scenes of the trilogy😂

"It's like I'm reuniting with friends." That's been the primary appeal of Star Wars to fans ever since this movie came out.

If you notice when Leia is talking to the pilots, Han is working in the background and stops to listen to her. Shows that he really cares about her

Couple of notes: - Vader was not seriously fighting Luke, he was just playing with him, so that he would join him. - Yoda pretended to be a hermit at the beginning so that he could test Luke and his patience (R2 knowing Yoda and the importance of Luke, just played along to help) I think in some book to the move they acknowledged each other after that and are happy to be reunited again - definitely finish clone wars before watching Episode 6 Super fun to watch, keep it up! 😄

"I'm really hoping Luke and Leia don't kiss..." Oh, really.... (snicker)

“I am your father” was the biggest plot twist ever and really the main reason fans say to watch in release order.

Just three favorite moments from this reaction: 13:08 "Have a nice trip. See you next fall." 14:36 "I want to touch those walls. That looks like a nice texture. It reminds me of, like, meringue." 15:50 "Blip blop. So true, R2. Say it again for the people in the back."

Leia kissing Luke in the med bay was 100% her trying to piss-off Han at that moment; it had 0% actual romantic intent behind it. Obviously she has love for Luke, and kissing him was also a genuine expression of that love (and, I should note this was immediately after he was rescued from death, so such an expression is even more natural), but she was totally playing it up, to shove it in Han's face. I mean, I just think it's a misread to see any genuine sexual interest in that scene...

Aside from Ewan McGregor’s performance as Obi-Wan my favorite aspect of the prequels is Anakin sensing the pain of his mother across the galaxy. That’s how he knew all he had to do was torture Leia, Han and Chewie and Luke would sense it and come. They can’t understand why they are being tortured and not asked any questions.

One of the greatest sequels in history, with one of the greatest plot twists in history. This is also the film that introduced Yoda, Dagobah, the Emperor, and the Imperial March.

05:40 "So now we just have a one armed Yeti on the loose?" This made me actually laugh out loud.😄

Yoda is simply testing Lukes patience. Hence why he is acting like a goofball

When Luke escaped, Vader didn't kill Admiral Piett because he really wanted to have his son by his side. He was genuinely dismayed at his own failure. I think he fought Luke believing he was not in fact the son of Anakin, but in spending time around him, their connection to the Force made Vader realize the truth. You can also see the sadness in Vader when he first tells Luke he's his father, and when Luke let's go of the stand and falls, Vader's outstretched hand falls in dismay. Go back and rewatch it with these tidbits in mind, and you'll recognize the signs. They did a great job in showing emotion through an emotionless mask/helmet.

Decades ago this was everyone's first ever introduction to Yoda

12:05 - WWI era planes after had a gunner seated behind the pilot, and he had a gun that would able to swivel but would often be rear-facing to shoot. WWII planes had mainly advanced to single-person fighters that fired front-facing, though larger bombers, etc would often have gunner turrets (usually underbelly) similar to the Millennium Falcon’s gun turret.

8:09 Rogue Squadron is comprised of survivors of the Red and Gold squadrons that destroyed the Death Star in the previous film. Since the release of "Rogue One" it has been established that the squadron is named in honour of the fallen heroes who retrieved the data that enabled that victory.

I was 16 Years old in 1980 when I saw this in the movie Theatres. Everyone was stunned when Vader told Luke He was his Father!

10:48 when you mention Luke and Han's 'brotherly connection', indeed you're right. The characters (and the actors' abilities) had grown to the point where they didn't have to say anything to show they cared for one another's safety. Just a glance and an awkward 'aw shucks' smile told us all we needed to know.

42:25, Vader wanted to test the freezing technology on Han Solo so that he can freeze Luke and bring him to the Emperor. Freezing Han Solo is also beneficial to Boba Fett who needs to capture Han cause Han owes a debt to Jabba the Hutt. Great reaction as always! Keep up the good work!

There were 2 meanings behind Luke's face being behind the Vader mask. The first was that if he was not careful he would fall just as Anakin had years back and become the next Sith lord. The second is that Luke was not ready to take on a foe at Vader's level and if he tried the odds were high, he would not only lose but not survive the encounter. Which became partly true later on.

