Of course, the original Star Wars was revolutionary for its time, broke a lot of special effects ground and took the science-fiction genre to new heights for cinema. It is rightfully one of the most beloved movies of all time. Yet if you look at all of the lists generated by industry insiders you will clearly see that all of them believe that the second movie in the series, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a superior film overall.

            Having just reverse-engineered the film for a few hours in my living room, I can clearly see why. There is a really important lesson for screenwriters, and for television writers as well in this film. When you work with a lot of characters, and there are plenty to choose from in the original Star Wars trilogy, it is essential that you understand and utilize the following skill wisely:

 

Build, enforce, and reinforce the character relationships

 

            One might argue that the movie benefits greatly because of the audience's familiarity with all of the characters, but I disagree. If a viewer of this movie had never seen the first Star Wars, they could, in fact, easily grasp both the plot of the movie and the dynamic between all of the characters. This movie stands alone just fine, and the primary reason why is because of Leigh Brackett's and Lawrence Kasdan's (bet you didn't know who the screenwriters were!) focus on character development.

 

We care about these heroes because it is extremely clear that they care about each other.

 

● At the start of the film, Luke Skywalker is taken captive by a large Hoth beastie, and at extremely great risk to himself Han Solo goes out alone to try and find him in an ice storm with night approaching.

 

● Han is going to leave because of his debt to Jabba the Hutt, and it is clear that Princess Leia doesn't want him to go. There is a lot of fun interaction between them as Han tries to get her to admit that she loves him, and of course, she refuses to admit she even likes him. But, of course, she totally loves him. And we get it.

 

● R2D2 expresses in his unique beepity-boop language that he is afraid that Luke will never been seen again. C3PO attempts to console him and convince him that Luke can overcome the odds. This is hard for C3PO because he is better than anyone else at calculating the long odds of survival in any situation, which later becomes comical to the point where Leia shuts him off during a particularly harrowing situation. But here, C3PO does not just express the odds, he expresses his own desire for Luke to survive and for R2D2 to feel better about the situation.

 

These are two machines experiencing human emotions -- and it works. Because they aren't just machines. They are rich, compelling characters. 

 

● When Leia is forced to accept that neither Luke nor Han are coming back for the evening, and she agrees that the doors need to be shut, the yell of primal agony from Chewbacca voices how we all feel about it.  Leia is the reason character in this cast, and Chewbacca, the emotion. Both of them, side by side, are devastated by the loud clang of the door shutting, which both bonds the two of them together and displays the fact that the two most opposite characters on the team can feel the same way at the same time about the loss of their loved ones. A great emotional moment.

 

It is unlikely that anyone can survive the horrible ice planet at night, and now Han and Luke will have no way back inside. Of course, the audience knows neither Han nor Luke are going to die this early in the film -- that's not the point. The point is showing the love that Leia and Chewbacca have for the two of them, while also acknowledging that Han is only out there because of his friendship for Luke. You can't build better dynamics than this in as quick a time as the screenwriters manage to do it.

 

If you had not seen the first Star Wars you wouldn't have needed to, to care about these characters. All of this character building happens before the team is even threatened by Darth Vader and The Empire, which is an essential lesson for all of us.

 

Use your first act to build relationships by putting your characters into danger and obstacles that they can overcome.

 

By doing this you will keep the pace of your movie fast and create genuine feelings between your characters that will in turn create genuine feelings for your characters by your audience. If the audience cares about your characters -- you've got 'em!

 

Many screenwriters use the first act to build relationships, sure, but wait until the second act for something bad to happen to any of those characters. And that creates a very slow, creeping pace to your film that except in certain genres like suspense, will bore the audience to tears. Sure, you will build the relationships, but will the audience really care?

 

Alfred Hitchcock once said that as long as the audience knows that there is a bomb ticking in a room you can take as long as you want before it will explode and you'll have the audience on their seats. Mr. Hitchcock is of course the true master of suspense, but that theory works for every genre.

 

Make something bad happen immediately, put your characters in some manner of peril immediately, as George Lucas who built the story for the movie, and Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan wisely do in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and by the time the Antagonist strikes and you enter Act Two you will have fully established the relationships between your major characters properly.

