Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back +/-

No points will be awarded for the Luke, Han, Leia love triangle. I just can’t decide when to add or subtract points. Han gets shut down several times, but he ultimately wins in the end. I can’t bring myself to add points to Luke because it’s too weird.

I’m not including Obi Wan or Yoda. While they are critical characters, Obi Wan is only a spirit at this point and can only offer guidance. I won’t include Yoda even if I do the New Trilogy because his score would be terrible.

 

Han Solo

Han goes out on his own to rescue Luke. He finds Luke and they both survive despite the odds not being in their favor (775 : 1). While Luke is delirious, Han uses his quick wit to keep Luke warm and set up shelter.	+2  Overall: +2
Han expertly sneak attacks the Imperial Probe Droid. He doesn’t even hit it that hard, despite shooting it in the back twice.	+1  Overall: +3
Han navigates the asteroid field successfully even though the smaller more agile Tie fighters are unable to. The odds aren’t in his favor again (3,720:1).	+1  Overall: +4
Han lands inside an asteroid that’s not entirely stable.	-1  Overall: +3
Han escapes from the giant space slug. There's not time to discuss it with a committee.	+1  Overall: +4
Han lands on the back of an Imperial star destroyer because light speed isn’t working.	+1  Overall: +5
Knowing standard Imperial procedure, Han floats away with the rest of the garbage and comes up with a plan to meet Lando.	+1  Overall: +6
Han gets set up by Lando and captured. They never even ask him any questions.	-1  Overall: +5
Han tells Chewy to take care of Princess Leia, and even though he might die in carbon freeze, still comes up with a witty reply to Leia. He’s pretty much taking one for the team here. Supposedly Leia and Chewy will be safe with Lando if Han goes with Boba Fett.	+2  Overall: +7
A New Hope Score: +8	Overall +15

Final Thoughts:  Luke and Han don’t waste any time reminding you that by now they are old buddies. It’s literally the first line in the movie. Han is pretty strong in this episode. He has a lot of great lines too. Sometimes I think he’s alright, when he isn’t acting like a scoundrel. I like the sound of that. Plus, he’s not a racist.

Luke

Gets sneak attacked by a wampa.	-1  Overall: -1
Luke uses the force to pull his lightsaber out of the snow, chop the wampa’s arm off and escape. Keep in mind, he was never taught to use the force to move objects, and he hasn’t used a lightsaber in actual combat before. He’s quite clever, you know.	+2  Overall: +1
Luke commands the snowspeeders against the AT-ATs. Even without his copilot, Luke manages to work with Wedge to tie up the legs of an AT-AT and bring it down.	+1  Overall: +2
Luke uses the tow cable to reach the belly of an AT-AT and throws a bomb in.	+1  Overall: +3
I’m gonna summarize Luke’s time on Dagobah because it’s too hard to score. Luke crashes on Dagobah, but there wasn’t really anywhere to land anyway. Luke finds Yoda with very little information (first name and planet). Luke convinces Yoda to train him. He excels but makes mistakes as well. Luke disobeys Yoda by bringing weapons to the cave, but he learns a very important lesson about the dark side. Luke becomes much stronger with the force, but is still unable to completely lift his ship out. He is even able to sense the future and tell his friends are in trouble, but he leaves before completing his training.	+1  Overall: +4
Luke arrives in cloud city and battles Darth Vader. I’m gonna break this fight up into 3 rounds. There will be excessive details in a different post. But here, I’m gonna keep the descriptions short. Round 1: Luke wins 10-9	+1  Overall: +5
Darth retreats and then outclasses Luke using the force to fight his battles for him. Luke is almost finished, but hangs in there. Round 2: Darth wins 10-8. Luke is saved by the bell.	-1  Overall: +4
Round 3: Darth comes on really strong in the 3rd and finishes it early. Luke loses a hand.	-1  Overall: +3
Luke resists the dark side. He learns the truth about Darth Vader, even though he thinks it’s not true, it’s impossible. However, after searching his feeling, he knows it to be true. He would rather die than join the dark side, but luckily for him, he doesn’t die.	+1  Overall: +4
Luke uses the force to call Leia to rescue him.	+1  Overall: +5
Score from A New Hope: +11	Overall: +16

Final thoughts: This isn’t Luke’s best showing. He learns a lot, but still isn’t quite a Jedi knight. He’s got a negative attitude and prefers to talk about what cannot be done. He’s judging people by their size and doesn’t believe what he sees with his own eyes. In the next episode he will really gain confidence and put up some big numbers.

