Star Wars: Five Major Mistakes In ‘The Empire Strikes Back’
Dare we point out the ‘Empire Strikes Back’ mistakes? Let’s take a look at some blunders from the best ‘Star Wars’ of them all.
Star Wars is a great franchise. Lately, we’ve taken a good, hard look at some of the things the Sequel trilogy got wrong, some things it got right, and some things it just kind of… did.
We’ve also been taking a look at some of the things Star Wars Prequel movies have gotten right, and a few things they’ve gotten wrong here or there. We’ve looked at mistakes made in Revenge of the Sith and Attack of the Clones. Some silly git even had the temerity to pan The Phantom Menace.
We’ve also talked about what movies like The Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones got right. Now, it’s time to dive into the holy trinity of the OT. Last week we took a look A New Hope. Today it’s time to desecrate the Holy Grail and point out some of The Empire Strikes Back mistakes.
5. The Incest
We mentioned this one back in A New Hope, but it’s a lot worse here. This is no peck for good luck, it’s some full on smooching. It’s also further along in the series and you gotta think that Lucas had some idea where it was going to end up.
Empire, unlike ANH, is clearly a middle story. While this didn’t really raise any eyebrows when it came out, now a days it certainly stands out as odd and is something of a joke to Star Wars fans.
4. The Crappy Imperial Blockade
At the start of the movie, the Empire has found the hidden Rebel base on Hoth and trapped the heroes there. As a result of the Imperial attack, the Rebels are forced to evacuate and flee the system. And like… its pretty easy.
It’s maybe a bit of a nitpick, but it’s always bothered me that the Rebels apparently got away with out any real in space losses. Now yes, the movie does give a reason for this. The Rebels are lunching in small groups and are covered by the massive ground based ion cannon. But still.
We only see a single Imperial Star Destroyer try to stop them. Why not deploy TIEs, something that the ion cannon can’t really stop, to block the escape? It’s just odd.
3. The Ice Cream Maker 
During the evacuation of Cloud City (there is a lot of evacuating in this film isn’t there?) you can famously see a guy running with what is obviously an ice cream maker under his arm. Later Star Wars properties would go on to sort of retcon this into being a vault/safe thing. But we all know what it is.
This guy just lovvvves his ice cream. Now I know what you are saying, “this is a major mistake?” And like, back off, this movie is near perfect. It’s hard to find flaws, dude.
2. Yoda Not Wanting To Train Luke
After meeting Luke and talking with him a bit, Yoda drops a bit of a bomb. He won’t train Luke because Luke is too old.
Now this sentiment, which is quickly discarded, make some sense within the movie. Conceptually, people being too old to train also make sense. However in the larger sense of the Saga, it makes no sense.
Yoda was there when Luke was born. He was part of the plan to send him off. So like… what was the plan then? Luke is supposed to be their new hope.
Obi Wan thinks Luke is the real Chosen One (as he tells Maul in Rebels). The Jedi’s whole plan seems to be based on training Luke to restore the Jedi. So like, why would Yoda even say he won’t train Luke? That’s the whole plan!
1. How The F Did The Falcon Get To Cloud City/The Time Problem
After escaping Hoth, the Flacon and the heroes onboard need a new safe haven. There is just one issue, the hyperdrive is broken, forcing them to travel at sub-light speeds. Han comes up with the idea to visit his old friend Lando on Besbin, and they head over there and arrive pretty soon afterwards.
Han does say its the only place they could safely get to. The problem is that at sub-light speeds, it should have taken years to reach another star system. There’s just no real way for the Falcon (which only has a two month food supply) to get to Besbin from the Hoth system in a reasonable amount of time.
Let us know what mistakes you think the movie made, down in the comments!