 

Han, of course, saves Luke and then they are in turn rescued by a patrol looking for them in the morning. In a classic character development moment, when Han insists that Leia loves him and must have been scared that he was dead, she instead gives Luke a passionate kiss in front of the entire team, that leaves Han Solo's mouth gaping open. A great moment in the film, especially Luke's hilarious reaction of posing smugly afterward. Interestingly enough, this triangle relationship never gets in the way of their friendship and care for one another.

 

It is also interesting that while the good guys are showing their love for one another, Darth Vader shows that The Empire is exactly the opposite. He is ready to kill off his people every time they make a mistake or displease him in any way. He has no compassion, no mercy, and no time for the incompetence of others. If you make a mistake under his hierarchy, he kills you. This is also important from the standpoint of the overall character dynamic. Good versus Evil is clearly established and while Darth Vader has not yet confronted the rebels, we can see the clear difference in their character and know exactly who we should be rooting for.

 

We also know that if Darth Vader treats his allies like this, he certainly will show no mercy for his actual enemies. And that creates impending peril for these wonderful characters that we have now come to admire and care for ourselves. And there's your ticking bomb under the table.

 

...And now we move into Act Two.  

 

Luke Skywalker, rather than meeting at the scheduled Rebellion rendezvous point, takes the advice of his old mentor Obi Wan who came to him in a vision and told him to go to Dagobah to continue his training in the force from Obi Wan's old master Yoda. Because the screenwriters do such a quality job of maintaining emotional bonds, they keep R2D2 with Luke -- hey they blew up the Death Star together in the first movie right?

 

But this also gives the screenwriters the opportunity to tug at our collective heart strings again. R2D2 falls into immediate peril on Dagobah, when he is eaten by a large swamp creature. The extended pause and excellent use of silence combined with the near panicked state of Luke, who genuinely cares for R2D2 makes for yet another nice moment. And that sets us up to laugh when the swamp creature finds R2D2 unpalatable and literally spits him out. But the reason all of this works is because of the dedication of the writers to show us the emotions of the characters. We care because they clearly care.

 

Luke does not treat his droids like they are machines. They are his friends, and so they become our friends as well. That is the primary reason why the moment works.

 

Now we go to Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C3PO who have major concerns of their own. Darth Vader wants them alive and they have major tie fighters on their tail. They can't go to lightspeed - a constantly recurring joke as Han Solo tells Leia that it isn't his fault after he thought he'd fixed it. So they have no choice but to brave the extreme dangers of entering an asteroid field. C3PO keeps both his fellow shipmates and the characters revved up by constantly informing them of the increasingly smaller percentage chance of their survival. "Never tell me the odds!" Han Solo yells at him, and with Chewbacca constantly expressing himself with his classic whining growl, Leia and Han trading insults back and forth and C3PO getting more excitable by the moment to the point where the always calm and collected Leia finally snaps "Shut up!" and then actually turns C3PO off -- it is the characters that keep this situation emotionally volatile, the interaction between the four of them in close quarters under dire circumstances - that makes it so much fun for the viewer. And when they realize that: A) The Empire is not going away and B) the asteroid crater they are in is very strange indeed and presents as much a threat to them as the Empire it creates an on-the-edge-of-your-seat action sequence that works on every level - the special effects wow you at the same time that the story moves forward and the character interaction is at its hottest.

 

A great portion of a great movie.

 

As the movie progresses through the 2nd Act, a number of key plot point issues depend on the characters and their relationships to one another --

 

● Luke fails Yoda's initial personality test but is convinced by both Luke and Obi Wan to take him as a student, and does so -- albeit reluctantly.

 

● Leia and Han bond and get closer after their near escape of the monster in the asteroid field and when Han's plan of disguising the Millenium Falcon as space junk fools The Empire and they lose the scent -- too bad Boba Fett isn't as easily fooled, eh?

 

● Han Solo and Lando Calrissian are old friends - Lando lost the Millenium Falcon to Han in a card game (This becomes important later) but there is definite tension and a complete lack of trust between them, especially when C3PO disappears.