If you remember back in episode 4 when Leah first met Han her first words were as arrogant as Han. "I see you managed to cut off our only escape route" which prompted Hans arrogant response. This exchange opened up the war of words between the two because they both liked each other from the beginning but hated themselves for it. So they took it out on each other until they finally lowered their guard and acknowledged their love. It's a two way street here not just a nasty Han.

22:50 Vader already knew about his son at this point, which was shown in one of the Darth Vader comics. In this scene he's feigning ignorance to conceal his plans of using Luke to overthrow Sidious.

There’s 3 years between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. That’s why there was tension between Leia and Han because they grew to like each other over time but both had too much pride to admit it. Han didn’t just come on to her after several arguments a few weeks after meeting her as it might appear. There’s 1 year between Empire and RotJ.

The Imperial Officers were expecting Vader to kill one of them at the end. He didn’t because he was too sad to be angry. After being alone for so long he finds out he has a son. And what happens when he finally tracks him down? His son would rather jump to his death than rule the galaxy with him. Of course it’s all Vader’s fault to begin with, but Luke’s rejection was still heartbreaking moment for Vader

1. The speeders during the Battle of Hoth was the same vehicle that picked up Obi-Wan from Fortress Inquisitorius after he rescued Leia. 2. Luke and Leia were NEVER meant to be siblings when George Lucas created Star Wars. He only made them twins because originally Lucas had created in his mind Luke's twin sister who we were suppose to meet in Episode 7. One draft had Luke turn to the dark side and his sister redeems him. But when Lucas was closing out the original trilogy (episodes 4-6), he decided at the time since he was mentally worn out with Star Wars that he would close it up at Episode 6 and decided on making Leia his twin sister instead. 3. "There is another" as Yoda replied to Obi-Wan was a reference to the unknown twin sister that Lucas had in mind. The problem at the time is Lucas wasn't planning on it being Leia and at the same time she's captured by Vader with the unknown of her fate which was why Luke left without completing his training. 4. The torturing of Han Solo was to draw out Luke because Vader knew he would feel it and come to him. 5. The bounty hunter that helped capture Han Solo and left with him to bring to Jabba was Boba Fett. As you know he's the "unaltered clone" of Jango Fett we see as a 10-year-old boy in Attack of the Clones. Boba still has that ship that Jango used in AOTC that Obi-Wan fought in the Geonosis asteroid field. 6. I thought you saw the episode of the Clone Wars where Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and clones froze themselves into carbonite to sneak into a Separatist base called The Citadel to rescue Tarkin in Season 3. I was expecting a different reaction when Han was frozen was all. 7. When Luke drew his lightsaber right away when he found Vader on Cloud City, you can see the anger in his eyes because he believed that Vader killed his father and he was feeling vengeful. Had Luke finished his training, Yoda and Obi-Wan were going to tell him Vader is his father. But he left early so he found out from Vader himself instead.

You don't have to wait 3 years for answers! Glad you still got shocked at some of the reveals in this episode.

R2D2 knew Yoda was pretending to be a hermit. They were both in on it.

I like to think Vader killing those who fail him as actually relating to his own frustration and obsession with finding Luke. He takes his own rage out on others.

44:45 “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.” It’s interesting going into these with a Clone Wars perspective first, because who ignite their saber first here? Who strikes first? Just like Yoda was testing Luke with his silliness, Vader here tests Luke. Great reaction! May the Force be with you, always.

They were just testing the freezing chamber on Solo. They wanted Luke to be incapacitated for the trip to the Emperor.

I saw this in theaters when it came out when I was kid in 1980, I feel old lol. Everyone was shocked when it was revealed that Vader was Luke’s father! We didn’t have spoilers back then lol This is the arguably the best movie in the entire franchise. It’s my favorite!

17:47 Yes! When he was chasing Jango and Boba Fett. That's why Boba was able to recognize when Han did the same thing, hiding below the Star Destroyer and sneaking away with the debris. He'd seen Obi-Wan play a similar trick all those years ago.

“He’s done a lot of falling lately; this’ll be easy for him.” Funny line

I love it when the generation before me (not like I'm ancient here, hello, but you get it) discovers the art or pop culture that a lot of us have grown up with. It's like when my brothers passed on their vinyl to me & I was like "WHAT IS THIS?!' So when the reveal comes & people are still surprised or shocked at it, it's like reliving those moments through the eyes of someone else, y'know?

