10 Iconic Sci-Fi Movie Moments That Were Totally Improvised
3. "I Love You" "I Know" - The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars – the crowning jewel of sci-fi movies. What kid can say they haven’t run around their backyard wheezing out “I am your father,” “never tell me the odds,” or “now this is podracing?”
Ok, so some dialogue is better than others. Regardless, the Star Wars series has no shortage of iconic quotes, and not all of them are scripted. So what is the juicy improvised moment that’s been hidden right under our noses this whole time?
You’d be fair
to assume it was the entirety of The Rise of Skywalker, but no, in reality, it
comes in the form of Han Solo’s one-liner response to Leia’s profession of
love in The Empire Strikes Back.
The stage is set, Luke Skywalker is on his way to Cloud City for a showdown with Darth Vader; meanwhile Solo is about to be frozen in carbonite and given to Jabba the Hutt. Moments before Solo’s carbonite fate is sealed, the music swells, and he and Princess Leia kiss.
Leia takes the moment to tell Solo, “I love you,” to which he so perfectly responds, “I know.” Not only does this quote encapsulate Solo’s character, but it serves as a brilliant exit line for the loveable rogue.
Originally, the script called for Solo to throw out an “I love you too” to Leia, but Harrison Ford figured that it didn’t suit his character. So what did Ford do but improvise, and we couldn’t thank him enough.