 

● When Luke gets stronger in the force under Yoda's training, he is able to sense that Leia and Han are walking into danger. Though he has a philosophical debate with Yoda and Obi Wan who both urge him to stay on Dagobah and complete his Jedi training, Luke's feelings for his friends is too strong and he leaves, much to the disgust of Yoda who is now seriously afraid that Luke will be lured to the dark side due to his emotions. Because of Obi Wan's reaction, the audience is now also concerned for Luke. And we get a mystery when Yoda informs Obi Wan that there is another force wielder out there. Who is that?

 

● On Bespin, Chewbacca is horrified to find C3PO in pieces and about to be incinerated. He single-handedly fights off an entire room of workers to rescue C3PO, and his high state of emotion once again shows the bond between members of the team.

 

● When Leia and Han see what has become of C3PO they are concerned that all is not how it appears on Bespin, but it is too late. The trap is sprung, as Lando leads them to the room where Darth Vader and Boba Fett along with lots of stormtroopers wait for them.

 

Lando explains that he had no choice, the Empire arrived first and threatened his safety and the safety of everyone in Bespin. It's all Boba Fett's fault. But Han's initial mistrust of his old friend is justified. The best part of this is that Lando is clearly reluctant and genuinely sorry about it. This is no cackling villain, but a man who felt he really did have no choice in the matter. Good character conflict, once again.

 

Now that they have been captured, it is clearly up to Luke and R2D2 to save the rest of the team. But this is Darth Vader's plan all along. Which leads to another great lesson:

 

A great antagonist understands the protagonist's weakness and exploits it.

 

While it is a positive personality trait for Luke Skywalker to greatly care for his friends, it is the weakness that forces him to generate strong emotions. This both causes him to abandon his training on Dagobah and walk right into Darth Vader's trap and to potentially be lured over to the dark side.

 

But, before Luke and R2D2 can get there -- the true low point of the movie occurs. Han Solo is used as a guinea pig by Darth Vader to see if Lando's carbonite freezer can be safely used on a living person. Finally, Leia admits her true feelings to Han, and they have that all-important kiss. But then she is torn away from him, and she can only watch in horror as Han Solo is safely frozen in carbonite and given to the bounty hunter Boba Fett so he can collect a large fee from Jabba the Hutt to whom Han Solo owes a lot of money. This marks the end of the second act, when all hope appears lost for the team.

And once again, it tugs at the heartstrings of the viewing audience. You genuinely feel awful, especially seeing the horrific aftermath of the freezing. The great visual of Han Solo being frozen in carbonite and Leia's reaction to it is compelling drama.

 

How will the team recover from this terrible turn of events? And the feeling of hope one originally had knowing that Luke and R2D2 are coming is bittersweet and you are filled with dread now that we, the audience, realize that Darth Vader is intentionally baiting Luke. That he not only anticipates his arrival, but that is the reason for his attack.

 

Act Three:

 

Luke has walked right into Darth Vader's trap. He also walks right past Han Solo, not knowing he's been frozen in carbonite. Leia, at great risk to herself, shouts out a warning to Luke who, now along with R2D2 has been alerted to the danger.

 

While all of this is going on, Chewbacca completes the restoration of C3PO. In yet another example of one member of the crew caring about another, Chewbacca has spent every waking moment while being imprisoned in his quarters putting C3PO back together. In another lighthearted moment, C3PO realizes Chewbacca has put his head on backwards but that is easily fixed.

 

Throughout the entire second act, another relationship degraded. Darth Vader continuously changed the deal he made with Lando Calrissian, to the Empire's advantage. Finally realizing that Vader has no intention of honoring any kind of agreement, Lando knows his betrayal of Han Solo -- which he has clearly felt terrible about the entire time -- was for nothing. One way or another he is going to lose everything. And so he rallies his troops to give Leia and Chewbacca a fighting chance, and together they battle their way towards the landing dock to try and intercept Boba Fett before he can leave with Han. 

 

In an interesting moment that shows who Lando really is, he gets on the intercom and warns the population of Bespin that the Empire has taken over and they should flee. Lando has searched his own soul and has ended up on the side of the angels. Clearly, this is all character development. It is done swiftly, smoothly, and without a break in the action or the plot. Writing doesn't get better than that.