Llama kangaroo, possibly the best description I have ever heard. Love watching these movies with you.

To be fair, Mark Hamill had been in a serious car crash in between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, in which he fractured his nose and left cheekbone, so his appearance isn't just, that he's 3 years older. You are not the first or last person who couldn't tell if that was Luke, immediately upon seeing him in this.

I love seeing Frank Oz as Yoda in this (Frank is also Bert and Oscar the Grouch in Sesame Street and Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Animal in the Muppet Show) He is so good bringing characters to life. Back in 1980 they were actually afraid the fandom would take a "Muppet" seriously in Star Wars, but almost all did. and was a huge success.

"Chewbacca, turn around! I can't see!" "You don't wanna C-3P0" is my new favorite unintentionally genius line ever uttered by a react RU-vidr lol

Idk why people hate Lando here. His “deal,” was just doing the best in a worst situation and he made up for it.

Usually Yoda isn’t such a goofball, but when you take refuge on the same planet for 20 years, you tend to act out. 😅

A little gymnastics is indeed part of Jedi training lol

"Have a nice trip, see ya next fall!" lol That is an oldie but a goodie. I learned that one in my teens and I am a septuagenarian.

the gunner behind the pilot of the snow speeder has his own small gun turret aimed rear. he also controls the tow-cable system and some other minor tasks to give the pilot more freedom for concentrated flight maneuvers.

Vader learned about luke before the emperor told him. He hired Boba fett to find out the name of the pilot that destroyed the death star. Boba came back to him with the name skywalker. I think he was the one too that killed Luke's aunt and uncle, when vader tells him, no disintegration

There is a theory that Vader didn't let Bobo Fett shoot at Chewie because Vader recognized C-3PO and Vader didn't want him harmed since Anakin created him.

“You’re the worst dad ever!”😂

"You don't wanna see - 3PO" Lol

When they reached the Luke/Leia kiss scene, George Lucas had not yet decided to make them twins. It was merely Leia trying to prove Han wrong, and Luke gloating about the kiss.

Vader actually found 3p0 in pieces on the conveyer belt. He picked 3p0s head up and stared for awhile. Then he was reminded of his previous life and got pretty upset, put 3p0s head back on the belt and left.

"Luke, Don't give into hate... THAT leads to the dark side" and "Strong is Vader, mind what you have learned... save you it can" are such impactful lines after having seen all the canon. Such good last minute advice they gave Luke after they saw he was determined to go.

When in extreme cold weather with no shelter, and a big animal dies recently, staying within the animal is an extreme survival technique in real life. Not the nicest one, but it is a trade off between doing that or dying frozen.

53:50 you know Vader is defeated/sad when he just looked back and forth at his son, rejected. then proceeds not killing those who failed him.

Vader's original plan was to freeze Luke and bring him to the emperor. They tested it on Han to make sure that it was safe because it was too big of a risk to try it on Luke. Obviously, they never managed to get Luke in it

John Williams score for “The Imperial March” was inspired (some say ‘lifted’) from Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’, a set of nine songs each accompanying one of the planets and it’s theme, with Williams’ inspiration coming from “Mars: The Bringer Of War”. I was fortunate enough to see John Williams at the age of 92 conduct the LA Phil doing his greatest hits at Hollywood Bowl this summer, along with many other film and Star Wars fans.

This movie expanded the characters, the philosophy, introduced Yoda and gave us one of the greatest twists ever. Just what a good sequel should be.

"How are we going to find Yoda?" Well, there is a lucky coincidence that we splash landed on this planet just a few meters away from where Yoda lives.

"How is Luke going to get out?" Ahem...'single-handedly.'

This is such an odd way of re-experiencing this series for the first time. I mean like...re: Childish Gambino!? I am not dissing the journey you're taking, I'm only acknowledging the vast difference from my own journey. And I love it. ...I know.

I love how often you say "fascinating" which is a classic Spock quote (Star TREK) 😁

I love how you said, " I"m going to read it this time ... then 5 minutes later, you're like " what are those things".

The holographic image of the emperor was actually a different actor in the original release of the film. The role for episode VI had not yet been cast.

