History Awesome / TheEmpireStrikesBack

-->'''Luke:''' I don't-- I don't believe it!
-->'''Yoda:''' ''That''... is why you fail.

** Especially since this line was an ad-lib by Harrison Ford.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[RootingForTheEmpire "The Empire's Finest Hour"]]]]

* Han Solo after being tortured. When he finds out that this was all to lure Luke into a trap, he uses a bit of strength he has left to punch Lando before being restrained. Lando was in the middle of a HeelFaceTurn at the time, but the fact that Han's best friend putting his other best friend in danger being the last straw for him was pretty awesome.

* John Williams' music is its usual awesomeness, but two aspects of this score particularly stand out. Firstly, the Imperial March, which makes its debut in this film; rarely has music been quite so badass. The second is at the very end of the film: The Rebel fleet has fled the galaxy after the destruction of their main base, Luke is psychologically shaken by the confrontation with Vader and learning the man is ''his father'' (not to mention getting his hand lopped off) and Han has been frozen in a block of carbonite and taken off by a notorious bounty hunter to be sold to wicked gangster. But as Lando speeds off to rescue his friend and Luke and Leia stare out at the stars, what music is blaring behind them all? [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Han and Leia's Love Theme]].

* The big reveal, in some of James Earl Jones's best vocal work.

* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUTOGpJ2es first appearance]] of the ''Executor''. We see it eclipsing the light on multiple ''Star Destroyers! LIKE THAT BEHEMOTH FROM THE INTRO OF THE PREVIOUS FILM!'' Even its engine exhausts dwarf the escorting Destroyers. The same sequence debuts a new piece of music for ''Empire,'' [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome the Imperial March.]] To truly put this into perspective, normal Star Destroyers are approximately 1,600 meters long, or about 1 mile. Super Star Destroyers are 12 times longer than normal Star Destroyers. The ''Executor'' is a ship over half the length of Manhattan!

* Luke informs Yoda that he's just not strong enough in the Force to raise his starfighter from the swamp. Yoda then raises the X-wing out of the swamp, accompanied by triumphant music and spirited beeping from R2-D2.

*** Further emphasized that while Luke adopts the standard two-handed grip on his lightsaber at the start of the match, Vader opens with a more casual one-handed grip and bats away Luke's initial attacks with what is clearly contemptuous ease. Those first few strikes serve as the first inkling that Luke may have just bitten off a ''lot'' more than he can chew.
*** At which point Vader ''immediately'' stops any pretense of Luke being his equal, and in less than three strokes, ''effortlessly'' severs Luke's hand. There's even this slight pause before he does it, as if to silently say "[[IfIWantedYouDead You are not dead]], because I ''decided'' not to kill you."

** "NeverTellMeTheOdds," possibly the most badass line in the entire series.
*** Really? Another Han line begs to differ:

* [[YouHaveFailedMe "Apology accepted, Captain Needa."]]
** This was also ''Needa's'' CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Having just been outmaneuvered and out-bluffed by Solo, Needa is tasked with explaining his failure to Vader, and there's no question in anyone's mind how [[YouHaveFailedMe Lord Vader deals with setbacks]]. What does he do? He flies himself to the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executor_(Star_Wars) Executor]]'' to stand before Vader, take full responsibility, and fall on his sword, sparing his ship and crew from the Sith Lord's wrath. Vader's quoted line seems to imply that even he was mildly impressed by Needa's actions. Compare Needa's execution to Ozzel's, whom Vader pointedly refused to acknowledge ''while choking him to death''.
* With Luke and Han both incapacitated in different ways, Leia calmly takes charge of two rescue missions, in a manner similar to her staying back at Echo Base on Hoth to direct the evacuation until the very last minute.
** In the previous film, Leia was the one who needed rescuing. In ''Empire'', she's the one who rescues Luke from almost certain death, even making (with the help of Chewie) Lando back down about the craziness of flying ''back'' to Imperial-occupied Cloud City. No DamselInDistress, our plucky Princess.

* Really, everything Han did in the asteroid field.

->'''Vader:''' "Impressive... ''most'' impressive."

* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUTOGpJ2es first appearance]] of the ''Executor''. We see it eclipsing the light on multiple ''Star Destroyers! LIKE THAT BEHEMOTH FROM THE INTRO OF THE PREVIOUS FILM!'' Even its engine exhausts dwarf the escorting Destroyers. The same sequence debuts a new piece of music for ''Empire,'' [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome the Imperial March.]]
** To truly put this into perspective, normal Star Destroyers are approximately 1,600 meters long, or about 1 mile. Super Star Destroyers are 12 times longer than normal Star Destroyers. The ''Executor'' is a ship over half the length of Manhattan!

** The Walkers themselves.
** During the same battle, the Rebels manage to disable a Star Destroyer with the Ion Cannons, creating a gap in the Imperial blockade for the Rebel ships to escape through.

* Also, when Vader kills Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel isn't even in the same room, and yet he easily force chokes him through the view screen; distance is no object to Vader.[[note]]Although more to the point, distance is no object to the power of The Force.[[/note]] It helps that he had a very good reason for it: Ozzel's tactical blunders spoiled the Imperials' chance at a destructive sneak attack and bought the Rebels time to evacuate Hoth.
** "YouAreInCommandNow, ''Admiral'' Piett." He gives Piett his promotion ''before'' Ozzel hits the ground.