 Darth Vader

Vader somehow knows that the destroyed probe droid on Hoth is where the rebels are. Piett is the guy who finds the lead and mentions it, then it is overheard by Vader. He is rewarded later when he gets promoted.	+1  Overall: +1
I want to award Vader a point for choking out Admiral Ozzel, but it could’ve been avoided. Vader should be in charge of their military strategy especially when it comes to piloting. His unique skill since he was a boy has been his flying ability. Why is he letting some scrub make decisions and pilot his fleet?	+0  Overall: +1
The crew doesn’t need their scum, but Darth Vader employs several bounty hunters anyway, which turns out to be a great move.	+1  Overall: +2
Arrives just before the rebels on Bespin. Sets up a pretty good trap to lure Luke that works just as planned. All too easy.	+1  Overall: +3
Round 1: Vader starts off slow, gauging his opponent. He thinks he’s got it wrapped up early in the first round but ends up eating a few shots.	-1  Overall: +2
Round 2: Vader regroups in the second and uses his tactical advantages. Force throwing objects is something Luke hasn’t seen before.	+1  Overall: +3
Round 3: Vader fights through some shots and finishes in the 3rd.	+2  Overall: +5
He reveals his identity and offers Luke an opportunity, but gets rejected. His plan to disable the Millennium Falcon is foiled.	-1  Overall: +4
A New Hope: 4	Overall: +8

Final Thoughts: Vader is really strong in this episode. It’s the only one in the original trilogy where he doesn’t lose a Death Star at the end. He is absolutely a major character at this point. The imperial march is introduced and played multiple times. He has no commanding officer and “promotes” his own staff as often as there are openings. I like that when the Falcon escapes at the end he doesn’t kill anyone. In my mind, it’s because he’s so mad that he doesn’t feel like it.
It appears at one point that he is absolutely faithful to the Emperor. He doesn’t care about damage to the ship when searching the asteroid field, despite the crew’s concerns. When the Emperor wants to contact him, he obeys immediately, even moving the ship to send a clear signal. But when confronting Luke, he is ready to betray the Emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son.

Admiral Ozzel

Comes out of hyperspace too close and alerts the rebels. He’s as clumsy as he is stupid.

-1 life Overall: Dead

R2D2

R2 just lays low for most of this episode. He’s on Hoth, but doesn’t do much. Then travels to Dagobah with Luke. I should give Artoo a point for asking to pilot the X-wing to Dagobah. Luke wants to keep it on autopilot for awhile, and his ship ends up at the bottom of a swamp. It’s impossible to know if Artoo would’ve done better, but he couldn't have done much worse.	+0  Overall: +0
R2 helps Chewie, Leia, and Lando escape by opening doors. He also learns something critical about the Millennium Falcon.	+1  Overall: +1
R2 saves the day again, by activating the disabled hyperdrive.	+2  Overall: +3
A New Hope: +8	Overall: +11

Final Thoughts: He lays low until needed, then saves the day. This is the 2^nd time that he’s retrieved critical information from a computer network without being asked. If he doesn’t enable lightspeed, Luke will be turned or killed and the rebellion will be crushed in one swift stroke. If R2 was on the Falcon instead of with Luke on Dagobah, he might’ve fixed the hyperdrive earlier and they may have never had to land at Cloud City. Han wouldn’t be a wall decoration, Luke would still have 2 real hands, and Lando would still be a minority business owner.

Leia

I’m not 100% sure it was her plan, but she’s the one that delivers the instructions to follow the 2 blasts from the ion cannon. The ion cannon gets the job done, that’s for sure.	+1  Overall: +1
She gets Luke’s message and makes Chewy turn the ship around.	+1  Overall: +2
A New Hope:+4	Overall: +6

Final Thoughts: Most of this episode she is just along for the ride.

Lando Calrissian

Lets Han land and welcomes him, then hands him over to Darth Vader. He had no choice.	-2  Overall: -2
Vader alters the deal enough times to make Lando take things into his own hands. He helps Leia and Chewy escape.	+1   Overall: -1
He helps fly the Falcon and is the one to actually retrieve Luke from where he is hanging beneath the carbon freezing chamber.	+1  Overall: +0

Final Thoughts: I almost didn’t include Lando, but I wanted to show that despite traitoring, he did what he could to make up for it. He will have a bigger role in the next episode and will finish with a positive score. In his defense, Vader didn’t tell him that Han would be handed over to Boba, or that Leia and Chewbacca would become Vader’s prisoners.

