History Film / TheEmpireStrikesBack

* AllThereInTheManual: To get around the SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale issue, supplemental materials explain that the ''Millennium Falcon'' rode the back of the ''Avenger'' through at least one hyperspace jump, and more importantly that most midsize or larger spaceships have an emergency backup hyperdrive which serves basically the same purpose as a spare tire on a car. Compared to a normal hyperdrive, it's not nearly as fast and won't get you very far, but it's enough to at least limp to the nearest inhabited star system for repairs. Which is how the ''Millennium Falcon'' was able to travel from Hoth to Bespin in a few days or weeks rather than a few ''years'' (as well how Boba Fett and Vader were able to get there ahead of them). All of this was {{jossed}} decades later by ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and ''Series/TheMandalorian'', which just lean on space not being as big in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe (as in the RaygunGothic films that influenced the franchise), such that sublight travel between nearby star systems is reasonable, it just takes a much longer time than hyperspace (days or weeks instead of minutes and hours).

--->'''Leia''' You're not actually going INTO [[AsteroidThicket an asteroid field]]?!
--->'''Han:''' They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?
** And then he pulls another crazy stunt by going into a strafing run against another Star Destroyer. This confuses and distracts everyone long enough for Han to hide the ''Falcon'' on the back of the Star Destroyer's hull. When the Imperial fleet prepares to jump to hyperspace, thinking the ''Falcon'' had somehow already escaped, it dumps its garbage as per standard procedure and the ''Falcon'' with powered-down engines floats away in the middle of the trash field. Too bad [[BountyHunter Boba Fett]] stuck around long enough to see them when they powered up their engines again.

* FighterMageThief: Darth Vader progresses through this trope in his duel with Luke. While in the carbon-freezing chamber, he manipulates Luke's movements from afar and uses the finesse-based swordplay of Makashi (Thief). While in the control room, he switches to telekinesis to batter Luke (Mage). In the final exchange leading to cutting off Luke's hand, he emphasizes his physical power to wear Luke down until he can no longer defend himself (Fighter).

** The 1995 VHS and Laserdisc cover spotlights [[https://starwarsblog.starwars.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/FoxSet-2.jpg a random Stormtrooper]] rather than any of the main characters.

* PlotDrivenBreakdown: The ''Millennium Falcon'''s hyperdrive systems refuse to work for nearly the whole film which means they can't easily escape the Imperial Fleet like everyone else, leading to their eventual capture, which requires Luke to divert from his training early to save them leading to his defeat by Vader and Han's capture by Fett. Basically if it had worked there wouldn't be any danger in the film at all past the quarter point. The initial failure is justified by Han's shoestring and glue approach to ship maintenance, plus having to evacuate Hoth in the middle of repairs. After leaving Cloud City, the next failure is due to Imperial sabotage.

* PlotDrivenBreakdown: the Millennium Falcon's HYPER Drive systems refuse to work for nearly the whole film which means they can't easily escape the Imperial Fleet like everyone else, [[ForWantOfANail leading to their eventual capture, which requires Luke to divert from his training early to save them leading to his defeat by Vader and Han's capture by Fett.]] Basically if it had worked there wouldn't be any danger in the film at all past the quarter point. The initial failure is justified by Han's shoestring and glue approach to ship maintenance, plus having to evacuate Hoth in the middle of repairs. After leaving Cloud City, the next failure is due to Imperial sabotage.

-->'''Luke:''' R2. ''(points toward the shore)'' That way.\\
'''R2:''' ''(in Binary)'' Oh. Thank you.

* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: The movie ends with [[BreakingTheFellowship the group broken up]], with [[spoiler: Han taken prisoner, Lando and Chewie flying off to rescue him, and Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 keeping Luke company while he recovers from his injuries]]. Despite this being the heroes' DarkestHour, the audience is reminded that all is not lost when the last shot of the movie is the regrouped Rebel Fleet, one of the bigger collections of starships and fighters seen in the franchise up to this point, cruising off into the distance while The Force's {{Leitmotif}} plays.

* SlapSlapKiss: Han and Leia.

* SternChase: The cat-and-mouse between the ''Falcon'' and the Imperial fleet.

