13 Things You Learn When You Rewatch Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
5. The Han In Carbonite Sequence Is A Franchise Highlight
Not just the actual freezing of Han, which is an inspired way of creating tension and ambiguity about his character without having to kill him off, but the whole sequence leading up to it. Just look at it, its gorgeous: the orange glow of the floor, the blue above it (and if theres one thing to say about The Empire Strikes Back aesthetically, its that blue, fittingly, is everywhere: all different shades of it swathing the picture in melancholy), the steam, the proxemics of the characters, how most of the main ones are all together, surrounded by a ring of Stormtroopers and descended upon by Vader who is shadowed against the blue and orange and metal and steam. Then theres Han and Leias kiss, Stormtroopers be damned, just before they have the I know exchange I mentioned earlier. Then theres just Han, slowly sinking into the carbonite, scared but never, ever, showing it. Visually and emotionally, this is the films greatest sequence, twist and all.
