11 Ways Star Wars: The Last Jedi Was Basically The Empire Strikes Back

Debated raged: Would The Last Jedi be a remake of The Empire Strikes Back? In some ways, it was.

Star Wars The Last Jedi Empire Strikes Back
Lucasfilm

When The Force Awakens opened with a record-breaking box office opening weekend, one of the few criticisms leveled was that it was thematically and structurally very, very similar to Star Wars: A New Hope. When fans found out that Rian Johnson was taking the helm of The Last Jedi, they were generally reassured that we would get something different - and didn't we just? Love it or hate it, few films (and certainly no Star Wars episodes) have been as divisive as The Last Jedi has been in its opening week.

With this in mind, most fans and critics have agreed that The Last Jedi is far from another echo of The Empire Strikes Back. However, is it completely its own movie? Is this second edition of the new saga really nothing like the second edition of the original?

This is not a criticism, but despite some carefully planned swerves to subvert our expectations, there are many plot themes, character situations and set pieces that clearly do echo that second part. After all, The Empire Strikes Back is almost entirely accepted as the best Star Wars film ever - and it opened to some controversy among fans if you can remember that far back. Perhaps these similarities are one of The Last Jedi's strengths.

11. The Millennium Falcon Is Expertly Maneuvered Through Solid Obstacles

Star Wars The Last Jedi Empire Strikes Back
Lucasfilm

One of the most iconic scenes in The Empire Strikes Back was a special-effects-laden set piece that proved how Star Wars films could just keep pushing the envelope and providing sci-fi thrills - the Millennium Falcon actually flying into an asteroid to avoid the Empire. The odds of survival were approximately 3750 to one, but Han Solo went for it anyway.

A wonderful example of John Williams' score accompanied the exhilarating chase sequence, emphasising the beauty of the effects and the grace of the old hunk of junk as it rolled and swept past the dangerous hunks of rock as well as the thrills of the daring plan.

Accompanied by that very same music - or an exceptionally close take on it - the Millennium Falcon is once again expertly maneuvered through tightly-packed solid obstacles in The Last Jedi. This time its below the ground, and this time its piloted by Chewbacca and Rey, but the sequence is almost entirely a loving homage to Empire. The available space gets smaller and smaller, a number of TIE fighters are in pursuit and they are smashed into bits as they fail to slip through tiny spaces like the Falcon. This example really is a loving recreation of a key moment.

 
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