* UnholyGround: The cave. "That place is strong with the Dark Side of the Force."

* AppealToForce: Darth Vader keeps [[MovingTheGoalposts changing the terms]] with Lando Calrissian, knowing that with the Empire holding all the cards, he doesn't have to keep his word. [[spoiler:[[VillainBall This backfires]], as Lando decides that if Vader won't keep his word to him, then [[ScrewTheRulesTheyBrokeThemFirst he's got no reason to hold up his end, either]], and so helps Leia and Chewbacca escape.]]

* AsceticAesthetic: Cloud City has its interior decoration dominated by the use of white, though underneath the shiny veneer of the public spaces most of the place is actually dark and industrial. Further, the clean and neat appearance of the place neatly foreshadows that [[spoiler:it is not a safe haven for Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3PO, but has been secretly seized by Darth Vader and The Empire.]]

* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Emperor Palpatine's sole appearance in the film is to inform Darth Vader that he's aware that Luke Skywalker is his son without directly saying it (mostly for the sake of [[LukeIAmYourFather hiding the big surprise]] from the audience, but also doing so [[ThatManIsDead since Vader dissociates himself from his past life as Anakin]]). However, Vader already knows this, as he mentions Luke by his surname before the invasion of Hoth, and ''Legends'' and canonical media alike make it clear that Vader had known for a while. The conversation plays out as a way for Palpatine to safeguard himself in order to ensure that Vader doesn't get any big ideas of getting his son to overthrow him, rather than Vader suddenly getting the idea that he could be a new Sith apprentice (which Vader was secretly already thinking about). Later Special Editions of the film expand the scene between Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader by having Vader pretend to be surprised that he has a son, given that [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith last he knew -- at least to Palpatine's knowledge -- Anakin believed that his wife died before giving birth]].

* IncestSubtext: A pair of DeletedScenes for Luke and Leia, who were TrueCompanions but not yet aware of their mutual descent. One UST-laden scene has a near-kiss between Luke and Leia after Luke tries to confess something to her before being interrupted by C-3PO and a second she gives him a short peck on the lips as she tends to him after he lost his hand.

* LuredIntoATrap: Twice. The ''Millennium Falcon'' crew falls into one arranged by Boba Fett and Vader at Cloud City, and they are tortured in order to lure Luke via the Force. The second trap even features an early appearance of [[MemeticMutation "It's a trap!"]] when Leia tries to warn Luke while being used as a HumanShield during a gunfight.

* NoOSHACompliance: Definitely shown during the lightsaber duel on Bespin. Why anyone would work there is anyone's guess. Railings seem to be very expensive to install or maintain.

* RayOfHopeEnding: Han has been captured, Luke has lost his hand and had a pretty nasty revelation, Vader tells Luke he will succumb to the dark side and Luke starts to believe him, the Rebels are on the run, but the heroes escape and are making it clear that they're not giving up, they are going to save Han and they are going to prevail. It might take a while but they will win.

* TheAllegedCar: The ''Millennium Falcon''. Oh it's definitely a CoolShip, but in this movie the hyperdrive fails to work time and time again leading to nothing but headaches for her crew.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Han and Leia spend most of the first two acts trading barbs, and Leia kisses Luke in sickbay pretty much just to annoy Han (although Luke doesn't seem to mind). Then they kiss while repairing the ''Falcon'' in the asteroid field, followed by an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove from Leia as Han is about to be frozen in carbonite.
* BewilderingPunishment: Han, Leia, and Chewie aren't told that Vader is torturing them to draw Luke.

* BittersweetEnding: The Empire forces the Rebels to abandon their base, but fail to eliminate them. Han Solo is captured, tortured, and imprisoned in carbonite at the end, in the custody of Boba Fett, who intends to take him back to Tatooine and deliver him into the hands of Jabba the Hutt for the bounty on his head. Darth Vader defeats and cripples Luke Skywalker while also hurting his morale but he fails to convert him, and Vader's plan to topple the Emperor and take over the Empire fails. Likewise, Cloud City and Lando Calrissian are NeutralNoLonger and by the end, the Rebels are ready to counter the Empire all over again, since none of them actually die in the film.

