With Star Wars: The Complete Saga arriving on Blu-ray this month, Gary Collinson counts down his most memorable Star Wars moments (check out the previous entry here)…
STAR WARS: EPISODE V – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
And so, we reach the first entry from The Empire Strikes Back – the crowning achievement in George Lucas’ epic space opera and still, in my opinion, the greatest movie ever made.
With the Rebel Alliance scattering across the galaxy in the wake of the Empire’s attack on Echo Base, the Millennium Falcon travels to the Cloud City mining colony high above the planet Bespin, where Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO hope to gain sanctuary from the Empire courtesy of Han’s old buddy, Lando Calrissian. Tracked to the facility by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, the Rebels are captured by the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who plans to use them as bait in order to ensnare Luke Skywalker and deliver him to the Emperor encased in carbonite. To ensure Luke’s safety during transportation, Vader intends to test the carbon freezing process on Han Solo; having suffered such a comprehensive defeat at the start of Empire Strikes Back, the shit is really about to start hitting the fan for our Rebel heroes.
From Vader’s interaction with Boba Fett to Han’s goodbyes to Chewbacca and Princess Leia – which of course includes Harrison Ford’s classic “I know” retort to Carrie Fisher’s declaration of love – the entire carbon freezing scene is expertly done, with fantastic performances, direction, production design and music all combining superbly to provide one of the most poignant scenes of the entire Saga.
You’re being put into carbon freeze…
Proceed to the next memorable Star Wars moment here.
Originally published September 7, 2011. Updated April 12, 2018.
