1980 Hit Was Just Ranked the 'Greatest Blockbuster Sci-Fi Movie of All Time'

Since the 1977 premiere of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, George Lucas‘ space opera franchise has been getting audiences into theaters. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to Star Wars fans that the second movie of the original trilogy, Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), was just recognized as a top blockbuster.

In a June 4 ranking, the publication Collider named the 1980 film the “greatest blockbuster sci-fi movie of all time.” Other popular films from the science fiction genre on the list included The Matrixfrom 1999, 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, Terminator 2: Judgment Day from 1991, and 1985’sBack to the Future.

Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, which has a score of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, grossed a total of $550,016,086 worldwide, with a budget of
$18,000,000, per Box Office Mojo.

Irvin Kershner Discussed Taking on the Role of the Director of ‘Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back’

Late filmmaker Irvin Kershner took on the role of director for Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, written by Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. In an interview with Hollywood’s Master Storytellers, Kershner shared that he initially rejected Lucas’ offer to direct the second Star Wars movie. He explained he felt too much “responsibility” about making the project better than Star Wars: A New Hope because Lucas wanted to make sure he had a franchise on his hands. In addition, Kershner said he wasn’t impressed with the script for The Empire Strikes Back.

Kershner clarified he finally agreed to direct the 1980 film once Lucas told him he would have full creative control.

“George promised me it would be my film. I didn’t want anybody looking over my shoulder, so George stayed in California and prepared the models for the special effects. I went to Norway and London,” said Kershner during the interview.

Kershner also said that he and Lucas’ only disagreement was about Han Solo’s (Harrison Ford) now-iconic response to Princess Leia Organa’s (Carrie Fisher) declaration of love. The director, who died in 2010 at the age of 87, said he didn’t think Han would say “I love you, too” as it was written in the script. After several takes, he encouraged Ford to improvise Han’s response to Leia.

“I finally said, ‘Harrison, don’t think about it. Action. ‘I love you.’ He says, ‘I know,'” said the director.

According to Kershner, Lucas was concerned about the scene because he believed the audience would find it humorous, which would result in “killing the tension.” However, Lucas realized Kershner had made the right choice after audience members of the film’s first showing were delighted by Han’s unexpected dialogue and felt it was in character.