Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

critic Reviews

, 95% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score
  • Dark, sinister, but ultimately even more involving than A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back defies viewer expectations and takes the series to heightened emotional levels.
  • , Rotten Tomatometer Score
    Richard CombsSight & Sound
    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.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Bob ThomasAssociated Press
    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.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Bruce McCabeBoston Globe
    This is a respectable sequel to Star Wars but not as good.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Geraldine PascallThe Australian
    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.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Rena AndrewsDenver Post
    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.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Joe PollackSt. Louis Post-Dispatch
    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.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Christian EulinbergInSession Film
    This is one of the best climaxes that movies can offer and receives all of the respect it deserves.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Matt NealMovies Ate My Life
    Whereas A New Hope's greatest triumphs are in its storytelling, its groundbreaking special FX, and its remarkable legacy, Empire has all that and one extra key ingredient - emotion.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Keith GarlingtonKeith & the Movies
    “Empire” launched Star Wars to heights that neither George Lucas or the world could have expected. And for many kids in the early 80s (like me), “Empire” etched Star Wars so deeply into from our childhoods that it left a permanent mark.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Ginger VarneyL.A. Weekly
    Oh boy! Producers Gary Kurtz and George Lucas and director Irvin Kershner spent 20 trillion dollars to make me feel like a toy for two hours and I loved it.
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