2:31 so Luke is riding a Taun taun, Taun taun’s were a species of non-sentient lizards native to the snowy plains of Hoth. They were used by members of the Rebel Alliance after they domesticated some of them when they built their new headquarters on Hoth.

The yeti like creature is called a Wampa. In the scene where Luke escapes its cave and that moment when Obi-Wan first comes to Luke it was so cold out outside that filming of the scenes was done 15 feet from the entrance of the hotel the cast and crew were using.

The point of freezing Han was just a test, so they could use it on Luke. Since Luke can use the force, that would make escape pretty easy for him. So the plan was to transport Luke to the Emperor frozen, so he couldn't get away during the trip. They didn't want to kill him in the process, so Han was the guinea pig so to speak. And if he would have died, Darth would have just paid the bounty to Boba Fett, and that would have been that.

The Empire Strikes Back is largely considered the highest quality Star Wars movie of all of them, in large part to the contribution of Irvin Kershner's directing. This was Lucas's only collaboration with Kershner and that was because of difference of opinion that Kershner loved Lucas's vision of the trilogy, but believed character development and dialogue was very important and deserved more time on screen, and Lucas believed the greatness all came from the other aspects of the movie, particularly innovative visual effects, which was what made the first movie so popular. They parted ways after this movie, and even as good as Return of the Jedi was, it didn't have the same high quality character development and dialogue. And the prequels REALLY suffered from poor dialogue. Also, John Williams is the greatest movie music composer of all time. He's the man. I absolutely love Star Wars music and occasionally pull up RU-vid to listen to other movies' music from John Williams, such as Superman, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jaws, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park.

I’ve seen this movie so many times and it’s only now clicking that Chewie cared so much for C3PO compared to the others.

In World War II, some aircraft would have a rear gunner who would sit with their back to the pilot and use their weapon to discourage anyone from attacking them from the rear.

A lot of Star Wars was based on WW2. There were bombers and fighters that had rear facing gunners.

In many interviews, Harrison Ford has said that he wanted Han to die in this movie, because he didn’t want to play the character anymore, but George Lucas wouldn’t allow it, so Han lived.

During World War 2 (WWII) they used plans with rear facing seats for the secondary crew members, in combat being the gunner to defend the plane from attacks from the rear, in particular the bombers (like dive bombers) and torpedo bombers such as the Grumman TBF Avenger). Was Avenger was used in the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal New Zealand Air Force. If you want to see a movie that they are used a lot, check out the movie Midway (1976 release). I haven't seen the latest one, but I've actually met the pilot from the actual event of what the movie was about. He was the lone survivor of a torpedo squadron who was shot down while attacking the Japanese Carrier Task Force. This is a War movie made in the 70s with a lot of well known actors. Including Pat Morita (Mr Miyagi from Karate Kid [1984] and the sequels of the original) was in this movie, but much younger. So if you ever want to watch something during a veteran type of holiday like Memorial Day, Veteran's Day, July 4th, etc this is a good old movie with a lot of action in it. You will also get a chance to see planes that have a rear facing crew member in the smaller planes. Larger planes like the B-24 and B-17 are larger sized bombers with turrets on top, bottom, back, and sides in addition to the nose gunner.

When e-3PO says "e chu ta" it means "f*ck you". Now people freaked out because in The Mandalorian a character says "echutah" which sounds almost the same and means it as "wassup" but when you compare the two, the pronunciation is a little different.

Darth looks so good in this one. He must have that new car smell!! So shiny!!

"Not gonna yuck your yumm" freakin' brilliant!!!

It's easy to think about how Luke is feeling, when Darth reveals that He's Luke father, but just think about how it would feel to tell someone that and get Luke's reaction in return. I think the way that Vader doesn't even flinch reveals a bit about how he feels about himself. He's totally numb to being hated and on some level he probably thinks he deserves it, although he is still narcissistic enough to think that his offer should be appealing. Much like in the prequels we can see that he doesn't really understand nor care to understand anyone else's perspective. If he did, he may have realized by now that most people fear the emperor more, but they HATE him more, because he's the one who's been personally, Ruthlessly oppressing people for decades.

wooo Episode 5 of the main movie series, this is awesome!! Pretty cool that you're uploading vids from the end of the Cone Wars saga and Andor as it wraps up and now going back to 1980 for arguably the best movie in the entire saga. Can't wait for the reaction. Love these videos Emme

It’s been wonderful watching your movie reactions. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. It’s always nice to watch episode order reactions for the Vader identity reveal alone.