* BravingTheBlizzard: Luke Skywalker gets lost in a blizzard on an icy planet. Han Solo has to travel through the blizzard in order to find and rescue Luke.

* ElectricTorture: In Cloud City, Han is strapped to a gurney and lowered over a device that appears to administer brief, intense electric shocks. Ford really goes all in on the screams.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Veers tries to explain Ozzel's reasoning for his actions in the hope it will convince Vader to spare him. It doesn't.

* ForgivenessRequiresDeath: Captain Needa apologizing to Darth Vader for losing sight of the ''Millenium Falcon'' is met with Vader accepting his apology...after executing Needa via Force-choke.

** Perhaps the most controversial change was Creator/TemueraMorrison overdubbing all of Jason Wingreen's lines as Boba Fett. Supporters argue that it makes the film tie in better with the prequel trilogy, while detractors dislike it for [[FanonDiscontinuity exactly that reason]] in addition to it being disrespectful to Wingreen's performance.

* GiantFootOfStomping: The AT-AT walkers.

* HumongousMecha: AT-[=ATs=].

** Also inverted. With the absence of the planet-destroying Death Star, the stakes are much lower than in the previous movie. After the Battle of Hoth, it's pretty much only the main characters who are in danger for the rest of the movie. This makes the film's conflict more personal.

* SpitefulSuicide: The film has Luke Skywalker pretty much at a WalkThePlank moment after fighting Darth Vader and losing his right hand. Vader offers Luke a chance to join him and accede to the Dark Side of the Force. Rather than submit, Luke chooses to perish and allows himself to plummet into the near-bottomless shaft. Only the peculiarity of Cloud City's conduit system and a returning ''Millenium Falcon'' saves Luke from falling to his doom.

!!Sir, the odds of reading all these tropes is approximately 3,720 to one:

** Luke also use one on the belly of an AT-AT, getting him high enough to toss in a bomb.
%%* GrewASpine: Luke, when he left Yoda's training to save Han and Leia.

* {{CallBack}}: Yoda gets a retroactive one thanks to ''The Phantom Menace'' when he reveals himself to Luke. He states he's trained Jedi for 800 years and will keep his own counsel on who is ready to be trained. Just as with Luke here and now, Yoda did ''not'' approve of Anakin being trained as a Jedi and thought it was a ''very'' bad idea.

* ExactWords: A retroactive one thanks to the Prequel Trilogy when Obi-Wan's Ghost tells Luke to go to the Dagobah System and to seek out Yoda. He then explains that Yoda is the Jedi Master who instructed him. This ''is''' technically true...because, as ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' established, Yoda oversaw and trained all Temple Younglings before they were old enough to be assigned to available Masters (like Qui-Gon Jinn). Obi-Wan not mentioning Qui-Gon can be Handwaved in-universe as it being irrelevant information to Luke's training (with the real-life explanation of course being Lucas hadn't conceived or developed Qui-Gon's character at this point).

* ExactWords: A retroactive one thanks to the Prequel Trilogy when Obi-Wan tells Luke to go to the Dagobah System and seek out Yoda. He says Yoda is the Jedi Master who instructed him. This ''is''' technically true...because, as ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' established, Yoda oversaw and trained all Temple Younglings before they were old enough to be assigned to available Masters. Obi-Wan not mentioning Qui-Gon Jinn can be Handwaved in-universe as it being irrelevant information to Luke's training (with the real-life explanation of course being Lucas hadn't conceived or developed Qui-Gon's character at this point).

* ExactWords: A retroactive one thanks to the Prequel Trilogy when Obi-Wan tells Luke to go to the Dagobah System for further training. He says Yoda is the Jedi Master who trained him. This ''is''' technically true...because, as ''Attack of the Clones'' established, Yoda oversaw and trained all Temple Younglings before they were old enough to be assigned to available Masters. Obi-Wan not mentioning Qui-Gon Jinn can be Handwaved in-universe as it being irrelevant information to Luke's training (with the real-life explanation of course being Lucas hadn't conceived or developed Qui-Gon's character at this point).

* TheReveal: One of the most famous in film history: "[[LukeIAmYourFather Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father...]]"