 

During this sequence, a wonderful reunion between the droids occurs, with C3PO and R2D2 both pleased to see one another but immediately returning to their verbal sniping relationship. This has always been fun since R2D2's language consists of beeps and boops and C3PO's verbal responses are, in general, hilarious.

 

However, Luke is in danger. Darth Vader's goal is to try and recruit Luke to the dark side. As they begin their epic lightsaber fight he reveals his true intentions, and the fact that he is, in fact, Anakin Skywalker - Luke's father! Luke doesn't want to believe him but using the force, he knows it is true. Here is the moment that Obi Wan and Yoda dreaded. Will Luke side with his father and join the dark side? Darth Vader also reveals that he plans to murder the Dark Emperor, and rule the universe with his son by his side. Suddenly this mysterious figure is completely revealed and once again, the screenwriters use the relationship between the characters as the core component. And it works.

 

In a bad moment for the good guys, they arrive at the dock just in time to see Boba Fett blast off into the galaxy. Han Solo is beyond rescue! A gut check for the audience as well as the team. Now they must shift their attention to simply saving themselves from the aggressive attack from the storm troopers. This is where Lando's previous experience with the Millenium Falcon comes into play. He knows the ship and he and Chewbacca take off into space. But they have clearly forgotten someone...

 

...Luke is angry that Obi Wan didn't tell him about his father. But, in a moment of character growth, steels himself, resists temptation, and fights on, despite losing his hand. He has no chance against the more experienced Vader, and finally drops through a tunnel shaft where he gets trapped and will fall to his doom if his tenuous grip fails him. He reaches out psychically for Obi Wan with the force to no avail. He is going to die!

 

Then, in a moment of clarity, he reaches out with the force, and finds...Leia! Remember that cryptic message from Yoda earlier? There is another force user out there! And, it's Leia! Who saw that coming? A great plot twist, which relies completely on the character relationships to work. Do I sound like a broken record? This movie is all about the character relationships, for good or ill. Almost every success the team has is predicated on it. And when the Empire succeeds, we deeply feel the losses as the team does.

 

When Leia and Luke connect psychically using the force, she orders Lando to turn back. Though he doesn't want to, he is outnumbered by Chewbacca and the droids. Luke is rescued, and is back where he belongs - with the team. He successfully resisted the dark side. Though things have not gone as planned and Han Solo is in jeopardy, the main plot argument of the movie -- will Luke be able to resist the lure of the dark side despite his internal flaw? -- has been overcome and therefore solved. A good conclusion. But why was he able to do it?  

 

It is because of his love for the rest of the team that he can. Again -- his relationships.

 

There is a fun sequence where the hyperdrive -- sabotaged by the empire -- does not work. Lando yells that it isn't his fault -- exactly as Han Solo did several times earlier in the film. This is funny but also symbolic -- Lando is now part of the team, and has temporarily taken Han Solo's place on it. Finally, Lando can be trusted. He's one of the gang. Despite C3PO's verbal complaining, R2D2 tries to solve the problem with the hyperdrive -- and when he succeeds C3PO's exclamation "You did it!" after verbally berating R2 for even trying is hilarious. The team zaps off into deep space leaving Darth Vader eating their space dust. He is not pleased.  

 

As the movie closes, Luke and Leia stand side by side staring out into space. They know what their next mission will be -- to save Han Solo. This cliffhanger ensures not only a third movie, but that we the audience will need to go see it.

 

Why? Because we too care about Han Solo, and want to see how the team will save him.

 

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a fun space-adventure romp. Many screenwriters, directors, and producers have attempted to create similar space romps that have, for the most part seemed less epic somehow. And that is why this movie is mentioned on all of the classic movies of all time lists while most of the others aren't.

 

It's not because of the plot. Cool as the lightsabers and space battles are, they are also not the true reason this movie is considered great. It is the character relationships that make us constantly feel emotions for the characters while the lightsabers flash and the spaceships evade asteroids that is what truly makes this movie important for screenwriters to watch. It is an important lesson. If you want to make your audience care, make sure your characters aren't just interesting and compelling, but that their relationships with every other character is also clear. The inter-relations between your characters is of paramount importance and if you can focus on that while moving your plot forward you will have a successful manuscript.