* "All too easy."
** "Impressive... ''most'' impressive."

'''Yoda:''' "Great warrior?" Hmf. Wars not make one great.

'''Yoda:''' Do, or do not. There is no "try.:

* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLUTOGpJ2es entrance]] of the ''Executor''. We see it casting shadows on ''Star Destroyers! LIKE THAT BEHEMOTH FROM THE INTRO OF THE PREVIOUS FILM!''
** See also VisualEffectsOfAwesome, if only to reiterate the above (which is not hurt at all by the scene being the debut of [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome The Imperial freaking March]]). A good contender however is a later scene which provides a rear view of the ''Executor'' and shows that even its ''engine exhausts'' dwarf the nearby Star Destroyers.

* After the Battle of Hoth, the Millenium Falcon is making its escape from not one, not two, but ''three'' Star Destroyers. Outmaneuvring the Star Destroyers with a twisting dive, the colossal ships can't readjust their positions in time, and so we're treated to the sight of two of the three Star Destroyers ''nearly colliding in space''. It's awesome.

** "Judge me by my size, do you?"
*** "For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."
** Yoda has tons of cool lines. Another good one is "Do, or do not. There is no try."
*** Some of Yoda's lines have made it onto fortune cookies, as "Do or do not, there is no try" has been found along with other Yoda lines.
* Luke Skywalker VS Darth Vader.
** "The Force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet."
** Above all, when Luke is clinging to that ledge, ''thoroughly beaten'' by Vader both physically and emotionally. Luke willingly defies Vader's offer - "Come with me, it is the only way." - and steps off the ledge. Not even knowing if he would survive the fall (he does, barely).
*** With that move, it has been interpreted that meant Luke ''won'' that fight. That is because Vader was not out to defeat Luke, but to corrupt him to turning to the Dark Side of the Force; when Luke showed that he would rather die first and ''mean it'', Vader learned that his son's integrity was too strong for him alone.

*** The best bit is Vader isn't even doing any [[PstandardPsychicPstance psychic wavy-arms gestures]], he's barely even making an effort.
*** Compounded by the realization that Vader isn't even trying to kill Luke. He wants him alive but beaten to within an inch of his life, so as to be vulnerable to his suggestion to join forces. Imagine how brief it would have been if Vader had just wanted Luke dead.

** The fact that, despite the handicap Luke faced, he actually managed to land a blow on Vader's shoulder, though the armor stopped it.

* After the Battle of Hoth, the Millenium Falcon is making its escape from not one, not two, but ''three'' Star Destroyers. Outmaneuvring the Star Destroyers with a twisting dive, the colossal ships can't readjust their positions in time, and so we're treated to the sight of two of the three Star Destroyers ''colliding in space''. It's awesome.

* Also, when Vader kills Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel isn't even in the same room, and yet he easily force chokes him through the view screen; distance is no object to Vader.[[note]]Although more to the point, distance is no object to the power of The Force.[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"The Empire's Finest Hour"]]

** Just about everything Vader does through this fight is awesome, when you realize that he was controlling both the pace ''and'' tone of that battle the entire time. He starts off by forcing Luke to make the first overt attack (which, by the way, is in direct contradiction to the Jedi code Yoda had just taught him, making it a nice TakeThat at the same time), then he almost playfully bats Luke around a little to show him what he's up against. In the second encounter, he does nothing but stand to one side and pummel Luke with Force thrown objects, showing him what a real adept is capable of, before knocking him onto the suspended walkway. And ''then'', he goes full bore berserk on the boy, and Luke switches from mildly out-of-his-depth action hero to full on [[OhCrap terrified]] and desperate to be ''anywhere else''. And Vader [[CurbStompBattle lays him out in about twenty seconds.]] And what does he do when Luke gives him some flack after all that? He takes off his fricken sword hand at the wrist with almost no effort at all. Only then does he start delivering his true BreakingSpeech. Pure BadAss.

*** At which point Vader ''immediately'' stops screwing around and takes Luke's sword-hand off at the wrist.

*** At which point Vader <i>immediately</i> stops screwing around and takes Luke's sword-hand off at the wrist.

* John Williams' music is its usual awesomeness, but two aspects of this score particularly stand out. Firstly, the Imperial March; rarely has music been quite so badass. The second is at the very end of the film: The Rebel fleet has fled the galaxy after the destruction of their main base, Luke is psychologically shaken by the confrontation with Vader and learning the man is ''his father'' (not to mention getting his hand lopped off) and Han has been frozen in a block of carbonite and taken off by a notorious bounty hunter to be sold to wicked gangster. But as Lando speeds off to rescue his friend and Luke and Leia stare out at the stars, what music is blaring behind them all? [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Han and Leia's Love Theme]].

** This was also ''Needa's'' CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Just outmanoeuvred and out-bluffed by Solo, Needa is tasked with explaining his failure to Vader, and there's no question in anyone's mind how [[YouHaveFailedMe Lord Vader deals with setbacks]]. What does he do? He flies himself to the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executor_(Star_Wars) Executor]]'' to stand before Vader, take full responsibility, and fall on his sword, sparing his ship and crew from the Sith Lord's wrath. Vader's quoted line seems to imply that even he was mildly impressed by Needa's actions. Compare Needa's execution to Ozzel's, whom Vader pointedly refused to acknowledge ''while choking him to death''.