Man, I'm glad I brought my Grater for all the cheesiness.

Interesting fact with the interaction at the end where Vader didn’t kill Piett. He knew it wasn’t Piett’s fault that the Falcon got away so he let him live.

According to Mark Hamill the "I am your father" scene was originally shot with DV telling Luke that Obi Wan killed Annikin ...so his reaction was not from learning that DV was his father. The director came to MH and told him in confidence what the real line was and James Earl Jones recorded the iconic line. MH said that at premiere Harrison Ford turned to him and said "hey kid you didn't tell me". 🙂

Emme 2 seconds after learning about the asteroid worm: Why did that creature have creatures inside of it. Me: 42 years and 30 seconds before Emme: why did that creature have creatures inside of it. I don't know why it took me nearly my entire life to think of that & it took Emme like 5 seconds. I guess I've just never really watched Star Wars with a super realistic look before. But watching that scene for maybe the 128320th time I was just really into the worm's biology. Like how was it surviving the vacuum of deep space. What did it eat & how could other creatures survive inside it? It must eat something where the byproduct is something the mynocks can eat.

I know it wasn't intentional but Emme's face at 50:17 is priceless considering how crushing this was for Luke XD

It is believed that somewhere in between episodes IV and V, Darth Vader found out about Luke being his son. In the first movie, he only noticed the Force in Luke.

Those injuries on Mark Hamill's face are actually real. before those scenes were shot Mark got into a very serious car wreck and even today still carries the scars from it.

WOOOOOOO!!!!!! STAR WARS!!!!!

There are 2 reasons why Yoda pretends to not be Yoda when Luke meets him: The first is because Yoda is in hiding. He is presumed dead and wants to keep it that way. He knows that if the wrong person finds him, it will lead to his death. And the second is because Yoda isn't exactly famous, and it has been over 20 years since anyone else had seen him. Luke came to Dagobah looking for "a great warrior", expecting Yoda to be tall and strong. That's how I remember imagining Yoda when I watched this for the first time as a kid. Not someone who was old, short, and physically fragile.

There used to be back in WW2 a pilot would sit front seat and a rear gunner sat rear. Both on the US and Japan sides, coming across one or worse a pair of those type of aircraft could prove to be very deadly due to those rear gunners' angle of fire. Both sides suffered casualties as a result of getting caught in the crossfire. X marks the spot actually came from these types of battles because often those aircraft that went down would be in the center of lines of bullets forming an X coming from two aircraft.

18:10 R2 is like : Father like Son I guess, another happy landing ... why do I keep up with this shit anyways ??... they all would be dead without me I guess Also R2 when Luke meets Yoda ... Do I tell him orrrrr Darth Vader a bad father ? He provided a whole as GALAXY

R2 is the secret hero in all movies. without him they all had failed so many times :D

"Over my dead '3PO!!" Lmao🤣❤

The asteroid field theme of the soundtrack is sooo good. John Williams is a genius

Oh yeah! Cliff the mailman from Cheers is the hanger boss after Leia’s speech in the Hoth Hanger. That voice is also in all of the Toy Stories!

The thing with the phantom Vader was telling Luke that if he kills Vader, he destroys himself by turning to the dark side

Thanks for reacting to this, Emme. I liked your characterization of a tauntaun.

"Join you?! Over my dead 3PO!" Bahahah 🤣

There's alot of those moments in Star Wars where you watch an older version and find a possible connection to a new film like the callsign Rogue Two being used. Writers, directors, producers all think about how they could tie together their new projects with something mentioned in the original films so I wouldn't be surprised if Rogue Two was inspired by the actions of Rogue One. The Death Star Plans in the EU were all over the place from Kyle Katarn stealing the plans in the opening mission of Dark Forces (1995) while in Battlefront II (2005) the plans were stolen by a Heist on the Death star itself, Then you have different retelling in Empire at War (2006) and then the Death Star being discovered by the Rebels in The Force Unleashed (2008) so it's very mixed on how the Deathstar plans were stolen. Rogue One brought this to canon and pretty much did a great job at showing what happened. So yeah The actions of Rogue One inspired Rogue Two lol