Star Wars +/-

In hockey they keep track of a player’s +/- by adding 1 when the team scores with a player on the ice, and subtracting 1 if the other team scores. This is a way to see how beneficial that player is to have on the ice. I’m gonna do something similar for some main characters in Star Wars for each episode. The scoring won’t only be +1 or -1. Depending on the good or bad action they take, any number of points can be added or removed. I’m not gonna explain in detail what happens between actions by each character, you can watch the movie if you want to know that. The hardest part of this post was choosing which pics to use and which to save for the next one.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Obi Wan Kenobi (Old Ben)

Old Ben saves Luke from the Tusken raiders because he knows they are easily startled.	+1  Overall +1
Ben fudges the truth about Darth Vader, really setting Luke up for a surprise.	-1  Overall 0
Ben doesn’t get Luke back in time to save his Aunt and Uncle, which may not be his fault. But he’s not very sensitive about it either. Luke just saw the burnt remains of his only known relatives and all Obi Wan says is, “you’d have been killed too.”	-1  Overall -1
Uses a jedi mind trick on the storm troopers. "These aren't the droids you're looking for."	+1  Overall 0
Obi Wan shows he still has a little fight left in him by cutting a dude’s arm off in the Cantina	+1  Overall+1
Obi Wan talks Han into flying them despite paying him very little up front with the promise of a whole lot more later.	+1  Overall +2
He sneaks through the Death Star by himself and disables the tractor beam.	+1  Overall +3
Sacrifices himself to become “more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”	+2  Overall +5
Gives Luke advice a few times throughout the remainder of the movie. He is especially helpful during the Death Star trench run.	+1  Overall +6

Final Thoughts: I’m only including Ben because if I do scoring for the new trilogy, he will come out really high overall.

Darth Vader

Enters like a BAMF after capturing the Tantive IV Rebel Blockade Runner. Lifts a guy off the ground with 1 hand, chokes him to death and throws him against a wall.	+1  Overall +1
Fails to get any info from Princess Leia and listens to the guy who doesn’t want to fire on the escape pods.	-1  Overall 0
Comes up with a pretty good scheme to hide his involvement in the capture of this consulate ship, which was in clear violation of the imperial senate rules. “Set a distress signal then inform the senate that all aboard were killed.”	+1  Overall +1
At the Death Star meeting he uses the force to choke General Motti for his “lack of faith.”	+1  Overall +2
Gets scolded by Grand Moff Tarkin and has to let go of Motti. In the next 2 episodes (when Vader becomes a main character and his theme song is introduced) he is the highest ranking officer and is free to kill anyone.	-1  Overall +1
Fails to get any information from Princess Leia again, then Grand Moff Tarkin shows Vader how it’s done and gets her to talk with an “alternative form of persuasion.”	-1  Overall 0
Comes up with a plan to track the rebels back to their actual base.  “You're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk, Vader.”	+1  Overall +1
Talks trash to Obi Wan, then finishes him off with a chop.	+1  Overall +2
Opens up shop in the Death Star trench, destroying ship after ship. He also has his own special TIE fighter. You can see throughout all the movies, piloting is his greatest strength.	+2  Overall +4

Final Thoughts: Despite capturing the audience’s attention throughout the movie, he doesn’t do much. He even gets talked down to by Grand Moff Tarkin, who is “holding Vader’s leash.” Tarkin is the one who gives the order to fire the Death Star’s beam at Alderaan. He is supposed to be the main villain, but he’s not as captivating as Darth Vader, so he gets overlooked.

I almost took a point away for Vader's ship getting shot by Han Solo at the end, but he doesn’t even get hit by Han. His own scrub teammate crashes into him. The job of his wingmen is to absorb any attacks from behind so that he can get off a clear shot. It's great strategy by Vader, but poor execution by his lackeys. One of them gets shot and the other just panics immediately. If he had been watching his radar maybe he would’ve been prepared. It’s not like the Falcon wasn’t on their radar, it’s widely known that no ship that small has a cloaking device.

Luke Skywalker

Luke observes the red droid has a bad motivator and after listening to C3P0, suggests Uncle Owen consider “that blue one”.	+1  Overall: +1
Luke gets tricked by R2D2 into removing the restraining bolt. It turns out to be a good thing cause he isn’t there to be burnt to death and he meets Old Ben Kenobi, but still, being tricked and outrun by a droid that can’t go up stairs is ridiculous.	-1  Overall: 0
Luke catches up with R2D2	+1  Overall: +1
Luke gets snuck up on and wooped by a sandperson, but is rescued by Obi Wan.	-1  Overall: 0
Luke is a shrewd bargainer. He tells Han straight up that his prices are too high. He is ready to leave negotiations and fly a ship himself.	+1  Overall: +1
Luke learns to use the force and successfully completes the training session onboard the Millennium Falcon.	+1  Overall: +2
Luke comes up with a plan to get into the detention area by using Chewbacca as a prisoner.	+1  Overall: +3
Luke contacts C3P0 to save everyone from the trash compacter	+1  Overall: +4
Yelling “No!” at Darth Vader before making their escape is not a good idea. Although it could be a hereditary trait. Stormtroopers begin firing in their direction.	-1  Overall: +3
Luke destroys 2 TIE fighters while fleeing the Death Star.	+1  Overall: +4
Luke shows confidence in front of the other pilots. He can bullseye a wamprat and is certain the Death Star trench run can be successful.	+1  Overall: +5
Luke’s callsign is Red 5 during the attack. Which means they consider him the 5th most skilled pilot on the red squad. When Red Leader is killed after his unsuccessful shot, Luke assumes command (even though Red 2 (Wedge) and 3 (Biggs) are still alive). He starts issuing commands and developing plans for attack. “You worry about those fighters, I’ll worry about towers.” Just before the attack Red Leader was asking Luke, “You sure you can handle this ship, Do you even lift?” Who’s laughing now?	+1  Overall: +6
Luke makes a 1 in a million shot, blowing up the deathstar. Receives medal like a boss.	+5  Overall: +11

