But Empire, the gold standard of a sequel that surpasses its predecessor, turns a potential franchise into an honest-to-goodness saga.
Star Wars: Episode V —The Empire Strikes Back didn't need to be this good. Even if director Irvin Kershner, working off a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, had recycled everything that made George Lucas' Star Wars such a hit, it still would've drawn audiences in droves. But Empire, the gold standard of a sequel that surpasses its predecessor, turns a potential franchise into an honest-to-goodness saga. As Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill) comes into his own as a Jedi, Kershner guides us through fresh locales rich in potential lore, punishing snowscapes and colorful cloud cities, while Brackett and Kasdan complicate an otherwise simple story with conflicted notions of good and evil. There's also that twist and the downer of an ending that chases it; decades later, the franchise is still trying to recapture that magic.