Final Thoughts: Luke is overlooked by a lot of people, but he is actually one of the strongest characters. He has no fear from the beginning. When he thinks there might be sandpeople, he goes for a look. When it gets real in a battle, he doesn’t panic. He’s a quick learner, a quick thinker and a natural leader. He’s quite clever for a human. His main downfall is that he isn’t as handsome as Han Solo.

Princess Leia

Before she’s captured, she gets the Death Star plans hidden and safely away from Darth Vader.	+1  Overall: +1
Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable.	+1  Overall: +2
Gives Grand Moff Tarkin a decoy rebel base (Dantooine), knowing that it’s too remote to make an effective demonstration, instead of the actual base (Yavin). Tarkin was going to destroy Alderaan no matter what answer she gave, so I’m not deducting points for that.	+1  Overall: +3
Leia comes up with an escape plan when they are trapped in the detention area. Someone’s got to save their skins.	+1  Overall: +4
She’s pretty good with the blaster, nails a couple enemies.	+1  Overall: +5
She leads the Empire to the actual Rebel Base even though she knows they are being tracked. It’s the only explanation for the ease of their escape.	-1  Overall: +4

Final thoughs: She gets it done, but the story doesn’t completely depend on her. Still, she’s a strong female character who keeps her clothes on (for now).

Han Solo

He gets a good bargain from Ben for simply flying them from one planet to another. “Who’s gonna fly it, you?”	+1  Overall +1
Shoots Greedo and leaves him there, but does tip the bartender. “Sorry about the mess.”	+1  Overall +2
Smooths things over with Jabba, even calls him a “wonderful human being”, even though it’s not in the script. This scene was cut from the original but added back in.	+1  Overall +3
Outruns the Imperial Star Destroyer with his maneuvers. “Don’t everyone thank me at once.”	+1  Overall +3
Hides the crew in his smuggling compartments to avoid being caught on the Death Star. He also forges the ship’s log to say they abandoned ship just after takeoff.	+1  Overall +4
I love that he tells the Imperial officer that the elevator is full and points to Chewbacca.  He blasts everything in sight in the detention area, then has a hilarious ad libbed conversation to buy Luke some time. “Boring conversation anyway.”	+1  Overall +5
Charges a couple of storm troopers and sends them fleeing	+1  Overall +6
Realizes he was in way over his head when he runs into hundreds of troops, then runs away	-1  Overall +5
Destroys 2 tie fighters while fleeing the Death Star	+1  Overall +6
Stays for the whole battle plan speech, then leaves right before the battle like a dick	-1  Overall +5
Comes back at a critical time in the Death Star battle and saves Luke. I knew there was more to him than money.	+3  Overall +8

Final Thoughts: He’s so cocky and self confident that he quickly becomes your favorite. He can speak Wookiee, Huttese and whatever language Greedo speaks. He has his own ship and is good in a firefight. He’s a quick thinker, smooth talker and a good leader.

R2D2

He holds the death star plans and gets into the escape pod.	+1  Overall +1
Gets zapped and captured by the Jawas	-1  Overall 0
Tricks Luke into removing the restraining bolt so he can go looking for Obi Wan. “I’ve never seen such devotion in a droid before.”	+1  Overall +1
He cleverly hides when the Sand people attack, he is the only one left unharmed. He plays the message for Obi Wan.	+1  Overall +2
As soon as he gets on the Imperial network he alerts everyone to Princess Leia’s location.	+1  Overall +3
Artoo reminds C3P0 to check the comlink so he can rescue Han, Chewy, Leia, and Luke from being crushed to death.	+2  Overall +5
Gives the plans to the Rebels and possibly is the one to provide the location of the Death Star’s weakness.	+1   Overall +6
Locks down a stabilizer for Luke during the Death Star battle. Also takes a shot to the back of the head during the battle.	+2  Overall +8

Final thoughts: R2D2 is a driving force throughout all the episodes. He solves everyone’s problems and saves the day numerous times.  Hardly ever making a mistake, I could argue that the Force is as strong with him as with any other character.